Stephen Sondheim to Discuss Career, Masterworks at Kingsbury Hall

Legendary composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim will make a rare appearance at Kingsbury Hall in February, commemorating Kingsbury Hall's 80th Anniversary. In an intimate, onstage conversation with Nancy Melich, former theatre critic and current literary seminar director at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, Mr. Sondheim will offer a personal and engaging view of his career, the state of American musical theater and his own creative process, from early collaborations to masterworks Sweeney Todd and A Little Night Music. An Evening with Stephen Sondheim takes place at Kingsbury Hall on February 1 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20.50 - $39.50, with a limited number of $75 premium seats which include a pre-show reception. Tickets and information are available at www.kingtix.com or by calling 801-581-7100.

Leading up to Mr. Sondheim's appearance at Kingsbury Hall on Feb 1, there are two free events at the Salt Lake City Main Library, 210 E 400 S:
· Jan 26 @ 7PM, Auditorium: Special free screening of Sondheim: The Birthday Celebration, originally broadcast on PBS, followed by a panel discussion of Sondheim's life and work. Panelists to be announced, check www.kingtix.com for updates.
· Jan 28 @ Noon, mini-performance, Atrium: University Lyric Opera students perform selections of Stephen Sondheim's music.

The composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim is the most important artist to work in the American musical theater over the past half-century. He has not only collaborated on more than a dozen landmark shows and written countless standard songs but has also been the single most influential force in bringing the Broadway musical into the modern age. As Sondheim's lyrics have entered the American language - from "Everything's Coming Up Roses" to "Send in the Clowns" - so his music liberated Broadway from traditional songwriting conventions. It is impossible to find a new musical of artistic ambition today that hasn't been influenced by his breakthroughs in remaking the rules that once governed the traditional Broadway musical. He has won every conceivable award: the Kennedy Center Honors, the Pulitzer Prize, two Grammys, an Oscar and eight Tonys, including a special award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theater in 2008.

Nancy Melich is the literary seminar director at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. She was a longtime theatre critic for the Salt Lake Tribune and is often a guest lecturer at college theatre festivals. She served on the drama jury for the Pulitzer Prize and is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association. Ms. Melich is also a founding member of the Utah Playwrights Conference and has won numerous awards and recognitions for her journalism.

Photo Credit: Genevieve Rafter-Keddy

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