Michael Ball Quotes

I think Stephen Sondheim is a - and I hardly ever use this word - but this is as close as it gets to a genius.

When I was old enough to take myself into the city, in the 1970s, I really grew up on all the great Sondheim-Hal Prince shows.

Sondheim is my god; I love the man. I learned a great deal about writing from his work, his lyrics, and his structure.

I was about seven or eight years old when I first heard West Side Story, and it had a huge impact on me. If you look at the elements of that record, it contains many of the things I enjoy doing today.

Stephen Sondheim I am in awe of.

I think the thing's that perhaps sad really is that younger people haven't come in and I think it must have been absolutely fantastic to have worked in the 50's when you had all of the great Broadway composers and when West Side Story didn't win the Tony Award.

Tom Kitt aside - he's in his own category with me, of course - Stephen Sondheim is one of my all-time favorite composers.

Sondheim is New York.

'West Side Story' is one of the greatest theatrical experiences I've had.

I actually love 'West Side Story.' I think it's an amazing film to watch.

Ira Gershwin, shame on him. I mean, some of the writing.

My parents were what I like to call proper musical fans. Lots of Sondheim was played in the car.

I'm a devotee of Stephen Sondheim. I think he's a genius.

I think one of my favorite productions ever was Sondheim's 'Assassins' at the Roundabout in 2004. Beyond brilliant.

I feel very fortunate to have been associated with people such as Rodgers and Hammerstein. I think they were geniuses of their time.

'Sweeney Todd' is my favorite Sondheim musical.

Sondheim is the Shakespeare of the musical theater world.

Oh yes, I've been approached to do all sorts of nonsense. How about a remake of 'West Side Story?'

I'm not really a big musical fan. I enjoyed 'West Side Story' when it came out, but it gets a bit tired in the end.

I'm an obsessive musical theatre person, so some of the most formative albums for me were, you know, the 'Phantom Of The Opera' soundtrack or 'Into The Woods.'

It's kind of wild and wonderful that 'West Side Story' continues to have a life after all these years. And when you see young people who are really engrossed by this film, that's so beautiful.

I remember seeing 'Falsettos' on the Tonys in '92 and being like, 'What the hell was that show?'

Hollywood has always seen Sondheim as a caviar brand unsuitable for a popcorn industry.

It may sound amazing to people today, but Rodgers and Hammerstein were considered by - how can I put it? - the sort of opinion-making tastemakers and everything to be 'off the scale as sentimental.'

In America, at the beginning of talkies, they pulled Fred Astaire from the theaters and put him on the screen and had all of these great composers write songs for him. They call it the Great American Songbook; I call it the Fred Astaire Songbook because they were written for him.