Six by Sondheim: Season 1

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Universal acclaim based on 12 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Ratings

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7.3

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7.3	Your Score
7.3	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Ratings

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Season Details & Credits

HBO | Season Premiere Date: December 9, 2013

Summary: Newly filmed performances from Darren Criss, Jarvis Cocker, America Ferrera, Jackie Hoffman, Jeremy Jordan, Audra McDonald, Laura Osnes, and Will Swenson, are featured in the documentary directed by James Lapine that focuses on six of Stephen Sondheim's songs: "I’m Still Here" from The Follies, “Something’s Coming” from West Side Story;Newly filmed performances from Darren Criss, Jarvis Cocker, America Ferrera, Jackie Hoffman, Jeremy Jordan, Audra McDonald, Laura Osnes, and Will Swenson, are featured in the documentary directed by James Lapine that focuses on six of Stephen Sondheim's songs: "I’m Still Here" from The Follies, “Something’s Coming” from West Side Story; “Opening Doors” from Merrily We Roll Along; “Send in the Clowns” from A Little Night Music; “Being Alive” from Company; and “Sunday” from Sunday in the Park with George.… Expand

Genre(s): Movie/Mini-Series, News/Documentary, Documentary, Music

Season 1 Episodes

tbd
S1:E1. Six by Sondheim
Air Date: December 9, 2013

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Matt Zoller Seitz

Dec 9, 2013

This is one of the best movies about the artistic process I've seen--a film that can engross and illuminate even if you know nothing of Sondheim. Read full review

100

Linda Winer

Dec 9, 2013

Riveting, important and lots of fun. Read full review

100

David Wiegand

Dec 9, 2013

Lapine's direction is almost the star of Six by Sondheim. Not only has he used the six songs to illuminate the composer's life, he organizes years and years of interviews as if they are an ongoing conversation--which, in many ways, they are. They are the monograph of the life and art of a singular man, perfectly assembled, bit by bit, piece by piece. Read full review

Emily Nussbaum

Dec 3, 2013

Sondheim’s frequent collaborator James Lapine directs, and he does an excellent job of stitching together interviews from more than four decades, including ones with Mike Douglas and Diane Sawyer, to form a portrait of the composer as both a young and an old man. Read full review

Nancy DeWolf Smith

Dec 5, 2013

Despite the music in James Lapine's documentary, Six By Sondheim, it is archival clips of Mr. Sondheim describing how he writes that make the film a treasure. Read full review

David Rooney

Dec 3, 2013

To longtime fans, much of this material and many of the anecdotes will be familiar. But folded together in this wide-ranging assembly they make for an emotional appreciation of a singular artist. Read full review

David Hinckley

Dec 9, 2013

Sondheim comes off as distant and a bit cool here, reluctant to make eye contact and often speaking with a professorial air even when he’s talking about himself. But what most people want in Sondheim isn’t a drinking buddy. It’s a musical composer, and in that he qualifies on all counts. Read full review

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User Reviews

DmitryPortnoy

Dec 10, 2013

The best thing I've seen on TV all year: propulsive pace, lapidary editing, brand-new and period performances that kill, and best of all, Sondheim himself: a brilliant, self-knowing raconteur, blazing with both attitude and gratitude.

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DirkV

Dec 11, 2013

I am not a musical theater buff, far from it. But i thought the Sondheim show was one of the best things I've seen on TV in a long time. It was an amazingly well edited collection (the editor deserves ad Emmy) of clips from 30+ talk show appearances over 40 years. There were so many greatI am not a musical theater buff, far from it. But i thought the Sondheim show was one of the best things I've seen on TV in a long time. It was an amazingly well edited collection (the editor deserves ad Emmy) of clips from 30+ talk show appearances over 40 years. There were so many great explanations of how to write, how to be creative, how to think about the creative process, that the show transcended musical theater. Even if you know a lot about Sondheim, this show will make you think about more. Please do find it and watch it.… Expand

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Seasons & Episodes

85

Series Overview
Season 1

85
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: December 9, 2013
- tbd
  S1:E1. Six by Sondheim
  Air Date: December 9, 2013