Stephen Sondheim, one of Broadway’s legends, has died at 91

The composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, known for works such as West Side Story O Gypsy and considered one of the greatest Broadway legends, he died on Friday, November 26 at the age of 91 in the town of Roxbury (Connecticut), reported the The New York Times.

According to the outlet, Sondheim’s death was confirmed by his lawyer and friend, Richard Pappas, who described the death as sudden, since he had been celebrating Thanksgiving the day before at a dinner with friends.

Sondheim (New York, 1930), winner of an Oscar, a Pulitzer, and more than a fortnight of Emmys and Grammys, began to reap success in the late 50s, when he wrote the lyrics of West Side Story and of Gypsy, and continued to triumph until the 90s, with the lyrics and music of Assasins, with which he gave voice to the people who had killed or tried to kill a president of the United States.

The first work in which he composed both music and lyrics was the 1962 comedy A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, which won a Tony and was represented for more than two years on Broadway.

In the 70s and 80s, his most productive years, he produced works considered varied and original, including Company (1970), Follies (1971), A Little Night Music (1973), Pacific Overtures (1976), Sweeney Todd (1979), Merrily We Roll Along (1981), and Into the Woods (1987).

Total, Sondheim composed both lyrics and music for 12 Broadway shows, of which five won a Tony for the best musical, and six of them a Tony for the best soundtrack, while the show Sunday in the Park, which did not receive either of those two awards, it was awarded a Pulitzer.

What’s more, in 1993 he received a career award from the prestigious Kennedy Center, and in 2015 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which was granted by former US President Barack Obama.

In 2010, one of Broadway’s theaters, until then known as the Henry Miller, was named in his honor.

In 2020, the theater mecca of the United Kingdom, the West End of London, also wanted to pay tribute by baptizing one of its theaters with his name, but Sondheim could not attend that event, after having suffered a spectacular fall.

That same year, His 90th birthday was celebrated in style at a virtual party, courtesy of the coronavirus pandemic, in which figures such as Meryl Streep, Bernadette Peters, Patti LuPone and Audra McDonald participated.

Recently, three films nominated for various awards contained his music: Knives Out, Joker y Marriage Story, which precisely contained a scene in which the protagonist, played by Adam Driver, sang Being Alive, of the Show Company (1970). (I)