ByTheresa Seiger, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
ByTheresa Seiger, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
Stephen Sondheim, the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning songwriter who became one of the nation’s most influential musical theater composers, died Friday at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut, according to multiple reports. He was 91.
Rick Miramontez, a publicist for current Broadway production of Sondheim’s musical “Company,” confirmed his death to The Washington Post but did not give a cause. His lawyer and friend, F. Richard Pappas, told the New York Times that his death was sudden, and he had not been known to be ill recently.
In a career spanning more than six decades, Sondheim earned praise for his evocative, adventurous lyrics, The Associated Press reported. He won eight Tony Awards – the most of any single composer – eight Grammy Awards, an Academy Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
“As a composer and a lyricist, and a genre unto himself, Sondheim challenges his audiences,” President Barack Obama said in 2015 while presenting Sondheim with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. “His greatest hits aren’t tunes you can hum; they’re reflections on roads we didn’t take, and wishes gone wrong, relationships so frayed and fractured there’s nothing left to do but send in the clowns. … Put simply, Stephen reinvented the American musical.”
Sondheim’s work, which includes the lyrics for 1957′s “West Side Story and 1959′s “Gypsy,” as well as both the music and lyrics for 1979′s “Sweeney Todd,” influenced several generations of theater songwriters.
He left us with so many words, but none enough for this post. Goodbye, old pal. Thank you, Stephen Sondheim, for so much brilliance in the theatre and sharing your music with us all. pic.twitter.com/Qe55GcDQeS
“Without question, Steve is the best Broadway lyricist, past or present,” playwright Arthur Laurents once said, according to the Post. Laurents worked with Sondheim on four productions.
“Steve is the only lyricist who writes a lyric that could only be sung by the character for which it was designed, who never pads with unnecessary filters, who never sacrifices meaning or intention for a clever rhyme, and who knows that a lyric is the shortest of one act plays, with a beginning, a middle and an end.”
Sondheim was born March 22, 1930, in Manhattan to Herbert Sondheim, the owner of a dressmaking company, and Etta Janet “Foxy” Fox, the Times reported. His parents divorced when he was 10 and he moved with his mother to Doylestown, Pennsylvania, where one of his neighbors was famed playwright and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II, according to NPR and the AP. Hammerstein became Sondheim’s first great mentor, the Post reported.
Sondheim published a pair of books including his lyrics and explaining his writing process, 2010′s “Finishing the Hat” and 2011′s “Look, I Made a Hat.” In 2010, he told WHYY’s “Fresh Air” that he always consulted a show’s script before writing his part so that he had something “to imitate.”
“I always write after the librettist has started to write a scene or two,” he said. “I always wait to get so that I can divine and imitate the style that the writer is using, both in terms of dialogue and approach and getting to know the characters as he is forming them.”
Sondheim is survived by his husband, Jeffrey Romley, and a half-brother, Walter Sondheim, according to the Post and the Times.
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Stephen Sondheim through the years 1968: Singer/songwriter Laura Nyro relaxes at an apartment with fellow songwriter Stephen Sondheim on October 3, 1968 in New York City, New York. (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images, File)
Stephen Sondheim through the years 1972: American composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim with singer and actress Marti Stevens, one of the stars of his musical 'Company,' on January 10, 1972. The musical is about to open in the West End of London. (Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images, File)
Stephen Sondheim through the years 1973: Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein attend "A Musical Tribute to Stephen Sondheim at the Shubert Theater in New York on March 11, 1973. (Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images, File)
Stephen Sondheim through the years 1973: Composer Stephen and actor Jerry Orbach Sondheim attending 'A Musical Tribute to Stephen Sondheim' on March 11, 1973 at the Shubert Theater in New York City, New York. (Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images, File)
Stephen Sondheim through the years 1976: Stephen Sondheim the American composer and lyricist, stands beside an advertisement for one of his shows. (Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis via Getty Images, File)
Stephen Sondheim through the years 1985: American composer Stephen Sondheim and playwright James Lapine pose in front of the marquee of the Booth Theatre on 45th Street, New York City. They won the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award for their musical, 'Sunday In The Park With George,' playing at the theatre. (Sara Krulwich/New York Times Co./Getty Images, File)
Stephen Sondheim through the years 1992: Stephen Sondheim and Paul Newman during The Poetry of Song Benefit Honoring Stephen Sondheim at Laura Belle Club in New York City, New York, United States. (Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images, File)
Stephen Sondheim through the years 1994: Stephen Sondheim and Bernadette Peters attend 48th Annual Tony Awards on June 12, 1994 at the Gershwin Theater in New York City. (Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images, File)
Stephen Sondheim through the years 1996: American composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim and fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi at Mizrahi's Soho showroom in July 1996 in New York City, New York. (Catherine McGann/Getty Images, File)
Stephen Sondheim through the years 1996: Anthony Rapp, Cynthia O'Neal, and Stephen Sondheim at the "Friend In Deed" charity event on Dec. 13, 1996. (Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images, File)
Stephen Sondheim through the years 1997: View of American composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim onstage during an event at the Fairchild Theater, East Lansing, Michigan, February 12, 1997. (Douglas Elbinger/Getty Images, File)
Stephen Sondheim through the years 1999: Stephen Sondheim and Judy Collins during 30th Annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies at New York Sheraton Hotel in New York City, New York, on June 9, 1999. (Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images, File)
Stephen Sondheim through the years 2003: Stephen Sondheim and Mos Def during 18th Annual Lucille Lortel Awards at Lucille Lortel Theatre in New York City, New York, United States. (Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic, File)
Stephen Sondheim through the years 2005: Angela Lansbury and Stephen Sondheim during The All-Star Stephen Sondheim 75th Birthday Celebration "Children and Art" - Inside at Broadway's New Amsterdam Theatre in New York City, New York, United States. (Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic, File)
Stephen Sondheim through the years 2005: Marilyn Bergman, Stephen Sondheim, Warren Beatty and Barbra Streisand attend "The Hollywood Bowl Celebrates Stephen Sondheim's 75th Birthday" on July 8, 2005. (Mathew Imaging/FilmMagic, File)
Stephen Sondheim through the years 2007: Composer Stephen Sondheim, producer Richard D. Zanuck, DreamWorks CEO Stacey Snider, producer Steven Spielberg and director Tim Burton arrive at the special screening of DreamWorks Pictures' "Sweeney Todd" at the Paramount Theater on December 5, 2007 in Los Angeles, California. (John Shearer/WireImage, File)
Stephen Sondheim through the years 2008: Angela Lansbury and Stephen Sondheim are seen at The Acting Company's 35th Anniversary Celebration "The Ladies Who Sing Sondheim" at the Schoenfeld Theatre on April 7, 2008 in New York City. (Bobby Bank/WireImage, File)
Stephen Sondheim through the years 2009: Catherine Zeta Jones and composer Stephen Sondheim pose at the "A Little Night Music" Broadway opening night after party at Tavern on the Green on December 13, 2009 in New York City. (Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic, File)
Stephen Sondheim through the years 2010: Actress Vanessa Williams, Roundabout Theatre's Artistic Director Todd Haimes, Composer Stephen Sondheim and Playwright John Weidman attend the Roundabout Theatre Company's 2010 Spring Gala at Studio 54 on March 22, 2010 in New York City. (Ben Hider/Getty Images, File)
Stephen Sondheim through the years 2011: Composer Stephen Sondheim and Neil Patrick Harris attend the New York Philharmonic Celebration for Stephen Sondheim's All-Star "Company" at Graffit Restaurant on April 9, 2011 in New York City. (Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic, File)
Stephen Sondheim through the years 2012: Stephen Sondheim attends the "Merrily We Roll Along" original cast and current cast reunion curtain call at the New York City Center on February 14, 2012 in New York City. (Brad Barket/Getty Images, File)
Stephen Sondheim through the years 2013: Stephen Sondheim and Nathan Lane attend the "Six By Sondheim" premiere at the Museum of Modern Art on November 18, 2013 in New York City. (Laura Cavanaugh/FilmMagic, File)
Stephen Sondheim through the years 2015: Dame Judi Dench, Stephen Sondheim, winner of the Lebedev Award, and Sir Ian McKellen pose in front of the Winners Boards at The London Evening Standard Theatre Awards in partnership with The Ivy at The Old Vic Theatre on November 22, 2015 in London, England. (David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images, File)
Stephen Sondheim through the years 2015: U.S. President Barack Obama (R) presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to theater composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim during an East Room ceremony November 24, 2015 at the White House in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/Getty Images, File)
Stephen Sondheim through the years 2017: Actress Meryl Streep, composer, lyricist and honoree Stephen Sondheim and actress Audra McDonald attend the 2017 PEN America Literary Gala at American Museum of Natural History on April 25, 2017 in New York City. (Monica Schipper/WireImage, File)
Stephen Sondheim through the years 2017: Carol Burnett and Stephen Sondheim attend the 2017 Dramatists Guild Foundation Gala reception at Gotham Hall on November 6, 2017 in New York City. (Walter McBride/WireImage, File)
