The tumultuous life of Stephen Sondheim

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Find out on Shortwave, the science podcast from NPR. This is Fresh Air. I'm Terry Gross. Stephen Sondheim once described himself as an austere revolutionary. His musicals, the music, the lyrics, the stories, were both more complex and more subtle than their predecessors.

After Alan J. Lerner, who wrote the lyrics for My Fair Lady, Brigadoon, and Camelot, saw Sondheim's groundbreaking 1970 musical Company, he broke into tears and told his wife, My way of writing musicals is over. It's no exaggeration to say Sondheim was a genius. Geniuses are often complicated people, with complicated personalities, and Sondheim was no exception. Perhaps the most difficult relationship in his life was with his mother, who could be cold and even verbally cruel.

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