Sara Bareilles, Lin-Manuel Miranda and more lead emotional Broadway tribute to Stephen Sondheim
(Source: Broadway Wiz on YouTube)
Broadway icons gathered on the iconic red steps in New York’s Times Square to perform a moving tribute to the late Stephen Sondheim.
Sara Bareilles, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Raúl Esparza and Stephen Schwartz were among the theatre stars who joined forces on Tuesday (30 November) to sing a rendition of the Sondheim classic “Sunday” from the legendary composer’s Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Sunday in the Park with George.
Laura Benanti, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Josh Groban also participated in the emotional performance which has been shared widely on social media using the #SundayForSondheim hasthag.
A massed chorus of Broadway stars sing a touching tribute to Stephen Sondheim in Times Square. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/gYmrgSHrvw
— Classic FM (@ClassicFM) November 29, 2021
Speaking to Variety after the performance, Bareilles said: “This felt like church… in his remembrance, we did what theatre does best. We sang and raised our voices and came together in community.”
Groban also spoke about the experience to the publication, saying: “Everybody who’s here has a touchstone for why Stephen Sondheim’s music has brought them to this place.
“And whatever part of the entertainment industry we’re in, everybody is here because we were first influenced by Sondheim’s music. To mourn his passing is a crushing blow.”
A representative for Stephen Sondheim confirmed on Friday, November 26 that the lyricist and composer had passed away. The cause of death is not currently known.
“…he spent all day Wednesday seeing the matinee and evening performances of Dana H and Is This a Room – doing what he most loved to do,” the representative revealed.
Sondheim was responsible for many of the most successful and beloved musicals of all time including West Side Story, Into the Woods, Folies, Company and Sweeney Todd.
As a composer, he was one of the most critically acclaimed artists in Broadway history, holding the record for the most Tony Award wins as a composer, as well as eight Grammy Awards and an Academy Award for Best Original Song, which he won for writing “Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)”, sung by Madonna in the 1990 film Dick Tracy.
