Stephen Sondheim is a composer and lyricist for stage and screen. He is one of the few people to win an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards (nine, more than any other composer), multiple Grammy Awards and a Pulitzer Prize. Sondheim was born March 22, 1930 in New York City and grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and later on a farm in Pennsylvania. At the age of ten, around the time of his parents’ divorce, Sondheim became friends with Jimmy Hammerstein, whose father Oscar Hammerstein II became a surrogate father. Hammerstein had a profound influence on the young Sondheim, and thus began one of the most famous apprenticeships in the musical theatre.
In 1957, Sondheim wrote lyrics to "West Side Story," then “Gypsy” in 1959. He wrote words and music to “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” and “Anyone Can Whistle.” His final “lyrics for hire” was “Do I Hear a Waltz?,” music by Richard Rodgers. Sondheim collaborated with producer/director Hal Prince on six distinctive musicals between 1970 and 1981: “Company,” “Follies,” “A Little Night Music,” “Pacific Overtures,” “Sweeney Todd” and “Merrily We Roll Along.” He went on to create “Sunday in the Park With George” (1984), “Into the Woods” (1987) and “Passion”(1994) with director James Lapine. Sondheim continues to live and write in New York City. He is perhaps the only living composer to have a regularly published periodical following his work, “The Sondheim Review.”
(source: www.wikipedia.com)
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Celebrated singer/pianist Steve Ross, known for his performance of the songs of Cole Porter, the Gershwins and Noel Coward – now directs his considerable interpretive skill to the brilliant and diverse catalogue of the great and inimitable Stephen Sondheim – from the wordy and witty to the heartfelt and passionate.
“The American Songbook in London” is proud to present the premiere engagement of “Steve Ross sings Stephen Sondheim.” Following the interval, Steve will delight his many fans with a potpourri of his signature renditions of other gems from the American popular songbook. |
