The elder Hammerstein became Sondheim's surrogate father, and had a profound influence on him, especially in developing a love for musical theatre.

Another example arises from Sondheim's roots as a speaker of American rather than British English: The line " Don't you love farce?

The original New York Times review of the 1994 Broadway production called the musical an " unalloyed love story " but also Sondheim's " most somber " since Sweeney Todd.

In particular, notable tracks include Gunston's bizarre but inspired interpretations of Liza Minnelli's " Liza With a Z ", David Gates ' " If ", Tom Jones ' " Delilah ", Stephen Sondheim's " Send in the Clowns ", " Jailhouse Rock ", " Piano Man ", " Vesti La Giubba ", " A little love and understanding ", " Daddy what if?

It can be found in West Side Story, for instance, in Stephen Sondheim's original lyrics to " Gee, Officer Krupke " ( 1957 ).

Sondheim's work is also featured in The Madwoman of Central Park West, including the songs " Pretty Women " and " Everybody Ought to Have a Maid ".

Per Sondheim's request, a prize is also offered for a new song by a young composer, judged by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe.

Johns also appeared on television and on stage, most memorably in the original Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim's musical A Little Night Music.

He has also directed productions of Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie, Stephen Sondheim's Company ( which had the first ever African American " Bobby "), Alan Bennett's Habeas Corpus and his farewell duo of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya and Twelfth Night, which transferred to the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Porter also had two roles in Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George, at the National Theatre in 1990 and played Olivia in Twelfth Night at the Shaw Theatre, and Rosalind in As You Like It at the Ludlow Festival.

" The song was actually featured in the 1966 television musical, Olympus 7-000, part of the ABC Stage 67 series which also produced Stephen Sondheim's Evening Primrose.

Byck is also one of the ( failed ) assassins portrayed in Stephen Sondheim's and John Weidman's 1991 musical Assassins.

Van Ark has also starred in the Williamstown Theater Festival productions of The Night of the Iguana, The Legend of Oedipus, and the festival's 40th anniversary production of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music.

Kerry O ' Malley, his younger New Hampshire-born sister, is also an actress and a Broadway veteran ; she received critical attention for her role in Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods and recently appeared in several episodes of Showtime's Brotherhood.

Ball also played Alex in Aspects of Love, both in London and New York, and Giorgio in the London production of Stephen Sondheim's Passion.

He also starred in the London production of Stephen Sondheim's and Hugh Wheeler's A Little Night Music with Jean Simmons and Hermione Gingold, performing on the RCA Victor original London cast album.

It is also referred to in the song " Opening Doors " from Stephen Sondheim's musical Merrily We Roll Along, which mentions it as a hypothetical song title in a satirical revue of the 1960s.

Vélez also played understudy for actress Phylicia Rashad in Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods.

She also originated the role of Amy in the original Broadway cast of Stephen Sondheim's Company, in which she introduced the challenging, fast-paced patter song " Getting Married Today.

Kudisch has also appeared in Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music as Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm, opposite Juliet Stevenson and Jeremy Irons, in a 2003 production at the New York City Opera, and with Victor Garber and Judith Ivey in a 2004 staging by the Los Angeles Opera.

He also appeared as Benjamin Stone in the Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's Follies and created a role in the original Broadway production of Kander & Ebb's Steel Pier.

The score is generally considered to be one of Sondheim's most ambitious and sophisticated efforts.

To fans, Sondheim's musical sophistication is considered to be greater than that of many of his musical theatre peers, and his lyrics are likewise renowned for their ambiguity, wit, and urbanity.

A supporting character, Obsidian, is shown to be a fan of Sondheim's musical.

At the end of Stephen Sondheim's The Frogs, William Shakespeare is competing against George Bernard Shaw for the title of best playwright, deciding which of them is to be brought back from the dead in order to improve the world.

In the summer of 1955, it appeared that Saturday Night would be Sondheim's musical debut on Broadway that fall.

In 2007, the first major musical to be produced by the Gate was Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, with David Shannon playing the title role.

In his review of Sondheim's Follies, he wrote " ' Follies ' " is intermissionless and exhausting, an extravaganza that becomes tedious for two simple reasons: Its extravagances have nothing to do with its pebble of a plot ; and the plot, which could be wrapped up in approximately two songs, dawdles through 22 before it declares itself done ... Mr. Sondheim may be too much a man of the seventies, too present-tense sophisticated ... The effort to bind it up inhibits the crackling, open-ended, restlessly varied surges of sound he devised with such distinction for " Company '.

* Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along debuted at the Alvin Theatre and proved to be a rare flop for the otherwise successful composer and lyricist.

Sweeney Todd ( 1979 ), Sondheim's most operatic score and libretto ( which, along with A Little Night Music, has been seen in opera houses ), once again explores an unlikely topic, this time murderous revenge and cannibalism.

During the 1970s, he was seen in minor roles on the TV shows M * A * S * H and Saturday Night Live, and appeared on Broadway in two roles in the original 1976 production of Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures.

Sondheim's engagement with threes extends to his lyrics.

It was at the opening of South Pacific, the musical Hammerstein wrote with Richard Rodgers, that Sondheim met Harold Prince, who would later direct many of Sondheim's shows.

Merrily We Roll Along ( 1981 ), with a book by George Furth, is one of Sondheim's more " traditional " scores and was thought to hold potential to generate some hit songs ( Frank Sinatra and Carly Simon each recorded a different song from the show ).

" Their first collaboration was Sunday in the Park with George ( 1984 ), in which Sondheim's music evoked the pointillist painting technique of its subject, Georges Seurat.

* Sweeney Todd, ( 2007 ) a movie adaptation of the stage work, made with Sondheim's participation and approval, was directed by Tim Burton, featuring a largely nonmusical cast led by Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.

* Follies, allegedly in pre-production is the film of Sondheim's Follies, with a script by Aaron Sorkin.

( 1960 ), Frank Loesser's How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying ( 1962 ), Marvin Hamlisch, Ed Kleban, James Kirkwood, and Nicholas Dante's A Chorus Line ( 1976 ), Stephen Sondheim's and James Lapine's Sunday in the Park with George ( 1985 ), Jonathan Larson's Rent ( 1996 ), and Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt's Next to Normal ( 2010 ).

She has acted with the National Theatre in London where, in September 1995, she played Desiree Armfeldt in a major revival of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music, for which she won an Olivier Award.

Spiner moved to New York City, where he became a stage actor, performing in several Broadway and Off-Broadway plays, including The Three Musketeers and Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George.

( e. g. Lost in the Funhouse and On with the Story by John Barth, The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle or Stephen Sondheim's musical, Into the Woods.

retelling of the Victorian tale Sweeney Todd formed the basis of Stephen Sondheim's musical of the same name, with book by Hugh Wheeler.

She was faced with an arduous task, given Rodgers open dismissal of Sondheim's lyrics as " shit " and eventually banned Laurents from rehearsals completely.

A production at the Donmar Warehouse in London, as part of Stephen Sondheim's 80th birthday celebrations, opened on September 10, 2010 in previews, with the official opening September 21, running through November 27.

In reviewing the 2005 concert, Charles Isherwood wrote: " This pared-down production of one of Mr. Sondheim's most challenging works, a gothic romance about a young military officer drawn into an intense relationship with a sick, ugly woman, illuminates the shapely beauty and emotional vibrancy of Mr. Sondheim's score with unsettling, ultimately shattering force.

Gallagher graduated from Tufts University, where he had been active in theater, appearing in such shows as Stephen Sondheim's Company and singing with the all-male a cappella group the Beelzebubs.

Her defining stage role came with her big break on Broadway in Stephen Sondheim's Follies, which ran from February 1971 until July 1, 1972.

In the remaining two weeks out of every three, Sondheim's friend Mary Ann Madden edited an extremely popular witty literary competition calling for readers to send in humorous poetry or other bits of wordplay on a theme that changed with each installment.

They did record Stephen Sondheim's Broadway debut as a composer with A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, but in 1971 they came under fire for refusing to record the complete score of Sondheim's Follies as a 2-LP set.