i will always cherish the 2 times i got to see him speak in person at UCLA...imagine actually seeing in person the one man whose music has informed my whole adult gay life...PROUDLY I SAY I AM A SONDHEIMMANIC!
I have learned a lot about Stephen Sondheim and his musicals during the pandemic - the online 90th birthday concert, tracking down filmed productions I hadn’t seen. I saw a local production of A Little Night Music earlier this month. And, of course, there has been a lot of Sondheim-adjacent stuff lately - from the use of his songs in several popular films to riffs on his work in everything from Schmigadoon to his taped performance (and use of Jonathan Larson’s riff on ‘Sunday&rsquo in the just-released film of Tick… Tick… BOOM! Two of his musicals are being revived on Broadway right now and a new film incarnation of West Side Story premieres in a few weeks.
Sondheim has seemed as present in our lives and in the world of musical theater as ever, and there was still the promise (or at least the hope) of a new musical from him. It’s incredibly jarring that he’s gone.
Such a loss - of a man, a composer, a voice . . . almost the definition of unique in so many respects, and deserving of the term ‘legendary’. What a legacy he leaves. RIP Stephen Sondheim
Sudden yes, but one has to think that he would not have wanted it any other way.
For many, probably most, of us, we never knew a pre-Sondheim world. Tonight, the company of Company will have to step on a Broadway stage and do something no one has ever had to do before. Requiescat in pace.
I just saw Assassins on Wednesday, I can’t believe he’s gone. Does anyone know of any vigils or other memorial events going on tonight? I leave the city tomorrow and would love to pay my respects in some way.
I’m so glad he attended the return performance of Company with that wonderfully enthusiastic crowd. I’m sure he felt an immense amount of love that night, and I hope he felt comfort in seeing that the Theatre is recovering, will survive, and that he didn’t have to worry about its future. How wonderful it must have been to be loved so much by so many.
Gutted. This one hits me hard. My love for musicals and all things Sondheim began when I saw the 1961 film version of "West Side Story" at the age of 10.
Definitely planning to rewatch his 90th birthday celebration this weekend.
A Chorus Line revival played its final Broadway performance on August 17, 2008. The tour played its final performance on August 21, 2011. A new non-equity tour started in October 2012 played its final performance on March 23, 2013. Another non-equity tour launched on January 20, 2018. The tour ended its US run in Kansas City and then toured throughout Japan August & September 2018.