Stephen Sondheim

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Stephen Sondheim
Sondheim c. 1976
Born
Stephen Joshua Sondheim

(1930-03-22)March 22, 1930
New York City, U.S.
DiedNovember 26, 2021(2021-11-26) (aged 91)
Alma materWilliams College
Occupations
  • Composer
  • lyricist
Years active1952–2021
Spouse
Jeffrey Romley (m. 2017)
Musical career
GenresMusical theater

Steven Joshua Sondheim (March 22, 1930 – November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist.

Personal life[change | change source]

Sondheim was born into a Jewish[1] family in New York City. He grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and later near Doylestown, Pennsylvania. He was openly gay.[2] In 2017, he married Jeffrey Romley.

Sondheim died on November 26, 2021 from heart disease in Roxbury, Connecticut at the age of 91.[3]

Career[change | change source]

Sondheim wrote the words for songs in Gypsy and West Side Story. Of American composers still living, he had won the most awards. He won:

Sondheim wrote both the music and the words to his musicals.

Many critics like his work, but some people do not like it. Sweeney Todd is very different from the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Some of Sondheim's musicals[change | change source]

References[change | change source]

  1. J is for Jewish dramatists
  2. Another opening, another show
  3. "Stephen Sondheim, Titan of the American Musical, Is Dead at 91". The New York Times. November 26, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2021.

Other websites[change | change source]