****The second volume of Sondheim's collected lyrics is both a
remarkable glimpse into the brilliant mind of a legend, and a
continuation of the acclaimed and best-selling Finishing the Hat.
Picking up where he left off in Finishing the Hat, Sondheim gives us
all the lyrics, along with excluded songs and early drafts, of the
Pulitzer Prize-winning Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods,
Assassins and Passion. Here, too, is an in-depth look at the
evolution of Wise Guys, which subsequently was transformed into
Bounce and eventually became Road Show. Sondheim takes us through
his contributions to both television and film, some of which may
surprise you, and covers plenty of never-before-seen material from
unproduced projects as well. There are abundant anecdotes about his many
collaborations, and readers are treated to rare personal material in
this volume, as Sondheim includes songs culled from commissions,
parodies and personal special occasions--such as a hilarious song for
Leonard Bernstein's seventieth birthday. As he did in the previous
volume, Sondheim richly annotates his lyrics with invaluable advice on
songwriting, discussions of theater history and the state of the
industry today, and exacting dissections of his work, both the successes
and the failures.
Filled with even more behind-the-scenes photographs and illustrations
from Sondheim's original manuscripts, Look, I Made a Hat is
fascinating, devourable and essential reading for any fan of the theater
or this great man's work.
