Bucks Co. Remembers George School Alum, Musical Theater Legend Stephen Sondheim

NEWTOWN, PA — Stephen Sondheim, one of the most lauded musical theater giants of all time, died at his home in Connecticut on Friday. He wrote more than a dozen award-winning musicals in his illustrious career and even had a Broadway house renamed in his honor — but it all began in Doylestown, where his neighbor as a teenager turned out to be a life-changing mentor.

Sondheim, a songwriter for the theater, received eight Tony awards including a lifetime achievement award, and an equal number of Grammys across his career: not to mention the many accolades garnered by later stagings of his musicals.

He also received the Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime achievement and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

"Mr. Sondheim liked to think of himself less as a songwriter than as a playwright, albeit one who wrote very short plays and set them to music," according to an obituary in the New York Times.

Among other lauded shows, he is known for writing songs for the musicals "Into the Woods," "Sweeney Todd," "Assassins," "Merrily We Roll Along," and "West Side Story."

But one of Sondheim's earliest musical projects was actually inspired by the George School in Newtown, while he was a student there. He wrote "By George" at 15, a comic musical "well received by his fellow students," according to the school. Those interested can listen to music from "By George" via Genius Lyrics.

"Please join George School in holding the family of Stephen Sondheim ’46 in the Light," the school wrote Friday. Sondheim graduated from the school in 1946, and was awarded the George School Alumni Award in 1996.

According to the Journal Inquirer, Sondheim moved with his mother to Doylestown at age 10 after his parents' divorce. His roommate, James, had a father who was a musical theater master at the time and remains a well-known name: Oscar Hammerstein II, who wrote "Showboat" and "Oklahoma!".

Sondheim presented “By George,” to Hammerstein, who ripped it to shreds, according to a Variety profile. The magazine said he later recalled, “I learned more about songwriting and the musical theater (that afternoon) than most people learn in a lifetime."

Highland Farm in Doylestown, where Hammerstein lived and mentored Sondheim, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Some shared memories of Sondheim there after learning of his passing.

He would go on to work as an assistant on several of Hammerstein's musicals (including acclaimed titles like "South Pacific"), before opening "West Side Story," on Broadway when he was 27.

Although Sondheim left Bucks County after graduating from high school, his national and international impact was felt here, too.

On Saturday, the Bucks County Choral Society shared their performance of "I remember sky" from "Evening Primrose" in memory of the songwriter.

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