Reading Stephen Sondheim: A Collection of Critical Essays. Edited by Sandor Goodhart. New York: Garland Publishing, 2000; pp. 280. $24.95 paperback; Stephen Sondheim: A Casebook. Edited by Joanne Gordon. New York: Garland Publishing, 1997/2000; pp. 272. $24.95 paperback.

Extract

In Reading Stephen Sondheim: A Collection of Critical Essays, editor Sandor Goodhart interrogates an incongruity between Stephen Sondheim's reputation as one of the most important artists of the musical stage and the simultaneous paucity of serious academic attention to his work. Two recent collections from Garland Publishing, Joanne Gordon's Stephen Sondheim: A Casebook and Goodhart's own Reading Stephen Sondheim, attempt to illuminate Sondheim's works by examining them through a wide array of critical lenses. Gordon, an acclaimed Los Angeles stage director and accomplished scholar, includes fourteen essays by directors, acting coaches, designers, and scholars in her book (an eclectic collection oriented toward theatrical practice). Goodhart's volume presents an assortment of literary studies representing current trends in critical theory.