Sondheim! The Birthday Concert

2010 American TV series or program

Sondheim! The Birthday Concert
Genre	Concert
Directed by	Lonny Price
Presented by	David Hyde Pierce
Theme music composer	Stephen Sondheim
Opening theme	"Organ Prelude" from Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street
Ending theme	"Happy Birthday To You" by Patty and Mildred Hill
Composer	Stephen Sondheim
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producers	Bonnie Comley Stewart F. Lane Cathy Fitzpatrick David Horn
Producers	Christopher Massimine Mort Swinsky Lonny Price
Production locations	Avery Fisher Hall, New York City
Editors	Gary Bradley Laura Young
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	116 mins
Production company	Ellen M. Krass Productions
Original release
Network	PBS
Release	November 16, 2010 (2010-11-16)
Related
Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Celebration

Sondheim! The Birthday Concert was a concert celebrating the 80th birthday of Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim. The concert was directed by Lonny Price and hosted by David Hyde Pierce. The event was performed at Avery Fisher Hall within Lincoln Center in New York City on March 15 and 16 in 2010. The New York Philharmonic accompanied performers including Michael Cerveris, Alexander Gemignani, Joanna Gleason, Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, Donna Murphy, Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, Elaine Stritch, Marin Mazzie, and the 2009 Broadway revival cast of West Side Story.

It was broadcast as an episode of Great Performances on PBS on November 16 of the same year. A DVD of the concert was also released.

Performances

In order of appearance

Performer(s)	Song	Show	Significance
New York Philharmonic	"Organ Prelude"	Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street	—
New York Philharmonic	"Birthday Overture"	—	—
Karen Olivo and company of 2009 revival of West Side Story	"America"	West Side Story	Olivo played Anita in the 2009 revival of West Side Story
Alexander Gemignani	"Something's Coming"	West Side Story	Played John Hinckley in the 2004 revival of Assassins; Beadle Bamford in the 2005 revival of Sweeney Todd; Boatman/Dennis in the 2008 revival of Sunday in the Park with George; Addison Mizner in original off-Broadway production of Road Show
Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley	"We're Gonna Be All Right"	Do I Hear a Waltz?	Mazzie: Played Clara in the original production of Passion; was a replacement for Rapunzel in the original production of Into the Woods
Victoria Clark	"Don't Laugh"	Hot Spot	Played Sally Durant Plummer in two productions of Follies; the Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd in Concert.
Nathan Gunn	"Johanna"	Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street	Sweeney Todd in a production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Matt Cavenaugh, Jenn Colella, Laura Osnes and Bobby Steggert	"You're Gonna Love Tomorrow/Love Will See Us Through"	Follies	Cavenaugh: Henrik in the 2000 production of A Little Night Music Osnes: Beth in the HBO television documentary Six by Sondheim in 2013
Nathan Gunn and Audra McDonald	"Too Many Mornings"		McDonald: Clara in the Live from Lincoln Center production of Passion; Beggar Woman in the Live from the Lincoln Center production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
John McMartin	"The Road You Didn't Take"		Benjamin Stone in the original production of Follies; The Mysterious Man/Narrator in the 2002 revival of Into the Woods; Doctor Tambourri in a benefit concert of Passion
Chip Zien and Joanna Gleason	"It Takes Two"	Into the Woods	Zien: The Baker in the original cast of Into the Woods Gleason: The Baker's Wife in the original cast of Into the Woods
Jim Walton	"Growing Up"	Merrily We Roll Along	Franklin Shepard in the original cast of Merrily We Roll Along; Anthony in the 1989 Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd
Mandy Patinkin	"Finishing the Hat"	Sunday in the Park with George	Patinkin: Georges Seurat in the original cast of Sunday in the Park With George; Buddy Plummer in a concert production of Follies Peters: Dot in the original cast of Sunday in the Park With George; the Witch in the original Broadway cast of Into the Woods; Rose Thompson Hovick in the 2003 revival of Gypsy; Desiree Armfeldt in the first Broadway revival of A Little Night Music; Sally Durant Plummer in the 2011 revival of Follies
Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters	"Move On"	Sunday in the Park with George
George Hearn and Michael Cerveris	"Pretty Women"	Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street	Hearn: Sweeney Todd in several productions of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Cerveris: Sweeney Todd in the 2005 Broadway Revival of Sweeney Todd; John Wilkes Booth in the Original Broadway Production of Assassins; Giorgio in the Live from Lincoln Center production of Passion; Wilson Mizner in the 2008 Off-Broadway production of Road Show LuPone: Mrs. Lovett in the 2005 revival of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street; Joanne in several productions of Company; Fosca in the Lincoln Center concert of Passion; Rose Thompson Hovick in the 2008 revival of Gypsy
George Hearn, Michael Cerveris, and Patti LuPone	"A Little Priest"	Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
New York Philharmonic, Blaine Hoven, María Riccetto	"Goodbye For Now"	Reds	—
Laura Benanti	"So Many People"	Saturday Night	Cinderella in the 2002 revival of Into the Woods; Gypsy Rose Lee in the 2008 revival of Gypsy
David Hyde Pierce	"Beautiful Girls"	Follies	—
Patti LuPone	"The Ladies Who Lunch"	Company	See above
Marin Mazzie	"Losing My Mind"	Follies	See above
Audra McDonald	"The Glamorous Life"	A Little Night Music	See above
Donna Murphy	"Could I Leave You?"	Follies	Fosca in the original production of Passion
Bernadette Peters	"Not a Day Goes By"	Merrily We Roll Along	See above
Elaine Stritch	"I'm Still Here"	Follies	Joanne in the original production of Company; Played Hattie Walker in a concert production of Follies
Company	"Sunday"	Sunday in the Park with George	—
Company	"Happy Birthday"	—	—

References

Gans, Andrew. "Benanti, Gleason, Pierce, Stritch, Walton, Zien Join Philharmonic Sondheim Celebration" Archived August 26, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Playbill.com, January 8, 2010
Ross, Blake. "About Last Night: The Stars on Sondheim" Archived October 16, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. Playbill, March 16, 2010
Gans, Andrew and Hetrick, Adam. "Sondheim! The Birthday Concert DVD, with Patti LuPone and Bernadette Peters, Arrives Nov. 16", Playbill, November 16, 2010, accessed October 31, 2016
Hetrick, Adam."Starry Sondheim: The Birthday Concert Airs on "Great Performances" Nov. 24" Archived August 26, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Playbill, November 24, 2010
"'Sweeney Todd in Concert' with LuPone & Hearn Arrives on DVD May 14". Playbill. 2002-05-14. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
"Sweeney Todd – Broadway Musical – 1989 Revival | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
"Into the Woods – Broadway Musical – Original | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
Hetrick, Adam (2008-12-28). "Sondheim's Road Show Ends Limited Public Theater Run Dec. 28". Playbill. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
Isherwood, Charles (2005-04-01). "Sondheim on Romantic Love: A Consolation and a Curse". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
Haun, Harry (2010-03-16). "The Glamorous Life: Stars Come Out for Sondheim at Philharmonic". Playbill. Retrieved 2022-10-21.

External links

Sondheim! The Birthday Concert on IMDb
Special Events at the Sondheim Database

v t e PBS
Documentaries	Independent Lens (episodes) (since August 9, 1999) PBS Short Film Festival (since 2012) POV (episodes) (since July 5, 1988)
Drama	Masterpiece (since January 10, 1971)
Music and fine arts	American Masters (since June 22, 1986) Art:21 (since 2001) Austin City Limits (since January 3, 1976) Bluegrass Underground (since 2011) Craft in America (since 2007) Great Performances (episodes) (since November 4, 1972) Next at the Kennedy Center (since 2023)
History	American Experience (episodes) (since October 4, 1988) Antiques Roadshow (since January 9, 1997) Finding Your Roots (since March 25, 2012) Secrets of the Dead (since May 15, 2000)
News and public affairs	Amanpour & Company (since September 10, 2018) BBC World News America (since June 3, 2019 from American Public Television) Firing Line (episodes) (April 4, 1966 – December 26, 1999; since June 22, 2018) Frontline (episodes) (since January 17, 1983) PBS News Hour (since October 20, 1975) To the Contrary (since April 3, 1992) Washington Week (since February 23, 1967)
Personalities	Samantha Brown Ken Burns Ric Burns Michael Gerson Amy Holmes Bill Moyers Hari Sreenivasan Judy Woodruff
How-to and special interest	MotorWeek (since October 15, 1981) This Old House (episodes) (since January 1, 1979)
Science and nature	Nature (episodes) (since October 10, 1982) Nova (episodes) (since March 3, 1974)
Networks	Create PBS PBS America (UK) PBS Digital Studios PBS Kids PBS YOU World Channel
Major stations	Boston WGBH WGBX Chicago WTTW Dallas KERA Houston KUHT Los Angeles KCET KLCS KOCE Maryland MPT Miami–Ft. Lauderdale–West Palm Beach WLRN WPBT WXEL New Jersey NJ PBS New York WLIW WNET Philadelphia–Wilmington–Lehigh Valley WHYY WLVT Pittsburgh WQED San Francisco/Watsonville/San Jose KQED KQEH KQET Tampa–St. Petersburg WEDQ WEDU Washington, D.C. WETA WHUT
Former	BBC OS (January 1, 2020 – March 30, 2023) A Chef's Life (September 7, 2013 – October 22, 2018) Need to Know (May 7, 2010 – June 28, 2013) We'll Meet Again with Ann Curry (January 23, 2018 – January 8, 2019)
Related	Public broadcasting in the United States Corporation for Public Broadcasting America's Public Television Stations List of PBS member stations List of programs broadcast by PBS PBS Distribution PBS Satellite Service
Defunct network Distributed by American Public Television (APT)

Category:

2010 concerts