What. An. Episode! This one focuses on Stephen Sondheim's relationship with video games... sort of. This episode is hard to describe. The audio from today comes from a podcast I was a guest on by Dennis Hensley called Dennis Anyone? So is this just a re-podcast? Well, no. This is my own edit of that episode. See, this is what happened: Dennis invited me onto his podcast, then about an hour in his friend joined us. His name is also Dennis. So this episode could be called A Tale of Two Dennis. Let's call him Dennis 2. It turns out Dennis 2 was friends with Sondheim for around 35 years playing digital games with him. In fact, Sondheim would fly Dennis 2 out from LA just for weekend marathon play sessions of games like Myst and Oxyd. The thing is, Dennis 2 had never spoken publicly about his relationship with Sondheim. Even when Sondheim sent his biographer Meryle Secrest in the nineties to interview him. He never spoke about his relationship with Sondheim until this podcast episode, and it was pretty remarkable. Dennis 1 invited me to be both guest and host, so I got to interview Dennis 2 as well. As you know, my book is based on conversations with and information from over 120 people. But other than John Weidman, no one else spoke with me about playing digital games with Sondheim and how it framed their relationship. And no one shared photos with me. Until Dennis 2. It has been quite a trip! so please join me as we revisit it  together.

Make sure to get the book everywhere books are found, ⁠⁠or click here⁠⁠.

00:00 The Mysterious Invitation

00:43 Introduction to the Episode

01:21 A Tale of Two Dennis

01:32 Sondheim's Gaming Obsession

12:22 The Myst Experience

28:24 Sondheim's Humble Beginnings

30:10 The Last of Sheila: A Lifelong Bond

32:14 Games and Mentorship

35:49 Creative Criticism and Friendship

38:49 The Doctor is Out: A Critical Review

40:55 Sondheim's Puzzle Legacy

45:09 Reflections and Final Thoughts

Special Links:

Colm Molloy

Ann Morrison

Mateo Chavez Lewis

"Dennis Anyone?" podcast

Video of Oxyd in Sondheim’s issue of Games Magazine: https://youtube.com/shorts/A-fnPWuzU0U?feature=share
Thanks to everyone who contributed behind the scenes to this episode, specifically the musical stingers composed by Mateo Chavez Lewis, and the theme song to our podcast with lyrics and music by Colm Molloy, and sung by Ann Morrison, who created the role of Mary in Merrily We Roll Along. And SPECIAL thanks to both Dennis Osborne and Dennis Hensley!

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