Sondheim, Stephen 1930-

PERSONAL

Full name, Stephen Joshua Sondheim; born March 22, 1930, in New York, NY; son of Herbert (a dress manufacturer) and Etta Janet (a fashion designer and interior decorator; maiden name, Fox) Sondheim. Education: Graduated from George School, Newton, PA, 1946; Williams College, B.A. (magna cum laude), music, 1950. Informal apprentice to Oscar Hammerstein II, mid-1940s; studied composition with Milton Babbitt, early 1950s. Avocational Interests: Mathematics, crossword puzzles.

Career:

Composer, lyricist, singer, and writer. Visiting professor of contemporary theatre and fellow at St. Catherine's College, Oxford, England, 1990.

Member:

American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, Authors League of America, Writers Guild of America, Dramatists Guild (president of council, 1973-81).

Awards, Honors:

Hutchinson Prize, Williams College, 1950; Antoinette Perry Award nomination (with Leonard Bernstein), outstanding musical, 1958, for West Side Story; Antoinette Perry Award nomination (with Jule Styne), musical play, 1960, for Gypsy; Antoinette Perry Award, musical play, 1963, for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum; Antoinette Perry Award nomination (with Richard Rodgers), composer and lyricist—musical play, 1965, for Do I Hear a Waltz?; Drama Desk awards for music and lyrics, 1970, New York Drama Critics Circle Award, best new musical, 1970, Grammy Award, musical cast show—best album, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, 1970, and Antoinette Perry awards, best music of a musical play and best lyrics of a musical play, 1971, all for Company; Drama Desk awards, for music and lyrics, 1971, New York Drama Critics Circle Award, best new musical, 1971, Antoinette Perry Award, best score of a musical, 1972, Evening Standard Drama Award, best musical, 1987, and Laurence Olivier Theatre Award, Society of West End Theatre, 1988, all for Follies; Honorary doctorate, Williams College, 1971; Drama Desk awards, for music and lyrics, 1973, Antoinette Perry Award, best score of a musical, 1973, Grammy Award, musical cast show—best album, 1973, New York Drama Critics Circle Award, best new musical, 1973, and Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, music and lyrics, 1974, all for A Little Night Music; musical salute given by the American Musical and Dramatic Academy and the National Hemophilia Foundation at Shubert Theatre, 1973; Edgar Allan Poe Award, best motion picture screenplay, Mystery Writers of America, 1974, for The Last of Sheila; Grammy Award, song of the year, 1975, for "Send in the Clowns" from the musical A Little Night Music; Antoinette Perry Award nomination, best score of a Broadway musical, 1976, and New York Drama Critics Circle Award, best new musical, 1976, both for Pacific Overtures; Drama Desk awards for music and for lyrics, 1978, Antoinette Perry Award, best score of a musical, 1979, Grammy Award, musical cast show—best album, 1979, New York Drama Critics Circle Award, best new musical, 1979, and Elizabeth Hull-Kate Warriner Award, Dramatists Guild, 1979, all for Sweeney Todd; Drama Desk Award, lyrics, 1982, Antoinette Perry Award nomination, best score of a musical, 1982, both for Merrily We Roll Along; Brandeis University Creative Arts Medal in theatre arts, 1982; Unique Contribution Award, Drama League of New York, 1983; Drama Desk Award, lyrics, 1984, Antoinette Perry Award nomination, score of a musical, 1984, Grammy Award, musical cast show—best album, 1984, New York Drama Critics Circle Award, best new musical, 1984, Pulitzer Prize for drama, 1985, and Laurence Olivier Award, musical of the year, 1990, all for Sunday in the Park with George; Commonwealth Award of Distinguished Service in dramatic arts, Bank of Delaware, 1984; Grammy Award, musical cast show—best album, 1986, for Follies in Concert; Drama Desk awards for best lyrics and for outstanding musical, 1988, Antoinette Perry Award, best original score, 1988, Grammy Award, musical cast show—best album, 1988, New York Drama Critics Circle Award, best new musical, 1988, Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, original musical score, 1989, and Evening Standard Drama Award, best musical, 1989, all for Into the Woods; named Lion of the Performing Arts, New York Public Library, 1989; Academy Award, best achievement in music—original song, Golden Globe Award nomination, best original song—music and lyrics, 1990, for "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)" from the film Dick Tracy; Golden Globe Award nomination, best original song—music and lyrics, 1990, for "What Can You Lose?" from the film Dick Tracy; Kennedy Center Honors Lifetime Achievement Award, 1993; Drama Desk awards, outstanding music and outstanding lyrics, 1994, Evening Standard Award (with James Lapine), best musical, 1996, and Grammy Award (with Phil Ramone), best musical show album, 1994, for Passion; Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, best music and lyrics, 1995, for Assassins; London Critics Circle Award, best musical, 1995, for Company; National Medal of Freedom, National Endowment of the Arts, 1996; Johnny Mercer Lifetime Achievement Award, Songwriters Hall of Fame, 1999; Laurence Olivier Theatre Award nomination, outstanding musical production, 2000, for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum; Praemium Imperiale, Japan Art Association, 2000, Drama Desk Award, best lyrics, 2000, Drama Desk Award nomination, best music, 2000, both for Saturday Night; Laurence Olivier Theatre Award, best new musical, 2001, for Merrily We Roll Along; Laurence Olivier Theatre Award, outstanding musical production, 2004, for Pacific Overtures.

CREDITS

Stage Appearances:

Sondheim: A Musical Tribute, Sam S. Schubert Theatre, New York City, 1973.

Host, Allegro, City Center Theatre, New York City, 1994.

Film Appearances:

Clapper boy, Beat the Devil (also known as Il Tesoro dell frica), 1953.

Himself, Original Cast Album-Company, 1970.

Singer, Hey Mr. Producer (also known as Hey Mr. Producer!: The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh), 1998.

Himself, West Side Memories, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists Home Entertainment, 2003.

Himself, Camp, 2003.

Himself, Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There (also known as Broadway, Broadway: The Golden Age, and Broadway: The Movie), Dada Films, 2003.

Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age (documentary; also known as B.G.A. 2 and Broadway: The Golden Age Two), 2008.

Television Appearances; Specials:

Maxie Schwartz, June Moon, PBS, 1974.

Putting It Together—The Making of the Broadway Album, HBO, 1986.

Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall, 1992.

The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts, CBS, 1993.

Some Enchanted Evening: Celebrating Oscar Hammerstein II (also known as Celebrating Oscar Hammerstein II), PBS, 1995.

Company, 1996.

Hey, Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh (also known as Great Performances: Hey, Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh and Hey, Mr. Producer!), 1998.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

The David Frost Show, 1971.

"Broadway Sings: The Music of Jule Styne," Great Performances, PBS, 1987.

"Bernstein at 70," Great Performances, PBS, 1989.

"Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall," Great Performances, 1993.

Inside the Actors Studio, 1994.

"From Russia with Love," Walk On By: The Story of the Popular Song (also known as Popular Song: Soundtrack of the Century and The Story of Pop), 2001.

"Soundtrack," Walk On By: The Story of the Popular Song (also known as Popular Song: Soundtrack of the Century and The Story of Pop), 2001.

"Dominick Dunne: Murder He Wrote," Biography, Arts and Entertainment, 2001.

Changing Stages, PBS, 2001.

"Rose," Character Studies, PBS, 2005.

Voice of himself, "Yokel Chords," The Simpsons (animated), Fox, 2007.

"Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," HBO First Look, HBO, 2008.

"The Homecoming Opening/Sweeney Todd from Stage to Screen," Broadway Beat, 2008.

RECORDINGS

Albums; As Composer and Lyricist:

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Capitol, 1962.

Anyone Can Whistle, Columbia, 1964.

Do I Hear a Waltz?, Columbia, 1965.

Company, Columbia, 1970.

Follies, Capitol, 1971, released as Follies in Concert, RCA, 1985.

A Little Night Music (includes song "Send in the Clowns"), Columbia, 1973.

Sondheim: A Musical Tribute (anthology), Warner Bros., 1973, released as Sondheim Evening: A Musical Tribute, RCA, 1990.

Pacific Overtures, RCA, 1976.

Sweeney Todd, RCA, 1979.

Marry Me a Little, RCA, 1981.

Merrily We Roll Along, RCA, 1981.

Sunday in the Park with George, RCA, 1984.

Music of Stephen Sondheim, Book of the Month Records, 1985.

Into the Woods, RCA, 1988.

(With others) I'm Breathless (Music from and Inspired by the Film "Dick Tracy") (includes songs "Sooner or Later [I Always Get My Man]" and "What Can You Lose?"), Sire, 1990.

The Stephen Sondheim Album, Fynsworth Alley, 2000.

Musicality of Sondheim, Jay Records, 2002.

Comedy Tonight: Stephen Sondheim's Funniest Songs, RCA Victor, 2002.

Send in the Clowns: The Ballads of Stephen Sondheim, RCA Victor, 2002.

Simply Sondheim: 75th Birthday Benefit, Kritzerland, 2007.

Songs also included in Stephen Sondheim: A Collectors Sondheim (compilation of original cast recordings), RCA.

Albums; As Lyricist Only:

West Side Story (music by Leonard Bernstein), Columbia, 1957, released as film soundtrack, 1961.

Gypsy (music by Jule Styne; includes song "Small World"), Columbia, 1959.

WRITINGS

Stage Music:

The Girls of Summer, Longacre Theatre, New York City, 1956.

Invitation to a March, Music Box Theatre, New York City, 1960.

Twigs, 1971.

The Enclave, Theatre Four, New York City, 1973.

(With John Kander and Giuseppe Verdi) Once in a Lifetime, Public Players Inc., Central Arts Theatre, New York City, 1975.

King Lear, Joseph Papp Public Theatre, New York City, 2007.

Stage Lyrics:

West Side Story (music by Leonard Bernstein), produced at Winter Garden Theatre, New York City, 1957 and 1960, book and vocal score published, 1958.

Gypsy (music by Jule Styne; includes song "Small World"), produced at Broadway Theatre, New York City, 1959, book and vocal score published, 1960.

Do I Hear a Waltz? (music by Richard Rodgers), produced at 46th Street Theatre, New York City, 1965, book and vocal score published, 1966.

(With others) Leonard Bernstein's Theatre Songs, Theatre De Lys, New York City, 1965.

Cowriter of additional lyrics with John LaTouche), Candide (revival; original lyrics by Richard Wilbur; music by Leonard Bernstein), Chelsea Theatre Center of Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY, 1973-74, then Broadway Theatre, New York City, 1974.

(With others) By Bernstein, Westside Theatre, New York City, 1975.

Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life, 2005.

Stage Music and Lyrics:

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, produced at Alvin Theatre, New York City, 1962, book and vocal score published, 1963.

Anyone Can Whistle, produced at Majestic Theatre, New York City, 1964, book and vocal score published, 1965.

Company, produced at Alvin Theatre, 1970, book and vocal score published, 1971.

Follies, produced at Winter Garden Theatre, New York City, 1971, book and vocal score published, 1972.

A Little Night Music (includes song "Send in the Clowns"), produced at Shubert Theatre, New York City, 1973, then Majestic Theatre, 1973-74, book and vocal score published, 1974.

The Frogs, Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven, CT, 1974.

Pacific Overtures, produced at Winter Garden Theatre, 1976, book and vocal score published, 1977.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, produced at Uris Theatre (now Gershwin Theatre), New York City, 1979-80, book and vocal score published, 1979.

(With others) The Madwoman of Central Park West, 22 Steps Theatre, New York City, 1979.

Merrily We Roll Along, Alvin Theatre, New York City, 1981-82.

Sunday in the Park with George, produced at Playwrights Horizons Theatre, New York City, 1983, book and vocal score published, 1986.

Sunday in the Park with George, Booth Theatre, New York City, 1984-85.

Into the Woods, Old Globe Theatre, San Diego, CA, 1986, then Martin Beck Theatre, New York City, 1987-89.

(With others) Jerome Robbins Broadway, Imperial Theatre, New York City, 1989-90.

Assassins, Playwrights Horizons Theatre, 1991.

Passion, Plymouth Theatre, New York City, 1994.

Wise Guys, workshop performance, 1999.

Saturday Night, Second Stage Theatre, New York City, 2000.

Bounce, Goodman Theatre, Chicago, IL, 2003.

Stage Musical Anthologies:

Sondheim: A Musical Tribute, Shubert Theatre, New York City, 1973.

Side by Side by Sondheim, Music Box Theatre, New York City, 1977.

Marry Me a Little, Actors Playhouse, New York City, 1981.

Julie Wilson: From Weill to Sondheim—A Concert (one act devoted to Sondheim's work), Kaufman Theatre, New York City, 1987.

You're Gonna Love Tomorrow: A Stephen Sondheim Evening, New Playwrights Theatre, Washington, DC, 1987.

Stage Plays:

Getting Away with Murder, Broadhurst Theatre, New York City, 1996.

Film Scores:

Stavisky (also known as L'empire d'alexandre and Stavisky, il grande truffatore), Cinemation, 1974.

A Little Night Music (also known as Das Lacheln einer sommernacht), New World, 1977.

(With Dave Grusin) Reds, Paramount, 1981.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (also known as Sweeney Todd), DreamWorks, 2007.

Film Lyrics:

West Side Story, United Artists, 1961.

Gypsy, Warner Bros., 1962.

Film Song Lyrics:

"Something's Coming," Defending Your Life, 1991.

Film Songs:

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, United Artists, 1966.

"Madame's Song," The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, 1976.

Airplane!, 1980.

Terms of Endearment, 1983.

Rhosyn a Rhith, 1986.

(With others) Dick Tracy (includes songs "Sooner or Later [I Always Get My Man]" and "What Can You Lose?"), Touchstone-Buena Vista, 1990.

Postcards from the Edge, 1990.

The Fisher King, 1991.

The Birdcage (also known as Birds of a Feather), United Artists, 1996.

A Simple Wish, 1997.

Afterglow, 1997.

In & Out, 1997.

Drop Dead Gorgeous, 1998.

Superstar, 1999.

Screenplays:

(With Anthony Perkins) The Last of Sheila, Warner Bros., 1973.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, DreamWorks, 2007.

Television Lyricist; Movies:

Gypsy, CBS, 1993.

Television Scores; Specials:

Passion, PBS, 1996.

Television Music and Lyrics; Specials:

(With Burt Shevelove) The Fabulous 50s, CBS, 1960.

Evening Primrose, ABC, 1966.

Annie, the Woman in the Life of a Man, CBS, 1970.

Sweeney Todd (also known as Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street), Entertainment Channel, 1982.

Television Lyrics Only; Specials:

"Somewhere," Putting It Together—The Making of the Broadway Album, HBO, 1986.

Passion, PBS, 1996.

Television Music Only; Specials:

Time Warner Presents the Earth Day Special, ABC, 1990.

Television Music and Lyrics; Episodic:

"Follies in Concert," Great Performances, PBS, 1986.

"Sunday in the Park with George," Broadway on Showtime, Showtime, then American Playhouse, PBS, both 1986.

"The Saga of Lenny," included in "Bernstein at 70," Great Performances, PBS, 1989.

"A Little Night Music," Live from Lincoln Center, PBS, 1990.

"Into the Woods," Great Performances, PBS, 1991.

Television Lyrics Only; Episodic:

"Candide," Great Performances, PBS, 1986.

Television Episodes:

(With others) Topper, NBC, 1953-54.

The Last Word, CBS, 1957-1959.

OTHER SOURCES

Books:

Banfield, Stephen, Sonheim's Broadway Musicals, University of Michigan Press, 1993.

Contemporary Musicians, Vol. 8, Gale Research, 1992.

Encyclopedia of World Biography, Gale, 1998.

Gordon, Joanne, Art Isn't Easy, Southern Illinois University Press, 1990.

Gordon, Joanne, ed., Stephen Sondheim: A Casebook, 1997.

Gottfried, Martin, Sondheim, 1993.

Secrest, Meryle, Stephen Sondheim: A Life, A. Knopf, 1998.

Zadan, Craig, Sondheim & Co., Macmillan, 1974.

Periodicals:

American Scholar, autumn, 2007, p. 109.

Insight, August 28, 1989, p. 59.

Macleans, December 24, 1984, p. 41.

New York Times, April 1, 1984.

Opera News, November, 1985, p. 18.

People, September 23, 1985, p. 78.

Variety, February 4, 1991, p. 95.

Vogue, April, 1984, p. 85.