Stephen Sondheim

BORN: March 22, 1930, New York, NY

According to most cirtics and theater historians, Stephen Sondheim (b. 1930) stands among Broadway show composers and lyricists not only as the greatest of his generation but as the only great one of his generation. There may be many reasons why Broadway failed to produce consistently great writers to follow the Rodgers and Hammersteins and Lerner and Loewes of the '40s and '50s, but the fact remains that, though he operates without serious competition, Sondheim clearly ranks with such masters, as well as with the Jerome Kerns and Irving Berlins of an even earlier generation.
Sondheim became a protege of Hammerstein's after befriending the lyricist's son in school, but he got his first big break when he was hired to write lyrics to Leonard Bernstein's score for West Side Story (1957), which turned out to be one of the biggest hits and most memorable works of its time. This led to a lot of lyric-writing work, though Sondheim always wanted to write music as well. Nevertheless, he worked with Jule Styne on Gypsy (1959), another enormous hit, and would later agree to do the same with Richard Rodgers for the unsuccessful Do I Hear a Waltz? (1965).

Before that, however, Sondheim scored his first success as composer and lyricist with A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962). It was his last hit until Company (1970), a show about contemporary life and mores that did much to revolutionize the Broadway musical and, as Hammerstein's 50 shows had, move it more toward serious and exotic subjects. Since that time, Sondheim's shows have been amazingly daring in terms of subject matter, with unusual musical ideas and stunningly original lyrics. But they have not always been big hits and have marked a time in theater when Broadway show music became a marginalized art form in terms of popular culture.

Nevertheless, Sondheim's shows of the '70s and '80s are benchmarks of the genre: Follies (1971) brought together aging follies girls for a look at middle-aged American life; A Little Night Music (1973) is based on Ingmar Bergman's film Smiles of a Summer Night and contains Sondheim's sole hit song, "Send in the Clowns"; Pacific Overtures (1976) ambitiously took on the subject of Japanese-American relations; Sweeney Todd (1979) was an operetta based on the British grand guignol tale of a murderous barber; Sunday in the Park with George (1984) was a biography of impressionist painter Georges Seurat; and Into the Woods (1987) wove together children's fairy tales with the theories of psychologist Bruno Bettelheim. At this writing, Sondheim's latest show is Assassins (1991), a short piece about presidential killers. In recent years, he has turned more to the films (he wrote a score for Stravinsky in the '70s), writing songs for Madonna in Dick Tracy in 1990 and reportedly currently working on an original movie musical. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

Over the course of his distinguished career, lyricist Stephen Sondheim has penned some of Broadway and Hollywood's most memorable song lyrics known for their sophistication and intelligence. Having won almost every major American entertainment industry award available, he is responsible for changing the course of the American musical from pure froth to something that is as substantial as it is entertaining. Some of his best-known musicals include West Side Story and Gypsy. He also penned movie soundtracks. During the '60s, Sondheim played a key role in making British crossword puzzles popular in the U.S. His fascination with language puzzles resulted in his co-writing the screenplay for the unique The Last of Sheila with Anthony Perkins. The film is a mystery patterned after a British crossword and is filled with enough puzzles and movie-making in-jokes to please both film buffs and crossword lovers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide