An Unscripted Moment With Stephen Sondheim
Last night, as a performance of “An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin” drew to a close, one of those unscripted, magical moments on Broadway unfolded before an appreciative crowd at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.
As the audience cheered wildly and applauded the veteran stars for their musical theater revue of songs from such hits as “South Pacific,” “Carousel,” “Follies” and “Gypsy,” Patinkin told the crowd that he had been nervous the whole night.
He said that just before the show began, LuPone had told him that Stephen Sondheim was in the audience. Moments later, the pair opened with the quick clip of Sondheim’s “Another Hundred People” from “Company.” They went on to sing another dozen of his songs, along with classics by Rodgers and Hammerstein and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
As Patinkin spoke, the wave of applause grew louder still. Sondheim, seated on the aisle in the eighth row center, finally rose and acknowledged the adoration with a wave.
Patinkin told the audience that he and LuPone owed much of their careers to the composer and lyricist, and mouthed “I love you, Steve,” before performing an encore. As for Sondheim, 81, he vanished into the night, gone from his seat before the last note was sung.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30