Stephen Sondheim to Celebrate 80th Birthday with Starry Tribute Concert and Gala

Stephen Sondheim turns 80 on March 22, 2010, and he will celebrate this landmark event with a special performance of the Roundabout Theatre Company’s Sondheim on Sondheim at Studio 54 and star-studded tribute at the theater company’s spring gala.

The celebration will begin with an early performance of Sondheim on Sondheim, the new musical retrospective of Sondheim’s career, at Studio 54. The show stars Barbara Cook, Vanessa Williams and Tom Wopat and features music and lyrics by Sondheim and direction by James Lapine.

After the musical, the gala continues with a tribute that will feature an array of original songs composed by Broadway’s current crop of musical theatre writers. Artists participating include Tom Kitt & Brian Yorkey (Next to Normal), Michael John LaChiusa (The Wild Party), Andrew Lippa (The Addams Family), Robert Lopez (Avenue Q) & Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Lin-Manuel Miranda (In The Heights), Duncan Sheik (Spring Awakening), Stew & Heidi Rodewald (Passing Strange) and Jeanine Tesori & David Lindsay-Abaire (Shrek). Their original compositions will be sung by some of Broadway's biggest talents such as Berndadette Peters in front of an audience that will include friends and artists from his six decades on Broadway such as Elaine Stritch, Lauren Bacall, Donna Murphy, Kelli O’Hara, Lynn Redgrave, Sam Mendes, Frank Rich, Michael Cerveris, LaChanze and more.

The tribute concert will be directed by Paul Gemignani, Sondheim’s longtime musical director.