Stephen Sondheim

For the National:

Stephen Sondheim (22 March 1930–26 November 2021) was an American composer and lyricist.

Theatre

Music and Lyrics for: Saturday Night, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Anyone Can Whistle, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, The Frogs, Pacific Overtures, Sweeney Todd, Merrily We Roll Along, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, Assassins, Passion, Road Show and Here We Are

Lyrics for: West Side Story, Gypsy, Do I Hear a Waltz? and Candide

Film

Scores for: Stavisky, Reds, Dick Tracy and Evening Primrose

Other projects

Anthologies: Side by Side by Sondheim, Marry Me a Little, Putting It Together, Sondheim by Sondheim and Old Friends

Collected lyrics with attendant essays: Finishing the Hat (2010) and Look, I Made a Hat (2011)

Awards

Stephen Sondheim was the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (1985), the Kennedy Center Honors (1993), the National Medal of Arts (1996), the MacDowell Medal (2013) and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2015).

In 2010, the Broadway theatre formerly known as Henry Miller’s Theatre was renamed in Stephen Sondheim’s honour. In 2019, the refurbished Queen’s Theatre in the West End was renamed the Sondheim Theatre to commemorate his 90th birthday.

(Published April 2025)