![]() Sondheim met Hal Prince, who would direct many of his shows, at the opening of South Pacific, Hammerstein's musical with Richard Rodgers. The elder Hammerstein became Sondheim's surrogate father, influencing him profoundly and developing his love of musical theatre. When Sondheim was about ten years old (around the time of his parents' divorce), he became friends with James Hammerstein, son of lyricist and playwright Oscar Hammerstein II. Career Mentorship by Oscar Hammerstein II What she did for five years was treat me like dirt, but come on to me at the same time." She once wrote him a letter saying that the "only regret ever had was giving him birth." When his mother died in the spring of 1992, Sondheim did not attend her funeral and had already been estranged from her for nearly 20 years at that point. And she used me the way she used him, to come on to and to berate, beat up on, you see. Sondheim detested his mother, who was said to be psychologically abusive and projected her anger from her failed marriage on her son: "When my father left her, she substituted me for him. No brothers and sisters, no parents, and yet plenty to eat, and friends to play with and a warm bed, you know?" You're in, though it's luxurious, you're in an environment that supplies you with everything but human contact. ![]() Sondheim explained to biographer Secrest that he was "what they call an institutionalized child, meaning one who has no contact with any kind of family. Herbert sought custody of Stephen but was unsuccessful. When Sondheim was ten, his father (already a distant figure) left his mother for another woman (Alicia, with whom he had two sons). "A butler took a duster and brushed it up, tinkling the keys. "The curtain went up and revealed a piano," Sondheim recalled. He traces his interest in theatre to Very Warm for May, a Broadway musical he saw when he was nine. Sondheim spent several summers at Camp Androscoggin. When he lived in New York, Sondheim attended ECFS, the Ethical Culture Fieldston School known simply as "Fieldston.” He later attended the New York Military Academy and George School, a private Quaker preparatory school in Bucks County, Pennsylvania where he wrote his first musical, By George, and from which he graduated in 1946. As the only child of well-to-do parents living in the San Remo on Central Park West, he was described in Meryle Secrest's biography ( Stephen Sondheim: A Life) as an isolated, emotionally-neglected child. The composer grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and, after his parents divorced, on a farm near Doylestown, Pennsylvania. His father manufactured dresses designed by his mother. Sondheim was born into a Jewish family in New York City, the son of Etta Janet ("Foxy," née Fox 1897–1992) and Herbert Sondheim (1895–1966). Cameron Mackintosh has called Sondheim "possibly the greatest lyricist ever." To celebrate his 80th birthday, the former Henry Miller's Theatre was renamed the Stephen Sondheim Theatre on September 15, 2010, and the BBC Proms held a concert in his honor. Sondheim was president of the Dramatists Guild from 1973 to 1981. He wrote five songs for 1990's Dick Tracy, including "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)" by Madonna, which won the Academy Award for Best Song. Sondheim has written film music, contributing "Goodbye for Now" for Warren Beatty's 1981 Reds. ![]() He also wrote the lyrics for West Side Story and Gypsy. He has been described by Frank Rich of The New York Times as "now the greatest and perhaps best-known artist in the American musical theater." His best-known works as composer and lyricist include A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Pacific Overtures, Sweeney Todd, Merrily We Roll Along, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, Assassins, and Passion. Sondheim has received an Academy Award, eight Tony Awards (more than any other composer, including a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre), eight Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize, a Laurence Olivier Award, and a 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom. h aɪ m/ born March 22, 1930) is an American composer and lyricist known for more than a half-century of contributions to musical theater.
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