Contents:
- STEPHEN SONDHEIM GAY, NET WORTH, FAY
- STEPHEN SONDHEIM, MIL THEATER GIANT, DI AT 91THE POSER AND LYRICIST BEHD SUNDAY THE PARK WH GEE, INTO THE WOODS, AND SWEENEY TODD DIED FRIDAY.BY ESTHER ZUCKERMANNOVEMBER 26, 2021TED THAI/GETTY IMAG.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVESTEPHEN SONDHEIM, THE XTRO POSER AND LYRICIST OF MILS CLUDG SUNDAY THE PARK WH GEE, INTO THE WOODS, AND SWEENEY TODD DIED FRIDAY AT THE AGE OF 91, THE NEW YORK TIM REPORTS. HIS ATH WAS NFIRMED BY F. RICHARD PAPPAS, SONDHEIM’S LAWYER AND IEND, WHO SAID THAT SONDHEIM DIED SUDNLY.SONDHEIM WAS THE ELR STATMAN OF AMERIN THEATER, BUT HE ALWAYS STOOD OUTSI OF S TRENDS. AN INOCLAST WHOSE VAL MIC TTED PRENCEIVED NOTNS ABOUT WHAT BELONGED ON STAGE, HE CREATED SONGS FOR A MURRO BARBER, A NROTIC NEO-IMPRSNIST, AND A VENGEFUL WCH. HIS WORK ALWAYS TEEMED WH MORAL AMBIGUY, NEVER PROVIDG THE EASY ANSWERS SOME LOOKED FOR MILS.BUT AS MUCH AS SONDHEIM ME TO RVE AN UNPRECENTED PATH, HE OWED HIS REER TO THE GREATS THAT ME BEFORE HIM—ONE PARTICULAR. HE WAS BORN 1930 NEW YORK TO A SIGNER AND A DRS MANUFACTURER. SONDHEIM’S PARENTS DIVORCED WHEN HE WAS 10, AND HIS ARTISTIC LIFE TLY BEGAN WHEN HE BEME ACQUATED WH OSR HAMMERSTE, WHO LIVED NEARBY DOYLTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA. SONDHEIM SOON BEME A SATELLE MEMBER OF THE HAMMERSTE FAY, WH S PATRIARCH, THE LYRICIST OF SHOWS LIKE LIKE OKLAHOMA! AND SOUTH PACIFIC, ACTG AS A “SURROGATE FATHER” TO HIM, SONDHEIM’S OWN WORDS.IN TERVIEWS, SONDHEIM OFTEN RELAYED THE STORY OF WHEN HE ASKED HAMMERSTE FOR FEEDBACK ON A MIL HE HAD WRTEN FOR SCHOOL WHEN HE WAS 15. SONDHEIM ASKED HIS MENTOR TO TREAT HIM AS HE WOULD ANYONE ELSE—AND HAMMERSTE’S ASSSMENT WAS BTAL. “HE STARTED RIGHT OM THE FIRST STAGE DIRECTN—AND I’VE OFTEN SAID, AT THE RISK OF HYPERBOLE, THAT I PROBABLY LEARNED MORE ABOUT WRG SONGS THAT AFTERNOON THAN I LEARNED THE RT OF MY LIFE,” SONDHEIM TOLD THE PARIS REVIEW 1997.SONDHEIM IALLY HAD SIGNS TO BE A MATHEMATICIAN, BUT HE STEAD STUDIED MIC AT WILLIAMS COLLEGE, GRADUATG 1950. ONE OF HIS EARLY JOBS WAS TELEVISN, WRG FOR THE GHOST EDY TOPPER. THOUGH HE YEARNED TO WRE MILS, WHEN THE OPPORTUNY TO LLABORATE WH LEONARD BERNSTE ON WT SI STORY ME ALONG, SONDHEIM WAS IALLY RELUCTANT; BERNSTE WAS WRG THE MIC, AND SONDHEIM DIDN’T WANT TO BE SADDLED WH THE LABEL OF LYRICIST. IT WAS HAMMERSTE WHO NVCED HIM NOT TO PASS UP THE GIG.SONDHEIM WAS SIARLY DISAPPOTED WHEN HIS WT SI TRIUMPH WAS FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER TEAM-UP, THIS TIME WH POSER JULE STYNE FOR GYPSY, THE STORY OF STRIPPER GYPSY ROSE LEE AND HER OVERBEARG MOTHER. (STAR ETHEL MERMAN WAS WORRIED ABOUT AN UNTTED WRER LEADG HER TO A FLOP.) WHILE WORKG ON THE SHOW, HE AND STYNE PREVIEWED SOME OF S WORK--PROGRS SONGS FOR COLE PORTER. THE BROADWAY LEGEND WAS PRSED AT THE TIME; MERMAN, A CLOSE IEND OF PORTER’S, BELIEVED THE NEW MATERIAL MIGHT CHEER HIM UP. IT DID.IN HIS BOOK FISHG THE HAT, SONDHEIM RELLED A MOMENT OF TRIUMPH: WHILE PERFORMG “TOGETHER, WHEREVER WE GO,” HE HEARD A “GASP OF LIGHT” OM PORTER. WHAT HAD DONE ? THE QUADPLE RHYME THE PHRASE, “NO FS NO FIGHTS NO FDS AND NO EGOS—AMIGOS! TOGETHER.” THAT’S HOW SHAR SONDHEIM WAS: HE ULD IMPRS EVEN THE MAN WHO WROTE, “GO DO THAT VOODOO THAT YOU DO SO WELL.”IT WASN’T UNTIL 1962 THAT SONDHEIM WAS CREDED FOR WRG BOTH MIC AND LYRICS A MAJOR MIL—FOR A FUNNY THG HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FOM, A ZERO MOSTEL VEHICLE THAT DRAWS OM PLT TO TELL THE STORY OF THE SLAVE PSDOL. AS SONDHEIM LATER TOLD THE TELEGRAPH, THOUGH, HE WOULD NOT REALLY “HEAR [HIS] OWN VOICE LOUD AND CLEAR” HIS WORK UNTIL 1970’S COMPANY. THE GROUNDBREAKG SHOW, WH A BOOK BY GEE FURTH, BUCKED STORYTELLG NVENTNS TO PRENT THE ANXIETI OF BOBBY, AN UNMARRIED THIRTYSOMETHG LIVG NEW YORK, AS A REVUE-LIKE SERI OF OF TERACTNS WH HIS UPLED-UP IENDS. BY SONDHEIM’S OWN TELLG, COMPANY “WAS THE FIRST BROADWAY MIL WHOSE FG QUALY WAS NEHER SATIRE NOR SENTIMENT, BUT IRONY.”MOST POPULAROUR FLAG MEANS DEATH SEASON 2: EXCLIVE FIRST LOOKBY SARAH CATHERALLFLORENCE PUGH SAYS CHRISTOPHER NOLAN “APOLOGIZED” FOR HER SMALL OPPENHEIMER ROLEBY SAVANNAH WALSHTHE GILD AGE WILL GET A LOT MORE OPERATIC SEASON 2BY RICHARD LAWSONTHOUGH NEARLY ALL OF SONDHEIM’S SHOWS ARE NOW NSIRED CLASSICS, HE WAS NOT ALWAYS A HMAKER OR A CRIL FAVORE. 1964’S ANYONE CAN WHISTLE, A POLIL FABLE, AND 1981’S MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG, TOLD REVERSE WH A ST OF YOUNGSTERS, BOTH CLOSED QUICKLY. BY THE TIME OF MERRILY, THOUGH, SONDHEIM HAD ARGUABLY REACHED HIS CREATIVE PEAK: THE SURROUNDG SAW THREE OF HIS MOST ENDURG WORKS PREMIERE ON THE BROADWAY STAGE, BEGNG 1979 WH SWEENEY TODD.SWEENEY TODD WAS A GORY PRODUCTN ON AN OPERATIC SLE THAT RANG WH MORBID HUMOR. “I THOUGHT WOULD BE FUN TO SEE IF YOU ULD SRE A NTEMPORARY DIENCE THE WAY MOVI N SRE YOU,” SONDHEIM RELLED PBS’S DOCUMENTARY BROADWAY: THE AMERIN MIL. LEN CARU FIRST PLAYED THE TULAR CHARACTER, A WRONGLY NVICTED MAN WHO RETURNS TO LONDON TO FD HIS DGHTER AND SEEK REVENGE ON HIS ENEMI. HE MEETS UP WH ANGELA LANSBURY’S MRS. LOVETT, THE LOVICK BAKER WHO ENARS HERSELF TO THE BARBER BY TRANSFORMG HIS VICTIMS TO MEAT PI. WRG FOR THE NEW YORK TIM UPON S BUT, RICHARD ER APPLD SONDHEIM FOR HIS “ENDLSLY VENTIVE, HIGHLY EXPRSIVE SRE THAT WORKS DIVISIBLY OM HIS BRILLIANT AND ABRASIVE LYRICS.”AS MUCH AS SONDHEIM’S WORK WAS THE MA DRAW FOR ANY OF HIS SHOWS, HE THRIVED ON WORKG WH OTHERS. “I’M A LLABORATIVE ANIMAL,” HE TOLD L-MANUEL MIRANDA A 2017 TERVIEW. HE CREDED THE LIK OF HAROLD PRCE, JOHN WEIDMANN, AND JAM LAPE, ALL EQUENT SONDHEIM PARTNERS, FOR G UP WH IAL IAS FOR SOME OF HIS MOST MEMORABLE PRODUCTNS AND ELICG THE BT HIS OWN ABILI.IN THE DOCUMENTARY SIX BY SONDHEIM, DIRECTED BY LAPE, SONDHEIM SISTS THE ONLY TOBGRAPHIL SONG HE HAS EVER WRTEN IS “OPENG DOORS” OM MERRILY. HIS IEND, THE WRER FRANK RICH, DISPUTED THIS NOTN AN ARTICLE FOR NEW YORK MAGAZE, AND ED ’S HARD NOT TO SEE MORE THAN A B OF HIM THE PULZER PRIZE-WNG SUNDAY THE PARK WH GEE, WHICH BUTED 1984. BY MILIZG THE AGONI OF BOTH GEE SRAT AND THE PATER’S FICTNAL GREAT GRANDSON, SONDHEIM CREATED WHAT IS PERHAPS THE ULTIMATE TREATISE ON THE STRS OF PURSUG A REER THE ARTS. THE PIECE HOLD SUCH SIGNIFINCE TO SONDHEIM THAT HE TLED HIS TWO VOLUM OF LYRICS—FISHG THE HAT AND LOOK, I MA A HAT—AFTER THE CENTRAL METAPHOR ONE OF S SONGS.HE AND LAPE THEN TURNED TO THE NER LIV OF FAIRYTALE CHARACTERS INTO THE WOODS, WHICH WRTLED WH TOPICS CLUDG FERTILY AND FILY. AS SONDHEIM GREW OLR, HE MOVED EVEN FURTHER TO EXPERIMENTAL TERRORY. HE GAVE VOIC TO THE DISTURBED MEN AND WOMEN WHO ATTEMPTED TO TAKE THE LIV OF AMERIN PRINTS ASSASSS, AND THE 2010S, HE WORKED ON TRANSPORTG TWO OF THE FILMS OF SURREALIST LUIS BUñUEL ONTO THE STAGE.MOST POPULAROUR FLAG MEANS DEATH SEASON 2: EXCLIVE FIRST LOOKBY SARAH CATHERALLFLORENCE PUGH SAYS CHRISTOPHER NOLAN “APOLOGIZED” FOR HER SMALL OPPENHEIMER ROLEBY SAVANNAH WALSHTHE GILD AGE WILL GET A LOT MORE OPERATIC SEASON 2BY RICHARD LAWSONTHOUGH SOME OF HIS THEATRIL WORKS WERE ADAPTED TO FILMS—CLUDG DISNEY’S TAKE ON INTO THE WOODS AND TIM BURTON’S SWEENEY—SONDHEIM ONLY DABBLED CROSSG OVER TO HOLLYWOOD. HE TWICE JOED FORC WH WARREN BEATTY, WNG A BT ORIGAL SONG OSR FOR ONE OF HIS NTRIBUTNS TO DICK TRACY AND POSG THE SRE FOR REDS. IN ADDN TO THAT AMY AWARD AND HIS PULZER, SONDHEIM RECEIVED MOST OF THE HIGHT HONORS AVAILABLE TO SOMEONE HIS LE OF WORK—CLUDG A PRINTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM, SEVEN GRAMMYS, AND SEVEN TONY AWARDS, AS WELL AS A SPECIAL LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT PRIZE OM THE AMERIN THEATRE WG. HE HAS ALSO APPEARED ONSCREEN—PLAYG HIMSELF THE 2003 DIE FILM CAMP, AND AS A CHARACTER THE 2021 MIL TICK… TICK… BOOM!, PLAYED BY BRADLEY WHFORD.AS A PUBLIC FIGURE, SONDHEIM DIDN’T EXIST MUCH OUTSI OF HIS SONGS. HE WAS GAY, BUT RARELY SPOKE ABOUT HIS SEXUALY OR EXPLICLY REFERENCED QUEER THEM HIS WORK. (HE RISTED ANY SUATN THAT COMPANY’S BOBBY WAS GAY HIMSELF UNTIL HE SIGNED UP TO WORK ON A REVISED VERSN OF THE SHOW 2013.) RICH WROTE THAT SONDHEIM WAS SOMEONE “WHO N EXPLA EVERY NOTE AND WORD EVERY SONG HE WROTE WH METICULO THORY, AND YET WHOSE OWN FEELGS WERE SO SUCCSFULLY BARRID THAT BY HIS OWN ACUNT HE DIDN’T GIVE HIMSELF UP TO A SER ROMANTIC RELATNSHIP UNTIL HE TURNED 60.”BUT EVEN IF HE WAS RETICENT TO SHARE ANYTHG ABOUT HIS OWN LIFE, SONDHEIM NSTANTLY EXAMED THE NUANC AND PLITNS OF BEG HUMAN HIS WORK. HE PROVED THAT BREAKG OUT TO SONG DIDN’T NEED TO BE TRE OR SIMPLISTIC, BUT ULD NTA TRATN AND NFN. JT THK OF THIS LYRIC OM INTO THE WOODS’ “MOMENTS THE WOODS,” WHICH THE BAKER’S WIFE, HAVG JT HAD AN AFFAIR WH A HANDSOME PRCE, NSIRS HER OPTNS. SHE ASKS: “MT ALL BE EHER LS OR MORE?/ EHER PLA OR GRAND?/ IS ALWAYS OR?/ IS NEVER AND?” SONDHEIM’S EXISTENCE MAY HAVE SEEMED GRAND, BUT HE ASKED HIS DIENC TO NSIR THE BETWEENS.MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIR— JENNIFER LAWRENCE EXCLIVE: “I DIDN’T HAVE A LIFE. I THOUGHT I SHOULD GO GET ONE”— WHAT’S THE DEAL WH SEFELD?— “IT WAS AS IF HER BREAST EXPOSED ITSELF”: THE PEOPLE V. JA JACKSON— SUCCSN STARS SARAH SNOOK AND MATTHEW MACFADYEN ON EPISO FIVE— AFTER THE MORNG SHOW, JULIANNA MARGULI CAN’T GO BACK TO NETWORK TV— LADY GAGA SH THE CURLY DRAB HOE OF GUCCI— THE DAY BILL MURRAY, DAN AYKROYD, AND ERNIE HUDSON BEME GHOSTBTERS AGA— IN SEASON FOUR, SELLG SUNSET GETS REAL— UNRSTANDG THE REAL RICHARD WILLIAMS, FATHER AND COACH TO VEN AND SERENA— FROM THE ARCHIVE: THE COMEBACK KID— SIGN UP FOR THE “HWD DAILY” NEWSLETTER FOR MT-READ DTRY AND AWARDS VERAGE—PL A SPECIAL WEEKLY EDN OF “AWARDS INSIR.”ESTHER ZUCKERMAN
- SONDHEIM FOUND JT THE RIGHT WORDS TO ILLTRATE MY LIFE AS A GAY MAN
- STEPHEN SONDHEIM LOVED HOW GAY BROADWAY’S ‘COMPANY’ REVIVAL IS, SAYS STAR MATT DOYLE
STEPHEN SONDHEIM GAY, NET WORTH, FAY
In her prehensive bgraphy of the poser, thor Meryle Secrt discsed his stggle wh his inty as a gay man and the social prsur of the tim. “I was never easy wh beg a homosexual, which plited thgs, ” Sondheim admted an terview wh Secrt. Durg his long life he wnsed homosexualy move om beg classified as a mental illns to beg seen as a social disorr and, fally, to the state of general acceptance that we have today, ratified by the legalizatn of same-sex marriage 2015.
Comg of age at a time when homosexualy was medilly diagnosed as a disease, Sondheim unrwent psychotherapy, which seemed the only solutn. He had seen his fellow Wt Si Story llaborators all grapplg wh their sexualy as gay men.
Gay men have adopted songs wrten for Sondheim’s female characters as anthems for explag their own feelgs toward another man, such as “Losg My Md, ” a lament by a person who’s hopelsly love. Director Marianne Williamson and Sondheim transformed Amy to Jamie, played to chaotic perfectn by Matt Doyle, turng “(Not) Gettg Married Today” to a gay claratn. And this wasn’t the first time Sondheim picted a gay story his shows.
STEPHEN SONDHEIM, MIL THEATER GIANT, DI AT 91THE POSER AND LYRICIST BEHD SUNDAY THE PARK WH GEE, INTO THE WOODS, AND SWEENEY TODD DIED FRIDAY.BY ESTHER ZUCKERMANNOVEMBER 26, 2021TED THAI/GETTY IMAG.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVESTEPHEN SONDHEIM, THE XTRO POSER AND LYRICIST OF MILS CLUDG SUNDAY THE PARK WH GEE, INTO THE WOODS, AND SWEENEY TODD DIED FRIDAY AT THE AGE OF 91, THE NEW YORK TIM REPORTS. HIS ATH WAS NFIRMED BY F. RICHARD PAPPAS, SONDHEIM’S LAWYER AND IEND, WHO SAID THAT SONDHEIM DIED SUDNLY.SONDHEIM WAS THE ELR STATMAN OF AMERIN THEATER, BUT HE ALWAYS STOOD OUTSI OF S TRENDS. AN INOCLAST WHOSE VAL MIC TTED PRENCEIVED NOTNS ABOUT WHAT BELONGED ON STAGE, HE CREATED SONGS FOR A MURRO BARBER, A NROTIC NEO-IMPRSNIST, AND A VENGEFUL WCH. HIS WORK ALWAYS TEEMED WH MORAL AMBIGUY, NEVER PROVIDG THE EASY ANSWERS SOME LOOKED FOR MILS.BUT AS MUCH AS SONDHEIM ME TO RVE AN UNPRECENTED PATH, HE OWED HIS REER TO THE GREATS THAT ME BEFORE HIM—ONE PARTICULAR. HE WAS BORN 1930 NEW YORK TO A SIGNER AND A DRS MANUFACTURER. SONDHEIM’S PARENTS DIVORCED WHEN HE WAS 10, AND HIS ARTISTIC LIFE TLY BEGAN WHEN HE BEME ACQUATED WH OSR HAMMERSTE, WHO LIVED NEARBY DOYLTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA. SONDHEIM SOON BEME A SATELLE MEMBER OF THE HAMMERSTE FAY, WH S PATRIARCH, THE LYRICIST OF SHOWS LIKE LIKE OKLAHOMA! AND SOUTH PACIFIC, ACTG AS A “SURROGATE FATHER” TO HIM, SONDHEIM’S OWN WORDS.IN TERVIEWS, SONDHEIM OFTEN RELAYED THE STORY OF WHEN HE ASKED HAMMERSTE FOR FEEDBACK ON A MIL HE HAD WRTEN FOR SCHOOL WHEN HE WAS 15. SONDHEIM ASKED HIS MENTOR TO TREAT HIM AS HE WOULD ANYONE ELSE—AND HAMMERSTE’S ASSSMENT WAS BTAL. “HE STARTED RIGHT OM THE FIRST STAGE DIRECTN—AND I’VE OFTEN SAID, AT THE RISK OF HYPERBOLE, THAT I PROBABLY LEARNED MORE ABOUT WRG SONGS THAT AFTERNOON THAN I LEARNED THE RT OF MY LIFE,” SONDHEIM TOLD THE PARIS REVIEW 1997.SONDHEIM IALLY HAD SIGNS TO BE A MATHEMATICIAN, BUT HE STEAD STUDIED MIC AT WILLIAMS COLLEGE, GRADUATG 1950. ONE OF HIS EARLY JOBS WAS TELEVISN, WRG FOR THE GHOST EDY TOPPER. THOUGH HE YEARNED TO WRE MILS, WHEN THE OPPORTUNY TO LLABORATE WH LEONARD BERNSTE ON WT SI STORY ME ALONG, SONDHEIM WAS IALLY RELUCTANT; BERNSTE WAS WRG THE MIC, AND SONDHEIM DIDN’T WANT TO BE SADDLED WH THE LABEL OF LYRICIST. IT WAS HAMMERSTE WHO NVCED HIM NOT TO PASS UP THE GIG.SONDHEIM WAS SIARLY DISAPPOTED WHEN HIS WT SI TRIUMPH WAS FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER TEAM-UP, THIS TIME WH POSER JULE STYNE FOR GYPSY, THE STORY OF STRIPPER GYPSY ROSE LEE AND HER OVERBEARG MOTHER. (STAR ETHEL MERMAN WAS WORRIED ABOUT AN UNTTED WRER LEADG HER TO A FLOP.) WHILE WORKG ON THE SHOW, HE AND STYNE PREVIEWED SOME OF S WORK--PROGRS SONGS FOR COLE PORTER. THE BROADWAY LEGEND WAS PRSED AT THE TIME; MERMAN, A CLOSE IEND OF PORTER’S, BELIEVED THE NEW MATERIAL MIGHT CHEER HIM UP. IT DID.IN HIS BOOK FISHG THE HAT, SONDHEIM RELLED A MOMENT OF TRIUMPH: WHILE PERFORMG “TOGETHER, WHEREVER WE GO,” HE HEARD A “GASP OF LIGHT” OM PORTER. WHAT HAD DONE ? THE QUADPLE RHYME THE PHRASE, “NO FS NO FIGHTS NO FDS AND NO EGOS—AMIGOS! TOGETHER.” THAT’S HOW SHAR SONDHEIM WAS: HE ULD IMPRS EVEN THE MAN WHO WROTE, “GO DO THAT VOODOO THAT YOU DO SO WELL.”IT WASN’T UNTIL 1962 THAT SONDHEIM WAS CREDED FOR WRG BOTH MIC AND LYRICS A MAJOR MIL—FOR A FUNNY THG HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FOM, A ZERO MOSTEL VEHICLE THAT DRAWS OM PLT TO TELL THE STORY OF THE SLAVE PSDOL. AS SONDHEIM LATER TOLD THE TELEGRAPH, THOUGH, HE WOULD NOT REALLY “HEAR [HIS] OWN VOICE LOUD AND CLEAR” HIS WORK UNTIL 1970’S COMPANY. THE GROUNDBREAKG SHOW, WH A BOOK BY GEE FURTH, BUCKED STORYTELLG NVENTNS TO PRENT THE ANXIETI OF BOBBY, AN UNMARRIED THIRTYSOMETHG LIVG NEW YORK, AS A REVUE-LIKE SERI OF OF TERACTNS WH HIS UPLED-UP IENDS. BY SONDHEIM’S OWN TELLG, COMPANY “WAS THE FIRST BROADWAY MIL WHOSE FG QUALY WAS NEHER SATIRE NOR SENTIMENT, BUT IRONY.”MOST POPULAROUR FLAG MEANS DEATH SEASON 2: EXCLIVE FIRST LOOKBY SARAH CATHERALLFLORENCE PUGH SAYS CHRISTOPHER NOLAN “APOLOGIZED” FOR HER SMALL OPPENHEIMER ROLEBY SAVANNAH WALSHTHE GILD AGE WILL GET A LOT MORE OPERATIC SEASON 2BY RICHARD LAWSONTHOUGH NEARLY ALL OF SONDHEIM’S SHOWS ARE NOW NSIRED CLASSICS, HE WAS NOT ALWAYS A HMAKER OR A CRIL FAVORE. 1964’S ANYONE CAN WHISTLE, A POLIL FABLE, AND 1981’S MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG, TOLD REVERSE WH A ST OF YOUNGSTERS, BOTH CLOSED QUICKLY. BY THE TIME OF MERRILY, THOUGH, SONDHEIM HAD ARGUABLY REACHED HIS CREATIVE PEAK: THE SURROUNDG SAW THREE OF HIS MOST ENDURG WORKS PREMIERE ON THE BROADWAY STAGE, BEGNG 1979 WH SWEENEY TODD.SWEENEY TODD WAS A GORY PRODUCTN ON AN OPERATIC SLE THAT RANG WH MORBID HUMOR. “I THOUGHT WOULD BE FUN TO SEE IF YOU ULD SRE A NTEMPORARY DIENCE THE WAY MOVI N SRE YOU,” SONDHEIM RELLED PBS’S DOCUMENTARY BROADWAY: THE AMERIN MIL. LEN CARU FIRST PLAYED THE TULAR CHARACTER, A WRONGLY NVICTED MAN WHO RETURNS TO LONDON TO FD HIS DGHTER AND SEEK REVENGE ON HIS ENEMI. HE MEETS UP WH ANGELA LANSBURY’S MRS. LOVETT, THE LOVICK BAKER WHO ENARS HERSELF TO THE BARBER BY TRANSFORMG HIS VICTIMS TO MEAT PI. WRG FOR THE NEW YORK TIM UPON S BUT, RICHARD ER APPLD SONDHEIM FOR HIS “ENDLSLY VENTIVE, HIGHLY EXPRSIVE SRE THAT WORKS DIVISIBLY OM HIS BRILLIANT AND ABRASIVE LYRICS.”AS MUCH AS SONDHEIM’S WORK WAS THE MA DRAW FOR ANY OF HIS SHOWS, HE THRIVED ON WORKG WH OTHERS. “I’M A LLABORATIVE ANIMAL,” HE TOLD L-MANUEL MIRANDA A 2017 TERVIEW. HE CREDED THE LIK OF HAROLD PRCE, JOHN WEIDMANN, AND JAM LAPE, ALL EQUENT SONDHEIM PARTNERS, FOR G UP WH IAL IAS FOR SOME OF HIS MOST MEMORABLE PRODUCTNS AND ELICG THE BT HIS OWN ABILI.IN THE DOCUMENTARY SIX BY SONDHEIM, DIRECTED BY LAPE, SONDHEIM SISTS THE ONLY TOBGRAPHIL SONG HE HAS EVER WRTEN IS “OPENG DOORS” OM MERRILY. HIS IEND, THE WRER FRANK RICH, DISPUTED THIS NOTN AN ARTICLE FOR NEW YORK MAGAZE, AND ED ’S HARD NOT TO SEE MORE THAN A B OF HIM THE PULZER PRIZE-WNG SUNDAY THE PARK WH GEE, WHICH BUTED 1984. BY MILIZG THE AGONI OF BOTH GEE SRAT AND THE PATER’S FICTNAL GREAT GRANDSON, SONDHEIM CREATED WHAT IS PERHAPS THE ULTIMATE TREATISE ON THE STRS OF PURSUG A REER THE ARTS. THE PIECE HOLD SUCH SIGNIFINCE TO SONDHEIM THAT HE TLED HIS TWO VOLUM OF LYRICS—FISHG THE HAT AND LOOK, I MA A HAT—AFTER THE CENTRAL METAPHOR ONE OF S SONGS.HE AND LAPE THEN TURNED TO THE NER LIV OF FAIRYTALE CHARACTERS INTO THE WOODS, WHICH WRTLED WH TOPICS CLUDG FERTILY AND FILY. AS SONDHEIM GREW OLR, HE MOVED EVEN FURTHER TO EXPERIMENTAL TERRORY. HE GAVE VOIC TO THE DISTURBED MEN AND WOMEN WHO ATTEMPTED TO TAKE THE LIV OF AMERIN PRINTS ASSASSS, AND THE 2010S, HE WORKED ON TRANSPORTG TWO OF THE FILMS OF SURREALIST LUIS BUñUEL ONTO THE STAGE.MOST POPULAROUR FLAG MEANS DEATH SEASON 2: EXCLIVE FIRST LOOKBY SARAH CATHERALLFLORENCE PUGH SAYS CHRISTOPHER NOLAN “APOLOGIZED” FOR HER SMALL OPPENHEIMER ROLEBY SAVANNAH WALSHTHE GILD AGE WILL GET A LOT MORE OPERATIC SEASON 2BY RICHARD LAWSONTHOUGH SOME OF HIS THEATRIL WORKS WERE ADAPTED TO FILMS—CLUDG DISNEY’S TAKE ON INTO THE WOODS AND TIM BURTON’S SWEENEY—SONDHEIM ONLY DABBLED CROSSG OVER TO HOLLYWOOD. HE TWICE JOED FORC WH WARREN BEATTY, WNG A BT ORIGAL SONG OSR FOR ONE OF HIS NTRIBUTNS TO DICK TRACY AND POSG THE SRE FOR REDS. IN ADDN TO THAT AMY AWARD AND HIS PULZER, SONDHEIM RECEIVED MOST OF THE HIGHT HONORS AVAILABLE TO SOMEONE HIS LE OF WORK—CLUDG A PRINTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM, SEVEN GRAMMYS, AND SEVEN TONY AWARDS, AS WELL AS A SPECIAL LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT PRIZE OM THE AMERIN THEATRE WG. HE HAS ALSO APPEARED ONSCREEN—PLAYG HIMSELF THE 2003 DIE FILM CAMP, AND AS A CHARACTER THE 2021 MIL TICK… TICK… BOOM!, PLAYED BY BRADLEY WHFORD.AS A PUBLIC FIGURE, SONDHEIM DIDN’T EXIST MUCH OUTSI OF HIS SONGS. HE WAS GAY, BUT RARELY SPOKE ABOUT HIS SEXUALY OR EXPLICLY REFERENCED QUEER THEM HIS WORK. (HE RISTED ANY SUATN THAT COMPANY’S BOBBY WAS GAY HIMSELF UNTIL HE SIGNED UP TO WORK ON A REVISED VERSN OF THE SHOW 2013.) RICH WROTE THAT SONDHEIM WAS SOMEONE “WHO N EXPLA EVERY NOTE AND WORD EVERY SONG HE WROTE WH METICULO THORY, AND YET WHOSE OWN FEELGS WERE SO SUCCSFULLY BARRID THAT BY HIS OWN ACUNT HE DIDN’T GIVE HIMSELF UP TO A SER ROMANTIC RELATNSHIP UNTIL HE TURNED 60.”BUT EVEN IF HE WAS RETICENT TO SHARE ANYTHG ABOUT HIS OWN LIFE, SONDHEIM NSTANTLY EXAMED THE NUANC AND PLITNS OF BEG HUMAN HIS WORK. HE PROVED THAT BREAKG OUT TO SONG DIDN’T NEED TO BE TRE OR SIMPLISTIC, BUT ULD NTA TRATN AND NFN. JT THK OF THIS LYRIC OM INTO THE WOODS’ “MOMENTS THE WOODS,” WHICH THE BAKER’S WIFE, HAVG JT HAD AN AFFAIR WH A HANDSOME PRCE, NSIRS HER OPTNS. SHE ASKS: “MT ALL BE EHER LS OR MORE?/ EHER PLA OR GRAND?/ IS ALWAYS OR?/ IS NEVER AND?” SONDHEIM’S EXISTENCE MAY HAVE SEEMED GRAND, BUT HE ASKED HIS DIENC TO NSIR THE BETWEENS.MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIR— JENNIFER LAWRENCE EXCLIVE: “I DIDN’T HAVE A LIFE. I THOUGHT I SHOULD GO GET ONE”— WHAT’S THE DEAL WH SEFELD?— “IT WAS AS IF HER BREAST EXPOSED ITSELF”: THE PEOPLE V. JA JACKSON— SUCCSN STARS SARAH SNOOK AND MATTHEW MACFADYEN ON EPISO FIVE— AFTER THE MORNG SHOW, JULIANNA MARGULI CAN’T GO BACK TO NETWORK TV— LADY GAGA SH THE CURLY DRAB HOE OF GUCCI— THE DAY BILL MURRAY, DAN AYKROYD, AND ERNIE HUDSON BEME GHOSTBTERS AGA— IN SEASON FOUR, SELLG SUNSET GETS REAL— UNRSTANDG THE REAL RICHARD WILLIAMS, FATHER AND COACH TO VEN AND SERENA— FROM THE ARCHIVE: THE COMEBACK KID— SIGN UP FOR THE “HWD DAILY” NEWSLETTER FOR MT-READ DTRY AND AWARDS VERAGE—PL A SPECIAL WEEKLY EDN OF “AWARDS INSIR.”ESTHER ZUCKERMAN
Stephen Sondheim Gay? Stephen is an openly gay person who revealed his sexualy at the age of 40. However, he was a relatnship wh Amerin actrs Lee Remick his younger first partner (after he publicly went gay) was Peter Jon, a dramatist by profsn.
SONDHEIM FOUND JT THE RIGHT WORDS TO ILLTRATE MY LIFE AS A GAY MAN
There’s gog to be a lot of prsure on her om her iends to make a wish that she will actually “sort her life out” and settle down and get married and have a fay, had turned down a proposal for an all-male “Company” wh a gay Bobby, directed by John Tiffany. ELLIOTT I don’t know whether this is morn or not, but there’s somethg about a woman sayg to a gay guy, “Oh, God, we’re both gettg olr, let’s jt you and I get married, ” a sort of flip way, that feels que real, but then be more ser.
SONDHEIM The great key le — I’m gog to paraphrase — is “Jt bee we n get married, don’t mean we should, ” and that sums up everythg about the gay aspect of marriage. He was gay, but rarely spoke about his sexualy or explicly referenced queer them his work.
STEPHEN SONDHEIM LOVED HOW GAY BROADWAY’S ‘COMPANY’ REVIVAL IS, SAYS STAR MATT DOYLE
(He risted any suatn that Company’s Bobby was gay himself until he signed up to work on a revised versn of the show 2013. As gay people, pecially the ’80s and’ 90s, ath was all around . Once I disvered Stephen Sondheim was a gay man, my love grew exponentially.
Of urse he was gay.