Waking up Sondheim's 'Saturday'

By PAUL SALSINI
Special to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Quick: What was the first musical Stephen Sondheim wrote for Broadway?

No, not "West Side Story" or "Gypsy." He wrote only the lyrics for those. And it wasn't "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." That was in 1962.

Correct answer: "Saturday Night."

In 1953, when he was 23, Sondheim wrote both the music and lyrics for this story of a group of young men in Brooklyn in search of dates on three consecutive Saturday nights. The show was announced and a reading was held. Jack Cassidy was to star. Then, the producer, Lemuel Ayers, died suddenly, and the project was shelved.