March 22nd marked the 80th birthday of Stephen Sondheim, one of the true legends of Broadway Musicals. One of the most celebrated prolific musical theatre lyricist and musical composer... and definitely a FAVE of mine... He's won countless awards: Tonys, Grammys, Oscars, and even a Pulitzer Prize!!!
"Gypsy', "A Little Night's Music". "Company". "Into The Woods", "Sunday In The Park With George", "Passion", "Sweeney Todd" - and the list goes on and on and on..... Each one just as Great as the other.... I have been LUCKY enough to catch the original stage productions of "Into The Woods" & "Sunday in the Park with George" on Broadway - experiences that will always be UNFORGETTABLE for me.... the rest I caught, here and there: touring company, revivals, PBS, tributes, etc... he's even dabbled into the world of movies, probably most notably, for the Oscar winning song, Sooner or Later, sung by Madonna in film Dick Tracy...
Mr Soundheim will never cease to AMAZE me... and all I can hope for is that he continues to write more brilliant music for the stage, television, movies - any form really, for many more years to come.
Another FAVE, Elaine Page on BBC Radio 2, just had a special 2 hr tribute in honor of his BDAY - playing music from his various musicals... whether you are a Soundheim aficionado or not, it is worth a listen: CATCH IT HERE
It would be so very hard for me to pick out just one Fave song from him, as I have so many. But I will leave you with one of them: Being Alive sung by a few Soundheim staples: George Hearn, Carol Burnett, and another fave of mine, John Barrowman.
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