Jason Robert Brown on Sondheim — Page 2

Can't we just say that both Sondheim and Gershwin were markedly good at what they do/did?

Very nicely put.

Gershwin is one of those artists about whom I wonder what he would have created if he had lived. Rhapsody in Blue at 26, An American in Paris at 30, Porgy and Bess at 37, and gone at 39.

Of course there are creative people who seem to fire their best shot early, and then fade. These are all just my opinions, but I'm thinking of Dylan, who could never reach the heights of Blonde on Blonde again, one of my favorites, Laura Nyro, who, after her second album (first Columbia release), began inserting a lot of shrieking and references to the Devil in her songs. (Saw her perform at Fillmore East. Still think that "Time and Love" should have been a big hit for someone.) Then she fell off the face of the earth.

Orson Welles, by general agreement, peaked with Citizen Kane, his first major film.

Sondheim was pretty consistent over his long career, which is a great credit. If some day some generation should turn its back on his original productions, he will always have West Side Story, the collaboration of two geniuses.