The 86-year-old composer hopes his Buñuel-themed musical will open around the same time as Thomas Adès’s opera.

In news that will be manna from heaven for Stephen Sondheim fans, the revered 86-year-old musical theatre composer/lyricist has let slip that he hopes his latest musical will open off-Broadway at New York’s Public Theater next year.

Sondheim made the comment on Saturday during a public discussion with Jamie Bernstein (Leonard Bernstein’s daughter) about the difference between opera and musicals. The talk took place between performances of his musical Sweeney Todd at the Glimmerglass Festival in Cooperstown, New York. A spokesperson for the Public Theatre has confirmed that they are developing the project with Sondheim but said that no date has yet been set.

The musical, which Sondheim has been working on for several years with American playwright David Ives (Venus in Fur), is based on two surrealist films by Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel: The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) and The Exterminating Angel (1962). Sondheim said that the musical is about “trying to find a place to have dinner”. In The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie a group of middle-class people attempt to dine together despite constant interruptions. In the macabre...