After his acclaimed and best-selling Finishing the Hat
(named one of the New York Times 10 Best Books of 2010),
Stephen Sondheim returns with the second volume of his
collected lyrics, Look, I Made a Hat, giving us another
remarkable glimpse into the brilliant mind of this living
legend, and his life’s work.
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 over the years—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.