How Stephen Sondheim Does Money

By Nicole Dieker October 23, 2015

On Wednesday, Stephen Sondheim was honored with the 16th annual Carl Sandburg Literary Award.

Amy Dickinson (of Ask Amy) shared this moment from the award ceremony:

@nprscottsimon asks Stephen Sondheim, “which comes first, words or music?” Sondheim says, “the check.” #CSLA15 pic.twitter.com/WIiCbYSqBw

— @AskingAmy

I’ll raise a glass to that.

And yes, Sondheim nerds, he is misquoting himself. For those of you who did not immediately get the reference — or for those of you who just want to listen to a little Sondheim on a Friday afternoon — here’s Sondheim’s ode to getting paid for your work: “Franklin Shepard, Inc.”

May we all get the check first. (And a gross percent of the billing clause!)

Photo credit: Sarah Ackerman

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