Terry Gross

Time for me to get some food.

So since we're talking about Broadway, let's talk about your production of Merrily We Roll Along, a Stephen Sondheim musical.

It covers a 20 year period and you are shooting it over the course of 20 years.

The central relationships in the movie or in the show, I should say, are about a songwriter and a lyricist.

who split apart and they both have their resentments involved with that.

And one of them is more commercial and famous, but unhappy.

And the other one is doing more independent, non-commercial work in theater, but is so heartbroken that he's not working as a lyricist with his former songwriting partner.

And then there's a woman who's the same age and she is a writer and initially writes the stories for their lyrics.

And it's told in reverse chronological order.

So you're shooting it in chronological order and your actors are going to age 20 years over the course of the making of this movie because you're going to shoot it like you did Boyhood over the same period of time that the movie covers.

Can I say, congratulations, you're crazy.

I can't wait to see it.

I should live so long.

But like, what kind of commitment is that?

How old are you going to be when it's over?

It's the same thing.

I know.

Do you want to describe that scene?

But the young Sondheim as portrayed in your film is such a kind of nerdy kid.

And so Hart says, what do you think of my lyrics?