VideoVideo: Watch the Emotions Flow as Mandy Patinkin Joins Ben Platt and More During 'Sunday' at Sondheim Award Gala
Tony winner Patinkin was recently celebrated during the Signature Theatre's annual gala.
By
Andrew Gans, Logan Culwell-Block
April 25, 2025
Tony winner Mandy Patinkin was honored with the 2025 Stephen
Sondheim Award at Signature Theatre's gala benefit April 14 at
Washington, D.C.'s The Anthem.
On hand to pay tribute to the Sunday in the Park With George
star was fellow Tony winner Ben Platt, who performed 'Sunday' from the Sondheim-James Lapine score. Towards the end of the song, Patinkin surprised Platt and the other vocalists by joining in on the tune that he originated on Broadway in 1984. Watch the emotional tribute in the video above.
Also on hand to celebrate the EvitaTony winner were opera star
Nathan Gunn, Tony winner Annaleigh Ashford, Ángel Lozada, Tracy Lynn Olivera, Awa Sal Secka, and writer-director Lapine. Accompanists included Jon Kalbfleisch and Julie Gunn.
After beginning his Broadway career with performances in Trelawny of the "Wells,"Hamlet, and The Shadow Box, Patinkin won a 1980 Tony Award creating the role of Che in the original Broadway production of Evita. He would become forever associated with Sondheim after creating the title role in Sondheim and Lapine's 1984 Pulitzer-winning Sunday in the Park With George, first in its Off-Broadway world premiere before its 1984 Broadway bow. He has gone on to appear on the Main Stem in The Secret Garden, Falsettos, The Wild Party, and An Evening With Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin, along with several solo concert engagements. Also a fixture on screen, Patinkin notably starred in The Princess Bride and Dick Tracy, along with the Showtime series Homeland.
The piece allows Torres to blend stand-up, design, and dream logic into a whimsical exploration of color, emotion, and identity that is equal parts comedy, theatre, and art piece.