Stephen Sondheim to visit campus
Renowned lyricist and composer Stephen Sondheim, considered one of the most important figures in contemporary American musical theater, will visit the campus on Thursday, March 30.
His visit is under the auspices of the English department's John Christophe Schlesinger Fund and the School of Music.
At 7 p.m. on Thursday, the seven-time Tony Award winner -- who has also been honored with a Pulitzer Prize and a Grammy -- will discuss his work as a lyricist during "A Conversation with Stephen Sondheim" in Sprague Memorial Hall, 470 College St. The conversation will be accompanied by a performance of Sondheim songs by singers Ted Bailey, Stephen Hopkins, Richard Lalli, Danielle Ryan and Megan Stern. The event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. They can be reserved by calling the Sprague Hall box office at (203) 432-4158. The tickets will be released on the day of the event.
Born in 1930 in New York City, Sondheim was in high school when he began an apprenticeship with the famed lyricist and playwright Oscar Hammerstein -- the father of his friend, Jimmy Hammerstein. After graduating from Williams College in 1950, he studied on a fellowship with the composer Milton Babbitt. In 1954, he wrote the music and lyrics for "Saturday Night." The musical wasn't produced until 1997, when it was performed at London's Bridewell Theatre, followed by a professional recording in 1998 and an Off-Broadway run in 2000.
At the age of 25, Sondheim wrote the lyrics to "West Side Story," accompanying Leonard Bernstein's music and Arthur Laurents' book. In 1959 he wrote the lyrics to the musical "Gypsy." Three years later, "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" -- for which he wrote the lyrics and music -- opened on Broadway. These successes have followed in the decades since with him writing the lyrics and music for "Anyone Can Whistle," "Company," "Follies," "A Little Night Music," "The Frogs," "Pacific Overtures," "Sweeney Todd," "Merrily We Roll Along," "Sunday in the Park with George," "Into the Woods," "Assassins," "Passion" and "Bounce."
Noted for his use of complex polyphony in vocal parts and for his intricate melodies, Sondheim's song "Send in the Clowns" from "A Little Night Music" is the one composition he wrote that became a major hit.
Sondheim won a Grammy Award for "Sweeney Todd" in 1979 and a Pulitzer Prize in Drama for "Sunday in the Park with George" in 1985. His Tony Awards include recognition for best score, best musical or other honors for "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," "Company," "Follies," "A Little Night Music," "Sweeney Todd," "Pacific Overtures," "Sunday in the Park with George," "Into the Woods," "Passion" and "Assassins." Sondheim has also written the scores for such films as "Reds," "Dick Tracy" and "Stavisky," and he has written television musicals and non-musical television shows. His "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)," one of five songs he wrote for Warren Beatty's film "Dick Tracy," won an Academy Award for best song.
In the late 1960s, Sondheim also published an inventive series of word puzzles in New York magazine, which started the rise of cryptic crosswords in the United States.
The John-Chrisophe Schlesinger Visiting Writer Fund was established in 1999 by Mr. and Mrs. Richard Schlesinger of Pound Ridge, New York, as a memorial to their son. The fund enriches the experiences of student writers in Yale College by supporting annual visits to campus by distinguished or emerging authors.
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