A crowd of Broadway stars gathered Sunday in New York's Times Square to sing one of the late Stephen Sondheim's most beloved songs in a tribute days after his death.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Sara Bareilles, Raúl Esparza, Stephen Schwartz, Laura Benanti, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Josh Groban were among the musical theater icons who gathered to perform for what many on social media called #sundayforsondheim.
The group chose to memorialize Sondheim by singing "Sunday" from his Pulitzer Prize-winning musical “Sunday in the Park with George."
The song, which ends Act I, is about the legacy and harmony of art and French artist Georges Seurat's finally completing what many would consider his greatest masterpiece, "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte."
Bundled up in scarves and coats, the singers belted out the words, with some, like Miranda, appearing to become overwhelmed by emotion.
"such a joy. a tremendously aching joy," Bareilles tweeted.
Sondheim, a Broadway giant who has won the most Tony Awards as a composer, died early Friday at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut, a spokesperson said. He was 91.
Sondheim’s masterpieces, for which he wrote the words and the music, include “Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” “Company,” “Follies,” “Into the Woods” and “Merrily We Roll Along.”
It is unclear what caused Sondheim’s death. He spent his final days celebrating Thanksgiving and watching performances.
“And he spent all day Wednesday seeing the matinee and evening performances of 'Dana H' and 'Is This a Room' — doing what he most loved to do,” said F. Richard Pappas, Sondheim’s attorney.
