Stephen Sondheim was unmistakably Jewish, but did he live a ‘Jewish Life?'

A new biography of Stephen Sondheim in the Yale Jewish Lives series argues that despite his lack of religious practice, the composer was unmistakably Jewish in his nature, worldview, and humor. Author Daniel Okrent explores how Sondheim's Jewish identity manifested through his art and professional milieu rather than through explicit Jewish themes.

A new biography of Stephen Sondheim, written by Daniel Okrent for the Yale Jewish Lives series, argues that the legendary composer was unmistakably Jewish despite not being a practicing Jew. Okrent describes Sondheim's Jewishness as 'a form of Americanized Yiddishkeit: his nature, his worldview, his sense of humor.' The book chronicles Sondheim's life through his work, arguing that his shows were often autobiographical. Sondheim himself described his Jewish identity as 'very deep,' noting that many of the people he admired in the arts were Jewish. His professional world was saturated with Jewishness through collaborations with Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Laurents, Jerome Robbins, and Hal Prince. However, Sondheim did not seek out Jewish stories for his musicals, and explicit Jewish themes rarely appear in his work. The biography explores how Sondheim may have been so deeply immersed in a Jewish milieu that he rarely thought about it.