Stephen Sondheim to Receive Special Olivier Award from SOLT

With the Olivier Awards just around the corner, the Daily Mail is reporting that composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim will receive a special award recognizing his unique and lasting mark on London theatre.

Sondheim will be present at the Awards ceremony, which is set to take the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on March 13th. Previous Olivier Award-winners Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton are to host.

The award from the Society of London Theatre comes on a year in which Sondheim is represented also for other musicals - Passion, and Into the Woods are all up for awards.

Sondheim brought the world Into The Woods, Company, Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, Sunday in the Park with George, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, West Side Story and Gypsy (to name a few). By writing songs that reflect the complexity of his characters, he has changed the way we define a great musical. Sondheim is currently represented on Broadway by the Roundabout's Sondheim On Sondheim, an intimate portrait of the famed composer in his own words and music. In the show, audiences get an inside look at Sondheim's personal life and artistic process. An ensemble cast of Broadway's best perform brand-new arrangements of over two dozen Sondheim tunes, ranging from the beloved to the obscure. The show is directed by frequent Sondheim collaborator James Lapine.

Tickets to the Olivier Awards can be purchased either by MasterCard through www.olivierawards.com or with cash, Theatre Tokens or MasterCard in person at the tkts booths in Leicester Square and Brent Cross.