Fifty Years of Stephen Sondheim
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

In musical theatre, there are a few composers who have changed the culture of Broadway and the modern musical, like Stephen Sondheim. Mentored by Oscar Hammerstein, starting in 1957 with "West Side Story" through 2021's "Here We Are" and the success of "Merrily We Roll Along" in 2023-24, Sondheim wrote sixteen full-length musicals and won eight Tony Awards, along with a Pulitzer Prize. The themes of his shows are complex and challenging. From "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum", "Company", "Follies", "Sunday in the Park with George", "Sweeney Todd", and "Merrily We Roll Along", Sondheim is widely considered the most important composer in the last half of the 20th century.