Tonight, tonight, won't be just any night. Tonight there will be no morning star.
Stephen SondheimRead
Musicals are — particularly musicals — plays also, but musicals particularly are… the last collaborator is your audience, and so you’ve got to wait ’til the last collaborator comes in before you can complete the collaboration.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The audience plays a crucial role in the completion of a musical, as their response shapes the final performance.
In this quote, Stephen Sondheim emphasizes the unique collaborative nature of musicals, highlighting that while they involve the work of writers, composers, and actors, the audience's reception is vital to the overall experience. The last collaborator, the audience, completes the artistic process, as their emotional responses and interactions ultimately influence how the work is perceived and enjoyed.
Themes
MusicalsAudienceCollaborationArtPerformance
In practice
Example use cases
During a theater critique session, one might say Sondheim's quote to emphasize the importance of audience engagement.
More from Stephen Sondheim
All quotes →After the Rodgers and Hammerstein revolution, songs became part of the story, as opposed to just entertainments in between comedy scenes.
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Let Pirelli's / Miracle Elixir / Activate your roots, sir... Keep it off your boots, sir- / Eats right through. Yes, get Pirelli's! / Use a bottle of it! / Ladies seem to love it... Flies do, too!
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Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos.
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Careful the spell you cast, not just on children. Sometimes the spell may last Past what you can see And turn against you... Careful the tale you tell. That is the spell.
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