Celebrity

The Musical Theatre world and beyond mourns the loss of legendary composer Stephen Sondheim

Even if you think you don’t like musical theatre, you’ll be able to sing along to at least one song by Stephen Sondheim. Correction – you’ll be unable not to sing along.

It might be Send in the Clowns from A Little Night Music, Broadway Baby from Follies, or Somewhere from West Side Story – perhaps anything from Sweeney Todd.

Born in New York in 1930, Stephen had written his first musical, By George – which was later given a brutal but ultimately invaluable evaluation by Musical Theatre legend Oscar Hammerstein II – by the age of 13.

He went on to collaborate on West Side Story with Leonard Bernstein, Gypsy with Jule Styne, and Do I Hear a Waltz? with Richard Rodgers, but also wowed Broadway, the West End and Hollywood with his solo works.

When he died on Friday 26th November, at the age of 91, he left behind a phenomenal body of work, a career punctuated by every plaudit imaginable and a worldwide audience of broken-hearted fans – including these.

Howard Sherman summed it up perfectly.

Beyond simply being a musical genius, Stephen Sondheim was a wondeful human being, as shown in this clip of his message to one of his biggest fans – the amazing Paul Harvey.

Stephen Sondheim. 1930 – 2021.

May his memory be a blessing.

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