THE SONDHEIM LEGACY to Premiere on CUNY TV

On November 26,  2021, Stephen Sondheim passed away and since then, "Everything's Coming Up…Sondheim" with major revivals of “Company,”  “Into the Woods,” “Merrily We Roll Along,” “Sweeney Todd” and now, “Here We Are,” a posthumous world premiere at NYC’s The Shed.

There is no better time than now for Patrick Pacheco to chat with London critic David Benedict; Juan A. Ramírez, Chief Critic of Theatrely; Ruthie Fierberg, Executive Editor of “Broadway News;” blogger Matt Koplik of “Broadway Breakdown;” and Elizabeth Wollman, Professor of Music at CUNY’s Baruch College for an upcoming episode of “THEATER: All the Moving Parts."  

The show premieres on Friday, August 25 at 8:30PM on CUNY TV and on demand here.

Titled "The Sondheim Legacy," the episode will include excerpts from several of Sondheim’s shows enliven commentaries which are informative, insightful, funny and moving. But then how could it be otherwise, especially when Sondheim himself in video speaks of his passions, insecurities and challenges. His titanic legacy recalls the story of Georges Seurat's masterpiece, “Sunday in the Park with George,” which ends with: “White. A blank page or canvas. His favorite. So many possibilities.”  

“THEATER: All the Moving Parts” is an hour-long CUNY TV show, featuring in-depth interviews with artists from every theatrical discipline. Recent episodes include the fascinating process of mounting such wildly different shows as “& Juliet”, with its pre-existing hit pop catalogue, the immersive “The Jungle”, and the epic drama, “Leopoldstadt”. Included in the latter was a comprehensive overview of the legacy of its writer, Tom Stoppard.  

The premiere episode of “THEATER: All the Moving Parts” was an interview with playwright Theresa Rebeck, which continues to collect thousands of views on You Tube. Of Pacheco, Rebeck said, “I felt like I was being interviewed by someone who knows me better than I know myself.” Go to here to see these and other episodes.

Patrick Pacheco is an Emmy-winning commentator and journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, Esquire.com, and many other periodicals.

He wrote the 2009 Disney documentary “Waking Sleeping Beauty,” and is the co-writer, with Maria Cassi, of the play, “My Life with Men…and other animals.” He is the writer and editor of the Amazon best seller “American Theatre Wing, An Oral History: 100 Years, 100 Voices, 100 Million Miracles”.

He is the co-writer with Chita Rivera of “Chita, A Memoir”, published by HarperOne. He has also co-written with Erik Jackson, the new musical “Christmas in Connecticut” which premiered in November at Connecticut’s Goodspeed Opera House and will be presented this Fall at the Pioneer Theatre in Salt Lake City, Utah. 

David Benedict is a culture critic and broadcaster who studied drama at Hull University and worked as an actor, singer and director before turning to arts journalism on national U.K. newspapers and the Wall Street Journal Europe.

He was a daily arts columnist on The Independent, arts editor of The Observer and is now the London theatre critic for Variety. He is a regular broadcaster on the BBC. He is writing the authorized biography of Stephen Sondheim for Random House. 

Ruthie Fierberg is the executive editor of Broadway News, the home for original journalism on Broadway. Ruthie is the creator and host of the podcast Why We Theater, which digs into the onstage works we love to create the offstage change we need. She regularly moderates panel discussions at the 92nd Street Y and other institutions.

A graduate of Barnard College, she is the former executive editor of features and branded content at Playbill and has written for publications like the New York Jewish Week, Parents, Parents Latina and Backstage magazines. 

Matt Koplik is the host of the popular theatre podcast Broadway Breakdown. He holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Emerson College and has written numerous reviews, articles, and scripts. He has a Playbill collection that's so immense, it has its own storage unit.

Juan A. Ramírez is a Venezuelan-American arts and culture writer based in New York. He has served as Theatrely’s Chief Critic since the site’s inception and regularly contributes reviews to The New York Times. His writing can also be seen in Vanity Fair, Vogue, Interview Magazine, New York Magazine, and T Magazine. Currently and forever seeking ways to apply his graduate thesis on queer Venezuelan melodrama.

Elizabeth L. Wollman is a professor of music at Baruch College and a member of the doctoral faculty in the department of theatre at the CUNY Graduate School. She has written many articles, chapters, and books about the contemporary American stage musical, and is currently at work on a book about flop musicals and what we can learn from them.