Contrast this with traditional companies that advise employees against talking company business even in company building elevators, for fear of non-NDAed visitors overhearing.
The Englishman was impressed on overhearing Vandross improvising a line from his song Young Americans and invited him to sing backing vocals on the album of the same name.
"I could have pictures of my boyfriend out, I could talk freely on the phone without having to worry about someone overhearing me and reporting me, " he said.
Mr. Brown's exemplary actors can thus scale their performances down to the point where you feel as though you're not hearing Mr. Sondheim's songs so much as overhearing them.
More recently, U.S. officials believe bin Laden has used other means of communicating, and intelligence experts told CNN they could not confirm that they have been able to continue overhearing his calls.
The emotion in them is so raw, so deeply felt that it sometimes feels intrusive, like overhearing a private grief that becomes so compelling you can't tear yourself away even though you know you should.