Welcome to BWW's ON THIS DAY Series celebrating theatrical birthdays, openings and special events that took place on this day in theatre history!
Today is a very special day for Broadway, as two of the greatest composers in the history of musical theatre were born on this day- Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber!
Sondheim is the winner of an Academy Award, eight Tony Awards, including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award. Described by Frank Rich of the New York Times as "the greatest, and perhaps best-known artist working in musical theatre", his most famous scores include (as composer/lyricist) A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, and Assassins. He also wrote the lyrics for West Side Story and Gypsy.
Lloyd Webber has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of variations, two film scores, and a Latin Requiem Mass. He has also gained a number of honors, including a knighthood in 1992, followed by a peerage from the British Government for services to Music, seven Tony Awards, three Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, fourteen Ivor Novello Awards, seven Olivier Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and the Kennedy Center Honors in 2006. Several of his songs, notably "The Music of the Night", "I Don't Know How to Love Him", "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" and "You Must Love Me", "Any Dream Will Do" and "Memory" have been widely recorded and were hits outside of their parent musicals. His latest show, School of Rock, is currently playing at the Winter Garden Theatre.
In celebration of this day, we bring you a rare performance featuring both of them- a mash-up of 'Send in the Clowns' and 'The Music of the Night.'
Videos