Six by Sondheim

If like me you are not a Broadway buff but have an acquaintance with some of Sondheim's songs and are curious to know more about him, this meticulously crafted HBO documentary is a worthy investment of your time.

Through exhaustive source material, in particular interviews with the great man ranging over his life, brilliant editing and generous performance clips take the viewer on a straight, unbroken line that describes his inspiration, the unfolding of his genius, its realization on stage in both hits and flops, the acknowledgement of his enormous contribution, and the passing on of his legacy through his commitment to lectures and tutorials with aspiring young lyricists and composers.

As you watch you get to know the man. You might have been expecting a tormented genius but he is quite the opposite: friendly, at home in his own skin, frank and forthright, able to derive satisfaction from his success and yet be free from conceit. By the end you like him as much as you like his music. And as the credits roll, you silently thank the producers of this documentary for taking such pains to organize the multitude of video and audio clips involved into a seamless narrative that has nary a false or wasted moment. It is bliss.