Musical Theatre Icon Stephen Sondheim Passes Away at 91

Broadway icon Stephen Sondheim has passed away at the age of 91. The legendary composer is widely acknowledged as the most innovative, most influential, and most important composer and lyricist in modern Broadway history.

Born on March 22, 1930 in New York City, the 91 year old married Jeff Romley in 2017.

Stephen Sondheim has received an Academy Award, eight Tony Awards (more than any other composer, including a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre), eight Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize, a Laurence Olivier Award, and a 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2010 the Broadway theater formerly known as Henry Miller's Theatre was renamed in his honor. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2015.

He most recently appeared (in the audience) at Company's first preview back on Broadway on November 15, 2021, as well as on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Company opens on December 9, 2021. His music will next be heard on the big screen in West Side Story, which opens on December 10, 2021.

Stephen Sondheim wrote the music and lyrics for Saturday Night (1954), A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum (1962), Anyone Can Whistle (1964), Follies (1972), A Little Night Music (1973), The Frogs (1974), Pacific Overtures (1976), Sweeney Todd (1979), Merrily We Roll Along (1981), Sunday in the Park with George (1984), Into The Woods (1987), Assassins (1991), Passion (1994) and Road Show (2008), as well as lyrics for West Side Story (1957), Gypsy (1959), Do I Hear A Waltz? (1965) and additional lyrics for Candide (1973). Side By Side By Sondheim (1976), Marry Me A Little (1981), You're Gonna Love Tomorrow (1983), Putting It Together(1993/99), Moving On (2001), and Sondheim On Sondheim (2010) are anthologies of his work as composer and lyricist.

For film, he composed the score of Stavisky (1974), co-composed the score for Reds (1981), and wrote songs for Dick Tracy (1990). He wrote songs for the television production "Evening Primrose" (1966), co-authored the film The Last of Sheila (1973), and the play Getting Away With Murder (1996), and provided incidental music for the plays The Girls Of Summer (1956), Invitation To A March (1961), Twigs (1971), and The Enclave (1973). His collected lyrics with attendant essays have been published in two volumes: Finishing the Hat (2010) and Look, I Made A Hat (2011).

In 2010, the Broadway theater formerly known as Henry Miller's Theatre was renamed The Stephen Sondheim Theatre in his honor.