Stephen Sondheim

By: Bridget Mastrorilli

Stephen Sondheim; Early Life

➢ Born on March 22, 1930 in NYC

○ To Herbert and Janet Sondheim
➢ Parents worked in garment industry;
○ Mother a designer, father a dress manufacturer
➢ They divorced in 1942
○ moved with his mother to Doylestown, Pennsylvania
➢ Began playing piano, organ, and songwriting at the George
School
Continued,
➢ Became friends with Oscar Hammerstein II’s son
○ Hammerstein served as his surrogate father and mentor
➢ In his teens wrote By George! And worked as an assistant on Rogers and
Hammerstein's 1947’s Allegro
➢ Attended Williams College, thinking he would major in math
○ Majored in Music and studied with composer Milton Babbitt
➢ Graduated in 1950 and moved to NYC
➢ Worked in Los angeles writing scripts for TV series
○ Topper and Last Word
Big Break
➢ His acquaintance Arthur Laurents introduced him to
Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins, who were looking
for a lyricist for West Side Story.
➢ The rest is history, he became part of one of Broadways
biggest successes.
➢ Following up with a collaboration of composer Jule Styne to
write Gypsy, Starring Ethel Merman
Career
Anyone Can Whistle (1964) Marry Me a Little (1980)
Assassins (1990) Merrily We Roll Along (1981)
Candide (1956) Pacific Overtures (1976)
Company (1970) Passion (1994)
Do I Hear a Waltz? (1965) Putting It Together (1992)
Evening Primrose (1966) Road Show (Bounce) (1997)
Follies (1971) Saturday Night (1997)
The Frogs (1974) Side By Side By Sondheim (1976)
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way.. (1962) Sondheim on Sondheim (2010)
Gypsy (1959) Sunday In the Park with George (1984)
Into the Woods (1987) Sweeney Todd (1979)
A Little Night Music (1973) West Side Story (1957)
Film Work
➢ Original film work;
○ The Birdcage
○ Dick Tracy
○ The Last of Sheila
○ Reds
○ The Seven-Per-cent Solution
○ Stavisky
➢ Film Adaptations;
○ A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to The Forum
○ Gypsy
○ A Little Night Music
○ Sweeney Todd
○ West Side Story
○ Into the Woods
Awards
➢ Has won 7 tonys, nominated 11 times

➢ Has won Grammys, Drama Desk Awards, Outer Critics Circle Awards, A Pulitzer
prize of drama, Kennedy Centers Honors and Academy Awards.

➢ Was the Recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015 for being a
“Critically acclaimed writer whose body of work helps us understand and
interpret the human condition.”
“Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos.”