Sondheim teaches 'My Friends' from Sweeney Todd

Listening to Stephen Sondheim talk about his music is like listening to God explain the creation of the universe

I love that look Sondheim gets when they're doing everything right. Where his eyes start to sparkle and he lifts his head up and he looks so proud, its really great seeing an artists work come to life.

Ok when he started talking about how he purposely filled the lyrics with S’s to get that whisper quality and then had it open up later I got chills how do you think of a detail like that and have such a specific constraint and still have the lyrics fit and flow perfectly just amazing

"Don't be afraid of overacting" is quite an elegant way of saying "c'mon man, show some emotion, for God's sake"!

"Make love to the razor" its great to see Sondheim again

One can actually see how the actor improves right before ones eyes...Genius!

Sondheim deconstructing his work line by line...I could listen to him all day. Genius. Thanks for sharing. ;)

That guy must have been shitting his pants. Stephen Sondheim was really patient with him though 

How incredibly valuable as a teaching resource, and also hear Sondheim's passion for his work, how clever the phrasing is, using the sibilance for the mania and whispering, opening into the vowel, creating the feel. Amazing to watch how the performance grows and the character emerges through direction. How very nervous those students must have felt, and how gracious Sondheim is with them.

I absolutely love how Sondheim doesn’t need to take any pauses to think. He knows precisely what to say at all times.

It's cool because the actress playing Ms. Lovett originated the role of Cinderella in the original West End production of Into the Woods.

"Make love to the razor."

Jacqui is absolutely wonderful in this scene. Even though she is not the primary singer here, she is completely immersed in the circumstances and is listening to Todd, trying to find a way into his heart. When she finally sings, she continuously tries different tactics to reach him, and her desperation increases, as each one of those tactics fails. It's just wonderful to watch.

The detail of Sondheim's thinking about what he wants each word to convey is absolutely astounding...

I love that Sondheim never makes them feel inadequate because they couldn't get it at first. It's as if he's showing a song for the first time and is enjoying it as much as them!

I am reading the comments on here, and I hope people keep in mind this is a master class, and these are young university students, so please keep that in mind before the snarky comments...they are not professionals.  This is a learning class.

That's MY friend! The great Bryan Torfeh, back when he was just starting his brilliant career. He's only gotten better since this video.

Sondheim's face at the end is just one of "god this never get's old"

I love Sondheims story (not in this video) about when he, as a high school student, asked Oscar Hammerstein his opinion of a Musical Sondheim had just written. He was expecting profuse praise but Hammerstein told him it was the WORST thing he had ever read ... BUT, if Sondheim wanted him to, Hammerstein would explain to him everything that what was wrong with it. He proceeded to spend the rest of the day doing just that and Sondheim said he learned more about writing songs, and Broadway in general, that day than most learn in a lifetime.

Kudos to the pianist... Bravo!