Stephen Sondheim, the musical theater legend, has died. According to the Times, the composer was 91. CBS NewsHis cause of death was not disclosed.
Sondheim is often credited with changing the American musical theatre. He was also the genius behind many popular musicals. “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” “Company,” “Follies,” “A Little Night Music,” “Sweeney Todd.”
He has collaborated with others and worked on such projects as “West Side Story,” “Candide,” “Do I Hear a Waltz,”According to PBS.
Many know Sondheim’s ballad “Send in the Clowns,”This song was recorded by Judy Collins, Frank Sinatra, Carol Burnett, Bernadette Peters, and Barbra Streisand. It has been performed hundreds of thousands of times. The song is from “A Little Night Music,”It won many Tony Awards in 1973, including Best Book in a Musical and Best Original Score. Playbill.
Sondheim won six Tony Awards for musicals, and an Academy Award in Songwriting. “Sooner or Later”From “Dick Tracy,”He won the Pulitzer Prize. “Sunday in the Park,”He won five Olivier Awards and was awarded a Tony Award in Lifetime Achievement. CBS News reported that he was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by former President Barack Obama in 2015.
“Stephen’s music is so beautiful, his lyrics so precise, that even as he exposes the imperfections of everyday life, he transcends them. We transcend them,”During the ceremony, Obama spoke. “Put simply, Stephen reinvented the American musical.”
Since his passing, many celebrities and talent who have worked with or been influenced by Sondheim have posted tributes for the late star.
“I am so so sad to lose my friend Steve Sondheim. He gave me so much to sing about,” Bernadette Peters posted. ” I loved him dearly and will miss him so much. Thank you for all the gifts you gave the world Steve.”
“Future historians: Stephen Sondheim was real,” Lin Manuel Miranda wrote. “Yes, he wrote Tony & Maria AND Sweeney Todd AND Bobby AND George & Dot AND Fosca AND countless more. Some may theorize Shakespeare’s works were by committee but Steve was real & he was here & he laughed SO loud at shows & we loved him. We love you. I love you. THANK YOU. –LMM.”
“Stephen Sondheim was a gigantic figure in American culture,” Stephen Spielberg . “one of our country’s greatest songwriters, a lyricist and composer of real genius, and a creator of some of the most glorious musical dramas ever written.”
“I will miss him very much, but he left a body of work that has taught us, and will keep teaching us, how hard and how absolutely necessary it is to love.”
“Thank the Lord that Sondheim lived to be 91 years old so he had the time to write such wonderful music and GREAT lyrics! May he Rest In Peace,”Barbra Steisand posted this on Twitter.
“Every so often someone comes along that fundamentally shifts an entire art form,”Hugh Jackman. “Stephen Sondheim was one of those. As millions mourn his passing I also want to express my gratitude for all he has given to me and so many more. Sending my love to his nearest and dearest.”
“Perhaps not since April 23rd of 1616 has theater lost such a revolutionary voice,”Josh Gad made this observation. “Thank you Mr. Sondheim for your Demon Barber, some Night Music, a Sunday in the Park, Company, fun at a Forum, a trip Into the Woods and telling us a West Side Story. RIP.”
“Goodbye dear sir,” Idina Menzel said. “We will spend our lives trying to make you proud.”