Stephen Sondheim, the legendary Broadway composer and lyricist whose hits included “West Side Story,” Sweeney Todd” and “Into the Woods,” died Friday at age 91.
He died suddenly at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut, his friend and lawyer F. Richard Pappas told the New York Times.
During his long career, Sondheim earned eight Tony Awards, eight Grammy Awards and an Oscar for a song he wrote for the 1990 film “Dick Tracy,” “Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man).”
After getting his start as a lyricist on late-1950s musicals like “West Side Story” and “Gypsy,” Sondheim emerged as one of the most influential composers of the late-20th century — embracing both challenging subject matters as well as challenging musical choices that relied on minor keys and discordant melodies.
He won his first Tony for Best Musical in 1963 for the comedy “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” a sendup of Greek mythology that was his first show for which he wrote both the music and lyrics. Other critical triumphs followed — including 1970’s “Company,” 1971’s “Follies” and 1973’s “A Little Night Music” — though commercial success often proved elusive.
Though he had a flare for memorable melodies — “Send in the Clowns” from “A Little Night Music” became a standard for non-Broadway singers — he was increasingly drawn to tricky compositions and off-putting subject matter. The 1981 show “Merrily We Roll Along” followed three creative buddies backwards in time from bitter middle-aged sellouts to their more idealistic early-20s selves. The 1990 show “Assassins,” which is currently playing in revival at Off Broadway’s Classic Stage Company, rounds up John Wilkes Booth, John Hinkley and other historic figures who attempted to assassinate the president of the United States.
“Sweeney Todd,” the story of a murderous butcher in 19th-century London told with Grand Guignol flourish, became a successful 2007 movie starring Johnny Depp. A 2014 movie version of “Into the Woods” starring Meryl Streep and Anna Kendrick captured his ensemble approach to rethinking classic fairy tales. That 1987 show, which struggled in its initial Broadway run, earned Sondheim a Pulitzer Prize.
More to come…