As BroadwayWorld reported yesterday, The New York Philharmonic's SONDHEIM: The Birthday Concert, which took place on March 15-16, 2010 at Avery Fisher Hall, will be broadcast on THIRTEEN'S Great Performances on PBS on Wednesday, November 24 (check local listings). WNET, Channel 13 in New York City, will air the concert at 9:30 p.m. that evening.
The concert includes songs and orchestral pieces from Sondheim musical theater favorites such as Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Merrily We Roll Along, Into the Woods, and Sunday in the Park with George. Today, it has been announced that in addition to the PBS telecast, the concert will be released on DVD in November by Image Entertainment.
This celebration of the 80th birthday of the great Broadway composer/lyricist includes his most enduring orchestral music and songs - performed, in some cases, by the stars of the original Broadway cast productions - in addition to rarely-heard material.
David Hyde Pierce hosts, with (in alphabetical order)
Laura Benanti,
Matt Cavenaugh,
Michael Cerveris,
Victoria Clark,
Jenn Colella,
Jason Danieley,
Joanna Gleason,
Nathan Gunn,
George Hearn,
Patti LuPone,
Marin Mazzie,
Audra McDonald,
John McMartin,
Donna Murphy,
Laura Osnes,
Mandy Patinkin,
Bernadette Peters,
Bobby Steggert,
Elaine Stritch,
Jim Walton,
Chip Zien, and
American Ballet Theatre Dancers
Blaine Hoven and
Maria Riccetto, along with some surprise guests.
Paul Gemignani, Mr. Sondheim's longtime collaborator, conducts the
New York Philharmonic;
Lonny Price is the director;
Josh Rhodes is the choreographer; and Mr. Price and
Matt Cowart are the producers.
A production of
Ellen M. Krass Productions and THIRTEEN for WNET.ORG, the telecast was directed for television by
Lonny Price and produced by
Ellen M. Krass and
Mort Swinsky, with
Stewart F. Lane, Bonnie Comely and Cathy Fitzpatrick as executive producers; David Horn is executive producer for GREAT PERFORMANCES.
Considered by many to be the greatest Broadway composer/lyricist of his time,
Stephen Sondheim (b. March 22, 1930) wrote the music and lyrics for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962); Anyone Can Whistle (1964); Company (1970); Follies (1971); A Little Night Music (1973); The Frogs (1974); Pacific Overtures (1976); Sweeney Todd (1979); Merrily We Roll Along (1981); Sunday in the Park with George (1984; winner of the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for Drama); Into the Woods (1987); Assassins (1991); Passion (1994); and Road Show (2008). He wrote the lyrics for West Side Story (1957); Gypsy (1959) and Do I Hear a Waltz? (1965); and additional lyrics for Candide (1973). Side by Side by Sondheim (1976), Marry Me a Little (1981), You're Gonna Love Tomorrow (1983), and Putting It Together (1993) are anthologies of his work as composer and lyricist.
For film,
Stephen Sondheim composed the score for Stavisky (1974), and co-composed the music for Reds (1981), as well as songs for Dick Tracy (1990). He also wrote the songs for the television production Evening Primrose (1966), and co-authored the film The Last of Sheila (1973) and the play Getting Away with Murder (1996). He provided incidental music for the plays The Girls of Summer (1956), Invitation to a March (1961), Twigs (1971), and The Enclave (1973). His first professional musical, Saturday Night (1954), finally had its New York premiere in 1999. Mr. Sondheim is on the council of the
Dramatists Guild - the national association of playwrights, composers, and lyricists - and served as its president from 1973 to 1981, when he founded
Young Playwrights Inc. to develop and promote the work of
American Playwrights ages 18 years and younger.
In May 2000 the
New York Philharmonic presented three concert performances of
Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, starring
Patti LuPone,
George Hearn,
Audra McDonald, Jon Aler,
Davis Gaines, Heidi
Grant Murphy,
Neil Patrick Harris,
Stanford Olsen, and
Paul Plishka.
Andrew Litton conducted and
Lonny Price directed. A recording of the live performances was released on the Philharmonic's Special Editions label and was nominated for a Grammy Award. This followed the Orchestra's star-studded September 1985 performances of Sondheim's Follies, conducted by
Paul Gemignani and directed by
Herbert Ross, with a cast that included
Licia Albanese,
Carol Burnett,
Liz Callaway,
Betty Comden,
Barbara Cook,
Adolph Green,
George Hearn,
Howard McGillin,
Erie Mills,
Liliane Montevecchi,
Phyllis Newman,
Mandy Patinkin,
Daisy Prince,
Lee Remick,
Elaine Stritch, and
Andre Gregory. The concert and recording of the live performance were produced by
Thomas Z. Shepard, and a BBC Television documentary about the making of the show was later combined with parts of the performance for DVD release. In May 2004, the
New York Philharmonic presented semi- staged concert performances of Bernstein's Candide - a musical for which
Stephen Sondheim contributed lyrics.
Credit Suisse is the Global Sponsor of the
New York Philharmonic. Programs of the
New York Philharmonic are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
For more information, visit www.pbs.org.
Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.
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