The Sondheim Issue

This edition of The Dramatist pays tribute to the artist, mentor, collaborator, and past Guild Council President Stephen Sondheim (1930 - 2021). Guest edited by Lin-Manuel Miranda, this issue includes Sondheim’s “Ten Questions” and “Musical Theatre: A Talk by Stephen Sondheim,” the transcript of an ad lib dissertation from 1977 that was originally edited for publication in The Dramatists Guild Quarterly, Autumn 1978.

In “I Collabor Him and He Collabors Me,” Lin-Manuel Miranda moderates a roundtable with Sondheim’s collaborators, James Lapine, David Ives, and John Weidman; in “Our Time: The Influence of Sondheim,” Khiyon Hursey leads a conversation with Joriah Kwamé, Madeline Myers, Jay Adana, Max Vernon, Daniel Lazour, and Patrick Lazour; and in this issue’s roundup, Debbie Bolsky,  t.tara turk-haynes, Eric Pfeffinger, Sandy Sahar Gooen, S.M. Shephard-Massat, Elizabeth Coplan, and Rona Siddiqui reveal “What Sondheim Musical Influenced You Most?”

Also in this issue, DGI and Education Director Tari Stratton honors the legacy of Sondheim’s presidency, Executive Director of Creative Affairs Emmanuel Wilson announces the launch of Young Dramatists, and Kirsten Childs explains “Why I Joined the Guild.”