Stephen Sondheim finding a real synthesis. A good deal of pop music has interesting lyrics, but they are not theater lyrics". A musical-theatre composer "must have a sense of what is theatrical, of how you use music to tell a story, as opposed to writing a song. Jonathan understood that instinctively." Around 2008, Sondheim approached Lin-Manuel Miranda to work with him translating "West Side Story" lyrics into Spanish for an upcoming Broadway revival. Miranda then approached Sondheim with his new project "Hamilton", then called "The Hamilton Mixtape", which Sondheim gave notes on. Sondheim was originally wary of the project saying he was
Stephen Sondheim could say." When he walked away from the house that evening, Sondheim remembered a sad, sinking feeling that they had said their final goodbye. He never saw his mentor again; three days later, Hammerstein died of stomach cancer and Hammerstein's protégé eulogized him at his funeral. The first musical for which Sondheim wrote the music and lyrics was "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum", which opened in 1962 and ran for 964 performances. The book, based on farces by Plautus, was written by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart. Sondheim's score was not well received; although the