Full disclosure: I cried for days when I found out Steven Sondheim had died. And one of my illogical regrets at the time was that I'd read this superlative oral history several weeks prior, because it was the perfect book to read to celebrate his brilliance and his legacy. (It's alright, I'm sure to revisit this book in years to come. It's definitely one for the keeper shelf.)

The book was actually "written" by James Lapine, but it was really more a matter of shaping the narrative. It was very much a collective effort. Dozens of people involved with the original production of Sunday in the Park with George were interviewed, and they were refreshingly candid. For instance, Mandy Patinkin was not shy about telling Lapine to his face how much he'd disliked him at the time. Lapine does a terrific job of including people from all different aspects of the production, giving the broad view this Pulitzer Prize-winning drama deserves.

Sunday in the Park with George is a brilliant piece of theater, one that I've been pretty intimately familiar with for decades. But it turns out that I didn't know anything about the drama of it's creation. I was riveted to this history from the first page to the last. It's worth noting that the audiobook is read by an entire cast of actors, which works exceptionally well with the oral history format. If you, too, cried over the loss of Steven Sondheim, this is the book for you--and this is the time to read it!

As a former theatre major and someone who hasn’t worked on a show in a decade, this was a wonderful way to connect with the drama of that world.

It was wonderful hearing from all the different perspectives of putting the show together from page to stage.

So much drama on and off stage. Loved it!

I listened to the audiobook and while the narration was fine I would have much preferred hearing from the actual folks who were featured in the interviews rather than the voice actors.

***Thank you to RB Media/Recorded Books and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced audiobook copy for an honest review.

A must read for Broadway fans. This book is presented in interview form, so it’s helpful in the audiobook that there is a cast rather than a single narrator. That said, it is a bit jarring to have a voice actor reading the portions for one of the well known actors who have very different voices. I suspect I would enjoy this book equally in either form - written or audio - but this was a great audio option while traveling. Thank you to NetGalley for providing me a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great book for Broadway lovers. Even if you by chance you have not seen or heard about "Sunday in the Park with George" in its first incarnation starring Mandy Patinkin, you may have heard about a recent revival with Jake Gyllenhaal. But the musical was created by 2 men and this book is written by one who shares something about his own life and then focuses directly on this experience.

For detail-oriented folks, you will be amazed at the in-depth interviews conducted and the memories shared. A very well-done audio book!

Theater buffs, acting students and budding playwrights will love this delicious masterclass on creating a Broadway musical.

I grew up with Sunday In The Park With George, so this was just a treat.

These witty pages author/creator Lapine shares the blood, sweat and tears shed in the creation of the Pulitzer Prize winning musical. If you love theater you will not be able to put this book down. Bravo.

Thank you to Netgally and Farrar, Straus and Giroux Publishing for providing me with an arc of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
I really wanted to read this book because I have a love for musical theater from the performance perspective but I also really enjoy a lot of the behind the scenes and development process. I think its important to note that a huge part of why I enjoyed this book is because I find the subject matter interesting.
I found the first couple of chapters a bit boring and self- indulgent.so it did take me a little while to get into it and once the book gets into the actual process for Sunday in the Park it gets much better and only gets better as the book progresses. Even he interviews which I found a bit cringey in the beginning got better as the book progressed.
I appreciate that the author goes into extensive detail with the things that "weren't working" and the rough road of the musical's origin's. Being on the younger side means that I really only know this musical as a "master piece" and a success. I think it's super interesting hearing about how it wasn't always viewed that way. It's also super interesting when it's put into he context of being after the "failure" of Merrily and before my favorite Sondheim musical, Into the Woods.
I listed to the audiobook and I am a bit torn about recommending it. On the one hand the fact that I was listening to the audiobook helped with getting through the beginning of the book and I feel I might have DNFed early if I wasn't listening to the audiobook. On the other hand there are a lot of interview sections which I found very strange to listen to. It was like listening to a documentary that is entirely reenactments. These interviews are being conducted with people whose voices I know but the audiobook has different voice actors (I get it, I wouldn't expect Bernadette Petters to come in to voice her interviews) so it just feels a little weird and off. In general, I found the interview sections a bit weird in terms of their style and the mismatched voices didn't help.

If you are a musical fan, this book is pure gold. James Lapine describes his journey to writing musicals, the most famous of which is obviously Sunday in the Park with George. The audiobook is an absolute gift. Read by the author, the stories are given personal weight and George Sondheim himself reads his portions of the dialogue describing their collaboration. We also hear about Bernadette Peters and Mandy Patinkin and their thoughts on Sunday and Lapine and Sondheim. This book has laughs and a lot of learning moments. I absolutely love it.