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

Schedule

Thu Oct 09 2025 at 07:30 pm to 08:30 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

The Drama Book Shop | New York, NY

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A talkback, signing, and live podcast recording.
About this Event

The Drama Book Shop presents, in association with Jay Michaels Global Communications, “ Matching Minds with Sondheim: The Puzzles and Games of the Broadway Legend” A talkback, signing, and live podcast recording.


About the  Book

 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.

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 theatre 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.


About the Author

Barry Joseph is the Principal of Barry Joseph Consulting, a leader in innovating solutions for learning in a digital age. He is also the co-founder of the Games for Change Festival, the more than 20-year-old, multi-day event in New York City. As an early developer of after-school game design youth programming and now adjunct at New York University, Barry has been a national leader in both games-based learning and games for social impact, producing dozens of curriculums and games. Work and clients include the American Museum of Natural History, Girl Scouts of the USA, the RAND Corporation, the MacArthur Foundation, and the International Criminal Court. Barry has been featured by the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, CBS Morning News, All Things Considered, and many more. Learn more at his website (MatchingMindsWithSondheim.com). 


About the event

We kindly ask that you review the following information before reserving your spot:

This Eventbrite ticket is your reservation for the event.

Please note that the purchase of “Matching Minds with Sondheim: The Puzzles and Games of the Broadway Legend” ($34.95) is required for entry.

Upon arrival, our team will direct you to the register to obtain your copy and complete your admission.

The store will begin welcoming guests at 7:15 pm.

Should you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected].

In the event of the event being sold out. Please email Events@Dramabookshop to be added to the Waiting List 



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Where is it happening?

The Drama Book Shop, 266 West 39th Street, New York, United States

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Drama Book Shop

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