"When you know your cast well and their strengths and weaknesses, you can start writing for them, just the way Shakespeare wrote for his actors"
About this Quote
The subtext pushes back against the romantic myth of the solitary genius who writes “timeless” characters untouched by casting. Sondheim suggests the opposite: timelessness is often an accident of specificity. Shakespeare’s characters feel huge because they were built to fit particular actors’ voices, comic timing, range, and limitations. Constraint isn’t the enemy of artistry; it’s the lever.
Context matters: musical theater is brutal about this. A role lives or dies on breath control, vocal color, stamina, and the micro-skills of acting through song. Writing “for them” isn’t pandering; it’s respect for the instrument. It also hints at Sondheim’s managerial intelligence: collaboration isn’t just interpersonal, it’s structural. If you understand your cast’s strengths and weaknesses, you can hide the seams, spotlight the spark, and shape moments that look inevitable because they were designed around real capabilities.
There’s an implied warning, too. Ignore the cast, and your brilliance becomes theoretical: notes on a page, jokes that don’t land, emotions no one can physically deliver. Sondheim’s Shakespeare comparison is less reverence than a reminder that theater, at its highest level, is bespoke.
Quote Details
| Topic | Writing |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Sondheim, Stephen. (2026, January 16). When you know your cast well and their strengths and weaknesses, you can start writing for them, just the way Shakespeare wrote for his actors. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/when-you-know-your-cast-well-and-their-strengths-129240/
Chicago Style
Sondheim, Stephen. "When you know your cast well and their strengths and weaknesses, you can start writing for them, just the way Shakespeare wrote for his actors." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/when-you-know-your-cast-well-and-their-strengths-129240/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"When you know your cast well and their strengths and weaknesses, you can start writing for them, just the way Shakespeare wrote for his actors." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/when-you-know-your-cast-well-and-their-strengths-129240/. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026.
