Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim (born March 22, 1930) is an American composer and lyricist known for his work in musical theatre.
One of the most important figures in 20th-century theatre, Sondheim has been praised for having “reinvented the American musical“[1] with shows that tackle ”unexpected themes that range far beyond the [genre’s] traditional subjects“[2] with ”music and lyrics of unprecedented complexity and sophistication.“[3] His shows have been acclaimed for addressing ”darker, more harrowing elements of the human experience,“[4] with songs often tinged with ”ambivalence“[5] about various aspects of life.
His best-known works as composer and lyricist include, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962), Company (1970), Follies (1971), A Little Night Music (1973), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979), Sunday in the Park with George (1984), and Into the Woods (1987). He is also known for writing the lyrics for West Side Story (1957) and Gypsy (1959).
He has received an Academy Award, eight Tony Awards (more than any other composer),[6] a Special Tony Award, eight Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize, a Laurence Olivier Award, and a 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2010, the former Henry Miller’s Theater on Broadway was renamed the Stephen Sondheim Theatre; in 2019, it was announced that the Queen’s Theatre in the West End of London would be renamed the Sondheim Theatre at the end of the year.[7] Sondheim has written film music, contributing ”Goodbye for Now“ for Warren Beatty’s 1981 Reds. He wrote five songs for 1990’s Dick Tracy, including ”Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)", sung in the film by Madonna, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Film adaptations of Sondheim’s work include West Side Story (1961), Gypsy (1962), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966), A Little Night Music (1977), Gypsy (1993), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), Into the Woods (2014), West Side Story (2021), and Merrily We Roll Along (TBA).
Plays authored
- Assassins
- Company
- Do I Hear a Waltz?
- Follies
- A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
- Gypsy
- Into the Woods
- A Little Night Music
- Merrily We Roll Along
- NT25: the Chain Play
- Pacific Overtures
- Passion
- Putting It Together
- Road Show
- Sunday in the Park with George
- Sweeney Todd
- West Side Story
Past productions
- Music and lyrics, The Frogs, House on the Hill Productions
- Music and Lyrics, Anyone Can Whistle, The Phil Willmott Company
- Music and lyrics, Sweeney Todd, David Adkin in association with Twickenham Theatre
- Music and lyrics, Pacific Overtures, Sasha Regan and Paul Callen for Union Theatre
- Lyrics, Do I Hear a Waltz?, Charles Court Opera
- Music and lyrics, Merrily We Roll Along, Menier Chocolate Factory
- Music and lyrics, Road Show, Menier Chocolate Factory
- Music & Lyrics, Sweeney Todd, Lace Market Theatre
- Music and lyrics, Company, Sasha Regan for the Union Theatre
- Music and lyrics, Saturday Night, Primavera
- Music and lyrics, Follies, Landor Theatre
- Composer, Sunday in the Park with George, Chocolate Factory Prod. [David Babani/Danielle Tarento]
- Composer, Company
- Composer, Passion
- Composer, A Little Night Music, National Theatre
- Composer, Anyone Can Whistle
- Lyrics, West Side Story, N P Theatre Company
- Composer, Sweeney Todd, Royal National Theatre
- Composer, Sweeney Todd, National Theatre
- Composer, Assassins
- Composer, Into the Woods
- Composer, Sunday in the Park with George, National Theatre
- Composer, A Little Night Music
- Music & Lyrics, Sunday with Sondheim, Cameron Mackintosh and Theatre of Comedy
- Composer, Sweeney Todd
- Composer, Follies
- Composer, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
- Composer, Follies
- Composer, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Bristol Old Vic Company
- Composer, Side By Side By Sondheim
- Composer, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
- Composer, A Little Night Music
- Composer, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
- Composer, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
- Composer, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
- Lyrics, West Side Story, H M Tennent Ltd, Robert E Griffiths and Harold S Prince
- Lyrics, West Side Story, H.M. Tennent Ltd./Robert E. Griffith/Harold S.Prince