Lyrics
& Music by Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim, one of the most influential
and accomplished composer/lyricists in Broadway history, was born
in New York City and raised in New York and Pennsylvania. As a teenager
he met Oscar Hammerstein II, who became Sondheim's mentor. Sondheim
graduated from Williams College, where he received the Hutchinson
Prize for Music Composition. He worked for a short time in the 1950s
as a writer for the television show Topper; his first professional
musical theatre job was as the songwriter for the unproduced musical
“Saturday Night”. He wrote the lyrics for “West
Side Story” (1957), “Gypsy” (1959) and “Do
I Hear A Waltz?” (1965), as well as additional lyrics for
“Candide” (1973). Musicals for which he has written
both music and lyrics include “A Funny Thing Happened On The
Way To The Forum” (1962), “Anyone Can Whistle”
(1964), “Company” (1970), “Follies” (1971),
“A Little Night Music” (1973), “The Frogs”
(1974), “Pacific Overtures” (1976), “Sweeney Todd”
(1979), “Merrily We Roll Along” (1981), “Sunday
In The Park With George” (1984), “Into The Woods”
(1987), “Assassins” (1991) and “Passion”
(1994). He has written scores for the films “Stavisky”
(1974) and “Reds” (1981), and composed songs for the
film “Dick Tracy” (1990 - Academy Award for Best Song).
In 1990 he was appointed the first Visiting Professor of Contemporary
Theatre at Oxford University.
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