In honor of Stephen Sondheim, the legendary lyricist and composer, who passed away at 91 on Friday (11.26,) Lin-Manuel Miranda, Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban and the Broadway community came together on Sunday (11.29) to perform a heartfelt rendition of “Sunday” — the final song in Sunday in the Park with George (for which the lyricist won the Pulitzer Prize in 1985.)
In lieu of a traditional speech Miranda read part of Sondheim’s Look, I Made A Hat to the crowd:
“Once during the writing of each show, I cry at a notion, a word, a chord, a melodic idea, an accompaniment figure.“ In [‘Sunday in the Park with George’], it was the word ‘forever’ in ‘Sunday’…I was suddenly moved by the contemplation of what these people would have thought if they’d know they were being immortalized.”
Following the performance, Bareilles told Variety, “This felt like church…in his remembrance, we did what theater does best. We sang and raised our voices and came together in community.” and she reposted black and white photos from the event to her Twitter feed, writing, “such a joy. a tremendously aching joy.”
“Everybody who’s here has a touchstone for why Sondheim’s music has brought them to this place,” stated Groban. “And whatever part of the entertainment industry we’re in, everybody is here because we were first influenced by Sondheim’s music. To mourn his passing is a crushing blow.”
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Author: Saul Goode
Photo: Chensiyuan