Broadway.com's Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration Raises Over $400K

Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration was chock-full of Broadway stars. In addition to saluting Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim in song, the concert also raised funds for ASTEP (Artists Striving To End Poverty). The event, which took place on April 26, raised over $400,000 for the organization and has been streamed 1.8 million times. Fans can still stream the performance for free on Broadway.com and the Broadway.com YouTube channel.

The free online event, hosted by Raúl Esparza, took place on the 50th anniversary of the opening night of the original Broadway production of Company. Mary-Mitchell Campbell served as the evening’s music director, with Broadway.com Editor-in-Chief Paul Wontorek serving as director.

“Thanks to the incredible generosity of everyone who contributed to ASTEP’s Arts Resilience Fund," said Campbell, who conceived ASTEP with Juilliard students. "What has always made ASTEP unique is our ability to connect artists with community groups working in underserved communities. In this moment of crisis, our partners are serving youth who are navigating food scarcity, economic hardships and home safety, among a host of other issues. With these funds, ASTEP will immediately respond to the needs of these communities.”

The evening had a star-studded list of performers, including Meryl Streep, Bernadette Peters, Patti LuPone, Mandy Patinkin, Audra McDonald, Christine Baranski, Donna Murphy, Sutton Foster, Annaleigh Ashford, Laura Benanti, Melissa Errico, Beanie Feldstein, Josh Groban, Jake Gyllenhaal, Neil Patrick Harris, Judy Kuhn, Linda Lavin, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Platt, Randy Rainbow, Lea Salonga, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Kelli O’Hara, Aaron Tveit, Maria Friedman, Katrina Lenk, Michael Cerveris, Brandon Uranowitz, Elizabeth Stanley, Chip Zien, Alexander Gemignani, Iain Armitage, Stephen Schwartz and, from the cast of Pacific Overtures at Classic Stage Company, Ann Harada, Austin Ku, Kelvin Moon Loh and Thom Sesma.

Broadway.com recently presented a living room livestream of Buyer & Cellar, starring Michael Urie, which raised ver $200,000 for the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS' COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund. The site, which celebrates its 20th anniversary on May 1, also hosted and produced a livestreamed reading of the late Terrence McNally's Lips Together, Teeth Apart, starring Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Zachary Quinto and Ari Graynor, which was seen by over 50,000 theater fans. In addition, Broadway.com's successful livestreaming return of The Rosie O'Donnell Show on March 22 raised close to $700,000 for The Actors Fund.

Watch the full concert below!