Three years since Stephen Sondheim's passing, his work stands as a shining beacon of artistic excellence and a remarkable understanding of the human condition. This year, six of his titles celebrated milestone anniversaries. Consisting of dark comedies, an intimate romance, a clever musial revue, and a profound meditation on art, these masterpieces demonstrate the range of Sondheim's creative prowess and the richness of his legacy.

Sweeney Todd

Attend the tale! March 1 heralded the 45th anniversary of Sweeney Todd opening on Broadway at what is now the Gershwin Theatre. Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's tasty, thrilling, theatrical treat has left audiences speechless (and impeccably shaved) for decades since.

In this infamous tale, Sweeney Todd, an unjustly exiled barber, returns to nineteenth century London, seeking vengeance against the lecherous judge who framed him and ravaged his young wife. The road to revenge leads Todd to Mrs. Lovett, a resourceful proprietress of a failing pie shop, above which, he opens a new barber practice. Mrs. Lovett's luck sharply shifts when Todd's thirst for blood inspires the integration of an ingredient into her meat pies that has the people of London lining up... and the carnage has only just begun!

Assassins

20 years ago, on April 22, 2004, Assassins⁠ opened on Broadway at Studio 54. Sondheim and John Weidman's bold, incisive musical won five Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical. With its exploration of the darker side of The American Dream, Assassins remains as relevant as ever.

Assassins lays bare the lives of nine individuals who assassinated or tried to assassinate the President of the United States, in a one-act historical "revusical" that explores the dark side of the American experience. From John Wilkes Booth to Lee Harvey Oswald, Sondheim and Weidman bend the rules of time and space, taking us on a nightmarish roller coaster ride.

Watch Sondheim and Weidman discuss Assassins

Sunday in the Park with George

On May 2, 1984, Sondheim and James Lapine's Pulitzer-winning masterpiece opened on Broadway, starring Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters. The original Broadway production also took home an astounding ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical. ⁠Sunday in the Park with George is a stunning meditation on life, love, and the creation of art. 40 years later, it remains one of the most acclaimed musicals of our time.⁠

The days leading up to the completion of his most famous painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, Georges Seurat is struggling to make meaningful art and maintaining a relationship with his lover, Dot. Amid the scorn of the artistic community, Seurat's artistic ability thrives while his love diminishes. A century later, Seurat's descendant – named George and also an artist – finds himself burnt out and in search of what artistic path to follow, but he finds the answer to his future in the past.

Passion

"Your love will live in me." 30 years ago on May 9, 1994, Sondheim and Jame Lapine's Passion opened on Broadway, directed by Lapine and starring Donna Murphy (in her first Tony-winning role), Jere Shea, and Marin Mazzie⁠. In addition to Murphy's win for her performance, Passion took home the Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Book of a Musical. Decades later, we are still enamored with this haunting, raw work of art.⁠

At a remote military outpost in 1863 Italy, a handsome army captain, separated from his beautiful – but married – mistress, is forced to re-evaluate his beliefs about love when he becomes the object of the obsessive, unrelenting passions of Fosca, his Colonel's plain, sickly cousin.

The Frogs

This year marked the 20th Broadway anniversary of Sondheim and Burt Shevelove's The Frogs. Opening on July 22, 2004, The Frogs starred Nathan Lane as Dionysos and Roger Bart as Xanthias. Susan Stroman directed and choreographed.⁠

Loosely based on the play of the same name by Aristophanes, this boisterously hilarious, yet poignant, musical follows Dionysos, Greek god of wine and drama, and his slave, Xanthias, on a journey to Hades to collect renowned critic and playwright, George Bernard Shaw, so that he may enlighten the easily misled and coerced masses of Earth. Along this journey, Dionysus and Xanthias meet Chekhov, Congreve, Ibsen, Brecht and, of course, the chorus of frogs. When Shakespeare shows up, he engages in a battle of words with Mr. Shaw. Who will win the honor of becoming reincarnated: The Bard or Bernard?

Putting It Together

Have we got a show for you! 25 years ago, on November 21, 1999, Putting It Together opened on Broadway, starring Carol Burnett, George Hearn, John Barrowman, Ruthie ⁠Henshall, and Bronson Pinchot.⁠ Drawing its title from a song in Sunday in the Park with George, it celebrates Sondheim's incomparable career in musical theatre.

Featuring nearly thirty Sondheim tunes, Putting It Together is performed by only five people who are thrown together at a party in a Manhattan penthouse. With a bit of imagination, the guests transform the apartment into the stage of an abandoned theatre, an estate in Sweden, an island outside of Paris, a street off the Roman Forum, the woods of a fairy tale and a mythical town in the Southwest.

"It's a Hit!"

The Tony-winning revival of Merrily We Roll Along celebrated a different kind of milestone over the summer. The highly accoladed production announced that it had grossed $2.7 million in its final week, the highest box office performance by a Sondheim musical on Broadway!

MTI looks forward to honoring Stephen Sondheim's legacy for years to come.

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