Sondheim Disses Streisand To Laurents
Barbra Streisand, who has long terrified the residents of South Park (see video), also apparently once terrified Stephen Sondheim. Michael Riedel reports today on the Sondheim/Arthur Laurents correspondence, now housed at the Library of Congress. Sondheim crafted a Jan. 25, 1968, letter in the style of a newspaper gossip column. Riedel writes: “The juiciest entry is his assessment of Streisand’s performance at a Broadway for Peace Benefit. (This was at the height of the Vietnam War.) Streisand sang a song called ‘So Pretty’ by Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green. Sondheim didn’t think much of the number. He told Laurents it would likely prolong the war for years.” Another chance to disapprove! Another vodka stinger!
