Sondheim Won't Discuss Sitcom

Legendary composer Stephen Sondheim isn't commenting on the forthcoming HBO series purported to be based on his life, reports the British Daily Telegraph newspaper. The Miraculous Year will focus on a Broadway composer who bears a remarkable resemblance to Sondheim. Tony award-winner Norbert Leo Butz will star as Terry Segal, a 44-year-old, hard-living gay Broadway composer who, in an early draft of the screenplay, tones down his lifestyle following a heart attack, which Sondheim suffered at age 49. The newspaper also reports that in the latest version of the show Segal will have suffered an aneurysm rather than a heart attack. Sondheim has refused to confirm allegations that his attorneys requested changes to the script.

The series will feature an impressive cast and crew, including Tony award-winners Patti LuPone, Frank Langella, and Eddie Redmayne as well as Academy Award-winner Susan Sarandon. The pilot episode will be directed by Kathryn Bigelow, who won an Academy Award earlier this year for The Hurt Locker.

A spokesperson for HBO insists the character is fictional and that any similarity between Segal and Sondheim is coincidental.

The notoriously private Sondheim will have Finishing the Hat published in October. The book is the highly anticipated first compilation of lyrics to his shows, which include West Side Story, Company, A Little Night Music, and Sweeney Todd. It will also offer insightful anecdotes written by Sondheim about the productions that have made him one of the most acclaimed composers in musical theater history.