Signature Theatre to Honor Mandy Patinkin with 2025 Stephen Sondheim Award

On April 14, 2025, Virginia’s Tony Award-winning Signature Theatre will honor star of stage and screen Mandy Patinkin with the company’s fourteenth Stephen Sondheim Award. The Stephen Sondheim Award will be presented at a black-tie Gala Benefit at The Anthem and will benefit Signature Theatre’s artistic, education, and community programs. More information can be found online at SigTheatre.org/Sondheim-Gala.

“Sunday in the Park with George left a significant mark on my life as an artist from a very young age, so I am thrilled to announce that Signature will honor Sondheim’s original Georges Seurat, the incomparable Mandy Patinkin, with our 2025 Stephen Sondheim Award,” said Artistic Director Matthew Gardiner. “Mr. Patinkin has touched generations through his indelible performances on stage and screen, and he now joins a distinguished group of honorees who have received this award over the past decade. We look forward to celebrating his storied career this April with a festive and joyous evening at The Anthem.” 

“A true stalwart of the American musical, the great Mandy Patinkin richly deserves the Stephen Sondheim Award,” said Managing Director Maggie Boland. “Our annual Sondheim Award Gala brings the community together to raise necessary funds to support Signature’s mission while celebrating extraordinary artists who have had a tremendous impact on the musical theatre canon. We couldn’t ask for a more worthy honoree, and we are immensely grateful to the many generous individuals and companies who will celebrate him with the whole Signature community at another wonderfully successful evening this spring.” 

Signature’s Sondheim Award Gala honors individuals who have made important contributions to the American Musical Theater. This spring, Signature is thrilled to celebrate Tony and Emmy Award winner Mandy Patinkin. A frequent collaborator with Stephen Sondheim, Patinkin is perhaps best known for originating the role of Georges Seurat in Sondheim’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Sunday in the Park with George, starring opposite 2011 Stephen Sondheim Award winner Bernadette Peters. Patinkin also appeared in the 1985 concert production of Follies at Lincoln Center, his lauded performance preserved in the documentary Follies in Concert. In addition to his Tony Award-winning performance in Evita, Mandy Patinkin is known for his onscreen work in Showtime’s Homeland, his Emmy Award-winning performance in Chicago Hope, and his portrayal of Inigo Montoya in the beloved film The Princess Bride.

Table sponsorship for the 2025 Sondheim Award Gala ranges from $12,000 to $100,000 and includes rewarding, year-long visibility and entertainment benefits. Individual tickets are $1,200. For information or reservations, please contact the Development Office at 571.527.1828 or events@sigtheatre.org.

ABOUT THE Stephen Sondheim AWARD

In 2009, Signature Theatre inaugurated the Stephen Sondheim Award in recognition of the importance of Mr. Sondheim’s work to Signature and to theater in general. Previous award recipients have included Angela Lansbury (2010), Bernadette Peters (2011), Patti LuPone (2012), Harold “Hal” Prince (2013), Jonathan Tunick (2014), James Lapine (2015), John Weidman (2016), Sir Cameron Mackintosh (2017), John Kander (2018), Audra McDonald (2019), Carol Burnett (2022), Chita Rivera (2023), and Nathan Lane (2024).

The award, established in 2009, is given to an individual for his or her career contributions to the American Musical Theater along with interpreting, supporting, or collaborating on works by Sondheim. Signature has produced 35 total Stephen Sondheim productions, more than any other theatre in the United States.