AUDIO: Stephen Sondheim Chats About Favorite Rhymes and Musicals Ahead Of Their Times

As the senior statesman of American musical theatre, Stephen Sondheim has spent decades defining the highest level of intellectual artistry achieved in the art form, but to hear him casually talk about his craft, as he does in this 2010 BBC Radio interview with Mark Lawson, he's quite funny and self-effacing about himself.

He calls lyric-writing, "an occupation consisting chiefly of tedious list-making and frustration" and is frank about the pleasure he gets when the opportunity arises to use an especially clever rhyme (opposite/papa, sit), while chuckling about the mistakes he made with his first Broadway musical, WEST SIDE STORY.

The chat covers subjects such as why he prefers Cole Porter to Noel Coward, how Oscar Hammerstein is underappreciated as an experimental playwright, and what makes a musical ahead of its time.

Click the photo below for the interview.

The composer/lyricist of groundbreaking musicals and beloved classics such as A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE FORUM, COMPANY, FOLLIES, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, PACIFIC OVERTURES, SWEENEY TODD, INTO THE WOODS and PASSION, Stephen Sondheim is currently working with playwright David Ives on a musical based on two films by 1930s surrealists Luis Buñuel, "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie" and "The Exterminating Angel."

Top Photo: Walter McBride