Composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim was celebrating his 80th birthday during last night's gala performance of Sondheim On Sondheim, a new musical by the Roundabout Theatre Company. To top off the celebration, Roundabout had a little surprise for the birthday boy: During the curtain call, it was announced that Henry Miller's Theatre on West 43rd Street will be renamed the Stephen Sondheim Theatre in July. It's a rare honor, and artistic director Todd Haimes was thrilled he was able to keep it a secret, telling NY1, "Nobody knew, including Stephen Sondheim, that the theater was going to be named after him. We managed, for once in this world, we kept it a secret. And I think he was really, really surprised, as was everybody in the audience."
With a theater bearing his name, Sondheim will join an elite club that includes other show biz luminaries like Neil Simon, Eugene O'Neill, and George Gershwin, as well as caricaturist Al Hirschfeld. Last week, Sondheim was also feted at a concert gala at Avery Fisher Hall; the Times described the show, which included performances by Patti LuPone, Bernadette Peters, Elaine Stritch, and Michael Cerveris, as "thrilling." For those who missed it, the concert will air on PBS in the fall.
