Stephen Sondheim

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Stephen Joshua Sondheim March 22 1930 November 26 2021 was an American composer and lyricist Among the most important figures in 20thcentury musical theater Sondheim was praised for having reinvented the American musical with shows that tackled unexpected themes that range far beyond the genres traditional subjects with music and lyrics of unprecedented complexity and sophistication His shows addressed darker more harrowing elements of the human experience with songs often tinged with ambivalence about various aspects of life Sondheim started his theatre career by writing the lyrics for West Side Story 1957 and Gypsy 1959 before becoming a composer and lyricist Sondheims bestknown works 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 Merrily We Roll Along 1981 Sunday in the Park with George 1984 and Into the Woods 1987 Sondheims accolades include eight Tony Awards including a Lifetime Achievement Tony in 2008 an Academy Award eight Grammy Awards a Pulitzer Prize a Laurence Olivier Award and a 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom He has a theater named for him both on Broadway and in the West End of London Sondheim wrote film music contributing Goodbye for Now for Warren Beattys Reds 1981 He wrote five songs for 1990s 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 Sondheims 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 TBD