“This film, I sort of retired from musicals, but I went through a period where I thought if I was going to do a musical, I would like to do a musical of Being There, because it would be an interesting challenge, because he's the central character. Sometimes I asked Sondheim if he would be interested in doing it, and he said, "But the central character is a cipher, he doesn't sing." And I said, "I know, but people, it forces other people to sing at him." I said, "That's an interesting dynamic, don't you think?" I just thought, for one thing, with a character like this, I wouldn't have to sing for a while. I wouldn't sing until the end of the first act when the President of the United States would turn to me and say, "What do you think, Mr. Gardiner?" And Chauncey says, "Well, it's it's like a garden." Ding! And you would hear the musical cue, and then he would sing this childlike song about gardening, and yet the President would see all of these like it was a great analogy for the country. And then other people would start singing it, it would be on the news, and then and then children in schools would be singing this song, and then it would build to this huge, almost frightening anthem that would end the first act. That's that was my concept. Watch Being There. Peter Sellers, perhaps his greatest performance.”
