Broadway gathers to honor Stephen Sondheim. (Screenshot via YouTube)
Light snow flurries swirled around the stars of theatre and stage of New York City’s Great White Way as they gathered in Times Square Nov. 28. Members of every Broadway company assembled singing in a chorus “Sunday,” the powerfully emotional act one finale to “Sunday in the Park with George.”
They were gathered to pay homage to legendary Tony Award-, Academy Award- and Grammy Award-winning composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim. The piece being performed garnered Sondheim a Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1985.
Broadway’s best were joined by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Sara Bareilles, Josh Groban, Kathryn Gallagher and Lauren Patton at the “Sunday” performance in Times Square.
The man who was heralded as Broadway and theater’s most revered and influential composer-lyricist of the last half of the 20th century died at 91 Nov. 26 at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut.
“This felt like church,” Bareilles told Variety after the performance. “In his remembrance, we did what theater does best. We sang and raised our voices and came together in community.”
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Josh Groban and Sara Bareilles Honor Stephen Sondheim at ‘Sunday’ Performance in Times Square https://t.co/LgrYPyMnv0
— Variety (@Variety) November 28, 2021
Variety also noted that during the celebration, Miranda offered a sermon of sorts. Foregoing a speech, he opened Sondheim’s “Look I Made A Hat,” an annotated anthology of the composer’s lyrics, and read from a few passages before the crowd.
