Stephen Sondheim’s impact on theater is incalculable. Every theater kid has at least one Sondheim song in their back pocket at all times, and many can cite a Sondheim piece having some sort of significant impact on their lives.
So, in honor of Sondheim’s birthday, here are 10 of Sondheim’s best songs and our favorite lines from each.
Finishing the Hat
And how you’re always turning back too late / From the grass or the stick / Or the dog or the light
Being Alive
Somebody, sit in my chair / And ruin my sleep / And make me aware / Of being alive
The Ballad of Sweeney Todd
Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd
No More
No more giants waging war / Can’t we just pursue our lives, with our children and our wives / ‘Til that happy day arrives, how do you ignore / All the witches, all the curses/ All the wolves, all the lies, the false hopes, the good-bye’s, the reverses
Opening Doors
I rewrote the rewrite
The Ladies Who Lunch
Keeping house but clutching a copy of Life / Just to keep in touch
Send in the Clowns
Isn’t it rich? / Isn’t it queer? / Losing my timing this late in my career
The Glamorous Life
Ordinary mothers needn’t meet committees / But ordinary mothers don’t get keys to cities / No, ordinary mothers merely see their children all year / Which is lovely, I hear
Children Will Listen
Careful the wish you make / Wishes are children / Careful the path they take / Wishes come true / Not free
Every Day a Little Death
He smiles sweetly / Strokes my hair, says he misses me / I would murder him right there / But first I die
