Composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim receives the Freedom of the City of London by the City of London Corporation in recognition of his outstanding contribution to musical theatre at The Guildhall on September 27, 2018 (Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images) Tony Award-winning composer, lyricist and Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim turned 90 on March 22, and some of the Great White Way’s biggest stars will pay tribute to him and his musical oeuvre in “Take Me to The World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration.”
The virtual program will stream free of charge at Broadway.com and its YouTube channel on April 26 at 5 p.m. PT. The date marks the 50th anniversary of the opening of “Company,” for which Sondheim won two of his eight Tonys.
Ben Platt, Jake Gyllenhaal, Linda Lavin, Beanie Feldstein, Stephen Spielberg, Mandy Patinkin, Victor Garber, Stephen Schwartz, Joanna Gleason and Brandon Uranowitz are among the MOTs set to take part in the benefit, which will raise funds for Artists Striving to End Poverty.
Others scheduled to appear include Lin-Manuel Miranda, Meryl Streep, Bernadette Peters, Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, Neil Patrick Harris, Josh Groban, Nathan Lane, Christine Baranski, Kristin Chenoweth, Sutton Foster, and Brian Stokes Mitchell.
“The world is in a hard place and we are all searching for something great,” host Raul Esparza said in a statement. “Well, Stephen Sondheim is greatness personified.”
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