Matching Minds with Sondheim: The Puzzles and Games of the Broadway Legend [Hardcover]

By near-universal consensus, Stephen Sondheim was the greatest musical theater composer of his generation-celebrated, among other things, for the wit, sophistication, and intricacy of shows fromWest Side StorytoSunday in the Park with George. But a less well-known avenue for his brilliance was his lifelong fascination with designing and constructing intricate puzzles and games, from treasure hunts to crosswords to parlor and board games.

Matching Minds with Sondheimis a journey into this rich but largely unmapped aspect of the composer's creative life, illuminating how Sondheim's playful designs delivered moments of clarity and connection for friends, colleagues, and anyone who's ever been captivated by his genius. This book opens, for the first time, the door into what Sondheim called his puzzler's mind, helping readers to better understand the man, his work, and-if they accept the challenge-themselves. Gaming expert Barry Joseph draws from over eighty years of Sondheim's activities, including extremely rare and never-publicly-seen puzzles and game designs, scores of original interviews with the celebrity friends who played them, archival deep dives, and illuminating analysis from both puzzle designers and theater professionals from around the world. Packed with illustrations and insights, this book does more than describe Sondheim's life in puzzles: It allows readers to match minds with the maestro by attempting to solve his puzzles and bring Sondheimian games into their own homes.

A one-of-a-kind look at Stephen Sondheim's lifelong obsession with games and puzzles of all kinds.Barry Josephis the Principal of Barry Joseph Consulting, a leader in innovating solutions for learning in a digital age, and the co-founder of the Games for Change Festival. As an early developer of after-school game design for youths and an adjunct instructor at New York University, Barry has been a national leader in games-based learning alƒ€