This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Steven Ferezy: Take one.

[0:04] Dana Craig: Stephen and Dana and we're in the room.

[0:16] Steven Ferezy: A moment of silence.

[0:21] Dana Craig: We're just gonna do a 30-minute silent.

[0:24] Steven Ferezy: Yeah.

[0:25] Dana Craig: That's really funny.

[0:26] Steven Ferezy: I mean, come on.

[0:28] Dana Craig: A moment of levity for the man of the next 20 minutes.

[0:33] Steven Ferezy: There's nothing to say.

[0:35] Dana Craig: Well, nothing that's not been said.

[0:37] Steven Ferezy: I do not know where to go.

[0:40] Dana Craig: Oh, I mean, we have an empty palette, shall we say?

[0:45] Steven Ferezy: The canvas is open.

[0:48] Dana Craig: I am sorry.

[0:49] Steven Ferezy: I am grateful.

[0:52] Dana Craig: Are you sorry, grateful?

[0:54] Steven Ferezy: I'm sorry, slash grateful.

[0:58] Dana Craig: I think we need to propose a toast.

[1:02] Steven Ferezy: I need we we need to propose a toast.

[1:06] Dana Craig: Can we start from maybe this is the worst eulogy I've ever given?

[1:10] Steven Ferezy: No.

[1:11] Dana Craig: No.

[1:12] Steven Ferezy: I think maybe we should start from the beginning.

[1:15] Dana Craig: Where were you?

[1:18] Steven Ferezy: Where were you when you heard of Steven Sondheim, Steven?

[1:21] Dana Craig: You were a wee babe.

[1:23] Steven Ferezy: Oh, I was gonna ask you, where were you when you found out?

[1:25] Dana Craig: But where was I when I found out Steven Sondheim?

[1:28] Steven Ferezy: I was in a diaper.

[1:29] Dana Craig: I was in a date.

[1:31] Steven Ferezy: Wow.

[1:32] Dana Craig: Really classing up the joint in Thousand Oaks.

[1:35] Steven Ferezy: That was, you know, when I am as I imagine, you know, new parents are, you know, you find the video tapes.

[1:35] Dana Craig: You find the video tapes quick.

[1:45] Steven Ferezy: Yeah.

[1:46] Dana Craig: And the linen closet.

[1:48] Steven Ferezy: As soon as there was a video tape of Into the Woods that my grandmother recorded off of PBS, the American Playhouse airing.

[2:00] Dana Craig: Thank God, because I would watch that four or five, six times a day, you know, just on a loop.

[2:07] Steven Ferezy: That's what mom would put on.

[2:08] Dana Craig: Oh, it's over, let's rewind it.

[2:10] Steven Ferezy: We had a little one of those VHS rewinders that looked like a car.

[2:14] Dana Craig: You'd stick it in, close it, and it would rewind it really fast for you.

[2:19] Steven Ferezy: Real fast.

[2:19] Dana Craig: Yeah.

[2:20] Steven Ferezy: So fun.

[2:22] Dana Craig: So fun.

[2:22] Steven Ferezy: Yes.

[2:24] Dana Craig: That was Wizard of Oz for me.

[2:26] Steven Ferezy: As children, you have the repetition is key.

[2:26] Dana Craig: So mine was, you know, itch itch.

[2:29] Steven Ferezy: I want to see the itch.

[2:30] Dana Craig: Unclear if I wanted the green witch or the pink one, but I think it was the green witch.

[2:38] Steven Ferezy: Of course you did.

[2:39] Dana Craig: I wanted to see the ski one.

[2:42] Steven Ferezy: So my what what was mine?

[2:45] Dana Craig: Thanks for asking.

[2:46] Steven Ferezy: Um my first Sondheim, I came to Sondheim rather late.

[2:51] Dana Craig: I didn't grow up with Into the Woods.

[2:53] Steven Ferezy: Um, but mine I think I I was thinking about it, like the first legit.

[3:01] Dana Craig: I heard of him through the women that I loved.

[3:04] Steven Ferezy: And it wasn't through a show, it was by the songs that they sing in their concerts.

[3:23] Dana Craig: I recorded that on VHS, and I rerouted rewound that so many times.

[3:29] Steven Ferezy: Um but there was a lot of Sondheim in that concert.

[3:33] Dana Craig: Um Barbara Streisand's The Broadway album.

[3:37] Steven Ferezy: I can also probably say seventh or eighth grade was when Rosie O'Donnell told me to be into Barbara Streisand.

[3:44] Dana Craig: So this is a very formative time.

[3:48] Steven Ferezy: You know, the 1997, 1998, 99, Dana, and it's when Sondheim came into my life.

[3:55] Dana Craig: And then of course, we get it to Bette Midler, Gypsy, her television version.

[4:01] Steven Ferezy: That Gypsy is so good.

[4:04] Dana Craig: It's really well done for television version.

[4:07] Steven Ferezy: So well.

[4:09] Dana Craig: Yeah.

[4:10] Steven Ferezy: Yeah.

[4:11] Dana Craig: Uh so I think those were my top three.

[4:14] Steven Ferezy: And you know, I was being filtered Sondheim through Elaine Stritch, Barbara Streisand, and Bette Midler.

[4:19] Dana Craig: Um, and then we branch out from there.

[4:22] Steven Ferezy: I become a performer and doing my own reviews, and we did, you know, at Quizzasana, this resort I worked at.

[4:30] Dana Craig: We did a full Sondheim review every Thursday.

[4:32] Steven Ferezy: Yeah, it was the whole Sunday, uh whole Thursday was Sondheim, and so that was like, oh, all of these songs that I knew individually, pretty women because of Barbara.

[4:46] Dana Craig: Like we did that, and I was like, oh, these are from these particular musicals.

[4:52] Steven Ferezy: Um and I heard them all out of context, you understand.

[4:57] Dana Craig: I didn't realize that pretty women was a creepy song.

[5:01] Steven Ferezy: Right, right, we taught.

[5:04] Dana Craig: Uh so I kind of heard them in a in a rather I don't know how you would say it, like uh you had an appetizer sampler.

[5:16] Steven Ferezy: I did, I did.

[5:18] Dana Craig: I it wasn't Broadway-y to me, it was more of a concert given.

[5:25] Steven Ferezy: Sure, sure.

[5:26] Dana Craig: Standards, if you will, being alive.

[5:30] Steven Ferezy: Like a lot of the company songs I kind of pulled individually.

[5:34] Dana Craig: And then, you know, I got to see Company.

[5:37] Steven Ferezy: I've seen I have since seen productions.

[5:39] Dana Craig: So I saw a college production of Company.

[5:42] Steven Ferezy: I'm going to see it in January on Broadway.

[5:46] Dana Craig: You know, I've seen Merrily twice.

[5:48] Steven Ferezy: I saw one once at Pace and with you.

[5:53] Dana Craig: Yeah.

[5:53] Steven Ferezy: On Broadway.

[5:55] Dana Craig: Yeah.

[5:55] Steven Ferezy: That was an interesting version.

[5:57] Dana Craig: I tried to make a list of like the order in which his shows came to me.

[6:04] Steven Ferezy: Yeah.

[6:05] Dana Craig: The chronology as it applies to me.

[6:09] Steven Ferezy: I I'm not done with it yet.

[6:10] Dana Craig: There's there's some really sticky bits that um I can't quite sort out.

[6:19] Steven Ferezy: But I do know that, you know, Into the Woods is the genesis of it all.

[6:25] Dana Craig: And uh if there's one I know the least, it's The Frogs.

[6:32] Steven Ferezy: Oh, The Frogs, yeah.

[6:33] Dana Craig: Is there a song we we all know from The Frogs?

[6:36] Steven Ferezy: Is there a famous-ish here's what I know.

[6:42] Dana Craig: I know that The Frogs and Evening Primrose are on the same album.

[6:51] Steven Ferezy: Like they were released together.

[6:54] Dana Craig: I don't know if they are related at all.

[6:59] Steven Ferezy: I don't know if they are like two separate pieces always presented together or not.

[7:05] Dana Craig: I don't I don't know a lot about those.

[7:09] Steven Ferezy: I say I know Evening Primrose a little more because I do know um I remember.

[7:15] Dana Craig: I was gonna say now we're bringing it back.

[7:17] Steven Ferezy: I know I know I remember through Megan Mullally's album.

[7:22] Dana Craig: Another lady giving me Sondheim, thank you.

[7:25] Steven Ferezy: His women, his vessel of women.

[7:28] Dana Craig: So you though I would say those are the two or the the album or the the the Sondheim moment that that will be the most new to me as I go down my spiral.

[7:44] Steven Ferezy: Yeah.

[7:44] Dana Craig: Are you at a place right now where you're like, I guess we're gonna start unearthing the things that I don't know?

[7:52] Steven Ferezy: Like, are you excited to learn about The Frogs?

[7:54] Dana Craig: Or are you like, I don't really care.

[7:57] Steven Ferezy: I it's been weird.

[7:59] Dana Craig: Uh I've been able to listen to some things as they pop up on shuffle.

[8:05] Steven Ferezy: I haven't been able to sit down and decide like I'm going to watch Sunday.

[8:10] Dana Craig: I'm going to sit down and put on my Woods Vital.

[8:15] Steven Ferezy: I'm going to I haven't been able to do any of that yet.

[8:20] Dana Craig: But if something comes on shuffle, it's kind of a case-by-case basis.

[8:25] Steven Ferezy: Um anyone can whistle came on the other day, and that hit in a very new way that was uncomfortable to experience on a downtown A, but yeah.

[8:38] Dana Craig: Well, listeners, if you what are face masks for?

[8:41] Steven Ferezy: If you've listened to any of our episodes, um, I think you know that Steven is a huge Sondheim person.

[8:49] Dana Craig: And I am my hero.

[8:51] Steven Ferezy: This is the headline I've been dreading my entire life.

[8:53] Dana Craig: Yeah.

[8:54] Steven Ferezy: Yeah.

[8:55] Dana Craig: I've been thinking about this since I'm two.

[8:59] Steven Ferezy: Trying to prepare.

[9:02] Dana Craig: Because the only I started, you know, when you uh start laughing really hard and then it turns into like a guttural sob, and you're like, oops, where's this going?

[9:14] Steven Ferezy: Oh yeah.

[9:16] Dana Craig: That came to me when I realized that the only reason I was able to like feel the feelings and somewhat process them was because he gave me the toolbox to do so.

[9:29] Steven Ferezy: There's a song for that.

[9:32] Dana Craig: I can grieve him because he taught me how to be able to grieve him.

[9:38] Steven Ferezy: So where were you when you found out that Mr. Sondheim passed away at 91, which is nothing to sneeze at?

[9:40] Dana Craig: Nothing to sneeze at.

[9:48] Steven Ferezy: Nothing to sneeze at.

[9:49] Dana Craig: Um I'm devastated.

[9:51] Steven Ferezy: I was in Wisconsin, by the way.

[9:52] Dana Craig: I I should have been in New York.

[9:56] Steven Ferezy: I was home.

[9:57] Dana Craig: I was getting ready to go to work, and I was finding out when Natalie's text came in.

[10:09] Steven Ferezy: So I was like on the internet reading it.

[10:13] Dana Craig: And it came up Natalie Joy Johnson, and I just I knew.

[10:18] Steven Ferezy: I knew what that text was going to say.

[10:21] Dana Craig: Yeah.

[10:22] Steven Ferezy: So I just I mean, shocking.

[10:24] Dana Craig: Shocking, no.

[10:25] Steven Ferezy: He had just been at a Thanksgiving the night.

[10:28] Dana Craig: Yeah, he was celebrating.

[10:29] Steven Ferezy: I mean, he had done a reading of his new musical a couple of months ago, if that.

[10:35] Dana Craig: Uh he had just been to the Assassin's Premier the Monday.

[10:40] Steven Ferezy: He already went to the Assassin's Opening, he went to a preview of Company.

[10:43] Dana Craig: Uh, he saw Dana H.

[10:45] Steven Ferezy: Uh his last show he saw was Dana H.

[10:49] Dana Craig: I'm not mad at it.

[10:51] Steven Ferezy: I bet he loved it.

[10:52] Dana Craig: I bet he loved it.

[10:53] Steven Ferezy: I bet he loved it.

[10:55] Dana Craig: Um so yeah, and and as far as what the news is reporting is that it was it was easy and easy.

[11:03] Steven Ferezy: Uh meaning uh not painful or difficult or long.

[11:09] Dana Craig: Uh yeah.

[11:11] Steven Ferezy: And that the people he loved were there and uh that's right.

[11:18] Dana Craig: I was at a brewery in central Wisconsin.

[11:21] Steven Ferezy: Well, at least you were already drinking.

[11:24] Dana Craig: You were on your way to the theater, which is very apt.

[11:29] Steven Ferezy: I'm very glad that I've experienced a couple Sondheim things with you, one of them being Sunday in the Park with George.

[11:36] Dana Craig: Yeah, that's the thing.

[11:37] Steven Ferezy: Starring our pal Annalee.

[11:40] Dana Craig: And Panny.

[11:42] Steven Ferezy: And Panny.

[11:44] Dana Craig: And also going to see George Seurat's painting of Sunday in the Park.

[11:51] Steven Ferezy: Yeah.

[11:52] Dana Craig: In Chicago.

[11:54] Steven Ferezy: And we went to Chicago to the entire album.

[11:59] Dana Craig: But you know what?

[12:00] Steven Ferezy: Aren't you glad?

[12:02] Dana Craig: Aren't you glad?

[12:04] Steven Ferezy: So glad.

[12:05] Dana Craig: My cousin texted me.

[12:06] Steven Ferezy: We were in Paris together, and I dragged her on a Sunday afternoon to the Isle of La Grande Jatte, and we did the same thing.

[12:15] Dana Craig: And she texted me um the Sunday after he passed, and she was like, I'm sitting in Central Park thinking about that morning that you dragged me to an island half an hour from the city on a Sunday to sit and listen to a CD you've been listening to for 20 years.

[12:36] Steven Ferezy: I was like, yeah, wasn't that spectacular?

[12:39] Dana Craig: She was like, And you're welcome.

[12:42] Steven Ferezy: Yeah.

[12:42] Dana Craig: And you're welcome.

[12:45] Steven Ferezy: I'm trying to think.

[12:46] Dana Craig: I I saw A Little Night Music on Broadway.

[12:49] Steven Ferezy: What was yeah, what was your first Sondheim on Broadway?

[12:56] Dana Craig: That I think I saw I don't know, I guess that feels like a stupid question now that I've said it.

[13:01] Steven Ferezy: No, uh I saw that with Elaine Stritch with uh our pal Val.

[13:05] Dana Craig: Mm-hmm.

[13:06] Steven Ferezy: What was it?

[13:07] Dana Craig: 2000 Oh is it their first preview.

[13:11] Steven Ferezy: I don't know.

[13:12] Dana Craig: It felt like a long time ago.

[13:14] Steven Ferezy: It was a long time ago.

[13:16] Dana Craig: It was longer than 2011.

[13:17] Steven Ferezy: I think it was nine or ten.

[13:24] Dana Craig: Maybe, maybe long time.

[13:26] Steven Ferezy: But that was my first well, I saw Gypsy with Patty, I think in 2009.

[13:34] Dana Craig: So that might have been.

[13:36] Steven Ferezy: Mm-hmm.

[13:38] Dana Craig: Are we counting?

[13:39] Steven Ferezy: I mean, West Side's story I saw on Broadway with my parents.

[13:42] Dana Craig: Yeah, mine was Sunday in the park that roundabout revival.

[13:46] Steven Ferezy: I'd been in New York, you know, four months.

[13:50] Dana Craig: I was like, oh my god, Hailey Pachoon's in that.

[13:53] Steven Ferezy: Nice.

[13:54] Dana Craig: Um what else?

[13:57] Steven Ferezy: I saw Folly's opening night.

[13:59] Dana Craig: That must have been 2012.

[14:02] Steven Ferezy: I took my mom to Folly's.

[14:05] Dana Craig: That was mom's first Bernadette.

[14:09] Steven Ferezy: Yes.

[14:10] Dana Craig: That might have been my first Bernadette as well.

[14:13] Steven Ferezy: It's crazy.

[14:14] Dana Craig: I've seen so much.

[14:15] Steven Ferezy: We've seen so much theater.

[14:17] Dana Craig: So much.

[14:18] Steven Ferezy: So much.

[14:19] Dana Craig: So still blast.

[14:21] Steven Ferezy: So blast.

[14:23] Dana Craig: Oh, as far as like seeing everybody's tributes and everybody's stories, I have I have found with uh the the passing of other uh figures um that sometimes these tributes can come off as uh gauge like a like a contest like some sort of like there's an element of the social media of it all that gets applied and that's America's next best tribute.

[15:04] Steven Ferezy: I didn't know these people, like why does my uh tribute contribute.

[15:13] Dana Craig: There we go.

[15:15] Steven Ferezy: Well, I mean everyone wants to express how they feel well and that's what I've been very to have at least noticed strongly enough to take notice or um have have have grown enough over the last couple of years to finally take notice that um that wasn't the case with Sondheim, everyone was sharing their stories and their letters and their pictures and all of that stuff.

[15:47] Dana Craig: Letters, the letters, and none of it felt self-serving, none of it felt um.

[15:56] Steven Ferezy: I'm glad you said that because I feel the same way.

[15:58] Dana Craig: Like they were looking for some sort of praise for tribute paid.

[16:05] Steven Ferezy: Um I think everyone feels the weight.

[16:10] Dana Craig: I mean, it's that was very personal to everyone.

[16:13] Steven Ferezy: Yeah.

[16:14] Dana Craig: Whether they knew him, whether they worked with him, whether they were his husband.

[16:20] Steven Ferezy: That hit everyone in the gut.

[16:22] Dana Craig: Or wanted to be his husband.

[16:25] Steven Ferezy: The one that I really enjoyed reading was Mindy Kaling's tweet.

[16:30] Dana Craig: It was a four-part tweet.

[16:32] Steven Ferezy: And she had to a Sondheim fan.

[16:37] Dana Craig: Yeah.

[16:38] Steven Ferezy: It started out as she was like, I was in very small parts in high school or college.

[16:43] Dana Craig: She was in Assassins and something else.

[16:46] Steven Ferezy: And she was like, Sondheim, she's like, it felt like a small part.

[16:51] Dana Craig: It they were very small.

[16:53] Steven Ferezy: But you knew that Stephen Sondheim revered small parts.

[17:00] Dana Craig: Like, you know, they always say there are no small parts.

[17:03] Steven Ferezy: And in a Stephen Sondheim show, even those parts are very thoughtful.

[17:08] Dana Craig: Um, and then she said there was one time when he came to go see her off Broadway on the Lower East Side.

[17:15] Steven Ferezy: She is not famous.

[17:17] Dana Craig: She was doing a show that she co-wrote with a friend called Matt and Ben, where they played Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.

[17:26] Steven Ferezy: He went to go see that and met them backstage, and she was like, I I hope to be, you know, in a show of yours.

[17:33] Dana Craig: And he said, Why would you do that?

[17:36] Steven Ferezy: You should be in a show of your own.

[17:39] Dana Craig: And that is the greatest lesson she learned, which is what she is doing now.

[17:43] Steven Ferezy: She is staying true to who she is, creating her own content, doing her own thing.

[17:49] Dana Craig: It's what Oscar Hammerstein taught him.

[17:53] Steven Ferezy: It's the biggest lesson.

[17:55] Dana Craig: And I just think that is a huge, huge thing.

[17:58] Steven Ferezy: Don't do me, do you?

[18:01] Dana Craig: Children will listen.

[18:03] Steven Ferezy: Children are listening.

[18:05] Dana Craig: I'm sure he heard what she meant, but of course.

[18:11] Steven Ferezy: He's such a teacher.

[18:13] Dana Craig: Yeah.

[18:13] Steven Ferezy: He's a lifelong learner, but also a teacher, whether he likes it or not.

[18:18] Dana Craig: I always loved all of the stories about how you know insecure he was, or wanted to make sure that, you know, he always asked, Is it good enough?

[18:27] Steven Ferezy: Or how do you like this?

[18:30] Dana Craig: He wasn't cocky.

[18:32] Steven Ferezy: He wasn't like, oh, I'm Steven Sondheim.

[18:34] Dana Craig: Of course I'm gonna write the next best song.

[18:36] Steven Ferezy: Yeah, he was all from what I've heard and read he never had um.

[18:42] Dana Craig: I don't want to say it was never hard for him to do, but he wasn't known for pitching a fight when you had to cut one of your babies to serve the show.

[18:52] Steven Ferezy: Yeah.

[18:53] Dana Craig: Do you have like a top three Sondheim songs list?

[18:59] Steven Ferezy: Oh god.

[19:01] Dana Craig: Um, well last midnight is uh not just the center of the baseball, but like the center of the nucleus of the particle of the Yeah, that's inside your gun your Tootsie roll.

[19:18] Steven Ferezy: That's where so okay, so I have a a s an Into the Woods score signed by Bernadette Peters and Steven Sondheim.

[19:28] Dana Craig: Wow, Steven.

[19:32] Steven Ferezy: In case of fire.

[19:35] Dana Craig: I'm grabbing that with one hand and the cat with the other, right?

[19:40] Steven Ferezy: So inside of that score, and maybe I shouldn't put this on a podcast.

[19:45] Dana Craig: Inside of that score on the last midnight page is where I keep my birth certificate and my social security card.

[19:53] Steven Ferezy: Oh my god.

[19:57] Dana Craig: Because I know in case of fire.

[20:02] Steven Ferezy: I'm grabbing that with one hand.

[20:05] Dana Craig: And the cat with the other.

[20:07] Steven Ferezy: No, I can't pick a top three.

[20:09] Dana Craig: Go fuck yourself.

[20:10] Steven Ferezy: That's rude.

[20:12] Dana Craig: Alright.

[20:13] Steven Ferezy: But I will say that that one is probably the most sacred to me.

[20:23] Dana Craig: It's the most uh I owe it everything.

[20:27] Steven Ferezy: I would have to say probably company is my top.

[20:33] Dana Craig: That's definitely your top show.

[20:35] Steven Ferezy: That's definitely uh top show.

[20:37] Dana Craig: All of the songs I know.

[20:39] Steven Ferezy: I've seen it.

[20:42] Dana Craig: I've performed from it.

[20:44] Steven Ferezy: Mm-hmm.

[20:46] Dana Craig: Um it speaks the most to me.

[20:51] Steven Ferezy: I dig it.

[20:53] Dana Craig: What do you know the least?

[20:55] Steven Ferezy: What's your frogs?

[20:57] Dana Craig: I guess the frogs.

[20:58] Steven Ferezy: I don't know a funny thing happen on the way to the forum.

[21:03] Dana Craig: Oh really.

[21:04] Steven Ferezy: My god.

[21:05] Dana Craig: You and Wayne should go see funny thing happen on the way to the forum.

[21:10] Steven Ferezy: Where that's a Dana Wayne date.

[21:12] Dana Craig: Just down the street.

[21:13] Steven Ferezy: They're performing it in Watoma.

[21:15] Dana Craig: Yeah, I was there's gotta be some sort of uh Silvercrest dinner theater.

[21:23] Steven Ferezy: Uh Passion.

[21:24] Dana Craig: I don't know Passion.

[21:25] Steven Ferezy: Oh, that's filmed.

[21:28] Dana Craig: I I feel like I know Broadway Blind Spot Dane or Select Songs from Assassins.

[21:34] Steven Ferezy: I feel like I've heard people sing from Assassins.

[21:37] Dana Craig: Sure.

[21:39] Steven Ferezy: But uh I would like to pivot a little bit to have you had any personal experience near Sondheim, seen him in person.

[21:52] Dana Craig: Absolutely.

[21:53] Steven Ferezy: I I never I never met him.

[21:55] Dana Craig: I never got to shake his hand.

[21:58] Steven Ferezy: I never was introduced.

[22:02] Dana Craig: Um he did sign my score.

[22:04] Steven Ferezy: A friend brought it.

[22:05] Dana Craig: My friend was working on Folly's uh in 2006 or seven at uh was it City Center or Lincoln Center?

[22:13] Steven Ferezy: I think it was City Center.

[22:15] Dana Craig: Um and he brought it to work one day and got it signed while I was in town.

[22:22] Steven Ferezy: Um so that was special.

[22:24] Dana Craig: But uh first time I saw him in person was at uh Avery Fisher Hall.

[22:30] Steven Ferezy: He was, you know, talking.

[22:32] Dana Craig: Someone was interviewing him.

[22:34] Steven Ferezy: I got tickets, and I don't remember a thing about the evening except sort of where we were sitting.

[22:40] Dana Craig: We were like far house right in like a box area, and I just have like a screenshot of him on the stage and thinking, oh my god, that's him for real.

[22:55] Steven Ferezy: I've never seen anything more beautiful, and I'm going to die now.

[23:00] Dana Craig: It was like hearing him talk and knowing that I was hearing it as he was speaking and not from re-watching the American Playhouse interviews a hundred times.

[23:13] Steven Ferezy: Um so that was insane.

[23:17] Dana Craig: Fast forward to opening night of the Sunday in the Park revival.

[23:24] Steven Ferezy: Um I had seen him, you know, in things between this period.

[23:30] Dana Craig: But uh I was seated just a few seats to his right in the same row uh for opening night of Sunday in the Park.

[23:40] Steven Ferezy: Which was nice.

[23:42] Dana Craig: Uh it meant I got to, because I knew I was going to Sunday in the Park a lot.

[23:47] Steven Ferezy: I was I was around there a lot with Penny.

[23:50] Dana Craig: Um so it gave me permission to take my eyes off the show and watch him watch my favorite parts and watch him watch my best friend sing that song on Broadway and weep and do his wide clap.

[24:13] Steven Ferezy: And I got to watch Sondheim experience Sondheim.

[24:18] Dana Craig: Um, like as an audience member, I like I you hear that a lot that he's such a good audience member of his own shows.

[24:26] Steven Ferezy: He he can do that.

[24:27] Dana Craig: A lot of people can't do that, or actors who have originated parts have a hard time going to see other productions because not that what's happening is bad, or it's just different, and your brain is so trained in the other way that it's just it's too hard.

[24:46] Steven Ferezy: So I can sort of wrap my head around that.

[24:49] Dana Craig: But he he did not have that.

[24:50] Steven Ferezy: He loved showing up and seeing supporting the people doing his work.

[24:57] Dana Craig: Um so I love that.

[25:00] Steven Ferezy: That was very special.

[25:00] Dana Craig: And then afterwards I was waiting in the lobby for Penny with a glass of champagne, and we locked eyes as he was walking into the bathroom.

[25:09] Steven Ferezy: And I knew in that moment I had a decision to make.

[25:12] Dana Craig: Do I have to pee or do I not have to pee?

[25:17] Steven Ferezy: How badly do I need to?

[25:19] Dana Craig: And at that very moment, at that very moment, Outwalks Penny Fuller with the timing.

[25:27] Steven Ferezy: Only Penny Fuller can have.

[25:31] Dana Craig: So I did not have to pee.

[25:39] Steven Ferezy: But it was it was very cool to just be in the same space as him, whether you were in the last seat of the last balcony watching him at Lincoln Center, or you know, four feet away from him in a lobby.

[25:57] Dana Craig: We had that experience at the God.

[26:00] Steven Ferezy: It was like watching the waters part.

[26:04] Dana Craig: It was just everything disappeared, and there's this light.

[26:10] Dana Craig: Um I had well, this is before this happened, but in 2014, I saw him speak at the New Yorker festival downtown, and it was at one of the theaters, and I wrote about it in a blog that I used to have, and I'm so glad I did because I read it back today, and I remembered that he was so funny during that.

[26:41] Dana Craig: Um he had they were doing kind of a QA with one of the moderators, and there were people kind of on the side for about 10 minutes. They were a little PAs or something, and you know, the audience could see them, but Steven had his back to them and we're like, what's going on? And we thought it was like because the mic was touching his beard as he spoke, so it was kind of doing a as he was speaking. And nobody wanted to be the PA to go on stage and be like, son, I'll do it. Excuse me, God. Excuse me, sir. Yeah. I'm just gonna adjust this here real quick. Okay, you're good. We weren't sure how Steven would react to being interrupted. When told what they were going to do, he replied, I can take the beard off, as only a professional live theater god would.

[27:41] Dana Craig: Sun time, you funny, and thank you because now we are at ease. Once the mic was all better and reset, he proceeded to mime, speaking loudly as if the new mic didn't work, and we couldn't hear him. Brilliant. Um amazing. So he had a sense of humor about himself. He loved his friends, he loved having a good time. Kathina Jimmy's. He loves smoking joints. Yes. Yes. Kathina Jim Jimmy had posted something about carpool karaoke with uh Steven in the passenger seat and her husband driving and singing one of his songs. Like, oh, you're a good hang. You're a good hang.

[28:34] Dana Craig: The last time I saw Steven Sondheim was at Hal Prince's Memorial. Oh, yes. That was a good one. And he spoke. He spoke about Hal Prince and was that 2019. Mm-hmm. Yeah. December. Mm-hmm. Speaking of Hal Prince, I worked on a documentary film called Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened. And that was about Marilee. And Steven Sondheim was in it. We interviewed him, and Hal was obviously in it, and they talked about their collaboration on that and previous collaborations. But it was it was a great thing to be part of something, you know, a little part of his life that people like to watch. You know, it's on Netflix. Yeah. And it's it's really good. To be a part of a Sondheim hit in a different. Sondheim. It's a hit. You know, it's it and that's a hit about a flop, if you will, which he did not like calling it a flop, but I'm just using it for um the word of it. Marketing purposes.

[29:51] Dana Craig: The marketing purposes. A hit about a flop. But if you haven't seen it, check it out. I'm very um, I don't want to say excited, because certainly I'd rather him live forever, but um, I'm excited for all the things that happen after a beloved, beloved figure passes away. I am excited for the documentary. I am excited for the biography. Um not that there aren't already books and biographies, but um, you know, an updated one. Um I'm excited again, the teacher in him. The teacher in him leads me to believe that, you know, what what is left of his work, his archives, his the things we haven't heard, the unreleased, the whatever. I everything in my gut tells me that he would want that somehow shared, you know, yeah, controlled as it may be.

[31:02] Dana Craig: Uh so I think he is gonna give us more to see and his work. I think this is important to note as well. I think it was don't remember. A lot of people have said it that, you know, his work isn't going anywhere. You know, to to to be to feel sad that we won't get any more is selfish. He has given us so much, and that's not going to be. Children in art. Children in art. It's not going anywhere. He will forever be teaching us new things. He had been working a lot with David Ives the past year. Yeah, they had just done that reading with Nathan Lane and Bernadette. Who knows how done it was? Who knows how solid it was? Who knows? Um listen, a prince album just came out this year. And he died in 2016. So there's unearthing to be done. He didn't write letters to not be seen. He knows people are gonna show them around. I hope something is done with them, or there's gotta be a way.

[32:11] Dana Craig: Man, we just had to talk this out. We haven't really chatted since then. There's so much more to learn. There's so much more to see. He should be very proud of what he left. And he was the inspiration runs wild. You have no idea who is inspi inspired by him. Mindy Kaling. Who knew? Who knew? Desperate Housewives episodes. All Steven's. There would be no real housewives without Steven Sondheim. It's just unending. Truly. It's it's he's everywhere. He's everywhere. There he is. There he is. There he is. There he is. Sondheim is everywhere. We must have loved him so much.

[33:01] Steven Ferezy: We must have.

[33:07] Dana Craig: Hmm. Aw, Steve. Hey, Miss. Well, I love you. We were around when he was. What a gift. What a gift. That we got to share not just time in that we were on Earth at the same time, but that we, Steven and Dana, got to spend so much time that up close and to him. Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh, wait, wait. We can't end this podcast without me re kind of retelling. I've I think I've retold it on one of our podcasts. But I have received two calls from Steven Sondheim on my cell phone. And they were from Unknown. So he taught me to always answer an unknown number, because it could always be Steven Sondheim. And they were really fun, very casual. Hey, hey, it's Steve. Is this Dana? Yes. Yes. Yes. I fell to the floor.

I was doing laundry. I was in my face. I have a picture of you on the floor. There's a picture. I took one. I was just like, this can't be happening. Hi, this is Steve Sondheim. And this is when we'd be so afraid of hanging up on him if I took a picture while I was on the phone with you. No, no, no. That was a good one. It was out. It was in the aftermath.

[34:38] Dana Craig: Oh, got it. Yeah. Hang up picture. He called again. Okay, anyway. So he called the first time. Hi, this is Steve Sondheim. Uh Dana. Yes. Yes. Yes. What would you like? Uh we had been preparing. No, let me transfer you. Send him to me. We had been preparing for the premiere of Best Worst Thing That Ever Could have Happened at the New York Film Festival. And he was supposed to come and be on stage, and we were gonna do a QA uh between him and our director Lonnie Price. And I was supposed to kind of coordinate his travel. Okay. I'll tell you where to be, where to be, and how to- I remember it kept it kept affecting the time I was supposed to show up and meet you. Exactly. So he's like, I'm supp uh the uh it was about a car.

You know, what time is my car gonna come and pick me up? And he was he was like, Okay, okay, that sounds good. Uh I'm at this address, and we can it was very kind of quick. All right, we get it figured out. He's like, Okay, see you soon. Bye-bye. Hang up. I panic. Two minutes later, he calls again, again, unknown number. I answer, hi, this is Steve, again. So my pal, David Ives, would like to come. Uh, could I get a ticket for him? And I said, sure thing. And he's like, okay, well, do you know what he looks like? I was like, that's a great question, first of all. And I said, Who would play him in a movie, Steve? I said, I'll Google him. And he said, What? And I said, I'll Google him. And he tossed his head back.

I could hear it, toss back and chortle. Ha ha ha ha. Google. Very good, very good. Hilarious. And that was it. That was it. You'll Google him. And it got so he thought it was so funny that when David Ives picked up his ticket from me at wherever we had our film premiere, Avery Fisher Hall. Um David Ives said, Steve said you Googled me. I I absolutely did. That's how I know. To give this ticket to you, Mr. Ives. So when I watched TikTok boom and I heard that voicemail, I was like, that is absolutely Steve Sondheim. That is legit Sondheim phone voice. Um quest. No question. But he's a he was a cool cat. Cool cat. We love you, Mr. Sondheim. Thank you for grieving with me.

[37:39] Steven Ferezy: Yeah. Anytime.

[37:42] Dana Craig: Bye.

[37:46] Steven Ferezy: Bye, bye, bye.

[37:50] Dana Craig: Bye.

[37:52] Steven Ferezy: Bye-bye.

[37:58] Dana Craig: Bye-bye.

[38:05] Steven Ferezy: Kim, we are so done. In the room with Steven and Dana is produced by Steven Ferezy.

[38:11] Dana Craig: And Dana Craig. Special thanks to Joel Wagoner for tinkling the ivories on our theme song. Hit him up at Joel Wagoner.com. We apologize, and you're welcome. We'd also like to thank Jesse Wiener, W I E-N-E-R, for our jazzy original music sprinkled throughout each episode. You can find him at jessewiener.com. Last but certainly not least, we'd like to thank Kevin Thomas Garcia for taking all of our ridiculous photos. You can find him online at ktgnyc.com. We are all over the internet on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at InTheRoom Pod. Follow us, like us, share us, pant us out. And don't forget to subscribe to In the Room Podcast. We everywhere, so subscribe. And thank you so much for listening. Thank you so much.