By Sasha Potwinovich
Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim, whose Tony Award-winning musicals include “Company,” “Follies” and “Sweeney Todd,” has died at the age of 91.
Sondheim’s family issued a statement Thursday, saying the composer died peacefully at his home surrounded by his loved ones in Connecticut.
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“His creativity and talent could not be contained or contained,” the statement read. “He found them in the older people, in the art museums, in kids, in the subway, at concerts. A creative genius, he breathed out creativity and helped America breathe better.”
Sondheim will be best remembered for his social and political satire. His hits include “Sweeney Todd,” “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” “Sunday in the Park with George” and “West Side Story.”
“Stephen Sondheim is irreplaceable,” said Tony Award-winning director Joe Mantello in a statement. “Steve created a tradition that defined American theatre.”
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Broadway’s “Sweeney Todd,” which became a blockbuster Broadway production, adapted by Sondheim from the popular musical by the same name, was nominated for 11 Tony Awards in 2007. The show also earned Academy Award nominations for Viggo Mortensen as actor, costume designer Catherine Zuber and director Hugh Wheeler.
“Stephen Sondheim is irreplaceable,” said Tony Award-winning director Joe Mantello in a statement. “Steve created a tradition that defined American theatre.”
Tony Award-winning composer (Sweeney Todd, Follies, Company, Sunday in the Park with George) and lyricist (Into the Woods, Sunday in the Park with George) and one of the greatest composers of all time. — BroadwayWorld (@BroadwayWorld) January 3, 2019
The artist was born Stephen Lawrence Shakespeare, but he legally changed his name in 1951 and used a modified pronunciation of it until his death.