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Books
Matching Minds With Sondheim: The Puzzles and Games of the Broadway Master (2024)
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 from West Side Story to Sunday in the Park with George. A less well-known avenue for his brilliant creativity was his lifelong fascination with designing and constructing intricate puzzles and games: from treasure hunts and crossword puzzles to parlor and board games.
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I am beyond thrilled to have an original theme song written for my upcoming Matching Minds podcast by composer-lyricist Colm Molloy.
Check out his videos on YouTube (Youtube.com/@MisterMolloy), especially his brilliant Sondheim birthday puzzle medleys, and on @colmmolloy_ as well. It was quite generous of him and extends our engagement from our original interview which he provided for my book, focusing on cryptic crossword puzzles. (Easter egg - when you listen to the audio collage at the end of each episode it is Colm who says “I feel like he was more obsessed with puzzles than musicals...”).
Colm then reached out to Ann Morrison, American actress best known for her Broadway debut as Mary Flynn in Merrily We Roll Along. I don’t know how this magic came about, but Ann generously offered to sing the lyrics. Wow. Ann can be founded on Instagram (@ndta_am ) as well.
I will work both the score and lyrics into various parts of the podcast. But here it is in this post, as it deserves, on its own, at center stage. Enjoy!
(To get a preview episode of the upcoming podcast, check the link in my bio)
Today’s Broadway World ran their list today of theater books for summer 2025. I somehow squeaked in even though my book doesn’t come out until September. But who’s counting…. “Summer is here and there is no better time of year to soak up the sun and dive into a new book. You’re in luck, because Broadway’s best have put pen to paper to turn out theatre page-turners of every kind. From theatre biographies to theatre fiction; theatre books for kids to theatre history; check out our collection of 24 new Broadway books for every theatre lover’s Summer 2025 reading list. Don’t forget to listen to our Broadway Summer Jams playlist will you read!” @officialbroadwayworld
Speaking dates! Podcast preview! And so much more. Launching today. Please come check it out and let me know what you’d like to see. Link in bio. MatchingMindsWithSondheim.com. #bookwebsite #Sondheim @sondheimletters @sondheimsociety
One year ago today the Collection of Stephen Sondheim went up for auction at Doyle’s in NYC. More than ten hours later, without a pause, it came to a glorious close with an epic conclusion. Revisit the memories or discover it anew in my preview of the upcoming podcast to accompany the Sept release of my book Matching Minds with Sondheim. Come hear from Grace O’Keefe, Michael Mitnick, Pat D’Amico, and, of course, me as well as we revisit that remarkable day. Link in bio. @michaelmitnick @grace_o_keefe @patdamico958 @doylenewyork #Sondheim
One year ago today the Collection of Stephen Sondheim went up for auction at Doyle’s in NYC. More than ten hours later, without a pause, it came to a glorious close with an epic conclusion. Revisit the memories or discover it anew in my preview of the upcoming podcast to accompany the Sept release of my book Matching Minds with Sondheim. Come hear from Grace O’Keefe, Michael Mitnick, Pat D’Amico, and, of course, me as well as we revisit that remarkable day. Link in bio. @michaelmitnick @grace_o_keefe @patdamico958 @doylenewyork #Sondheim
One year ago today the Collection of Stephen Sondheim went up for auction at Doyle’s in NYC. More than ten hours later, without a pause, it came to a glorious close with an epic conclusion. Revisit the memories or discover it anew in my preview of the upcoming podcast to accompany the Sept release of my book Matching Minds with Sondheim. Come hear from Grace O’Keefe, Michael Mitnick, Pat D’Amico, and, of course, me as well as we revisit that remarkable day. Link in bio. @michaelmitnick @grace_o_keefe @patdamico958 @doylenewyork #Sondheim
One year ago today the Collection of Stephen Sondheim went up for auction at Doyle’s in NYC. More than ten hours later, without a pause, it came to a glorious close with an epic conclusion. Revisit the memories or discover it anew in my preview of the upcoming podcast to accompany the Sept release of my book Matching Minds with Sondheim. Come hear from Grace O’Keefe, Michael Mitnick, Pat D’Amico, and, of course, me as well as we revisit that remarkable day. Link in bio. @michaelmitnick @grace_o_keefe @patdamico958 @doylenewyork #Sondheim
One year ago today the Collection of Stephen Sondheim went up for auction at Doyle’s in NYC. More than ten hours later, without a pause, it came to a glorious close with an epic conclusion. Revisit the memories or discover it anew in my preview of the upcoming podcast to accompany the Sept release of my book Matching Minds with Sondheim. Come hear from Grace O’Keefe, Michael Mitnick, Pat D’Amico, and, of course, me as well as we revisit that remarkable day. Link in bio. @michaelmitnick @grace_o_keefe @patdamico958 @doylenewyork #Sondheim
Matching Minds with Sondheim is 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 his friends and colleagues. For the first time, this book offers an enthralling tour of what Sondheim described as his “puzzler’s mind,” helping readers to better understand the man, his work, and—if they accept the challenge—themselves.
Gaming expert and theater fan Barry Joseph draws from over eighty years of Sondheim’s activities, collecting his extremely rare and never-publicly-seen puzzles and game designs, scores of original interviews with the celebrity friends who played them, deep dives into Sondheim-related archives from around the country, and analysis from both puzzle designers and theater professionals from around the world.
Matching Minds will do more than describe Sondheim’s work: It will allow readers to match minds with the maestro by attempting to solve Sondheimian puzzles and bring Sondheimian games into their own homes.
Blurbs:
“Matching Minds with Sondheim is literally a mind-boggling study, providing more than 400 pages of background and insight that sheds new light on an incredible creative mind. Joseph offers solid evidence about how Sondheim’s pursuit of puzzle solutions and elaborate game playing were part and parcel with his mastery of words. If you desire a deeper understanding of this modern genius, this is a book for you.”
—Rick Pender, author of The Stephen Sondheim Encyclopedia
“If you’re bedazzled by Stephen Sondheim and want to get inside his mind, you need this book. If you’re equally entranced by puzzles and games, you must read this book immediately and repeatedly. Matching Minds is a real accomplishment, and no one but Barry Joseph could have written it. His intelligence and commitment to this complex subject can be found on every page.”
—Daniel Okrent, author of the forthcoming Stephen Sondheim: Art Isn’t Easy
“Matching Minds accomplishes a truly remarkable feat: reintroducing us to someone we thought we already knew. It’s not just a biography of Stephen Sondheim but a sourcebook and design guide to his creative work. An absolute must-read for any puzzle or game designer.”
—Eric Zimmerman, Arts Professor, New York University Game Center, and co-author of Rules of Play
“Matching Minds reveals how before Stephen Sondheim was a musical theater god he was the puzzle editor at New York magazine, making “order out of chaos” on a weekly basis. Discover how puzzles weren’t just a hobby for Steve, but a window into his brilliant mind, and his ever-illuminating music.”
—Melissa Errico, Tony-nominated Broadway actress/writer; recording artist of two Sondheim albums; star of “Sunday in The Park With George” at The Kennedy Center & more.
Follow the latest on the book at MatchingMindswithSondheim.com and on Instagram.
Making Dinosaurs Dance: A Toolkit for Digital Design in Museums (2023)
“A wonderful guide to the kind of agile, experimental, responsive operational strategies needed in the museum of the future.” — Elizabeth Merritt, Founding Director, Center for the Future of Museums, American Alliance of Museums
Making Dinosaurs Dance takes the reader behind the scenes to learn how the American Museum of Natural History innovates visitor digital engagement, highlighting design techniques used both there and at museums around the world. Based on my six years at the landmark institution that inspired the Night at the Museum franchise, the book introduces The Six Tools of Digital Design – user research, rapid prototyping, public piloting, iterative design, youth collaboration, and teaming up – then applies them through case studies across a range of topics.
Read more here.
Friday is Tomorrow, or The Dayenu Year (2022)
Chronicles from the NYC Covid-19 Oral History, Narrative and Memory Archive
“Stories like Joseph’s suggest we are a lot better than we think we are.” —Micki McElya, author of The Politics of Mourning
“Compulsively readable” —James Loney, columnist
Friday is Tomorrow, or The Dayenu Year is a true story of learning to grieve and thrive during the first year of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Within the first month of the lock-down, the author loses his father to the disease and then, soon after, his job. Through the support of his family, friends, and community, Friday is Tomorrow tells the uplifting story of how one man learns to maintain traditions in a time of uncertainty while reaching for his dreams.
At times moving, at times humorous, the ups and downs of this New Yorker were originally penned (quite literally, with a physical pen) for Columbia University’s NYC Covid-19 Oral History, Narrative and Memory Archive. Edited together for the first time, Friday is Tomorrow is more than just an opportunity to read one person’s struggle with the world wrought by the recent pandemic.
It is an invitation to take the time and space you need to consider and better understand your own story.
Learn how to get your own copy, download a free sample, and more at FridayisTomorrow.com.
Seltzertopia: The Extraordinary Story of an Ordinary Drink (2018)
“Of the thousands of books written about seltzer water, this is by far my favorite–especially the part that’s about me.” –Mel Brooks
Based on more than fourteen years of original research and interviews, the extraordinary story of this ordinary drink can finally be told.
Learn where to get your own copy, watch videos of presentations, follow the book tour and more at Seltzertopia.com.
© Copyright 2023 – Barry Joseph