Richard Schoch
richardschoch.bsky.social
Richard Schoch
@richardschoch.bsky.social
🏳️‍🌈Prof of Drama, Queen’s University Belfast: Author, HOW SONDHEIM CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE (Atria 🇺🇸, Ebury 🇬🇧) Rep’d by Inkwell Management
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Happy birthday, Stephen Sondheim! To mark the 95th anniversary of his birth I’m sharing the opening chapters of HOW SONDHEIM CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE—free for all to read. 📚📚 Link 👇 #sondheim

www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/hjint...
Reposted by Richard Schoch
New today! We speak to the brilliant Joel Fram, music director for Maria Friedman’s MERRILY and Marianne Elliott’s COMPANY. 🎈

Joel shares so many great stories of these two landmark productions & working closely with Sondheim:

thesondheimhub.substack.com/p/a-conversa...
A Conversation with Joel Fram
Music director for Maria Friedman's Merrily & Marianne Elliott's Company
thesondheimhub.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Reposted by Richard Schoch
We're celebrating #OAWeek!

@awinkler90.bsky.social & @richardschoch.bsky.social 'Shakespeare in the Theatre: Sir William Davenant and the Duke’s Company' is available to read open access via Bloomsbury Collections: https://bit.ly/3C1PrrL
October 23, 2025 at 10:55 AM
Reposted by Richard Schoch
Forty-two years ago tonight, Michael Bennett and 332 dancers made history as A Chorus Line became the longest-running show in Broadway history.
A Chorus Line - Broadway 3,389th performance finale
On Sept. 29, 1983, A Chorus Line became the longest running show in Broadway history. (It has since been surpassed by Les Misèrables, Cats, and Phantom of the Opera). For the record-breaking performance, director Michael Bennett assembled over 300 current and former cast members and created an unforgettable evening of theatre, where the actors from various companies of the show tag-teamed the entire performance, starting with the then-current cast in the opening number. The original cast (minus Pam Blair) stepped in for the "names" section, several Cassies joined Donna McKecknie for the Cassie dance, there were numerous Pauls for the Paul monologue, the "alternative scene" ("What would you do if you couldn't dance any more?") was performed in multiple languages representing the many international companies of the show, and the evening concluded in this incredible finale, with hundreds of Chorus Line alums filling the Shubert Theatre with "One" amazing singular sensation. (The stage had to be reinforced to support them all.) [This portion was televised as part of a program called "Live and In Person". Though I was one of the ACL cast members that appear here, I do not claim rights or ownership. It is presented here for your enjoyment as part of history.]
m.youtube.com
September 29, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Thanks @playwrightnow.bsky.social I’m so glad that you enjoyed HOW SONDHEIM CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE @atriabooks.bsky.social #sondheim #musicals #broadway
My huge fave for a recent theatre book. Among other things, @richardschoch.bsky.social analyzes how the music of a Sondheim show informs the literary content. Listen to the audiobook, then jump to streaming to listen to the show.

My following is small. Please repost.
#theatre #musicals #broadway
Happy birthday, Stephen Sondheim! To mark the 95th anniversary of his birth I’m sharing the opening chapters of HOW SONDHEIM CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE—free for all to read. 📚📚 Link 👇 #sondheim

www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/hjint...
September 17, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Thrilled to be discussing Sondheim in Belfast this week with Cameron Menzies, director of @niopera.bsky.social new production of ‘Follies’. Come join us! 👇 #sondheim #belfast @qubelfastofficial.bsky.social

niopera.com/performances...
September 1, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Reposted by Richard Schoch
The who, why and how of a "Rose's Turn" like no other. Audra McDonald and her colleagues took me through the labyrinth of creating an annihilating showstopper in "Gypsy."
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/t...
Nothing on Broadway Hits Harder Than Audra McDonald’s ‘Rose’s Turn’
www.nytimes.com
May 13, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Thanks @carmenchloie.bsky.social We ❤️❤️❤️ independent bookstores 📚📚📚
Spotted in the wonderful bookshop Twig in San Antonio TX @richardschoch.bsky.social
May 10, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Thanks @fritinancy.bsky.social So glad you enjoyed HOW SONDHEIM CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE 😊📚🎶🎭 @atriabooks.bsky.social #sondheim
May 1, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Reposted by Richard Schoch
Why have people kept turning up on the doorstep of Shakespeare’s Birthplace? It's not where he wrote any of his plays, and there's nothing inside the house that once belonged to Shakespeare himself.

@richardschoch.bsky.social reveals more over on the Academic blog 👉 bit.ly/44D4moD
“It was an 18th-century version of Photoshopping.”
Richard Schoch on the history of the house in Stratford-upon-Avon where William Shakespeare was born.
bit.ly
April 30, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Reposted by Richard Schoch
Why, for centuries, have people kept turning up on the doorstep of Shakespeare’s Birthplace?
@richardschoch.bsky.social reveals the 18th-century publicity stunt that turned the humble house where Shakespeare was born into the tourist attraction it is today bit.ly/44D4moD @ardenpublisher.bsky.social
April 25, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Reposted by Richard Schoch
Celebrate Shakespeare's birthday with a special discount of 25% off six of our bestsellers! 📚 🎁

Enter code SHAX25 at checkout before midnight on Wednesday 30 April 2025.
April 23, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Reposted by Richard Schoch
Our latest: Sondheim through the lens of Bertrand Russell’s so-called 10 commandments!

thesondheimhub.substack.com/p/bertrand-r...
Into the Words: Bertrand Russell
Sondheim’s musicals as a map of moral and intellectual inquiry
thesondheimhub.substack.com
April 21, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Reposted by Richard Schoch
When old friends feel new: Bernadette Peters singing "Send in the Clowns" as if her heart had been broken the night before; Lea Salonga being possessed by an angry Merman; Beth Leavel finding mortal wonder in "Ladies Who Lunch." Spent the afternoon with "Sondheim's Old Friends."
April 21, 2025 at 3:26 AM
National Theatre shop has lots of signed copies of HOW SONDHEIM CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE…just in time for its production of Sondheim’s ‘Here We Are’. It’s gonna be fantastic. P.S. The last chapter is on ‘Here We Are’. 📚🎶🎭
#sondheim @nationaltheatre.org.uk @atriabooks.bsky.social
April 18, 2025 at 11:08 AM
SHAKESPEARE’S HOUSE now in paperback 📚📚 @ardenpublisher.bsky.social @shakespearebtrust.bsky.social #shakespeare 👇👇
Have you picked up a paperback copy of Shakespeare’s House by @richardschoch.bsky.social yet?

'A page-turning story' - @thetls.bsky.social

'Eye-opening' - Michael Billington

'A delectable piece of microhistory' - Broadway World UK

'Fascinating' - The Stratford Herald

bit.ly/4c8UftB
April 11, 2025 at 2:25 PM
SHAKESPEARE’S HOUSE is now in paperback. It tells the wild, unpredictable and untold story of how his birthplace in Stratford was transformed from a family home to the global center of the Shakespeare trade. A book for all Shakespeare fans. @ardenpublisher.bsky.social #shakespeare
March 27, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Reposted by Richard Schoch
“My life was saved by teachers.” Stephen Sondheim
March 24, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Thanks @newyorktheater.bsky.social for including HOW SONDHEIM CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE 📚📚 in your Sondheim at 95 roundup. #sondheim @atriabooks.bsky.social
Sondheim at 95

Stephen Sondheim would have turned 95 today. In the three years and four months since his death, attention to the Broadway composer has only grown, with the opening of a new musical, a revival of five of his shows on Broadway, and a new Sondheim revue starting previews in a couple…
Sondheim at 95
Stephen Sondheim would have turned 95 today. In the three years and four months since his death, attention to the Broadway composer has only grown, with the opening of a new musical, a revival of five of his shows on Broadway, and a new Sondheim revue starting previews in a couple of days, as well as the publication of numerous books about Sondheim and his work. Below is a sample.
newyorktheater.me
March 23, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Reposted by Richard Schoch
An excellent read! Highly recommended!!!👏🥂🍾
Happy birthday, Stephen Sondheim! To mark the 95th anniversary of his birth I’m sharing the opening chapters of HOW SONDHEIM CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE—free for all to read. 📚📚 Link 👇 #sondheim

www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/hjint...
March 23, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Reposted by Richard Schoch
People think singing Sondheim is hard. Not if you listen to what is happening in the melody, the accompaniment and the lyric – and hold on to the dramatic intent. Here’s Liz Callaway showing us why he worked with her so often.
He would have been 95 today. Happy Birthday, Steve. youtu.be/ngvJ4xfNJvI
Liz Callaway sings Stephen Sondheim’s “Anyone Can Whistle” in 2008 Concert
YouTube video by Liz Callaway
youtu.be
March 22, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Reposted by Richard Schoch
It is the birthday of Stephen Sondheim, and it's true that not a day goes by when I don't quote him to myself. Many composers write songs that match our extremes of emotion -- ecstasy, sorrow, rage. Sondheim does all that, but he also captures every shade of feeling in between.
March 22, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Happy birthday, Stephen Sondheim! To mark the 95th anniversary of his birth I’m sharing the opening chapters of HOW SONDHEIM CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE—free for all to read. 📚📚 Link 👇 #sondheim

www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/hjint...
March 22, 2025 at 3:56 PM
My #1 reader — big Sondheim fan! HOW SONDHEIM CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE 📚📚 @atriabooks.bsky.social
#sondheim #musicals #dogs
March 21, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Thanks @michaelmagras.bsky.social for your generous review of HOW SONDHEIM CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE in @shelf-awareness.com 📚📚📚 @atriabooks.bsky.social #sondheim #books #musicaltheatre #broadway
Stephen Sondheim wasn't just a great composer. He also offered life lessons through his music & lyrics, at least according to historian Richard Schoch in the delightful "How Sondheim Can Change Your Life." I wrote about it for Shelf Awareness. #books #booksky www.shelf-awareness.com/sar-issue.ht...
www.shelf-awareness.com
February 14, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Thanks @bradcasephdcfacaia.bsky.social for highlighting the ‘Passion’ chapter in HOW SONDHEIM CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE 📚📚 @atriabooks.bsky.social #sondheim ‘Love within reason, that isn’t love’
Chapter 10 of @richardschoch.bsky.social’s “How #Sondheim Can Change Your Life” obsesses on “Passion.” How I love this most Kierkegaardian of Sondheim’s musicals! “A story so outrageous, doing such violence to all propriety, that no tidy bargain can be made with it.” Love, with fear and trembling!
February 11, 2025 at 10:13 AM