In 2011, LuPone played the role of Joanne in a four-night limited engagement concert production of Stephen Sondheim's 1970 musical Company at the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Sondheim expert Paul Gemignani.

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.

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.

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.

) Sondheim's love of puzzles and mysteries can also be seen in the intricate " whodunit " he co-wrote with longtime friend Anthony Perkins, The Last of Sheila.

* 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.

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.

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.

In reviewing the 2008 Menier Chocolate Factory production, The Telegraph reviewer wrote that " Sondheim's lyrics are often superbly witty, his music here, mostly in haunting waltz-time, far more accessible than is sometimes the case.

Sondheim's big break came when he wrote the lyrics to West Side Story, lyricizing Leonard Bernstein's music and Arthur Laurents's book.

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.

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

In an interview with The Times, he stated that he began writing lyrics as a child, some of which were " dark and contemplative – precociously murderous and quite, quite feisty " was motivated to do so professionally in the 1970s when his grandmother, actress Angela Baddeley, starred in a London stage production of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music.

It even spoofs major theatre topics, such as the high prices of tickets, the confusion between Chita Rivera and Rita Moreno, the deterioration of Broadway, and the difficulty of Sondheim's lyrics.

Jack the Ripper: The Musical ( 1974 ), with lyrics by Ron Pember and music by Dennis DeMarne, influenced Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

Besides dramatic Italian ballads like " Anima Mia " and " Vado Via " the album includes Lyngstad's interpretations of 10cc's " The Wall Street Shuffle " and David Bowie's " Life on Mars ", sixties hits like The Beach Boys ' " Wouldn't It Be Nice " and Gary Puckett & The Union Gap's " Young Girl ", the country and western ballad " The Most Beautiful Girl ", " Send in the Clowns " from Stephen Sondheim's musical A Little Night Music as well as the Greek folk song " Siko Chorepse Syrtaki " and " Som en sparv " ( with lyrics by Swedish poet Barbro Hörberg ) originally recorded by Swedish band Wasa.

The show's best-known and Sondheim's biggest hit song was almost an afterthought, written several days before the start of out of town tryouts.

They found 115 investors to back the $ 350, 000 production, including Richard Rodgers and Sondheim's father.

The score, Sondheim's first time on Broadway writing both words and music, was coolly received, however, not even garnering a nomination.

On Broadway, he appeared in Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along, Kander & Ebb's The Rink, Neil Simon's Broadway Bound, Accomplice, and Jerome Robbins ' Broadway, for which he garnered the 1989 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.

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

" Someone in a Tree ," where two witnesses describe negotiations between the Japanese and Americans, is Sondheim's favorite song out of everything he's ever written.

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

Sondheim's score was not especially well received at the time.

Sondheim's work is notable for his use of complex polyphony in the vocal parts, such as the chorus of five minor characters who function as a sort of Greek chorus in 1973's A Little Night Music.

Time magazine called it " Sondheim's most brilliant accomplishment to date.

Although it was Sondheim's only Top 40 hit, his songs are frequently performed and recorded by cabaret artists and theatre singers in their solo careers.

Sondheim's music director, Paul Gemignani, said, “ Part of Steve ’ s ability is this extraordinary versatility .” Merrily, however, was a 16-performance flop.

Sondheim's career has been varied, encompassing much beyond the composition of musicals.

Side By Side By Sondheim ( 1976 ), Marry Me A Little ( 1980 ), You're Gonna Love Tomorrow ( 1983 ) Putting It Together ( 1993 ), and Sondheim on Sondheim ( 2010 ) are anthologies or revues of Sondheim's work as composer and lyricist, featuring both songs performed and cut from productions.

Several of Sondheim's songs were dropped for the film version.