STAGE TUBE: Watch Lost Documentary Footage from SONDHEIM: A MUSICAL TRIBUTE

"Sondheim: A Musical Tribute" was the title given to a benefit staged in March, 1973. American Musical and Dramatic Academy and the National Hemophilia Foundation first wanted to honor Harold Prince, but he declined, so they chose Stephen Sondheim. Sondheim thought it would be "merely a dinner," but it was actually a full-scale production with 33 performers and a 30-piece orchestra, staged on the set of the then-running "A Little Night Music" at the Shubert Theatre. Below, check out footage from a short documentary that was made about the show.

The director, Burt Shevelove, divided the show into four segments: Sondheim as lyricist, cut songs, comedy numbers and songs for women. Most of the cast had been associated with Sondheim at some point in their careers. The evening was recorded by Warner Brothers and released on a two-record set, affectionately known to Sondheim fanatics as "The Scrabble Album" due to the Scrabble tiles spelling out Sondheim's name on the cover.

Cast members included: George Lee Andrews, Larry Blyden, Susan Browning, Len Cariou, Jack Cassidy, Dorothy Collins, Steve Elmore, Harvey Evans, Hermione Gingold, Laurence Guittard, Pamela Hall, Ron Holgate, Beth Howland, Glynis Johns, Justine Johnston, Larry Kert, Mark Lambert, Angela Lansbury, Victoria Mallory, Mary McCarty, Donna McKechnie, John McMartin, Pamela Myers, Kurt Peterson, Alice Playten, Teri Ralston, Chita Rivera, Marti Rolph, Virginia Sandifur, Ethel Shutta, Alexis Smith, Tony Stevens and Nancy Walker.