AmericanTheaterWeb Original News & Reviews

Sony BMG Masterworks is proud to announce the release of Stephen Sondheim: The Story So Far, a comprehensive four CD box set with a playing time of over four and a half hours devoted to the entire career of the legendary Broadway songwriter. The box, the first of its kind, will be released on Tuesday, September 30.

The box set will highlight Sondheim's work from its earliest incarnations through his most current project - the musical Bounce. Sondheim work for films and television will also be represented on "So Far."

Stephen Sondheim: The Story So Far will feature 81 tracks over four CDs. Previously released recordings will be complemented by a large number of demo recordings from his private collection of songs cut from his shows or written for aborted staged and film projects.

Sondheim served as Executive Producer for Stephen Sondheim: The Story So Far with Steve Berkowitz, head of A&R at Legacy Records. The set was prepared for release by veteran producers Didier C. Deutsch and Darcy M. Proper.

“For show buffs, this will be a treasure trove. I say that with no immodesty,” Stephen Sondheim commented. “True buffs love nothing more than demos, out-of-print and private recordings, particularly of cut songs and especially when sung by the composer. This compendium has all of the above and more, due to the enthusiasm and diligence of Didier Deutsch and archivist Peter E. Jones. Although I am listed as co-producer of this set, all the work and choices were theirs. On behalf of all us musical theater fanatics, I thank them both, not to mention Sony BMG, who have packaged these buried and not-so-buried nuggets with such care and lavish elegance.”

Of particular interest to collectors and fans, the box includes 28 previously unreleased tracks and many rarities, including “Evening Primrose,” the 1966 television musical starring Anthony Perkins and Charmain Carr and demo recordings from Saturday Night, the 1955 Broadway musical that would have marked Sondheim’s debut as a composer-lyricist.

Other previously unreleased tracks include demo selections from Do I Hear a Waltz?; discarded songs from Company, Follies, A Little Night Music and Pacific Overtures; songs for an intended TV production for Into the Woods in 1992; incidental music composed for the plays Invitation to a March and The Enclave; “I Never Do Anything Twice,” written for the film The Seven-Per-Cent Solution and the original film versions of the songs performed in Dick Tracy by Madonna and Mandy Patinkin.

Presented in a lavish long box set, Stephen Sondheim: The Story So Far features an introduction by Harold Prince, in-depth liner notes from Mark Horowitz, Senior Music Specialist from the Library of Congress, as well as personal notes from the songwriter himself on some of the selections from his personal sound archives. It is illustrated throughout with pictures from the shows, the recording sessions and rare photographs from Sondheim’s private collection.

Conjointly with the release of the box, Sony BMG will make available a free podcast series dedicated to Sondheim’s career. The podcasts, part of Sony’s Masterworks Broadway series, will include interviews and intimate stories with Sondheim, Bernadette Peters, Angela Lansbury, Hal Prince, Mandy Patinkin, Frank Rich, Laura Benanti and many other musical theater personalities, all discussing their experiences with Sondheim and his works. The podcasts will be found on iTunes by searching Masterworks Broadway and on Sony BMG’s website at www.masterworksbroadway.com.

For more information on Stephen Sondheim: The Story So Far, visit: www.masterworksbroadway.com/sondheim.

Complete track list on page 2

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