A new pocket-sized hardback selection of lyrics from Stephen Sondheim will be published by Alfred A. Knopf, publisher of Sondheim's two-volume complete lyric collection, released in 2010 and 2012.
Sondheim: Lyrics, due March 3, 2020, will feature some of Sondheim's most beloved and memorable lyrics, from such musicals as West Side Story, Gypsy, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, and Into the Woods. The selections have been chosen by editor Peter Gethers.
The release coincides with Sondheim's 90th birthday, which he will celebrate March 22. It is the latest in Knopf's Pocket Poets series, which has published works by such artists as Leonard Cohen, Alexander Pope, and Rumi.
Sondheim, an eight-time Tony Award recipient, is currently represented on Broadway with a new revival of West Side Story, the composer-lyricist's debut professional work. Sondheim wrote just lyrics to West Side Story and Gypsy before writing both music and lyrics for a string of Broadway favorites, beginning with 1962's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. His 1970 musical Company will be revived on Broadway this spring in a new production that switches the gender of its leading character, helmed by Marianne Elliott.
