Arthur Laurents was a renowned American playwright, screenwriter, and director who was born on July 14, 1917, in Brooklyn, New York. He was a prominent figure in the entertainment industry for over six decades and was widely regarded as one of the most influential playwrights of his generation.
Laurents began his career in the theater as an assistant to playwrights such as Robert E. Sherwood and Moss Hart. He made his Broadway debut as a playwright in 1945 with the play "Home of the Brave," which dealt with anti-Semitism in the military. The play was a critical and commercial success and ... read more
Stephen Sondheim is widely acknowledged as the most innovative, most influential, and most important composer and lyricist in modern Broadway history. He is the winner of an Academy Award, numerous Tony Award, multiple Grammy Awards and a Pulitzer Prize. Some of his other accolades include a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Kennedy Center Honors (1993), the National Medal of Arts (1996), the American Academy of Arts and Letters' Gold Medal for Music (2006) and a special Tony Awards for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre (2008).
Stephen Sondheim wrote the music and lyrics for Road Show (2008), Passion (1994), Assassins (1991), Into ... read more
Pick a Stephen Sondheim Broadway premiere in the last three decades – say, Sweeney Todd or Sunday in the Park with George or Into the Woods. Who was at the podium on opening night? If you guessed Paul Gemignani, you got it right. In fact, Maestro Gemignani has been a distinguished and constant presence in musical theater for the last forty years. In 2001 he was honored with a Special Lifetime Achievement Tony Award®.
Significantly, for an artist so closely associated with Sondheim, Gemignani made his Broadway debut as a conductor in Sondheim’s Follies (1971), taking over the role of music ... read more
Lonny Price has taught musical theater master classes at Yale, Harvard, and Columbia, and has directed Audra McDonald (Broadway: LADY DAY AT EMERSON’S BAR AND GRILL, 110 IN THE SHADE; Ravinia festival: SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, ANYONE CAN WHISTLE), Patti LuPone (PBS Great Performances: SWEENEY TODD, CANDIDE; Ravinia Festival: PASSION, GYPSY, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC), Glenn Close (Broadway: SUNSET BOULEVARD), Neil Patrick Harris and Stephen Colbert (NY Philharmonic: COMPANY), Emma Thompson (PBS Great Performances and English National Opera: SWEENEY TODD), Jenn Colella (Broadway: URBAN COWBOY), Gabriel Byrne (Dublin: WALKING WITH GHOSTS, NY Philharmonic: CAMELOT), Kristen Chenowith (PBS Great ... read more
