On March 22nd, composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim turned 90. This spring was scheduled to have countless concerts, tributes and special events. Of course, those had to be cancelled. So Raúl Esparza, who has appeared in several Sondheim musicals, decided to put together a virtual concert to celebrate the man he calls “Steve.” Take Me the World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration will be streamed on Broadway.Com’s website and their YouTube channel on Sunday, April 26th at 8 PM EDT/5 PM PDT.
Who did Esparza, who will also serve as host, get to celebrate Steve? Only some of the biggest names of stage and screen:
Meryl Streep who appeared in the film version of Into the Woods and also performed in The Frogs while a student at Yale.
Bernadette Peters who has appeared in Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, a revival of Gypsy (Sondheim wrote the lyrics), revivals of A Little Night Music and Follies, plus Bed and a Chair.
Mandy Patinkin who also appeared in Sunday in the Park with George.
Patti LuPone who has appeared in revivals of Sweeney Todd, Gypsy plus the recently postponed revival of Company and a concert version of the same show from 2012.
Katrina Lenk her co-star from Company.
Laura Benanti who played LuPone’s daughter in Gypsy. She also appeared in a revival of Into the Woods.
Michael Cerveris who appeared opposite LuPone in Sweeney Todd and was also in the Broadway production of Assassins, will appear. He also appeared in a production of Passion.
Audra McDonald who appeared in the same production of Passion. As will Donna Murphy who originated the role of Fosca in Passion.
Neil Patrick Harris will be performing. He appeared in the same production of Assassins with Cerveris and also a concert version of Company with LuPone.
Jake Gyllenhaal and Annaleigh Ashford who starred in the most recent revival of Sunday in the Park with George.
Christine Baranski who appeared in productions of Sweeney Todd in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. and a London concert performance of Follies.
Brian Stokes Mitchell who was Sweeney opposite Baranski in Washington, D.C.
Sutton Foster who played The Baker’s Wife in the Hollywood Bowl production of Into the Woods.
Kelli O’Hara who appeared in the 2001 revival of Follies. She also sang a gorgeous version of Take Me To The World from Evening Primrose on the recent one-night-only return of the Rosie O’Donnell Show.
Aaron Tveit who appeared in a production of Company.
Brandon Uranowitz who appeared in Encores! Off-Center production of Road Show with Esparza.
Maria Friedman who has appeared in London productions of Sunday in the Park with George, Passion and Merrily We Roll Along.
Lin-Manuel Miranda who has also appeared in a production of Merrily We Roll Along.
Melissa Errico who appeared opposite Esparza in a production of Sunday in the Park with George and also appeared in Do I Hear a Waltz? and an off-Broadway production of Passion.
Judy Kuhn, Errico’s co-star from that production of Passion.
Ben Platt and Beanie Feldstein who are currently starring in Richard Linklater’s film version of Merrily We Roll Along.
Elizabeth Stanley who appeared in Company with Esparza.
Linda Lavin who appeared in the Kennedy Center’s 2011 revival of Follies.
Chip Zien original cast member of the first production of Into the Woods.
Lea Salonga who played Mrs. Lovett in a production of Sweeney Todd in the Philippines.
Ann Harada, Austin Ku, Kelvin Moon Loh and Thom Sesma who all appeared in an off-Broadway production of Pacific Overtures.
Of course, you don’t have to ever have appeared in one of Sondheim’s shows to be part of this concert. Just ask Kristin Chenoweth, Josh Groban, Iain Armitage, composer Stephen Schwartz and Randy Rainbow who will be participating.
If that isn’t enough, there are scheduled to be special appearances by Victor Garber (Sweeney Todd), Joanna Gleason (Into the Woods), Nathan Lane (the Broadway production of The Frogs and a revival of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum) and director Steven Spielberg (the remake of West Side Story).
Mary-Mitchell Campbell, who also worked with Esparza on Company, is the music director for the concert. Take Me to the World also serves a fundraiser for ASTEP (Artists Striving to End Poverty,) an organization Campbell created with Juilliard students.
The date of April 26th was not casually chosen. It marks the 50th anniversary of the debut of the Sondheim/George Furth musical Company on Broadway. The revival of Company was set to open on March 22nd (Sondheim’s birthday). Producers hope to re-open the show, which had been in previews, once it is safe to do so.
So what will you be doing on Sunday? I know where I’ll be. Celebrating the 90th birthday of the greatest living composer of Broadway musicals. I’m looking forward to hearing each and every one of them Take Me to the World of Stephen Sondheim.
Photo of Stephen Sondheim by Emilio Madrid-Kuser for Broadway.com