Stephen Sondheim in pictures

By BBC Music Magazine

Published: Thursday, 24 February 2022 at 12:00 am

 Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim was one of the world’s most influential composers and lyricists. There are few composers and lyricists who have had as seismic an impact on the world of musical theatre as Stephen Sondheim.

He has written the music and lyrics for some of Broadway’s finest musicals, from Company to Into the Woods, all of which have enjoyed enduring success and are still performed on amateur and professional stages the world over. As well as his solo musicals, he also worked with renowned composers as a lyricist, writing lyrics to the scores of West Side Story (1957) and Gypsy (1959) by Leonard Bernstein and Jule Styne respectively. 

Here, in pictures, we pay tribute to the genius, who died in November 2021

 

"(Original
Lee Remick (L) and Lauren Bacall celebrate with composer Stephen Sondheim following the very successful opening of his revue Side by Side by Sondheim.
"24th
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. (Photo by Sara Krulwich/New York Times Co./Getty Images)
"WASHINGTON,
U.S. President Barack Obama presents musical theatre master Stephen Sondheim with the Presidential Medal of Freedom during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House November 24, 2015 in Washington, DC.  (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
"NEW
 tephen Sondheim on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. (Photo by Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images)
"Actress
Actress Bernadette Peters, who plays the Witch, rehearses with Stephen Sondheim during the original cast recording of the Broadway musical ‘Into the Woods’, New York, 1987. (Photo By Oliver Morris/Getty Images)
"NEW
 Nathan Lane (L) and Stephen Sondheim perform during the Dramatists Guild Fifth Annual Benefit Dinner at the Hudson Theater in New York City. (Photo by Scott Gries/Getty Images)
"British-born
British-born actress Elizabeth Taylor at a Wembley studio with Stephen Sondheim, to record the songs for the film ‘A Little Night Music’. Sondheim wrote the music and lyrics for the film. (Photo by Graham Morris/Evening Standard/Getty Images)
"LONDON,
LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 26: Stephen Sondheim (C) poses backstage with cast members Rosalie Craig (L) and Patti LuPone (R) of the new West End production of “Company” at Gielgud Theatre on September 26, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images)
"American
American composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim with singer and actress Marti Stevens, one of the stars of his musical ‘Company’, UK, 10th January 1972. The musical is about to open in the West End of London. (Photo by Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
"LONDON,
LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 27: Composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim receives the Freedom of the City of London by the City of London Corporation in recognition of his outstanding contribution to musical theatre at The Guildhall on September 27, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images)