Editing Stephen Sondheim (section)

===1970–1981: Collaborations with Hal Prince===
==== ''Company'' ====
[[File:Stephen Sondheim, New York.jpg|thumb|upright|Sondheim in New York, 1972]]
After ''Do I Hear a Waltz?'', Sondheim devoted himself solely to writing both music and lyrics for the theater—and in 1970, he began a collaboration with director [[Harold Prince]] resulting in a body of work that is considered one of the high water marks of musical theater history, with critic [[Howard Kissel]] writing that the duo had set "Broadway's highest standards".<ref>{{cite book|title = Harold Prince: A Director's Journey|last = Ilson|first = Carol|year = 1989|publisher = [[Rowman & Littlefield|Limelight Editions]]|page = 239|isbn = 978-0879102968}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/8/1/20748998/hal-prince-dies-at-91-company-cabaret-sondheim-phantom|title = Broadway director Harold Prince left an unparalleled legacy of masterworks|last = Romano|first = Aja|work = [[Vox Media|Vox]]|date = August 1, 2019|access-date = November 28, 2021}}</ref>

The first Sondheim show with Prince as director was 1970's ''[[Company (musical)|Company]]''. A show about a single man and his married friends, ''Company'' (with a book by [[George Furth]]) lacked a straightforward plot, instead centering on themes such as marriage and the difficulty of making an emotional connection with another person. It opened on April 26, 1970, at the [[Alvin Theatre]], running for 705 performances after seven previews, and won [[Tony Awards]] for [[Tony Award for Best Musical|Best Musical]], Best Music, and Best Lyrics.<ref name = Franklin>{{cite news|url = https://www.playbill.com/article/look-back-at-the-original-production-of-company-on-broadway|title = Look Back at the Original Production of Company on Broadway
|last = Franklin|first = Marc J.|date = April 26, 2021|access-date = November 28, 2021|work = [[Playbill]]}}</ref> The original cast included [[Dean Jones (actor)|Dean Jones]], [[Elaine Stritch]], and [[Charles Kimbrough]]. Popular songs include "[[Company (Broadway song)|Company]]", "The Little Things You Do Together", "Sorry-Grateful", "You Could Drive a Person Crazy", "Another Hundred People", "[[Getting Married Today (song)|Getting Married Today]]", "Side by Side", "[[The Ladies Who Lunch (song)|The Ladies Who Lunch]]", and "[[Being Alive]]". [[Walter Kerr]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' praised the production, the performances, and the score, writing, "Sondheim has never written a more sophisticated, more pertinent, or—this is the surprising thing in the circumstances—more melodious score".<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1970/05/03/archives/company-original-and-uncompromising-company-is-uncompromising.html|title= Company: Original and Uncompromising|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date= May 3, 1970|access-date= November 3, 2023|last=Kerr|first=Walter|author-link=Walter Kerr}}</ref>

Documentary filmmaker [[D. A. Pennebaker]] captured the making of the [[original cast recording]] shortly after the show opened on Broadway in his 1970 film ''[[Original Cast Album: Company]]''.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Brody|first=Richard|title=The Unstrung Power of Elaine Stritch in "Original Cast Album: Company"|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-unstrung-power-of-elaine-stritch-in-original-cast-album-company|access-date=August 6, 2020|magazine=The New Yorker|date=July 10, 2020|language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Saltz|first=Rachel|date=October 11, 2014|title=Invincible Bunch, 44 Years Later|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/12/movies/invincible-bunch-44-years-later-.html|access-date=August 6, 2020}}</ref> Stritch, Sondheim, and producer [[Thomas Z. Shepard]] are featured prominently. ''Company'' was revived on Broadway in 1995, 2006, and 2020/2021 (the last revival began previews in March 2020, but shut down before resuming in November 2021 due to the ongoing [[COVID-19 pandemic]]; in this revival, the main character was a woman, Bobbie, portrayed by [[Katrina Lenk]]).{{r|Franklin}} The 2006 and 2021 productions won the [[Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical]].

==== ''Follies'' ====
''[[Follies]]'' (1971), with a book by [[James Goldman]], opened on April 4, 1971, at the [[Winter Garden Theatre]] and ran for 522 performances after 12 previews.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-04-07-vl-43340-story.html|title = Theater Review : Conejo ''Follies'' Not Same Old Song, Dance : The Sondheim musical may have fizzled on Broadway, but the local production spotlights the show's strengths|newspaper= [[Los Angeles Times]]|date = April 7, 1994|access-date = November 28, 2021|last = Everett|first = Todd}}</ref> The plot centers on a reunion, in a crumbling Broadway theater scheduled for demolition, of performers in ''Weismann's'' ''Follies'' (a musical revue, based on the ''[[Ziegfeld Follies]]'', that played in that theater between the world wars). The production also featured choreography and co-direction by [[Michael Bennett (theater)|Michael Bennett]]'','' who later created ''[[A Chorus Line]]''.

The original production starred [[Dorothy Collins]], [[John McMartin]], [[Alexis Smith]], and [[Gene Nelson]]. It included the songs "[[I'm Still Here (Follies song)|I'm Still Here]]", "[[Could I Leave You? (song)|Could I Leave You?]]", and "[[Losing My Mind]]". The production earned 11 [[Tony Award]] nominations, including Best Musical. It won 7 Tony Awards, including [[Tony Award for Best Original Score|Best Original Score]]. The show was revived on Broadway in 2001 and 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.playbill.com/production/follies-belasco-theatre-vault-0000010759|title = Follies|year = 2001|website = [[Playbill]]|access-date = November 28, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/13/theater/reviews/follies-on-broadway-review.html|title = Darkness Around the Spotlight|date = September 13, 2011|access-date = November 28, 2021|last = Brantley|first = Ben|author-link = Ben Brantley|newspaper= [[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

==== ''A Little Night Music'' ====
''[[A Little Night Music]]'' (1973), based on [[Ingmar Bergman]]'s ''[[Smiles of a Summer Night]]'' and with a score primarily in [[Time signature|waltz time]], was among Sondheim's greatest commercial successes. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine called it his "most brilliant accomplishment to date".<ref name="perf">{{cite magazine|url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,906953,00.html|title = A Precious Fancy|magazine = Time|date = March 19, 1973|access-date = March 19, 2007|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070930141833/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,906953,00.html|archive-date = September 30, 2007|url-status = dead}}</ref> The original cast included [[Glynis Johns]], [[Len Cariou]], [[Hermione Gingold]], and [[Judy Kahan]]. The show opened on Broadway at the [[Shubert Theatre (New York City)|Shubert Theatre]] on February 25, 1973, and ran for 601 performances and 12 previews.<ref>{{IBDB title|3176|A Little Night Music}}</ref> Clive Barnes of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote, "''A Little Night Music'' is soft on the ears, easy on the eyes, and pleasant on the mind. It is less than brash, but more than brassy, and it should give a lot of pleasure. It is the remembrance of a few things past, and all to the sound of a waltz and the understanding smile of a memory. Good God!—[an] adult musical!"<ref>{{cite news|url= https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/07/19/specials/sondheim-night.html|title= The Theater: ''A Little Night Music''|author=[[Clive Barnes]]|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=December 18, 2024}}</ref>

The production earned 12 [[Tony Award]] nominations and won 6 awards, including [[Tony Award for Best Musical|Best Musical]] and [[Tony Award for Best Original Score|Best Original Score]]. "[[Send in the Clowns]]", a song from the musical, was a hit for [[Judy Collins]] and became Sondheim's best-known song. It has since been covered by [[Frank Sinatra]], [[Barbra Streisand]], and [[Judi Dench]]. The production was adapted to screen in the [[A Little Night Music (film)|1977 film of the same name]] starring [[Elizabeth Taylor]], [[Dianna Rigg]], [[Len Cariou]], and [[Hermione Gingold]]. It was revived on Broadway in 2009 in a production starring [[Catherine Zeta-Jones]] and [[Angela Lansbury]].<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/14/theater/reviews/14little.html|title = A Weekend in the Country With Eros and Thanatos|work = [[The New York Times]]|date = December 14, 2009|access-date = November 28, 2021|last = Brantley|first = Ben|author-link = Ben Brantley}}</ref>

==== ''Pacific Overtures'' ====
''[[Pacific Overtures]]'' (1976), with a book by [[John Weidman]], was one of Sondheim's most unconventional efforts: it explored the westernization of Japan, and was originally presented in a mock-[[Kabuki]] style.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jul-15-et-swed15-story.html|title = Cultural Fine-Tuning of ''Pacific Overtures''|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date = July 15, 2002|access-date = November 28, 2021|last = Swed|first = Mark|author-link=Mark Swed}}</ref> The show closed after a run of 193 performances,<ref>{{IBDB title|3785|Pacific Overtures}}</ref> and was revived on Broadway in 2004.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/03/theater/reviews/repatriating-the-japanese-sondheim.html|title = Repatriating the Japanese Sondheim|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date = December 3, 2004|access-date = November 28, 2021|last = Brantley|first = Ben|author-link = Ben Brantley}}</ref>

==== ''Sweeney Todd'' ====
''[[Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street]]'' (1979), with a score by Sondheim and a book by [[Hugh Wheeler]], is based on [[Christopher Bond]]'s 1973 stage play derived from the [[Victorian era|Victorian]] original.<ref>Berkvist, Robert. [https://www.nytimes.com/books/98/07/19/specials/sondheim-guignol.html "Stephen Sondheim Takes a Stab at Grand Guignol"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929044520/http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/07/19/specials/sondheim-guignol.html |date=September 29, 2017 }}. ''The New York Times'', February 25, 1979</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sondheim.com/works/sweeney_todd/|title=Sweeney Todd|publisher=Sondheim.com|access-date=September 28, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141116040932/http://www.sondheim.com/works/sweeney_todd/|archive-date=November 16, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Wheeler, Hugh; Sondheim, Stephen. "''Sweeney Todd'' script, Introduction by Christopher Bond". Hal Leonard Corporation, 1991, {{ISBN|1-55783-066-5}}, p. 1</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sondheimguide.com/sweeney.html|title='Sweeney Todd' listing" "Based on a Version of "Sweeney Todd" by Christopher Bond|publisher=Sondheimguide.com|access-date=September 28, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160525042858/http://www.sondheimguide.com/sweeney.html|archive-date=May 25, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>Brown, Larry. [http://larryavisbrown.homestead.com/files/Sondheim/sweeneytodd.htm "'Sweeney Todd' Notes"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090307034807/http://larryavisbrown.homestead.com/files/Sondheim/sweeneytodd.htm |date=March 7, 2009 }}. Larryavisbrown.homestead.com. Retrieved March 22, 2010.</ref> The original production starred [[Angela Lansbury]], [[Len Cariou]], [[Victor Garber]], and [[Edmund Lyndeck]]. Popular songs from the musical include "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd", "The Worst Pies in London", "Pretty Women", "A Little Priest", "[[Not While I'm Around (song)|Not While I'm Around]]", "By the Sea", and "Johanna". The production earned 9 [[Tony Award]] nominations and won 8 awards, including [[Tony Award for Best Musical|Best Musical]], Best Original Score, Best Actress, and Best Actor. Richard Eder of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote: "Mr. Sondheim's lyrics can be endlessly inventive. There is a hugely amusing recitation of the attributes given by the different professions—priest, lawyer, and so on—to the pies they contribute to. At other times the lyrics have a black, piercing poetry to them."<ref>{{cite web|url= https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/07/19/specials/sondheim-todd.html|title= Stage: Introducing ''Sweeney Todd''|author=[[Richard Eder]]|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date= November 3, 2023}}</ref>

Lansbury's performance was captured alongside [[George Hearn]] in the Los Angeles production, which was filmed and shown on [[PBS]] as part of ''[[Masterpiece Theatre]]''. It later earned five [[Primetime Emmy Award]] nominations. It has been revived on Broadway in 1989, 2005, and 2023. The 2023 production starred [[Josh Groban]], [[Annaleigh Ashford]], [[Jordan Fisher]], and [[Gaten Matarazzo]]. A [[Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007 film)|film adaptation]] was made in 2007 directed by [[Tim Burton]] and starring [[Johnny Depp]], [[Helena Bonham Carter]], and [[Alan Rickman]].

==== ''Merrily We Roll Along'' ====
''[[Merrily We Roll Along (musical)|Merrily We Roll Along]]'' (1981), with a book by [[George Furth]], is one of Sondheim's most traditional scores; songs from the musical were recorded by [[Frank Sinatra]] and [[Carly Simon]]. According to Sondheim's music director [[Paul Gemignani]], "Part of Steve's ability is this extraordinary versatility". The show was not the success their previous collaborations had been: after a chaotic series of preview performances, it opened to widely negative reviews, and closed after a run of less than two weeks. Due to the high quality of Sondheim's score, the show has been repeatedly revised and produced in the ensuing years. [[Martin Gottfried]] wrote, "Sondheim had set out to write traditional songs ... But [despite] that there is nothing ordinary about the music."{{sfn|Gottfried|1993|pp=146–147}} Sondheim later said: "Did I feel betrayed? I'm not sure I would put it like that. What did surprise me was the feeling around the Broadway community—if you can call it that, though I guess I will for lack of a better word—that they wanted Hal and me to fail."{{r|wolf}} Sondheim and Furth continued to revise the show in subsequent years. An acclaimed feature documentary on the show and its aftermath, ''[[Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened]]'', directed by ''Merrily'' cast member Lonny Price, and produced by [[Bruce David Klein]], Kitt Lavoie, and Ted Schillinger, premiered at the New York Film Festival on November 18, 2016. A [[Merrily We Roll Along (film)|film adaptation]] of ''Merrily We Roll Along'', directed by [[Richard Linklater]], began production in 2019 and is planned to continue for the next two decades to allow the actors to age in real time.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/richard-linklater-film-merrily-we-roll-along-be-shot-20-years-1235414/|title = Richard Linklater Musical to Be Filmed Over 20-Year Span|last = Galuppo|first = Mia|work = [[The Hollywood Reporter]]|access-date = November 28, 2021|date = August 29, 2019}}</ref> An off-Broadway revival starring [[Jonathan Groff]], [[Daniel Radcliffe]], and [[Lindsay Mendez]] ran from November 2022 to January 2023 at the [[New York Theatre Workshop]]; it moved to Broadway in fall 2023. ''Merrily'' won 2024 Tony Awards for Best Revival of a Musical, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical (Jonathan Groff), Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical (Daniel Radcliffe), and Best Orchestrations ([[Jonathan Tunick]]).<ref>[https://www.tonyawards.com/winners/year/2024/category/any/show/any/ "Winners 2024"], Tony Awards</ref>

''Merrily''{{'}}s failure greatly affected Sondheim; he was ready to quit theater and do movies, create video games or write mysteries: "I wanted to find something to satisfy myself that does not involve Broadway and dealing with all those people who hate me and hate Hal."{{sfn|Gottfried|1993|p=153}} After ''Merrily'', Sondheim and Prince did not collaborate again until their 2003 production of ''[[Bounce (musical)|Bounce]]''.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last1=Simonson|first1=Robert|last2=Jones|first2=Kenneth|date=June 30, 2003|title=Sondheim and Prince Bounce Back After 20 Years with Goodman Theatre Premiere, June 30|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/sondheim-and-prince-bounce-back-after-20-years-with-goodman-theatre-premiere-june-30-com-113986|access-date=November 29, 2021|magazine=[[Playbill]]}}</ref>