Sondheim TONY wins (and one loss) '71, '72, '73, '79, '88, '94, 08

Stephen Sondheim has won 8 TONY awards, more than any composer in history. Here are clips from 1971 (COMPANY) 1972 (FOLLIES)
1973 (A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC) 1979 (SWEENEY TODD) 1984 - his infamous loss the Jerry Herman, 1988 (INTO THE WOODS) 1994 (PASSION)
and a special award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, accepted by Many Patinkin.

[@cdog1089]

i love love love love the fact that for every award he always thanked the orchestra conductor and orchestrator. He has always been a class act.

[@Pyrethryn]

Yep, the man is a class act through and through.

[@bingovegas4867]

Really? And he never mentioned the cast until what 5th win?

[@tinygreencreature5167]

@@bingovegas4867 he's getting an award for the score so he's shouting out the two other men who are behind the music. Remember what Carol said, actors don't make the music it's the lyr-ic-ist

[@bamb113r]

@@bingovegas4867 lol well cause you see they get their own categories. also its kind of a given my guy. im sure they appreciate your effort but i think theyll be okay if he gives thanks to two important parts of the musical process that dont have categories for awards

[@dougcargill6730]

Paul Gemigniani is a wonder.

[@musicianinseattle]

My favorite living composer is no longer living. Rest in peace, Mr. Sondheim - you were simply the best.

[@Pyrethryn]

His work will be celebrated, studied and analyzed for centuries to come. Sondheim is one of a kind. I'm glad I got to live in his time-line.

[@beckygrajeda2402]

@@Pyrethryn here here! We were lucky to share our lifetimes with him. ❤️

[@kindnessfirst9670]

My favorite living composer became my favorite dead composer.

[@lapponia77]

Sondheim is genuinely humble here. It is not false modesty. He is simply recognising that theatre, in particular musical theatre, is a collaborative art form, and he thinks it only right to acknowledge his collaborators. A great artist, and a great human being :-)

[@lthewitt]

In 1997, they finally introduced a Tony for Best Orchestration. Jonathan Tunick won. He is now the most nominated orchestrator in that category, with 11 nominations.

[@thewebchronicles]

WELL DESERVED

[@lukeevans5427]

I'm sorry but can we take a moment to acknowledge how freaking appropriate it is that Angela Lansbury presented him with his first Tony award, and Bernadette Peters presented him with his last one (though there will probably be more). Also can we acknowledge that his first speech was only 39 seconds???

[@MattWeisherComposer]

Fred Pryce He's written Sweeney Todd, Into The Woods and Company. Even if he writes something incredible, they're hard to top. But I really hope he tries.

[@batekush8135]

and lee remick!

[@AventuraLuver]

It's so cute seeing Stephen Sondheim rub/scratch his face as a nervous habit... He's so shy :)

[@TeresaLeandro]

Stephen Sondheim ia the last surviving genius. I simply worship him.

[@tracer740]

Teresa- What's not to worship ... he is not just unbelievably talented, he is a genius.

[@MissAkua100]

i agree with this comment so much

[@marklauzon186]

Ya....but boy is Lloyd Webber up there with him.

[@henryalmoney2917]

@@marklauzon186 really? phantom of the opera is up there with company, sondheim said this in his “look i made a hat” by saying that les mis and poto is like operatos, lifeless pieces of washed down work with a couple lovey songs (i don’t have my copy right now but it’s the basic idea), and i agree 100 percent. there is no depth in his work, for example cats, you can really dissect that, there’s nothing to it. when my friends think of theater they think of these types of shows that are hard to follow, boring, and have no life. when i show them sondheim musicals i can see them fall i love.

[@jacksonkamiska]

Just can't stop laughing at Carol Channing. She's hilarious

[@bubi1716]

OH WHY WON'T THIS THING...STEPHEN SONDHEIM! Cracks me up.

[@jspadola8jkz]

He never failed to thank his great orchestrator and conductor ...I thank you Mr. Sonheim, you will be missed.

[@streisand2391]

Sunday in the park was so underrated at the tonys, it should have at least one best musical, score, actor and actress

[@stepawayful]

Act 1, yes.

[@lapponia77]

@@stepawayful Yes, Act Two is flawed - at least the opening scenes - but the sequence of songs towards the end, in particular Children and Art, Lesson#8 and Move On, is among the most moving in the history of musical theatre. At least for me. The only show to rival it in that respect is Carousel :-)

[@kindnessfirst9670]

It's sweet that one year he was handed the Tony by Lee Remick. They were very close - she and her child/ children actually lived with him for a while when her marriage went bad.

[@sushicourier]

I mean, Company...Follies....A Little Night Music...... Boom boom boom! Three years in a row! Why does it take 6 or 8 years for a show to come to Broadway now?! Absolute genius.

[@AscensionLightSource]

There isn't anymore Sondheims or Webbers much anymore. .

[@TylerActs86]

Because back then it was only one or two producers and there was a director there helping to shape the show. Now its 10k producers and the shows are written before a director is brought in. So they have to rewrite to please tons of people.

[@SpyinGirly]

The reason his loss in '84 is so infamous is because of what jerry Herman said about scores being "hummable," because Sondheim often got criticized for being "un-hummable." It was a direct attack on his style.

[@mikeanderson9205]

+Bonnie Christilaw It was a shot at Sondheim, and tacky. Shame on Jerry!

[@saschahoupt6177]

I don’t claim to know much about the dynamics between JH and SS but what I will say is, watching him, it doesn’t seem he’s at much criticizing Sondheim as he is just overjoyed over the fact that his “simple, hummable” score won.

[@scribe570]

I think the difference between a Herman score and Sondheim score is like the difference between checkers and chess. Checkers is a fine game, easy to learn right away. Chess takes longer, but I think the satisfaction of delving deeper into a more complex game has greater rewards. Whether it's a fault or not, I think Sondheim comes through the best on re-listening and playing the recorded score or a videoed performance over and over. That being said, we fans can put together a medley of imminently hummable and accessible Sondheim songs.

[@GothicTopicPodcast]

Sondheim is VERY hummable. I'm not sure what's wrong with those idiots. SMH.

[@aarontakesbroadway]

ARE YOU KIDDING! Sondheim lost because La Cage Aux Folles was better received than Sunday In The Park With George and Jerry Herman described a hummable show tune as simple meaning Jerry Herman wanted to make a point that simple show tunes will never go out of fashion. He was not trying to take a jab and Sondheim because that doesn’t make any sense and Jerry was trying to say is, it’s not always the most complex songs that make a musical great! Also to add to that, a song from La Cage Aux Folles became a gay anthem so...just saying!

[@MANHATTANBEEFMAN]

That Sondheim did not get his much deserved Tony in 1984 for Sunday In The Park With George - will forever be a black eye on the American Theater Wing voters...shame on them.

[@lewiswilkinson5198]

You've got to see the genius in the score of La Cage though. It's not complex, innovative or modern; but it is an example of pure, honest, emotional character driven songs with elegant music that marries seamlessly with unostentatious lyrics. Sondheim himself said 'simple is really hard to do', I think he would agree that Herman achieved that with La Cage. Sunday might not have found favour at the Tonys, but it did win numerous Oliviers for the London production and a Pulitzer Prize, so it didn't do too badly.

[@MANHATTANBEEFMAN]

@@lewiswilkinson5198 ...the Brits know theater.

[@lewiswilkinson5198]

@@MANHATTANBEEFMAN we sure do. Except we spell it weird haha.

[@harrietamidala1691]

Nice how he always acknowledge Tunick in his wins because the Best Orchestrations category wasn't established yet until 1997!

[@estusstephens7573]

It’s strange that he didn’t win for Sunday in the Park with George because I consider that to be his best and my personal favorite show of his

[@jasmineledesma3234]

he won a pulitzer for sunday in the park didn't he?

[@Filayevna]

@@jasmineledesma3234 yes, he did. A very well deserved recognition of that magnificent show!

[@dahlia58]

As for the loss, there were other wins for Sunday in the Park with George -- the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, two Tony's, two Olivier's, and eight other wins.

[@climbinguphill]

Sunday in the Park with George is a musical masterpiece. The fact that it did not win Best Musical or Best Score is very appalling.

[@tashkay5389]

La Cage had a good score though

[@AndrewRudin]

La Cage is.. good. Sunday In the Park is.. GENIUS.

[@patrickziegler7908]

Completely agree!!!!

[@carr0760]

I mean...it won a Pulitzer. How did it not win a Tony?

[@AscensionLightSource]

I 100% agree....IT SHOULD HAVE SWEEPED EVERYTHING...ONE OF THE BEST MUSICALS EVER

[@eirikastokes9652]

Whether or not Jerry Herman meant to jab at Sondheim, he chose his words incredibly poorly. Sunday was UTTERLY robbed at the Tonys that year - Mandy and Bernadette not taking home best leading actor and actress was and is utterly unforgivable.

[@IDontWantThisStupidHandle]

Sunday is one of his best, yes -- as it is on of the best of Patinkin and Peters, absolutely -- but the message of Cage (an openly gay play in the midst of the AIDS crisis in the 80s, when people wouldn't literally even touch a gay man for fear of contracting the disease) was so much more vital to the world at that particular time than the multitude of genius messages in Sunday. It deserved to win, and there is something to be said for making music the everyday man and woman can sing (and that is coming from the most hardcore Sondheim fan who adores his complexity much more than most of Herman's works).

[@lapponia77]

@@IDontWantThisStupidHandle Yes. La Cage was always going to hoover up the awards that year for the reasons you stated - and in a way, quite rightly. It is also a very good show. Sunday is, for me, one of the greatest shows of all but, as far as awards are concerned, it simply had the bad luck to appear in the same year as La Cage. And don't forget, it won the Pulitzer Prize for drama, which is a pretty big consolation prize :-)

[@jandreidrn]

Shortly after the Tonys that year, Sondheim attended a Q&A in Houston. An audience member asked if he thought Herman's acceptance speech was directed at him. Sondheim's response "You should be embarrassed for asking that question."

[@cea765]

​@@jandreidrn Like it's a rude question and Sondheim doesn't think Herman was throwing shade?

[@msalicekeys]

INTENTIONAL. Even the way he reads it is shady and prepared, you just know

[@jjoshh2564]

It’s so sad seeing Sondheim get older throughout this video. What a great man. Thank you Mr Sondheim for everything!

[@kindnessfirst9670]

Getting older is much better than the alternative.

[@sheilabloom6735]

I love his mentioning Ingmar Bergman who wrote Smiles of a Summer Night, the basis for Music.

[@theatrenuutt]

That moment when Sunday doesn't win and then next clips intro music is Sunday...

[@MANHATTANBEEFMAN]

Yup - a nice little dig at the obtuse American Theater Wing voters.

[@mister_vegas]

Stephen Sondheim often said he didn't care if his work "lived on" after his death, because he wouldn't be here to enjoy the applause. I assume he felt the same way about awards, that they are symbols of momentary approval. And now that he has died, these Tony Awards are mere trinkets -- pieces of fashioned metal and ceramic -- gathering dust in his home. They might as well be paperweights. My roundabout point is that I'm glad to see his genuine joy at winning all these awards, and I'm grateful that his marvelous, inspiring work will "live on" for the rest of MY life.

[@M_A_N_H_A_T_T_A_N]

GOD has recalled his musical emissary…r.I.p. Maestro - you are irreplaceable.

[@piustwelfth]

Great to see the talented and beautiful Lee Remick.

[@AndrewRudin]

Love that he acknowledges Tunick. every single time.. truly one of the greats... as important to the atmosphere of the show as the scenery, costumes, and lighting. .. and never more so than SweeneyTodd. And all of his acceptance speeches are more gracious than Jerry Herman's rather snide comment.

[@jandreidrn]

Shortly after the Tonys that year, Sondheim attended a Q&A in Houston. An audience member asked if he thought Herman's acceptance speech was directed at him. Sondheim's response "You should be embarrassed for asking that question."

[@marklauzon186]

Having done many Musicals in my life and even more musical revues I can say this: If you can accurately sing a SS score...you are in fact a singer.

[@heatherp.6906]

The hug Sondheim gives Mandy Patinkin is so pure and genuine. Long live the Godfather of Broadway!

[@maxaustin3377]

It occurs to me I’ve never heard Sondheim speak before and I dunno what I was expecting but he just sounds so normal and very shy. His whole demeanour reminds me of more recent Tony-nominated composer Adam Schlesinger

[@MS-df2fk]

He is such a legend. It's been cool the last eight or nine years to see his shows get turned into big budget movies (even if they were disappointing). That exposure has introduced his genius to a whole new audience. He looks so happy to win for "Into the Woods". Beating such a huge juggernaut like "Phantom" must have felt pretty sweet after losing to "La Cage". Also, damn, Bernadette Peters looks 20 years old in the clip from 1994. She was 46 then. HOW?!

[@AndrewRudin]

PHANTOM is such a piece of crap.Juggernaut or JuggerNOT!

[@saschahoupt6177]

Idk, I liked the into the woods adaptation!

[@maxaustin3377]

Matt Stryker I liked the Into the Woods adaptation for a few reasons: 1. Meryl Streep 2. It introduced me to Into the Woods bc I didn’t have the attention span to watch the recording of the broadway version 3. Meryl Streep 4. Emily Blunt and 5. Meryl Streep! Now that I’ve seen the original I can see where the movie fell short. I’m also grateful to the Sweeney Todd movie which I saw when I was 16 for introducing me to Sondheim’s music. Until then I only knew him as the lyricist for West Side Story. Movie musicals aren’t usually as good but I like them bc it’s the only way for me to see them most of the time.

[@SymphonyBrahms]

Into the Woods deserved to win over the overrated Phantom of the Opera.

[@JoshFreilich]

You notice Angela said "Best Musical of a Musical"?

[@michaelscuotto3507]

1971 was the only year that best score was split up into 2 awards; music and lyrics, Stephen Sondheim won both for Company. So I believe she said "Music of a Musical".

[@IDontWantThisStupidHandle]

@@michaelscuotto3507 While that does make sense, and it was a slip of the tongue with her meaning to say "music" she did in fact say "musical of a musical".

[@johnnydeep7293]

The smile of Bernadette on 13:41 is so contagious. You can tell she's very happy Steve won.

[@NoExpert_]

Literally a master class in humility.

[@KatieT97]

13:35 excuse me while I fangirl over the perfect human being that is Bernadette Peters

[@mme.dilettante]

To state the obvious: Presenting the Tony to Le Cage over Sunday in the Park is beyond comprehension. 😉

[@joeburinskas8672]

Your post is beyond comprehension. Sunday in the Park was lousy. La Cage was fantastic

[@lapponia77]

@@joeburinskas8672 Both were great in their own way and very different from each other.

[@joelukowski]

Soundheim -- a real class act.

[@LunanStanley]

How wonderful to have your name mispronounced by Ingrid Bergman ...

[@jd3422]

"Steffan" - right! Odd that she did not know.

[@Macrogue65]

He loved Lee Remick - this is so fitting x

[@SuperJNG18]

It's a little odd that they cue Mandy Patinkin in with music from Evita...I mean yeah, he was in Evita, but he also had a pretty prominent role in a show Sondheim actually wrote the music for.

[@davefuller3311]

What an artist!

[@MsDonttrythisathome]

Who is that *delightful* lady who announces the winner for 'ly-ri-cist'? She's fantastic!

[@callumdoherty7204]

She is a beautiful human being.

[@AustinHitachiinCyrus]

It’s so sad that Miss Channing passed away! What an angel!

[@winston.sullivan]

Le cages aux folles is great but Sunday is perhaps the greatest score ever written. Can we retrospectively award it to Sondheim in exchange for, say, Beauty and the Beast or Phantom?

[@bananabasket]

No, because he deserved to win those years as well.

[@AscensionLightSource]

SWEENEY TODD and SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, ALONG WITH COMPANY AND FOLLIES AMONG THE BEST MUSICALS EVER...SONDHEIM IS A GENIUS

[@lapponia77]

I have never really warmed to Company, although it was a breakthrough musical. For me, Follies, Sunday and Sweeney are the three.

[@mauricioduron3193]

Have owned most of Sondheim's OBC recordings. On account of its contemporary concerns, the one I turn back to most often is 'Company', as well as the video recordings since 1970.

[@WillScarlet16]

Sondheim still doesn't think much of awards. He's gone on record as saying awards are 'useless' unless they come with cash.

[@janclydentenorio1356]

Into the woods was hummable

[@MANHATTANBEEFMAN]

And Jerry Herman was pretty much...done.

[@jandreidrn]

@@MANHATTANBEEFMAN and so is... Sondheim.

[@yoyoeldas]

The lifetime achievement speech has me in tears...

[@perpetual61]

It makes Sad first and Foremost that I never got to experience any Stephen Sondheim Musical Live. Second because we definitely Lost a Legend that we will never see the likes again. Some so Big who's Legacy will be felt for years to come even after they're gone. I wouldn't be surprised if one day there will be a Stephen Sondheim Award given to the Best Lyricist at the Tony's changed to Honor the man whom gave and did so much for broadway.

[@jeffschecter4543]

Nice to see alll these together!! I love SS.... he is absolutely appropriate, happily collaborative and wanting to have us all see his collaboraters not out of correctness but out of sincerity, honest and aware yet humbly very human ......and when you think about the breadth of the work that is being awarded in each case it is without peer in theater.... Company is not like Follies nor A Ligttle Night MUsic nor Sweeny nor Into the Woods nor Passion. Each is completely uniquely brilliant. And each is new. The music he writes is vast and seemingly unlimited in style variety satsifaction. The lyrics are bulls-eyes, succinct, utterly joyously perfect and he writes in the tradition of the theatre... he writes songs. Not musicalized emotions or simple to get on one listening alone. He is that rare genius, an artist who never stops growing and moving forward. Very few like that.... maybe Verdi, certainly Beethoven, Shakespeare... who else?

[@TeresaLeandro]

+Jeff Schecter WOW! Your comment made my day, I worship SS.

[@swanben11]

Mahler. Definitely one for Mahler too.

[@zebrastop]

You are so right. He taught me more about human relationships than I ever realized.

[@tinahamilton9058]

What grace. I loved, love, him so much for all he gave us. Wasn't Gerry Herman a shit with that backhanded slap about Stephan? What song does anybody remember from La Cage. So many from Sunday, which has been staged again and again and ever will be.

[@jandreidrn]

Shortly after the Tonys that year, Sondheim attended a Q&A in Houston. An audience member asked if he thought Herman's acceptance speech was directed at him. Sondheim's response "You should be embarrassed for asking that question."

[@judywhiting4684]

Ive spent my life.. As a singer/actor in theatre....leads in all manor of composers...from R&H...L&lowe...J Herman..etc....l was Sally in FOLLIES..CHARLOTTE .Night Music....SONDHEIM is my FAVORITE xomposer...mainly. because his music NEVER gets easy...always a fantastic challange...and so FABULOUS to sing...look back at the shows l did...and l KNOW that the gorgeous LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC. is my absolute favorite....now l also was MAME AND DOLLY...so l know Jerry's work too....always fun...some great numbers...but nothing like the sheer brillance of SONDHEIM.and his lyrics...now whether Herman meant it as a DIG...he has lost to Sondheim in the past...they CANT BE COMPARED...Sondheim will go down in history as.thegreatest lyricist....in this century ..l think Cole Porter was his predecessor.....

[@jandreidrn]

Shortly after the Tonys that year, Sondheim attended a Q&A in Houston. An audience member asked if he thought Herman's acceptance speech was directed at him. Sondheim's response "You should be embarrassed for asking that question."

[@barbaraarmy3974]

Sondheim is so deserving yet hard choice when up against JCSS and Phantom.

[@maxaustin3377]

Barbara Army JCSS is my favourite musical so I agree on that. But Phantom is pretty meh musically imo and falls short next to any Sondheim score

[@swanben11]

@@maxaustin3377 I think it’s fair to say that Phantom is an incredible piece for reasons that didn’t lie predominantly on ALW’s pen.

[@robertwilderblue6395]

Thank you for this video. You're a brilliant gem for putting this together.

[@wolfwind1]

Thank you so much for sharing this incredible piece of history. Thank you ! And oh how gorgeous Lee Remeck was. Luminous.

[@jd3422]

Thank you so much for spending the time it took to put together this compilation. It was especially wonderful to see Angela Lansbury, Mandy Patinkin, Lee Remick, and Bernadette Peters, all of whom appeared in Sondheim shows, hand the awards to him! I got choked up seeing them hug onstage. Does anyone know why he was not there in person to accept his Lifetime Achievement Award?

[@1marilynable]

He honestly deserved a few more in my opinion! I don't think people realize how rare it is to have a musical genius like this.

[@jbeaupre1800]

Still the greatest, Thank you for your music and you.

[@nicholasfox966]

Jerry Herman accepts an award and touts himself. Stephen Sondheim accepts an award and touts his collaborators (five separate times). You decide.

[@jandreidrn]

Shortly after the Tonys that year, Sondheim attended a Q&A in Houston. An audience member asked if he thought Herman's acceptance speech was directed at him. Sondheim's response "You should be embarrassed for asking that question."

[@johnflynn9619]

Lee Remick was Beautiful. RIP

[@melissashilkoff]

Rest in Peace and thank you for everything

[@leoperegrino]

Te amo maestro, eres enorme!!

[@1marilynable]

I'm so glad you included Jerry Hermans win though! It was well deserved! La Cage is so underrated, only because it's about drag queens. I'm a full time drag queen now that I'm a adult and I can't tell you what a Inspiration LaCage was to me growing up.

[@robjack2804]

Talk about a life well led; thanks for the joy, again, Mr. S.

[@brandonmeenan8075]

R.I.P. Stephen Sondheim

[@alisar]

Thanks for this!! I wish you had also included the other loss--Pacific Overtures.

[@pedrourena8970]

And Merrily

[@margaritaperla]

sondheim mentioning donna and marin in his 1994 speech made me so happy. theyre my favorite sondheim ladies. ❤❤

[@TheKelJacob]

Oh, Lee Remick....wish you were still around with SS.

[@KingRoper]

I was happy to see in the title that you hadn't included '84, then you did. Damn you. That still pisses me off.

[@jimrick6632]

LOVE INGRID'S NOT KNOWING WHO STEPHEN SONDHEIM WAS SO MISS PRONOUNCED HIS LAST NAME...TWICE....

[@MrThesper]

she mispronounced his first name.

[@Filayevna]

No disrespect intended to La Cage aux Folles, Sunday in the Park with George is in a word, a masterpiece, and it was robbed. It did end up getting the Pulitzer Prize and they don't hand those out to musicals on a regular basis, so I guess there is that. How beautiful that both Mandy Patinkin (Mr. Sondheim's George) and Bernadette Peters (Mr. Sondheim's Dot, among other roles) were the ones to read out his name, loudly, clearly, with pride and love. The hugs were so full of intimacy and familiarity, they had me tearing up. What an artist, what a human being that we lost. We die, but we don't. Thank you, Mr. Sondheim. I don't think we could ever find the appropriate words to thank you enough.

[@peculiarjohn6900]

Jonathan Tunick: "See?! Those Tonies are rightfully MINE!"

[@AlbertoAntonio6]

I don't know who Paul Ford is, but the enthusiastic cheer at 12:46 makes me wanna google him

[@matthough3590]

I just read Paul Ford's memoirs, and that was his partner who screamed out when Sondheim called his name.

[@benjaminjohnsen2224]

Wow, Pandora boxx really nailed it!

[@rr7firefly]

The hair changes over time. In 1973 it reflects the times.

[@46metube]

What a humble man.

[@kindnessfirst9670]

The year he lost for "Sunday in the Park" he more than made up for it by winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. That means "Sunday..." was the best play (of any type) that year. Musicals rarely win that prize.

[@crankypisces3618]

1:55 it is marvellous

[@RobinGoodFellovv]

Ingrid Bergman has no idea who "Stefen" Sonheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber are, apparently.

[@kindnessfirst9670]

When it comes to Webber I envy her sometimes.

[@IDontWantThisStupidHandle]

Cut her a break, she was Swedish, and English was her FIFTH language -- a little mispronunciation comes with the territory. That's not even taking into account the stress of presenting an award on a nationally televised program watched by millions at home -- even native English speakers make pronunciation mistakes sometimes.

[@RobinGoodFellovv]

@@IDontWantThisStupidHandle Fair enough :)

[@dadodydo]

SonDheim, since we're at it.

[@CJBlanda]

GREAT.

[@clarencehenderson7634]

R.I.P 💔💔💔

[@garyschwartz6738]

We will never see the likes of him again.

[@tejaswoman]

Not to demean his first win, but I can't be the only one who never even heard of those other two shows. He never had much competition in any year considering how incomparable he was, but that year more so than ever.

[@Ringmaster777]

Not surprised that his one loss was towards la cage, but even then, it had to have been very close.

[@Whobilly]

Thank you Sondheim .

[@francoarocha7287]

... and so handsome.

[@callumdoherty7204]

1973-1979 must’ve been a tough six years for Sondheim...

[@laytonjones2093]

The greatest ❤❤❤

[@iHeartsNostalgiaPit]

may he RIP

[@callumdoherty7204]

Man, I miss Carol.

[@maryhatch9225]

La Cage Aux Folles? OK, but above Sunday?

[@AscensionLightSource]

Its NOT. Sunday should have won

[@piustwelfth]

Wow, Sondheim bested Andrew Lloyd Webber twice (two of his biggest hits) and also Beauty and the Beast.

[@lapponia77]

The Tonys (in theory, at least) reward quality rather than commercial success. It's no surprise to me that Sondheim's shows won in those years.

[@alessludwig]

Jerry Herman's statement is not infamous. Let's not dramatise theatre prizes, please. Set in that time, it was pretty right on the money, because the lyric quality element of musical theatre (that is what hummable means: repeats, clear elegant moves) was being suppressed for the dramatic-intimate one (ups and downs, dynamics). Just two different, coexisting forces. Sunday in the park with George is a masterpiece, and so is La Cage. I repeat: La Cage is equally masterful. They belong to two subtypes of musical theatre. It is as simple as that. No need to clique in with either.

[@jasonhays8644]

Thank you so much. You're right - they are both very much masterpieces. And to me, JH's comment is more about how he felt like his style was not accepted anymore. Not that Sondheim's style had overshadowed his. And this deeply personal show he wrote, that was groundbreaking in so many ways, was still true to his style. And after Sondheim and the shows of the 70s had transformed what was popular in musical theatre, he felt like he was still relevant.

[@AscensionLightSource]

Sunday is a more important and vital musical than La Cage....much more

[@rugby8-Philadelphia]

...it was rude. ....May not have been intentional, but, it was rude 😎😎😎

[@lapponia77]

I agree with that, even though I personally rate Sunday much higher. The two shows are so different from each other that it is virtually impossible to compare them. They had the bad luck to be produced in the same year.

[@jandreidrn]

@@rugby8-Philadelphia Shortly after the Tonys that year, Sondheim attended a Q&A in Houston. An audience member asked if he thought Herman's acceptance speech was directed at him. Sondheim's response "You should be embarrassed for asking that question."

[@callumdoherty7204]

I love Carol Channing.

[@wesman422]

The Jerry Herman shade

[@jandreidrn]

Shortly after the Tonys that year, Sondheim attended a Q&A in Houston. An audience member asked if he thought Herman's acceptance speech was directed at him. Sondheim's response "You should be embarrassed for asking that question."

[@matthoffman274]

Stephen Sondheim looked like bob saget

[@KaiGrosscurth]

I'll have what Carol Channing is on

[@AsherHalperin]

Best musical of a musical?

[@leslieackerman4189]

Easily one of the greatest creative geniuses this country has seen. Yet he ALWAYS emphasized and thanked his collaborators. At this writing, Stephen Sondheim is 91. The (feared) day he leaves will be one of deep personal loss and mourning.

[@juicebuko]

😭

[@FloraWest]

A bonus here is all the other nominees that have sort of faded into history.

[@pdgf]

How can he age fast like that in 6 years between 73 and 79?

[@bingovegas4867]

Sondheim FINALLY thanked one of his casts after all those wins??? They were a big part of why he won.

[@lapponia77]

True, but performers have their own categories. He mentioned the conductor and the orchestrator because they didn't in those days.