California's Pasadena Playhouse will offer a six-month celebration of the work and impact of the late, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim during its 2022-2023 season.
The State Theater of California’s Sondheim Celebration will launch January 26-27, 2023, with a production of Sondheim and James Lapine's Into the Woods that will feature students from the high schools of the Pasadena Unified School District, who will work with theatre professionals.
Sondheim and James Lapine's Pulitzer Prize-winning Sunday in the Park With George, with characters inspired by the Georges Seurat painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande, will follow, running February 14-March 19.
The Tony-winning musical A Little Night Music, suggested by a film by Ingmar Bergman, will begin April 25. The Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler musical, which features the Sondheim classic "Send in the Clowns," will continue through May 28.
Three-time Tony recipient Bernadette Peters, one of the premiere interpreters of the work of the late Sondheim, will perform in concert June 10-11. Peters created leading roles in the original Broadway companies of Sunday in the Park With George and Into the Woods and also starred in Broadway revivals of Gypsy, Follies, and A Little Night Music.
“This ambitious celebration has been several years in the making and has taken on even deeper meaning since the loss of Stephen Sondheim last year. Our goal is to provide a mosaic experience for our community, engaging audiences with multiple works by Sondheim and his collaborators’ side by side, so that audiences can have a richer appreciation of his impact and work,” says Producing Artistic Director Danny Feldman. “After our first season back on stage, we knew this year had to be about celebrating: Celebrating the masterworks of the greatest musical theatre writer of all time. Celebrating new voices in the American theatre. Celebrating our community coming together at the Playhouse once again.”
The 2022-2023 season will be rounded out by two Los Angeles premieres: Martyna Majok's Sanctuary City (September 14-October 9, 2022) and Zora Howard's Stew (July 11-August 6, 2023).
Creative teams and casting for all productions as well as additional Sondheim Celebration events will be announced at a later date.
Visit PasadenaPlayhouse.org.
