96 Gifts for Sondheim's 96th Birthday
Look at all the things you've done for us
I’d like to propose a toast: to Stephen Sondheim, who would today have turned 96. Today, we share 96 personal tributes — each a reflection on a gift Sondheim’s work has brought to the lives of our contributors, guided by Dot’s words in Sunday: “Look at all the things you’ve done for me.”
Here, then, are 96 gifts for Sondheim’s 96th birthday:
Steve, the entire course of my professional and personal life was charted by you. I pursued a life in musical theater because your work made it seem worthy. I met and married my wife because of you. “Move On” gave me the strength to make the most significant and difficult life choices. Your model of gentlemanly behavior has, I hope, guided my own dealings. Your many and generous kindnesses over the 36+ years I knew you were incalculable blessings. Of course, more than anything, it’s your work that meant everything.
— MARK EDEN HOROWITZ, senior music specialist, Library of Congress; author of Sondheim on Music: Minor Details and Major Decisions
I remember when I used to refer to Mr. Sondheim as my musical theater God, and when that changed to “Steve” towards the end of our six weeks of previews for Merrily We Roll Along in 1981. Steve will tell you that he had the most fun while working on Merrily with all of us, and it was clear, because it really felt like he truly loved us. Over the years he became a wonderful mentor to me, giving advice about lyric writing on my own projects, and became a wonderful mentor to my son as well on his first musical. My last memory of Steve is at Hal Prince’s memorial. I was given the great honor of singing “Old Friends” with my old friends, Lonny Price and Jim Walton. Steve found me after the tribute to Hal and with such warmth shouted, “Annie!” We locked smiling eyes, and I knew then I would never see him again. I will miss and love that man forever.
— ANN MORRISON, actor (Merrily’s original Mary Flynn)
The gift that Sondheim gives me, and gives many other people, is permission to be obsessed. He gives me permission to be so obsessed with my work. I think we can all use a healthy dose more of obsession over our art: being specific about it, being unapologetically obsessed over our work. When you see a whole bunch of people who are obsessed with their art collide into one space, it is absolute magic. Keep asking: can it be better? Can it be better? Can it be better? And then, when it all comes together, it does feel like something divine.
— KELVIN MOON LOH, actor
Sondheim gave me the love I have for musical theatre. He opened my eyes to what it looks like when creativity combines with the human condition and shows us truth. It’s intoxicating and highly addictive. I chase it every day. We all do!
— TALIA SIMONE ROBINSON, actor
Stephen Sondheim took a huge risk on me when nobody knew who I was. I remember shaking his hand in that rehearsal room, terrified, and he just said, “You’re gonna be fine.” Later he wrote me a letter that I still keep framed: “I think you’ll be very proud of yourself. And if you’re not, you should be.”
— CLAYBOURNE ELDER, actor
Sondheim’s final gift to me came after he was gone. His passing inspired me to create To Steve With Love, a tribute show and live album that earned me a Grammy nomination in my sixties—something I never saw coming. Steve wrote extraordinary songs for older women, and I’ll always be grateful that in this chapter of my life, he’s still giving me “so much stuff to sing.”
— LIZ CALLAWAY, actress, singer, and recording artist
Stephen Sondheim changed my life in 1988 when he wrote to ask if he and John Weidman could create their own musical based on my 1979 Assassins. His willingness to build on the work of an unknown theater artist demonstrated a generosity and creative openness that I’ve tried to emulate throughout my career. The last time I saw Steve was at the 2021 opening night of Assassins at Classic Stage Company, where he and John reminded me that their show would never have existed without mine—a gracious acknowledgment that meant the world to me. His work taught me that musical theater could be intellectually rigorous, emotionally complex, and theatrically inventive all at once, and that lesson continues to guide everything I create and teach.
— CHARLES GILBERT, JR., composer & lyricist
Aside from the opening night puzzle, my favorite gift from Sondheim was the opportunity to play characters who are unapologetically unconventional. Characters who get to explore the full range of the human thought process through a single song—a rare thing in musical theatre today!
— BRITNEY COLEMAN, actor
Steve’s gift of the reminder of the power of collaboration in the verse of “You’re Gonna Love Tomorrow”: “we’re in this thing together, arent’cha glad?” A lovely observation as it relates to creativity, but also a humble perch to experience our place in the world.
— KURT PETERSON, actor and producer (Follies’ original Young Ben)
He gave me a black pencil that he used to compose with and do all his production notes etc. It was when he was here in London and we were doing Saturday Night at The Bridewell Theatre. He only used a certain make, and the funny thing is that when we did Here We Are at The Shed in New York years later, our fabulous producers Sue Wagner and John Johnson gave us all a pack of three of the same brand of pencils as a welcoming gift (amongst a lot of other gifts too). So I treasure it to this day and hold it sometimes! Thrilled.
— TRACIE BENNETT, actor
Sondheim’s gift to me has been that when things, and people, go wrong, he doesn’t turn away. Nor does he clean up the mess. Frank Shepard…Sweeney Todd…Sally Durant Plummer…so much wreckage. And that’s the point. Sondheim knows—to me, he is always present tense—that sometimes I need to see characters whose lives are as messy, confused, and conflicted as my own life can sometimes be. Not to lapse into a cynical voyeurism, not at all. But so that through the artifice of musical theatre I can be seen for who I really am. Sondheim’s works do precisely what Fosca asks of Giorgio at their first meeting: they “look at me.”
— RICHARD SCHOCH, author of How Sondheim Can Change Your Life
Sondheim and his work have given me the encouragement to be more honest in my own songwriting and in my life. The ability to become a character comes with the task of thinking and believing thoughts that are not your own, and doing so with complete sincerity. It’s impossible to do this well without living honestly yourself: taking in the world around you, and accepting yourself at your best and your worst. His reminder to “not censor yourself” as a writer is advice I pass on to my own songwriting students and try to practice every day!
— GRACE YURCHUK, composer-lyricist
I spent yesterday afternoon in the Sondheim Collection at the Library of Congress, carefully turning the yellow legal pad pages where, with a Blackwing pencil, Sondheim sketched out his songs. What a gift to see his mind at work! I love the lists he made in the margins to spark his imagination. For the witch’s rap in Into the Woods: what rhymes with greens? He jotted down ravines, routines, sardines before he hit on nectarines. By bequeathing his papers to the library, he invited the rest of us to glimpse God in the details.
— DANIEL POLLACK-PELZNER, author of Lin-Manuel Miranda: The Education of an Artist
When I was out on the road with Cats in the late 1980s, we were organizing a benefit concert for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (unfortunately one of the very first in a tragically long sequence of similar fundraising efforts) and Into the Woods was new on Broadway. I wanted to sing “No One is Alone” and wrote to Steve to ask if he might be willing to send me the music to the song. Shortly thereafter, I received — in the company mail — the vocal selections for the show which, unbeknownst to me, had just been published! Though I was mortified that I had not known I could have just gone out and bought the music for myself, I’ll never forget his completely non-judgmental generosity and its profound impact on my heart and soul.
— CHRISTINE TOY JOHNSON, actor and writer
“Opened up my eyes. / Taught me how to see…”
It’s true though, isn’t it? Stephen Sondheim was my Rosetta Stone into real art. My codex of what was possible not just on the stage…but in my imagination.
I loved two things as a kid; Monsters and Musicals. All things that went bump in the night and all things that occasioned a hearty “BRAVO” in the theatre. When I happened upon the chunky, double disc, white and red, gloriously caricature-covered original cast recording of Sweeney Todd on the CD shelf of our local library, I knew I’d found something life-changing before it even hit my Discman. The weird, wonderful, glorious world that it opened up to me to felt like coming home. It still does, every time I hear that thunderous organ beckon me to “attend the tale”. And, of course, that was only the beginning. This little ghoul was soon taking trips to Edo-era Japan, turn of the century Sweden and a sunny day on La Grande Jatte… to name but a few of the adventures our poet laureate and musical travel agent allowed us to take. So Happy Birthday, Stephen Sondheim. Thank you, always and forever, for helping us to notice every tree.
— JOHN RAPSON, actor
Being able to sing Sondheim at this time in my life is a special gift. I have always admired his work. Been inspired by his work. But now… I truly feel his work when I sing. That is an extraordinary gift.
— BETH LEAVEL, actor
As a songwriter, Steve has given me the gift of stillness. He’s given me economy of language. In short, by showing me how to do less, he has given me “more to see.”
— BRETT BOLES, songwriter and founder of The M Tea Songwriting Studio
Sondheim has given me the knowledge to look at all things twice, maybe even thrice. See the metaphors hidden in plain sight. As an over-thinker by nature, Sondheim’s work, as chaotic as it may be, puts me at ease. The gift of order in the midst of chaos. The gift of harmony in the midst of tension. Because of him, I understand the light.
— KITTI HORVÁTH, performer
As corny as it sounds, Sondheim gave me a home as an artist. From playing in punk bands or singing in choirs, and adoring art in all forms, I never quite found the voice that fit me most, but when I heard his music something clicked. That distinct mixture of darkness, passion, mystery, sarcasm and humour made me feel so understood in how I wanted to express myself and the type of art I wanted to be a part of. And finding art that makes you feel understood is probably one of the best feelings in the world. I am so grateful to him.
— MOLLY LYNCH, actor
Steve’s work has given me the greatest appreciation for the chance to continue exploring the human condition. There is no better material that teaches us about ourselves as we age. I jokingly say that we can get our bachelors, masters, and doctorate from our time with his work. I only hope that we can continue living with the beautiful perspective he’s shown us...give us more to see.
— ANDY EINHORN, musical director
Touring the world — and it has been, truly, the world, Singapore to San Francisco and beyond — with several Sondheim shows, I’ve become particularly attuned to how and in what ways he lands differently in different places. What I’ve learned from him in this way is that, while I often need to prod or ‘place’ the songs in the right context — I’m known for talking, but I talk for a reason! — given the right ‘frame’ of story and place, the songs communicate their emotional truths immediately. Steve is known, of course, for his lyrics, their wit and their perfect rhyming. (Has anything ever been more virtuosic than the bridge of “Uptown/Downtown”?: “She sits at the Ritz with her splits of Mumm’s and starts to pine for a stein with her Village chums / But with a Schlitz in her mitts down in Fitzroy’s bar / She thinks of the Ritz. / Oh, it’s so schizo.”) But of course, audiences aren’t always intelligent in that way. For all that we talk of ‘sophistication’ and ‘subtlety’ in his songs — and of course they’re there — what reaches audiences is Steve’s sincerity: his way of communicating universal emotion in musical ways. It’s the music and the feeling that you deliver, in that beautiful verbal wrapping. It’s not the lyrics! It’s the lyricism. That’s why I called my first all-Sondheim album, against the grain of his own scruples, “Sondheim Sublime”. I wanted to emphasize the spell casting and shimmering, romantic part of Steve’s genius. It IS sublime. I’ve learned from Steve on stage that you can — and do — help audiences ‘get’ the songs by creating the right setting: just the other night, I explained to several young people in the audience, before singing it for the thousandth time, that “Send in the clowns!!” was a Shakespearean injunction, what you did on the English stage when things grew too grim, and they clicked in to a title they had heard but didn’t quite understand. (I also added the note that this was a song about ‘a woman who got everything she wanted and nothing she wanted’, which was, I thought, an efficient way of summarizing the plot of Night Music and Desiree’s dilemma.) What I’ve learned is that, with Sondheim, it’s always feelings first: if you treat Steve’s songs as emotional outpourings, you can deliver his wit; and being sincere about his wit is the best way to make it funny. I’ve learned from singing him that there are simply never too many sub-texts to deliver, or too much sublime to share. Happy Birthday, Steve!
— MELISSA ERRICO, actor
The truth is, what Sondheim gift I’m most grateful for is time-stamp dependent. In the mornings, when I’m writing, it’s that “a vision’s just a vision if it’s only in your head.” When I’m collaborating, it’s that “Art isn’t easy,” and “everything depends on execution.” In the middle of the night? It’s thoughts of “going back to NASA. There’s too much pressure in this line of work.”
When I say Sondheim’s gifts of wisdom and perspective are innumerable, I mean it. The examples I gave are only from one-half of one song!
His life, his art, his guidance. They’re sustenance for artists. And when they find me, I’m always so grateful to unwrap one of his many gifts. They’re everywhere.
— GABE MOLLICA, comedian
When I look at my career so far, God, even as early as high school, Stephen Sondheim has given me the gift and confidence of playing a principal character. A leading lady. My first big role as a theater kid was The Witch in Into The Woods, as a little sophomore in Kingston, Pennsylvania. Once I bit the Sondheim bug there was no going back. After doing that, accomplishing that role, that RAP, I felt like I could do anything. Later on, getting my equity card playing Jenny in Company, and then years later making my National Tour principal debut playing Sarah in Company. Sondheim has always been a reminder to me that I can lead a show. If I can lead HIS work, I sure as hell can do everything else.
— JESSIE HOOKER-BAILEY, actor
Thank you for teaching me the word “chuffed.”
— MICHAEL MITNICK, playwright and screenwriter
One evening after the show, Steve joined a small group of cast members at my apartment uptown. Seated on the floor around a homemade parsons table, Steve offered an observation which seemed surprising at the time (mid-1973) but has proven profoundly true. He said (paraphrasing), “Due to the intensifying pace of life, fueled in part by new and emerging technologies, we, as individuals come in contact with more and more people in an increasingly cursory way. As a result, we are and will in the future be less and less interested in the stories of others. Creators must adapt with impactful economy.”
— MARK LAMBERT, actor (A Little Night Music’s original Henrik)
One of the greatest gifts Steve gave me was permission to work with great intelligence. His writing asks us to think deeply, to investigate language, and to honor the precision of every lyric and note. When you step inside his work and truly give yourself permission to see the world he has created, you begin to understand that truth lives in the details, in the specificity of each thought, and in the life of a character you can live truthfully and fully. Having learned that, I have never heard a lyric or a note the same way again.
— RAMONA MALLORY, actor
I’ve had the privilege of directing eight Sondheim productions: Woods, Merrily, Overtures, Sunday twice, and Night Music thrice. And Sondheim has been by my side — both literally and figuratively — for some of my life’s most important moments: my MFA thesis (Sunday), meeting my husband (Sondheim was standing next to us in the buffet line), and at my wedding (our friends and family surprised us with a rendition of “Sunday”).
I’m grateful to have received two letters from Sondheim. One thanks me for inviting him to my upcoming production of Night Music at Berkshire Theatre Festival in 2014: “Good luck and give a warm hello and encouragement to Gregg [Edelman], Kate [Baldwin] and Penny [Fuller] from me.” The other is more interesting. In 2015, my husband, two other well known Broadway actors, and I co-wrote Sondheim a letter, pitching him a production idea for Sweeney. Sondheim replied very thoughtfully and thoroughly…shooting down our proposal as an “unworkable idea.” He thought it was too political. “In the original production, Hal wanted to accent what the Industrial Revolution did to England. It was something I was never fond of (or even understood) but because I wanted Hal to direct it I let him put those accents in. I don’t regret it, but I do think the politicization is irrelevant. I know this will disappoint you and I’m impressed by the seriousness of your intention, but I don’t think you should go ahead with the idea. I’m flattered and grateful for your taking the trouble to ask my permission without barreling ahead, but I think what you want is a musical version of 12 Years A Slave, and Sweeney Todd is simply not a vehicle for that.” I’ll let you imagine the details of our pitch...
— ETHAN HEARD, director
The original cast recording of Merrily We Roll Along blew my mind when I was just a kid, growing up in Florida. With that show, Sondheim and his collaborators taught me so much about what musicals could be, at their best: ambitious, personal, and complex. Sondheim’s legacy is not just in the extraordinary art he left behind but in how many of us he inspired to create our own art with the same ideals.
— JENNIFER ASHLEY TEPPER, Creative and Programming Director, 54 Below, producer, author, conceiver of The Jonathan Larson Project
In working with him, he wanted things a certain way, he wanted to achieve certain things musically, but he also wanted the story to be told. Yes, the notes are there. The rhythms are there. They are important. Do it. But the job is also to get these words across the footlights in a way that’s meaningful to the audience. He was laid back. He was nice, kind, funny, and obviously witty. I was able to work with Mr Sondheim because of my work with the late Barbara Cook. She actually called him while I was in a coaching with her and told him he needed to hear me, so he did! We wound up coaching every Sondheim song I knew and a couple songs by Harold Arlen and Richard Rodgers. Songs he loved. It was a profound experience that shaped the way I looked at not only his music and lyrics, but also the way I approached story telling through song. Probably about two thirds we were working, and one third was just my fanaticism of, “So what about this?” “Why did you do this?” and that kind of thing. That was a major experience that gave me a number of tools to pick out of the tool bag as I went on my journey of playing Sweeney.
— DEANDRE SIMMONS, actor and singer
“Anything you do, let it come from you, then it will be new. Give us more to see.” I keep these lyrics written down in my notebook. I think the biggest gift that Sondheim has given me is, even after his passing, his work always gives us more to see. I can always return to his music at any point in my life and find new meaning in his lyrics with every listen. His work has taught us how to grow up, navigate grief, what it means to be alive, and most importantly, he taught us the recipe for the worst pies in London!
— ALLIE APPEL, performer
Sondheim gave me not only work to love, but a model for how rigor and play can live together. In exploring his puzzles and games through my own projects, I’ve seen more clearly how his precision, mischief, and emotional intelligence can all belong to the same artistic mind. That work has also brought me into an “appropriately obsessive,” occasionally eccentric, always generous and deeply endearing community of Sondheim fans, a community that feels, to me, like one of his lasting gifts.
— BARRY JOSEPH, author of Matching Minds with Sondheim
Teachers described me as quite a lonely child, strange perhaps but not unhappy, sat in my own world singing to myself. In many ways the gift Sondheim gave me was my first safe and endlessly generous friendship. I lost myself in his shows and kept company in his lyrics, forever amazed at the cleverness and satisfaction of the sound of them, and even at eight years old touched by the universal understanding each show had for what it was to be a human and to be alive. Sondheim was effectively my imaginary friend and remains so to this day.
— ELLIE NUNN, actor
Merrily came to me at a time when I had serious doubt about whether I was meant to be an actor, or if I should throw in the towel. Singing those lyrics every night became like a mantra for me: Dreams don’t die, so keep an eye on your dreams. Thank you, Mr. Sondheim, for always telling us exactly what we need to hear.
— COBY GETZUG, actor
Many melodic lines written by men for the female voice are underdeveloped. Many melodic lines written by men for the female voice show the gaps in the research that still needs to be done on our instrument. That is not true of Sondheim’s material. I am so grateful for material that I can wrap my voice around with ease. I am so grateful for material that is thoughtfully crafted. You can tell that he partnered with female voices in order to develop it. We have these beautiful collaborative moments of him working with female voices to ensure that the notes, the rhythms, the lyrics are in alignment with what is best for their instrument. As well as being an actor, I’m also a voice teacher — and it is so beautiful, and so kind, and so thoughtful of him to have considered the female instrument in that way. I’m so grateful for that.
— NYLA WATSON, actor
Stephen Sondheim’s devotion to songwriting structure, rhyme, and prosody shaped my artistic standards. His musicals broke new ground, but the power of his songs comes from craftsmanship — honoring rules and allowing imagination to thrive within constraints. I still hear his voice when I write (which can be frustrating), but he never lets me compromise. That’s a gift I’m always grateful for.
— ERIC PRICE, lyricist and librettist, 2026 Kleban Prize for Lyrics
For my eleventh birthday, I went to see the Into the Woods 2014 movie at the cinema. At this age, I was still grasping what my passions were, what I cared about, and what moved me. The music in Into the Woods gripped me instantly and transported me deep into its dark fairytale. This early exposure to Sondheim’s musicality helped guide me closer to my passion and to the discovery of what I loved. Stephen Sondheim gave me the call to the theatre, and I cannot thank him enough for that. It’s impossible to say where I would be without that call.
— ZOE BELCOUR (@Basically_Broadway), theatre influencer
The gift of Stephen Sondheim in my life? My first Broadway show (Sunday) to have the music of a lifetime? His sliding in next to me at the first preview of Into the Woods in the back row and whispering in my ear: “Enjoy it. There is never another audience like this one.” Standing in the dark next to Frank Rich in a huge studio while we filmed Steve singing the role of Joe Josephson from Merrily for Six by Sondheim and hearing the roof lift off from our applause and yelling as he finished. Listening to him speak to John Doyle and John Weidman during the revivals we did at CSC of their shows, like it was the very first time it was done — with such passion and care, even though he could hardly navigate the stairs anymore.
All are gifts of such formidable size — and soooo many others. But the one I reflected on over my 44 years since I first heard it is this:
“How you have to finish the hat. / How you watch the rest of the world / From a window / While you finish the hat.” You see, no one else ever gave me the words for the hours at the drawing table, finishing all the “hats” I have for so many costumes. The isolation of the hours, to do something you give away. Steve gives me that every time I sit at the table and look out my window. And now I am old enough to know how much love goes into each word he gives us all to interpret in our own way….
— ANN HOULD-WARD, costume designer
The gift Mr. Sondheim has personally given me for which I am forever thankful for is the gift of endearing friendships. In 2023, I had the privilege to be the male swing in Sunday in the Park with Geroge at CCAE Theatricals. The entire process was a love-fest for the entire company were superfans of the show and of Sondheim himself. Because of this, the entire cast became like a second family (in the best of all possible ways) and I had made strong friendships with many cast members that I am still close to today. We constantly check in with each other and still reminisce on the Sunday experience. I am truly grateful that Sunday in the Park has connected me to friends who are a part of my life and it looks like they’ll stay...
— COLDEN LAMB, director, actor, writer
Studying Sondheim has gifted me with an openness to complexity, through lyric, song, and story. Every time I think, “Aha, I’ve cracked the code!” to a Sondheim work, there is always a new, somehow more wonderful thing to discover. My childhood introductions to the world of musical theatre were Into the Woods and Sweeney Todd, and my admiration for this incredible man grows stronger every day. I wish I could thank him for helping me find coherency in the muddle, as Desiree Armfeldt. So Happy 96th Birthday to the greatest theater writer ever (at least in my book)!!
— SOPHIA STARK, student
Stephen Sondheim taught me to find the music in words, in all its forms. Whether it’s a lyric you’ve sung ad nauseam, a monologue you’ve happened upon for the very first time, or a screenplay you’ve finally dared to write: text can be as mellifluous as you define it to be. Thank you for your words, Mr. Sondheim.
— CHRISTOPHER JAMES TAMAYO, actor, singer, and composer
We all want to belong; it’s human nature. For myself and so many others, Sondheim has given the gift of belonging within his work. Feeling seen and understood. Particularly in Into the Woods, which I am currently in at The Bridge Theatre, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t relate to one of the many familial relationships examined in the show. His music so deftly illustrates the peaks and troughs of these relationships, using humor and satire…directly juxtaposed with pathos and peripeteia. He, alongside James Lapine, took these fairytale characters and their stories, which usually feel so fantastical and far away, and brought them down to earth. He’s made them more human, as it were, and more accessible to us mere mortals. And on a more personal level, I feel such a strong sense of belonging, and feeling “seen” and understood, within the cast of people I have the privilege of coming to work with every day. They’re such a wonderful bunch. Maybe that’s Sondheim’s magic that’s brought us all together; one of the many gifts he’s given us and one of the many ways the power of his work extends beyond what he’s written on the page.
— CHLOE SARACCO, actor
Very small, perhaps, but he taught me how to format lyrics for scripts. Of course he did that by reprimanding me for doing it wrong, but once learned, it has stayed with me.
— TED CHAPIN, author of Everything Was Possible: The Birth of the Musical Follies
I can’t imagine a life as a singing actor without Sondheim - his work has been a part of so many moments in my artistic life. From seeing Into the Woods at a young age and playing the cast album on repeat, to singing “One More Kiss” hundreds of times in Follies, and all the classes, work sessions, concerts and shows in between and since, what jumps out to me is the depth of what he gives us as actors, and as listeners. You never get to the absolute bottom of a Sondheim song. There is always more to glean: a lyric that hits differently depending on the day or your current life experience; an incidental that opens up a new emotion. What a gift it is to never get sick of a song, to be able to sing it over and over and find new kernels of information in it each time. And to learn more about yourself in the process! Thank you, Steve.
— LEAH HOROWITZ, actor
Stephen Sondheim gave us all “more to see.” Into the Woods was frequently on PBS when I was growing up in the Chicago suburbs. I didn’t really know what theatre was, but I knew that every time that fairy tale show came on, I was spellbound, and each viewing revealed my own path more and more clearly. There would be no other choice than to find a way to get as close to the source of this kind of storytelling as I could. His work inspired the courage to make work of my own, to find my way to New York City, to eventually write to him, share my work with him, and then, while at the opening night party of the Classic Stage revival of Passion where by some miracle I’d found myself in the cast, I got to thank him in person for how he had impacted my journey as an artist. He smiled and said, “and here we are now.” We all owe him so much.
— WILL REYNOLDS, musical theatre writer, performer, and educator
Aside from a lifetime of lessons and inspiration, a real ‘gift’ was working on a revival of Anyone Can Whistle at the very beginning of my career. That score! Those lyrics! A show that encourages non-conformity and stepping outside of society’s expectations in pursuit of your true self. It was formative for me not just as a creative, but as a human being figuring out her own place in the world. It also introduced me to many lifelong friends. As the climactic song “With So Little to be Sure Of” says; “All I’ll ever be I owe you, if there’s anything to be.” Happy 96th to the greatest of all time.
— GEORGIE RANKCOM, director
In The New Yorker, Michael Schulman states that Sondheim impacted the Broadway stages as he did for the lovers of theatre. He brought the maturity and utter realness in his music from an adolescent art form. He brought out genuine objectives, wants, and feelings from his characters just through song. My favorite musical Sondheim composed was Gypsy, as he was able to show Mama Rose’s flaws and wrongdoings, but you still felt for her. You felt for her two daughters, and you felt for Herbie. He showed us something real in his music. He showed our own; he showed us humanity. He showed humanity in his characters, and how they can have mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone. His intricate harmonies and witty rhymes in his songs will always be adored and appreciated by the lovers of the stage and music. Sondheim ultimately gave us the important lesson that art is never easy, and you need to take risks to transform your art into something new, and something beautiful.
— NAIYA FERNANDEZ, actor
Working on Sweeney, Night Music, and Forum and studying every word of every show he ever wrote has given me so much. Sondheim wrote the rule book on how to be a singing actor. He teaches us that music and words are inseparable. He teaches masterful storytelling. Every note, syllable and punctuation mark has intention behind it. His work constantly pushes me to be more precise, more curious, and more truthful. He has given us so much. It is an embarrassment of riches. A treasure trove.
— ZACHARY JAMES, actor
One gift Sondheim has given me is an illustration of what it means to love art: what it looks like to be a lover of art and to devote your life to art. What it means to be reflected in art as well as to reflect others in art. It is a pursuit that I aspire to go on with my practice as a creative and one that I hope to share to others as well.
— REGINA CO, actor
Since my earliest years, the music and lyrics of Stephen Sondheim have opened a window into understanding life’s realities and the panoply of interpersonal experiences, leaving me feeling deeply emotional, often humored, and always uplifted. Inspired by his fearless eclecticism, which emboldened many a musical risk-taker, I first approached Steve almost 20 years ago with the beginnings of the idea that became my commissioning and performance project LIAISONS: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano. I was humbled by his enthusiastic support from the start, and I am grateful to him for inspiring each composer’s distinct approach to re-imagining his work — telling stories, embarking on emotional journeys, yet always offering evocations of character and mood, all stemming from the musical richness of the original song underneath. For me, the true gift was getting to know and perform these pieces over the years, forever finding new avenues into the multi-faceted universe that is Sondheim’s musical world. It’s been said that all joy is the joy of discovery, and I continue to celebrate the immense joy of discovery that his entire canon has brought me.”
— ANTHONY DE MARE, creator, co-producer and performer of The Liaisons Project
I’ve had the honor of celebrating Stephen Sondheim by studying his life and legacy, and through performing various roles in his works. One true gift that Sondheim offers us through his music, and for me uniquely in the role of Anne Egerman, is to truly live and breathe within a character and song. He gave me the freedom to express earnestness, comedy, and love all while drawing from my truth and depth. He has a brilliant understanding and compassion for the human experience. His lyrics and music live perfectly in harmony with both the heart and the mind. Sondheim reminds us that people, like his music, can be intricate and simple all at once, and this gives them truth and life.
— MARIA TRAMONTOZZI, actor
The lyrics of “Being Alive” have been an incredible gift to me, both personally and professionally. In just seven words, Sondheim captures something so profound, almost sacred: “Let me be used / Vary my days.” And the song continues to resonate culturally, with its blunt acknowledgment that connection — authentic, real-life relationships — can be uncomfortable, confusing, crowded, and nonetheless central to the human experience.
— IAN AXNESS, conductor, coach and collaborative pianist
You can learn so much about writing by listening to any one Sondheim tune, and leagues more from a whole score. He often talked about the unique challenge that lyrics posed: they have to communicate so much, yet remain “very simple in essence”. Every time I listen to his work, his sheer mastery over this simplicity is a gift that inspires me to put pen to paper and learn it for myself.
— SAMMY COPLEY, singer-songwriter
In an uncertain and changing world, I hold onto the sentiment of “With So Little to be Sure Of” — perhaps my favourite song that Sondheim wrote. Think how many times the word “moment” appears in his lyrics, sometimes even in titles. In a rehearsal room, we’re always aiming for the most truthful and deft way to tell a story — we’re trying to make “marvellous moments” of meaning. And we hope that they add up, almost like beads on a necklace, to something coherent and lasting. Sondheim reassures us that essential things like art endure: “and it’s never really through.” I find that endlessly inspiring as we navigate the ”crazy business this, this life we live in.”
— PAUL FOSTER, director
As I get older and wiser, Stephen Sondheim’s work continues to grow with me. I feel as though, in my 16 years of being a devoted fan, I have inadvertently been receiving advice and guidance through his work. His words live in my brain and year after year, I find new ways in which his music relates directly to my adult life. It’s so therapeutic and feels like a balm for my soul, a hack I found as a child.
— YASSI NOUBAHAR, actor
As a kid, my artist parents played the live pro-shot productions of Into The Woods, Sunday in the Park with George, and Sweeney Todd for me, which I subsequently became obsessed with, before I could fully understand what on earth Sweeney was actually doing. Growing up, anytime I felt doubts about my creativity my dad would quote Sunday to me, “Anything you do, let it come from you. Then it will be new. Give us more to see.” Every time. Sondheim created a ripple effect as young artists are inspired not only by Sondheim himself but now also by artists who are influenced by him. His presence in musical theater today could be described as divine. He successfully orchestrated the sound of the soul. Today as I compose my first full-length musical, he is always on my mind.
— KYLIE MCNEILL, actor and singer-songwriter
Stephen Sondheim was a form of adolescent corruption, much like booze or drugs. It influenced me so heavily early on by the sheer sound of his melodies and rhythmic cadence of his masterful lyrics. As I grew up, and learned more about the man behind the art, I noticed my Sondheim binging become more of a study of what makes him so unique to him—back to the booze and drugs metaphor, I went from taking shots of Sondheim to taking slow sips, like a fine wine. His entire tapestry of work is so varied, but it all contains the same amount of intention. As a writer, I marveled over his execution of laser-focused intention. Sondheim taught me, and every writer like me, it’s not just about being clever or scoring a perfect rhyme scheme throughout, it’s about being sure of exactly what you are trying to say and he was always sure. He took TIME to make sure. Sondheim’s scores taught me the value of intention. A writer without it doesn’t have very much to say.
— DREW GASPARINI, composer-lyricist
From the moment I first heard “Sunday” I knew we were meant to be together—a soulmate in a song.
— SAM BERIT, writer
I never wrote to Stephen Sondheim before he passed in 2021. But I’m so incredibly lucky to have shared over 500 letters that span decades sent in from all over the world. If I were to write to him today, I would thank him for the immeasurable joy collecting these treasured letters have brought to all aspects of my life. Happy Steve Day. Eternally grateful,
— NATALIE JASSO (@sondheimletters)
Doing the Sondheim concert together over the years, being able to perform these songs together and being able to share them with an audience has been an incredible gift. Sondheim’s writing is unmatched, and it’s a privilege as actors and musicians to share work as finely crafted, intelligent, and beautiful as the work of Stephen Sondheim.
— BLIGH VOTH & JOEL DECANDIO, The Sondheim Concert
In 2019, I sent Stephen Sondheim a message asking to interview him for my dissertation. He told me to send my questions and he’d answer with “a recorded tape or email.” I did as instructed and he responded: “It’s best that we meet and talk. It would take longer to get back to the scores and write answers to your questions than to compose a new show.” I will always treasure meeting him and getting to convey—indirectly, academically—how much his music means.
— NATHAN LOUGHSTEIN, Ph.D., pianist/music theorist
Stephen Sondheim’s music has profoundly shaped my artistry. He has taught me that complexity and emotional honesty can coexist beautifully. His approach to storytelling, where unique melodies meet bold lyrics that cut straight to the truth, has pushed me to see the value in nuance. The way he captures the contradictions within human relationships has inspired me to embrace vulnerability in my own songwriting. His music inspires me to strive to create art that is both intellectually rich and deeply truthful.
— KIERAN BROWN, vocalist and songwriter
“Give us more to see.” I have been living by Dot’s gentle reminder ever since I was introduced by my high school choir director to Sunday in the Park with George. From that point forward, there’s always been either Sondheim musicals or everything else. His fearless embrace of life’s imperfections along with his constant hunger to explore and celebrate what makes us human has never stopped motivating me, and I strive to emulate his boundless curiosity for storytelling in my own work as a composer/lyricist.
— CODY GERSZEWSKI, actor & writer
Stephen Sondheim has gifted me the words to understand the world better. Thank you Steve; for every complicated character, witty rhyme, and unhummable melody.
— TIKA BEGLEITER (@Broadway1011)
The single greatest gift Stephen Sondheim gave me personally was a positive turn. I wrote a letter to Mr. Sondheim when I was struggling with my life and career, and I complained about what I saw as the sorry state of musical theatre at the time. His reply was absolutely generous and changed my perspective completely, and while he didn’t agree to “give me lessons” as I’d asked, he did give me a lesson in hope, a glimmer of the light which made him, and makes his work, special.
— KEVIN F. STORY, composer-lyricist
One of the many gifts I feel Sondheim has given me is permission to tell the truth, on stage and in life. What always strikes me about Sondheim’s work is its laser sharp clarity. It can be so affecting because it articulates “the quiet part out loud” in a way that so few artists are brave enough to. His characters are so beautifully layered and contradictory and multi-faceted that it makes me feel like it’s okay to be more than one thing at once. The intricacies of a Sondheim piece establish a strong enough foundation to hold the full, messy expansiveness of the human beings performing and consuming his work. And that is such a gift.
— OLIVIA BLOOM, actor
My first professional job was singing the “Somewhere” solo in the Olivier-nominated West End production of West Side Story in 2008. Very quickly I realized it wasn’t just another song to perform. Each time I sang it, something profound seemed to happen.
To me, “Somewhere” is closer to singing Ave Maria than performing a musical theatre number. Even sung quietly, it feels as though it’s sent out into the universe with a healing, spiritual force. It reminds me that a quiet voice with great power can help heal the world — and that is the extraordinary gift of Sondheim’s lyric writing. Look at all the things you’ve done for me Steve, you’ve helped me connect better to myself and to the world around me.
— MAYA POST, producer/actress/writer
As a teenager I fell in love with Sondheim’s way with words: The cast recording of the cinematic West Side Story was the first LP I owned! Throughout my life, his lyrics and his melodies spoke to me on countless levels. When I eventually had the opportunity to share my enthusiasm for Steve and his works when I edited The Sondheim Review, it was one of the greatest gifts I ever received. It even enabled me to have a few one-on-one conversations with him, always both daunting and rewarding exchanges that I will treasure forever. He opened so many doors and fostered so many possibilities…
— RICK PENDER, author of The Stephen Sondheim Encyclopedia and Sweeney Todd: Behind the Bloody Musical Masterpiece; formerly editor of The Sondheim Review
Sondheim has given me permission to embrace messiness, to trust that contradiction, chaos, and ambiguity are where the most truthful storytelling lives. His work reminds me that characters don’t need to be likeable to be deeply human, and that music and text together can articulate what we struggle to say out loud. As a theatre maker, that’s been a gift that continually challenges and excites me.
— EMILY PHILLIPS, director
“Anything you do, let it come from you, then it will be new.” We are so lucky that these words, in neon, are the first thing we see every time we enter our home. Every individual has an entirely unique character and the potential to do things no one else can. How lucky to be able to pursue that potential — while respecting the uniqueness of every individual, and every cultural world, around us.
— MICHAEL GRANOFF, founder and managing director, Maniv Mobility
I distinctly recall the giddiness of the first moment Sondheim’s lyrics came to me in everyday life; which so perfectly revealed my thoughts that I jumped around Target with a grin too wide to even seem believable on stage. He lent credence to the disarray in the mind of a young girl, and continues to give this gift every day.
— ELLA SIVAN SHAUL, actor and songwriter
I first encountered Sondheim’s music in high school when I was cast as Tony in West Side Story. This role opened my eyes to the depth and complexity of musical theater. To this day, I consider West Side Story one of the top three greatest musicals ever created. Sondheim’s gift not only kickstarted my passion for the art form but also shaped my understanding of storytelling through music.
— RANDALL HOLLOWAY, actor
I once wrote a letter to Stephen Sondheim thanking him for creating a body of work so rich, so multifaceted, so challenging, so soulful, that I could study it for the rest of my life and never feel as though I had completed my work. That is his greatest gift to me – a second career in which I spend my days immersed in this glorious body of work. In his last letter to me, Sondheim thanked me for “spreading the gospel” with my various teaching activities. That his second gift to me – the motivation to persist when my brain short circuits.
— GAIL LEONDAR-WRIGHT, scholar (Talking Sondheim)
Sondheim’s work opened up my eyes to a new type of theatre and art. Doing Into the Woods at school when I was 16 gave me the inspiration to pursue a career in theatre, which has fortunately led to being a part of the major London revival of the same show, 10 years later.
— JACOB FOWLER, actor
Sometimes I try to figure out if there was a singular moment when Sondheim’s work entered my life. But the truth is, his words and music just accumulated into such a wave that I looked up one day and found I had been forever moved. I am forever being moved. It is a constant transformation accompanied by Sondheim’s “bum, bum, bums.” His gift to me was art that I have the privilege to grow up with, knowing that at every moment I can rediscover the world in lyrics I have heard time and time again.
— ABIGAIL GARDNER, student
If there’s one gift Stephen Sondheim has given me, it’s the gift of beginning again. In Sunday in the Park with George, he writes, “Anything you do, let it come from you, then it will be new. Give us more to see.” I return to that lyric often, especially when the noise of the industry feels overwhelming or the silence between jobs grows loud.
The pressures of being an actor can feel never-ending — the negotiation between visibility and invisibility, the peaks and troughs, the slow creep of comparison. It’s easy to let fear steer the work. But “anything you do” really does mean anything: the rejections and the booked jobs, the first drafts and the final ones, the small, unseen efforts no one applauds. When the work comes from love rather than competition, it remains uniquely yours — and therefore true. “Give us more to see” shifts the posture; the work stops being a search for validation and becomes an offering.
And then I remember: white. A blank canvas. Not a verdict — permission. The chance to find order, light, harmony again. Despite the relentlessness of this industry, an artist is always just beginning. Each return to the work is another act of starting from yourself — and that beginning is inexhaustible.
— JOAQUIN PEDRO VALDES, actor
This year, Sondheim has given me a refreshed appreciation of composers who gift artists these characters that allow their most vulnerable selves to be bare on stage — a perfect example of this for me is Sally in Follies with “Losing My Mind.” I get chills every time I hear it.
— PETRA WELLS, actor
The gifts that Stephen Sondheim has given to me are innumerable and as meaningful to me as the gift of creativity itself, as Sondheim’s influence on my life (like so many others) has to do so much with just how much he cared about inspiring the best in others. My favorite gift from Sondheim, the thing he has taught me most of all, is to be reminded to do whatever I can to continue to love being someone who makes things. It is a tremendous struggle. It is sometimes the most tedious, tiresome, and anxious making sweat work. But when you can still love the act of creation, and live for that process of working out the puzzle and make the order out of chaos, and you finally look up and realize the night is gone and the sun is rising, and you look to see you’ve made the hat… there is nothing, absolutely nothing, quite like the act of creation. Sondheim has given me the gift of a love for the process of trying to write the next note, the next word, the next phrase, the next couplet… constantly puzzling, constantly becoming. I can’t even begin to describe how grateful I am for that gift.
— JULIAN MENTCH, songwriter and recording artist
I discovered Sondheim’s work in secondary school, and I am hugely grateful to my music teachers for bestowing this gift upon my teenage self. Being in shows such as Into the Woods and West Side Story in such formative years allowed me to discover my soprano range and challenged me both as a musician and actor, setting the foundations for pursuing a career on stage. His work and the many interpretations it inspires continue to challenge and excite me both as an actor and audience member and I hope to be able to perform in some of his work within in my career.
— ELLA MORELLE, actor
Thank you Stephen Sondheim for the gift of realizing that I belonged in the musical theatre landscape. I experienced this as an impressionable high school student who saw Pacific Overtures at East West Players in 1998. Not only was it a musical at an Asian American theatre company featuring an all-Asian American cast, but also it was a show from the Japanese perspective that dared to caricature Europeans. Up to that point in my life, I didn’t know that musicals could be from the perspective of people who looked like me and have music that strayed outside standard music theatre forms. Everything about it made it feel like musicals could be about anything. Sondheim was very fond of East West Players and allowed that theater to perform most of his works including A Little Night Music, Forum, and most recently Assassins, all of which I saw and further influenced me. But without that first revelatory moment almost 30 years ago, I wouldn’t be the writer and composer I am today.
— HOWARD HO, playwright/composer
Sondheim made me feel seen. As a young actor and person, he showed me that my inner emotional complexity was not too much or meant to be diluted. It was something to embrace, to explore and to affect with. He helped me find my voice as a storyteller. Life is not black or white, it is shades of grays grays grays and in the gray, we play.
— NAMRATA JUNEJA, performer
I became a lifelong Sondheim fan in my early teens, but it wasn’t until college that I fully understood the depth of his impact. I was at the Kennedy Center’s Sondheim Celebration, watching Raúl Esparza and Melissa Errico in Sunday in the Park with George. By the end of Act I, my friend and I were both a complete mess, and at intermission an older man in the row in front of us turned around and said, “I’m so happy to see him affecting the younger generation just as much as he affected mine.” In that moment, I understood that Sondheim’s work was timeless — that it would stay with me, as powerfully as it did that first time, for the rest of my life.
— RYAN SCOTT OLIVER, composer-lyricist
My first real introduction to Stephen Sondheim made me realise that singing doesn’t always have to be purely “classical” or choral. His work requires a completely different kind of technique — one that isn’t simply given to you, but something you have to actively develop and refine. When I first started singing lessons, my teacher used Sondheim pieces such as “By the Sea,” “The Miller’s Son,” and “Losing My Mind” to help me focus on nuance, articulation, and diction, and to really shape the storytelling within the music. Through this, I began to understand how much detail and intention goes into every phrase. Sondheim showed me the true technical and artistic depth that singing can — and should — have.
— AOIFE THOMPSON, student
I was a lonely kid who discovered Into the Woods by chance, thanks to PBS. Knowing Sondheim’s musicals has literally changed my life.
— ERIC HENWOOD-GREER, scholar
Sondheim’s work has given me the gift of inspiration as an actor. I have always admired how intertwined his music and lyrics are and how each note is meticulously chosen to support the storytelling. There are so many details within the score that an actor can use to deepen their performance. The story was always the most important to him. I find a lot of modern music theatre is focused on vocal performance, whereas Sondheim’s work inspires me most because it is rooted in storytelling.
— SARAH MACDONALD, Canadian actor and recent grad
Stephen Sondheim showed me that the voice is just the instrument; authenticity is the music. His work continues to push me to sing with truth, not just sound.
— TRAVIS MOSER, cabaret, concert, and recording artist
Sondheim’s work has given me so much enjoyment and thought, and I think the reason for this is that the worlds he has set to lyrics and music are not easily compartmentalised. His characters and themes are thorny, often contradictory, and in a world of increasingly safe and easily digestible media, his take on the human heart still feels endlessly fresh and vital. Like Shakespeare, his characters and stories will transcend time and be open to endless reinvention. But while Shakespeare certainly taught me a good chunk of English monarchs, he never really inspired me to learn more. Sondheim, on the other hand, has given me a mad fixation on historical presidential assassinations.
— CARMEN PADDOCK, editor
It is no secret that I am a huge lover of Sondheim’s work and truly the biggest gift was being able to sing his gorgeous music in the Sondheim Theatre (a theatre I have dreamt of performing in for as long as I can remember) and to have that be the first thing I did out of drama school… Yeah, that was incredibly special. So thank you Mr. Sondheim for championing young performers through the SSSSPOTY competition.
— SOPHIE ANNE BAKER, actress
Sondheim’s lyrics hold up an unflinching mirror to human emotion, illuminating even the parts we might rather ignore. In working on Sondheim, I’ve found not only a deeper understanding of the world, but also of myself - emerging more aware, more connected, and ultimately more empathetic - all while being constantly artistically challenged in the best possible way.
— MIGUEL SOARES, actor
Sondheim is the reason I became obsessed with musical theatre. Discovering his work change my perception of what musicals could be. Even after years of listening to his music, I am still greatly moved each time I listen to “Loving You” from Passion, and I still laugh just as hard when listening to “Agony” from Into the Woods. He broke conventions in every aspect of his work and has inspired me to do the same with my own compositions.
— AVA LEWIS, composer/singer
Sondheim gave me the gift of finding thousands of new meanings every night within the same material.
— MARTINA LOYATO, actor
I only became aware of Stephen Sondheim whilst researching about musical theatre in my early career in musical theatre - only 20 odd years ago and found his music fascinating, difficult, different to others, and intriguing - English not being my first language I only came to appreciate it fully when I was able to understand the unique and inevitable connection of his musical and grammatical concepts.
Having the opportunity to conduct the show Old Friends in all of its incarnations and share his creations with people who knew him intimately and helped him shape and define these iconic compositions (particularly important to his portfolio the amazing and beloved Bernadette Peters) is the best gift I take with me from my tiny small, but very crucial for my development as a musician, interactions with the amazing world of Stephen Sondheim’s work.
— ALFONSO CASADO TRIGO, musical director and musical supervisor
Sondheim is a large part of why I’m studying musical theatre. His complex understanding of the human experience has given me a more nuanced perspective on what it means to be an actor. His characters don’t simply play the problem; they investigate it, and they work to solve it. His work provokes and asks more of an audience than just passive engagement or instant gratification.
— CARLY CANNON, student
As a creative/performer, the greatest gift Sondheim has given me is the freedom and courage to create the type of art I want to be creating and/or to purse the type of stories I want to be helping to tell. Sunday in the Park with George and especially so many lyrics in Move On spoke to me on such deep emotional level the first time I experienced them - they helped me to realize who I am and what I wanted as an artist, as well as to stop needing the validation or approval of others to prove that what I am doing is important.
— BECCA JIMENEZ, actor
I was introduced to Company in my first year of sixth form at school and instantly fell in love with Sondheim’s music and musicals. Since then I have sung and performed Sondheim songs from all of his musicals in a series of concerts at school and university and am currently directing a production of Putting it Together. I can’t thank Stephen Sondheim for the gift of his music, intelligence and wisdom of the human condition. When listening to his music and lyrics, it seems he always understands you and always has the answers.
— ARJAN DHATT, student
I grew up sitting in small audiences, watching worlds brought to life on modest stages. Afterward, I’d go to the family desktop, searching for the shows. That’s how I found Into the Woods. I can still remember the moment I heard “Stay With Me” for the first time. And when Bernadette transformed at the end, I remember thinking, in the certainty only a nine year old can have, that she was the most beautiful woman in the world. The line “I’m not good, I’m not bad, I’m just right” stayed with me. As I grew older, Sondheim kept reappearing. When I turned toward studying art, I found Sunday in the Park with George. Watching Putting It Together, I felt like I’d struck gold. I can still feel the opening notes, the way they lower the trees into place. Sondheim has accompanied every stage of my life, arriving exactly when I needed his work, offering music and language for feelings I didn’t have words for. I do musical theatre today because of these works. I am tremendously grateful for him, always.
— ARIADNE GUZMAN-EQUIHUA, student
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What beautiful tributes and stories! Thank you for sharing!
Wonderful idea for his birthday 💕💕 thank you!