Access to this video is a benefit for members through
Up Next
Back to Show
Poetry in America
Finishing the Hat, by Stephen Sondheim
Season 2
Episode 5
Stephen Sondheim is widely hailed as the greatest modern American musical theater composer. Series creator Elisa New speaks with Broadway stage actors and writer Adam Gopnik to explore Sondheim’s singular ability to blend lyrics and music, using “Finishing the Hat,” from Sondheim’s Pulitzer Prize-winning musical "Sunday in the Park with George", as their case study.
Support Provided By
Season
Unlock with PBS Passport
25:22
Cassandra Wilson, Elisa New & more read Evie Shockley’s “you can say that again, billie.”
Unlock with PBS Passport
25:21
DJ Spooky, Joshua Bennett, & more discuss A.R. Ammon’s “Cascadilla Falls” with Elisa New.
Unlock with PBS Passport
25:02
Gloria Estefan & more read Richard Blanco’s "Looking for The Gulf Motel" with Elisa New.
Unlock with PBS Passport
25:11
Tony Kushner, David Strathairn & more read Whitman’s “The Wound-Dresser” with Elisa New.
Unlock with PBS Passport
26:46
Join host Elisa New to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Walt Whitman’s birth.
Unlock with PBS Passport
26:49
Williams' poem “This is Just to Say” is only 28 words and ireads like a refrigerator note.
Unlock with PBS Passport
27:01
Explore the mingled beauty and horror of war, with this Yusef Komunyakaa poem.
Unlock with PBS Passport
26:46
In Doty's poem “This Your Home Now,” a barber shops sparks a meditation on love and more.
Unlock with PBS Passport
26:46
Explore Moore’s great poem of marine life, with Al Gore, Jorie Graham, and others.
Unlock with PBS Passport
26:46
Katie Couric, Mary Chapin Carpenter and others explore Elizabeth Bishop's poem "One Art".
Unlock with PBS Passport
26:46
Maxine Hong Kingston, Randy Komisar and others explore Marilyn Chin's "Urban Love Poem".
Unlock with PBS Passport
25:27
Contemplate the physical—and figurative—journeys charted by all immigrants.