Conventional wisdom goes that to meet your heroes is always going to be a disappointing affair - it's hard, after all, to live up to the lofty expectations of celebrity. But Stephen Sondheim, who passed away last month at the age of 91, has earned numerous tributes from the likes of Hugh Jackman and Lin-Manuel Miranda for doing just that (and, well, just being a stand-up guy, aside from the plethora of artistic merits). As if we needed more evidence of Sondheim's Good, Nice Dude status, a letter has emerged that Sondheim apparently sent to Trey Parker, waxing eloquent on his love of - of all things - Team America: World Police.
The letter, shared by the Twitter handle for the Broadway musical co-written by Parker, The Book of Mormon, reads:
"Dear Trey Parker -- I would have written you sooner, but I've had trouble finding your address. I hope this reaches you, because it's another fan letter. I saw Team America and voted for it as the best movie of the year (a fat lot of good it did you). I gather from friends to whom I've burbled on about it that it was treated rottenly by the critics and that you are much discouraged. I can't blame you, but then again this is the time of discouragement. In any event, congratulations to you and your partner."
He then goes on, perhaps more tantalizingly, to offer a collaboration: "Would you ever be interested in writing a stage musical with an old traditionalist, namely me?" Such an offer is an almost-sad revelation in itself - can you imagine what a Sondheim/Parker musical might've looked (and sounded!) like? We don't know about you, but Company by way of South Park sounds like a pretty decent affair. While it never materialised, Parker did of course go on to work on The Book of Mormon, and Sondheim was referenced in the South Park episode "Broadway Bro Down".
The lights of Broadway will be dimmed in memory of Sondheim on December 8 at 6:30 p.m. ET, an extension of existing tradition when stars of the American stage pass on. "It is impossible to measure Stephen Sondheim's impact on the world of musical theatre," said Charlotte St. Martin, President of The Broadway League, on the upcoming dimming. "During a career that spanned nearly 65 years, he created music and lyrics that have become synonymous with Broadway - from Gypsy and West Side Story to A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Follies, Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, and took many more to name." May his memory be a blessing.