Legendary Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim will be toasted with an all-star birthday concert—“Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration”—streaming live on Sunday, April 26 at 8 pm EDT on Broadway.com and the Broadway.com YouTube channel. The free concert, produced and hosted by Raúl Esparza, with musical direction by Mary-Mitchell Campbell and directed by Paul Wontorek, also celebrates the 50th Broadway anniversary of Sondheim’s Company, as well as benefitting ASTEP (Artists Striving to End Poverty).
Songs of inspiration from the Sondheim catalog anchor the concert, performed by many of the artists who have appeared in his musicals, including Meryl Streep, Bernadette Peters, Patti LuPone, Mandy Patinkin, Audra McDonald, Christine Baranski, Donna Murphy, Kristin Chenoweth, Sutton Foster, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Kelli O’Hara, Aaron Tveit, Maria Friedman, Katrina Lenk, Michael Cerveris, Brandon Uranowitz, Elizabeth Stanley, Chip Zien, Alexander Gemignani, Iain Armitage, Stephen Schwartz and, from the cast of Pacific Overtures at Classic Stage Company, Ann Harada, Austin Ku, Kelvin Moon Loh, Thom Sesma and more.
Esparza starred as Bobby in the Tony Award-winning revival of Company in 2006 and in the Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration productions of Sunday in the Park (George) and Merrily We Roll Along (Charlie) in 2002. He was also a headliner in City Center’s Encores! productions of Anyone Can Whistle and Road Show.
ASTEP, the organization conceived by the event’s musical director, Mary-Mitchell Campbell, and Juilliard students, seeks to transform the lives of youth using their art, providing a space for healing, a platform for connectivity and an outlet to express themselves. selves. The organization also encourages the development of mindfulness, an important element of mental health, especially in times of struggle.
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