I especially liked the wind-up to the conclusion with this:
Some critics have made the case that with the exception of “Send In the Clowns,” Sondheim has never written a pop hit and is not a notable melody writer. But then why do theater audiences return year after year to myriad Sondheim revivals? I think it’s because he’s the “total package.” His best works have dazzlingly original premises (he sees a London staging of a potboiler called “Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street” and brilliantly envisions a Grand Guignol ballad opera). He studiously chooses great book writers, great directors and talented casts. He has wonderful arrangements, writes supremely intelligent lyrics and music that is more melodic than he is given credit for. Sondheim's work is something we love returning to - either as performing artists or as audience members.
