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West End to dim lights in tribute to late composer Stephen Sondheim
The West End will honour composer Stephen Sondheim, who died on Friday (Picture: Getty)
London’s West End theatres are to pay tribute to musical theatre legend Stephen Sondheim by dimming their lights in a time-honoured tradition.
The composer and lyricist, famous for creating the musical Sweeny Todd among many others, was described as one of theatre’s ‘greatest geniuses’ after his death aged 91 on Friday morning.
To recognise his contribution to musical theatre, West End theatres will dim their lights for two minutes at 7pm on Monday.
Julian Bird, chief executive of the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre, said: ‘The theatre world is a smaller place tonight after the passing of Stephen Sondheim.
‘His legacy of extraordinary shows and songs will live on for many generations to come – but now, we pay tribute to his outstanding contribution to our theatres and celebrate his talent.’
Other industry luminaries who have recieved the same tribute include choreographer Dame Gillian Lyne, actress Natasha Richardson, director Sir Peter Hall and American director and producer Hal Prince.
Sondheim was lauded for many of his musical theatre works (Picture: Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis via Getty Images)
The composer was still active with work (Picture: Getty)
Six of Sondheim’s musicals won Tony Awards and he also received a Pulitzer Prize, an Academy Award, five Olivier Awards and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Honour.
He was also the lyricist for West Side Story, alongside composer Leonard Bernstein, with the celebrated 1961 film adaptation of the musical receiving 10 Oscars and a Steven Spielberg-helmed remake hitting cinemas next month.
Theatrical producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh, who renamed his Queen’s Theatre venue after the composer in 2019, said theatre had ‘lost one of its greatest geniuses and the world has lost one of its greatest and most original writers’.
English composer Andrew Lloyd Webber paid tribute on Twitter, saying: ‘Farewell Steve, the musical theatre giant of our times, an inspiration not just to two but to three generations. Your contribution to theatre will never be equalled.’
Sondheim has a theatre named after him in the West End and on Broadway (pictured) (Picture: AFP/Getty)
He also told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘A Little Night Music is a masterpiece. It’s one of the pieces I go back to play again and again.
‘So many, many will focus on his lyrics because they are peerless, but for me as a composer, I just think his work was, really extraordinary.
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‘Sondheim was an absolute genius and the New York Times rightly calls him a titan of musical theatre. And that’s the only word I can think of.’
Lyricist Sir Tim Rice described Sondheim as a ‘master musical man’, while Barbra Streisand tweeted: ‘Thank the Lord that Sondheim lived to be 91 years old so he had the time to write such wonderful music and GREAT lyrics! May he Rest In Peace [sic].’
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