 (1965), for which he had written the lyrics to Richard Rodgers's music, Sondheim decided that he would henceforth work only on projects where he could write both the music and lyrics himself.He asked author and playwright James Goldman to join him as bookwriter for a new musical.Inspired by a "New York Times" article about a gathering of former showgirls from the Ziegfeld Follies, they decided upon a story about ex-showgirls.