How old were you when you discovered Sondheim? — Page 4

I think it was the summer between 6th and 7th grade....so I was about 12. Saw INTO THE WOODS and loved it.

Then, I went to the Thespian conference, and a school did a production of MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG. I thought that was just about the best show ever. From then on, that was it.

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That's one of her Desiree dresses.

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I was always aware of Stephen Sondheim as I have been a Bernadette Peters fan for many years. I enjoyed her versions of his songs and purchased the Sondheim DVD box set. It wasn't until I saw Gypsy in 2003 (at 17) and became hooked on the score that I really took an interest in all of his work and began exploring it all.

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My mom introduced me to West Side Story when I was pretty young (probably about 7 or 8 ) and I loved it, but I didn't connect it with him at the time. It wasn't until I was 15, though, that I fell in love with the Doyle revival of Sweeney Todd, ended up seeing it 4 times (including the closing performance), and thus fell in love with pretty much all things Sondheim.

Updated On: 1/15/09 at 01:15 AM

I had just turned ten. I was already big into musical theatre--for the past year or so I basically thought Rodgers and Hammerstein were the end all and the bee's knees--and I had just seen the tour of Phantom of the Opera and was briefly obsessed with it. I always had this book from the library constantly checked out--the massive coffee table book Broadway Musicals by Martin Gottfried and I was familiar with Sondheim from it, but to be honest they all seemed a bit weird to me.

Sometime around then I did catch A Weekend in the Country as performed on the Sondheim Carnegie Hall special--and I was enraptured but that's all I saw for some reason and I was never sure what exactly it was. Then I was at my grandma's sick and for some reason tuned into PBS just at the start of Act II of Into the Woods.

I could NOT believe it. It just seemed brilliant (it probably helped that I was pretty obsessed with the history of fairy tales around the time--different versions etc). When it was over I immediatley tried to track it down byt PBS wasn't airing it again--at least not locally and when I phoned them (or had my mom phone *blush*) I was told it was only avialable on Laser Disc,not videotape (there was a rights issue back then).

Anyway I found the London cast album on tape from the library and I remember for that Summer I listened to it literally every night in bed as I was falling asleep. By the Fall I started getting into other shows--mainly thanks to the old records and tapes my library had.

I think Sweeney Todd was the last one I got into at 12 or so (I used to get scared by horror movies VERY easily, lol, so I sorta was scared to get into it--I can remember sitting with the scratchy records following along with the big lyric booklet and being surprised by every plot turn). Luckily the local Blockbuster had Sunday in the Park with George, the Hearn Sweeney Todd AND the Liz Night Music movie on video. By the time I was 14 I was a member of the Sondheim mailing list (now sondheim.com) and had already gotten a few letters form Sondheim replying to my gushing fan notes (I was pretty proud of how his comment that he was surprised someone so young got so much out of his shows and he though usually people understood them better as they aged).

I did get a lot of comments on the Sondheim Mailing List to "how could you like or get ANYTHING out of FOllies at your age" and I kinda resented that--I think I did get a lot even at that age. But Sondheim is great becuase I've found with nearly all his shows they grow along with you.

Older than I should have been, I'm honestly kind of embarrassed. I had seen West Side Story as a kid, but I had no idea who Sondheim was. My first Sondheim show once I was older and informed was Gypsy, which I saw when I was in high school, and then Pacific Overtures after that. It took me a while to really fall in love with his work, though. I was in college. It was Sweeney Todd that really drew me in and made me finally understand the appeal -- and feel hungry for more, wanting to learn about the rest. And after that, life has never been the same.

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Updated On: 2/6/09 at 01:37 PM

And Martin Gottfried's Broadway Musicals must be one of the best books on the subject ever.

Detailed, thorough, knowledgeable narrative; glorious photos; and the fascinating flops scattered throughout the index. Like EricMontreal22, I found it unputdownable.

11 years old. I was really quite obsessed with the "Into the Woods" recording and the TV-movie version of "Gypsy" back in '93.
Then I discovered "Company," "Sunday in the Park with George."
I had always enjoyed "West Side Story."
Though I admit I didn't have a REAL appreciation for him until I was about 17 and saw "Putting It Together" in person. I feel that his lyrics are much better appreciated when sung right in front of you, and sung well.

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I was 8 or 9. Into the Woods was my first exposure to Sondheim. I remember clearly because I would put on little shows in my garage and I watched the movie and fell in love thought it was the greatest thing ever! I would always want to be the witch. Hahaha! Memories. But ever since that first little show in my garage I was hooked. I just kept listening to everything. Next was Assassins, my brother played Sam Byck for college. Then West Side Story, we had the movie but never really watched it til I saw Sondheim s name. Then Sweeney Todd, I bought the dvd of amazon with Angela just for a new theater experience to watch and fall in love with. Then just recently I started listening to Anyone Can Whistle, I would love to do this show. I've still yet to listen to Sunday In The Park. I watched part of the movie with Bernadette and I like it but then my computer died and I just forgot about it. But that is my Sondheim story.

third grade when I bought the Into the woods cast recording.

I always liked West Side Story and Into the Woods, but it wasn't until I saw Sunday in the Park with George that I really feel in love with Sondheim...that was last year and I am 29. I've always been a late bloomer. : )