Stephen Sondheim Reveals the Title of His New Musical on Colbert

The 91-year-old composer also discussed the Broadway revival of ”Company”, Steven Spielberg’s ”West Side Story”, and James Lapine’s new book about ”Sunday in the Park With George”.

Stephen Sondheim has been keeping busy during the pandemic. The celebrated American composer went on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert last night to discuss his creative output, revealing that he and David Ives are working on a new musical called Square One.

"We had a reading of it last week and we were encouraged," Sondheim said nonchalantly, neglecting to mention that the reading starred Bernadette Peters and Nathan Lane. "With any luck, we'll get it on next season."

Sondheim had been collaborating with Ives on a musical based on the work of Spanish surrealist director Luis Buñuel, but reports earlier this year indicated that this project had been scrapped. It was unclear whether Square One (which Sondheim noted he and Ives had been working on for several years) was a continuation of the Buñuel project, or an entirely different one.

Sondheim also discussed the mentorship of Oscar Hammerstein II, James Lapine's new book, Marianne Elliott's Broadway revival of Company, and Steven Spielberg's remake of West Side Story.

You can watch the full interview here: