Daniel Okrent

One was now a musical success.

The other was now somebody who was having a very hard time holding things together musically and in many other aspects of his life.

It was Sweeney Todd, of which he said about Sweeney Todd, he said, the music made me want to throw up in my galoshes.

But with Sweeney, I think, Terry, there's misperception.

I don't think what he said, it makes me want to throw up on my galoshes, he was commenting...

On the music, I think he was commenting to some degree on the subject matter, but mostly on his envy for Steve's success.

I think it was killing him that Steve was having success doing something that he could no longer do.

Yeah, it's an amazing piece of work.

And of course, that theme returns throughout the show behind other songs for different purposes.

But it haunts the show.

He said harmony was everything.

If you don't have the harmony, forget about the rest of it.

And so he would sit at the keyboard and he would just noodle around with his fingers and he would find these harmonies everywhere.

that seemed to fit the theme, the subject matter, and most importantly, the character who was singing the song.

Pacific Overtures is set in the middle of the 19th century.

Think of this as an idea for a Broadway musical.

Let's do a Broadway musical about the opening of Japan to Western commerce in the 1850s.

I mean, it sounds ridiculous for a musical.

I happen to love the show tremendously.

It may be my favorite of all the Sondheim shows.