There are many tributes to the late Stephen Sondheim. Here are two more that Stage Directions has learned of—Broadway theaters will be dimming their lights on December 8, 2021, at 6:30 p.m. EST for one minute. Also, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts has an exhibit of the many letters and correspondence of Stephen Sondheim as well as set models and photos of his collaborators. Read on for further details on each of these tribute to the iconic composer and lyricist of musical theater.
Broadway Theatres to Dim Lights December 8 in Memory of Stephen Sondheim
The Broadway community mourns the loss of prolific composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, who passed away on November 26, 2021, at age 91. To commemorate his life and work, the Committee of Theatre Owners will dim the lights of Broadway theatres in New York for one minute on Wednesday, December 8 at exactly 6:30pm.
“It is impossible to measure Stephen Sondheim’s impact on the world of musical theatre,” said Charlotte St. Martin, President of The Broadway League. “During a career that spanned nearly 65 years, he created music and lyrics that have become synonymous with Broadway—from Gypsy and West Side Story to A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Follies, Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, and too many more to name. It is hard to imagine Broadway without him, but we know his legacy will live on for many years to come, including in this season’s revival of Company opening December 9.”
In 2008, Mr. Sondheim received the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. He received Tony Awards as composer and/or lyricist for his work on A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1963), Company (1971), Follies (1972), A Little Night Music (1973), Sweeney Todd (1979), Into the Woods (1988), and Passion (1994). In addition, Mr. Sondheim received Tony Nominations for his work on West Side Story (1958), Gypsy (1960), Do I Hear a Waltz? (1965), Pacific Overtures (1976), Merrily We Roll Along (1982), and Sunday in the Park with George (1984). His other Broadway credits include Assassins (2004), The Frogs (2004), several musical revues of his work, and the play Getting Away with Murder (1996). He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1985 for Sunday in the Park with George. His shows toured the country extensively and continue to be produced all over the country and the world.
The Stephen Sondheim Theatre, formerly Henry Miller’s Theatre, was dedicated in March, 2010. Mr. Sondheim is one of only three composers whose name adorns a Broadway theatre (along with George Gershwin and Richard Rodgers).
Remembering Stephen Sondheim
On display at the Library for the Performing Arts through Friday, January 14, 2022
The Library for the Performing Arts mourns the loss of the late great composer Stephen Sondheim and celebrates his matchless contributions to theatre history. They are honoring Sondheim’s legacy with a moving display of letters and other objects from the archives of his colleagues and friends.
In the following paragraphs the Billy Rose Theatre Division Curator Doug Reside reflects on Sondheim’s achievements as well as on some of the Sondheim-related items in their collections.
Stephen Sondheim in the Archives by Doug Reside, Curator, Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
November 29, 2021
I’ve nothing to say. Well, nothing that’s not been said. Any sentimental recounting of my memories of the few times I was lucky enough to interact with Stephen Sondheim would feel, to me, a sort of fraud compared to the memories of his collaborators, friends, and family who are grieving a fresh loss in their lives. I admired the man, but I couldn’t say I knew him well. His work, though, remains. That’s durable forever.
Sondheim’s papers have long been destined for the Library of Congress, and we are lucky that, over the past two decades, Mark Eden Horowitz has compiled the lengthy interviews he conducted about them into the book Sondheim on Music. Sondheim’s work is so voluminous, though, and his ingenious collaborators so many, that his work pervades our holdings at the Library for the Performing Arts as well. It would take too long even to scratch the surface of our holdings here, but there are a few objects that are among my favorite items—not just related to Sondheim, but in the entire collection.
In 1947, a 17-year-old Stephen Sondheim, then a college freshman, appeared as Garth in the Williams College production of Maxwell Anderson’s Winterset. Sondheim wrote several musicals while in college (including an adaptation of another Anderson play, High Tor), but was also frequently cast as an actor. We preserve one of the original programs for this production in our programs file.
The Friedman-Abeles studio photographed rehearsals of several of the musicals on which Sondheim collaborated. We preserve the original negatives, including the shots that were not selected for print, and in some cases it’s possible to create animations from a sequence of photographs taken in quick succession. I’ve always liked this (likely staged) shot of a “vocal rehearsal.” Sondheim, the lyricist, accompanies the cast at the piano while Bernstein “conducts.”
Correspondence with Richard Rodgers
Mana Allen, a long-time Library volunteer and performer who appeared in the original cast of Merrily We Roll Along, discovered an exchange in the Richard Rodgers papers several years ago. Sondheim’s relationship with Rodgers was famously fractious, so it is heartwarming to see the sincere admiration the two share for each other in these letters.
Behind the scenes at Follies
The photographer Martha Swope started her career photographing rehearsals of West Side Story and went on to become the photographer of record for Broadway shows for most of the 1970 and ‘80s. I love this peek at a moment at the Colonial Theatre in Boston during tryouts for Follies.
Set models of the original productions of his musicals
Sondheim was quick to give credit to his collaborators, and he worked with many geniuses. The scenic designs for the original productions of his work often rose to the brilliance of Sondheim’s music and lyrics. We preserve original set models of several of Sondheim’s shows, many of which are currently on display in our “Brick by Brick” exhibition at the Library.
There’s so much more that could be shared. We have video recordings of many of the original productions of his work, letters to and from his collaborators, and scores of photographs, designs, posters, and scripts. For today though, this seems sufficient. Sondheim, for all his fame, seemed to me a shy person, always generous in his willingness to respond to correspondence, but reluctant to engage face to face. He did enjoy, though, talking about the art of making art. As we remember his life over these sad days, I keep hearing a line from Sunday in the Park with George: “Look out at the water, not at me.” There are more stories to tell, and more songs to be sung. To all the researchers, writers, and actors who use our collections each day, I hope these materials provide inspiration for you to “Give us more to see.”
