Out composer and lyricist Stephen
Sondheim died Friday. He was 91.
According to The New York Times,
Sondheim's death was announced by his lawyer and friend, Richard
Pappas, who said Sondheim's death was sudden. Pappas said that
Sondheim spent Thanksgiving with friends.
Sondheim is survived by his husband,
Jeffrey Romley. The couple married in 2017.
The Times described the 1970s
and 1980s as Sondheim's “most productive” years. During those
decades, his works included Company, Follies, A
little Night Music, Pacific Overtures, Sweeney Todd,
Merrily We Roll Along, Into the Woods, and Sunday in
the Park with George.
Sondheim was influenced by playwright
Oscar Hammerstein II (South Pacific, The Sound of Music
with Richard Rogers), who became a surrogate father to Sondheim after
his parents divorced at age ten.
The Broadway legend, described by many
as introverted, didn't come out as gay until he was 40.
He died in his home in Roxbury,
Connecticut. A cause of death has not been released.