As previously announced, on March 19 Symphony Space will present its 35th Wall to Wall concert at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre. Wall to Wall Stephen Sondheim is set to begin at 11 AM and will continue for 12 hours at the New York City landmark. Over 100 artists will interpret Sondheim's lyrics and music, some played by a full orchestra, others featuring intimate jazz arrangements.
As of press time, those scheduled to take part in the gala event are Ted Chapin, Leonard Fleischer, Karen Akers, George Lee Andrews, Ivy Austin, Becky Ann Baker, Kate Baldwin, Christine Baranski, Barbara Barrie, Laura Benanti, Polly Bergen, Rob Berman, Pat Birch, Blair Brown, Sidney J. Burgoyne, Kate Burton, Liz Callaway, Mario Cantone, Carolee Carmello, Patrick Cassidy, Michael Cerveris, The Juilliard Choral Union, Judith Clurman, conductor, Charlotte d'Amboise, Sam Davis, Jed Distler, Gregg Edelman, Dan Egan, Melissa Errico, Raul Esparza, Harvey Evans, Danielle Ferland, Freda Foh Shen, Joel Fram, Alexander Gemignani, Paul Gemignani, Joanna Gleason, Annie Golden, Randy Graff, Debbie Gravitte, David Green, John Guare,Mary Rodgers Guettel, Jonathan Hadary, Sheldon Harnick, Beth Howland, Dana Ivey, Judy Kaye, Charles Kimbrough, Marc Kudisch, Judy Kuhn, James Lapine, Telly Leung, Andrew Lippa, Emily Loesser, Richard Maltby, Terrence Mann, Mackenzie Mauzy, Lanny Meyers, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Beata Moon, Donna Murphy, James Naughton, Phyllis Newman, Kelli O'Hara, Hudson Shad, Mary Beth Peil, Bernadette Peters, Kurt Peterson, Lonny Price, Charlie Prince, Daisy Prince, Patrick Quinn, Angelina Reaux, Frank Rich, Tony Roberts, Marti Rolph, Josh Rosenblum, Jonathan Schwartz, Thomas Z. Shepard, Matt Sklar, David Staller, Michael Starobin, Georgia Stitt, KT Sullivan, Christina Sunnerstam, Kathleen Supove, Thom Warren John Weidman, Richard White, B.D. Wong, Ying Quartet, Nora York, Eric Jordan Young and Jerry Zaks.
Admission to the concert is free, and patrons may sample a few moments or stay several hours. Symphony Space began its Wall to Wall series in 1978 with Wall to Wall Bach. Later versions of the marathon concept have focused on Mozart, Beethoven, John Cage, Aaron Copland, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin and Richard Rodgers.
Composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim has written a plethora of musicals, including A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Company, A Little Night Music, Into the Woods, Merrily We Roll Along, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George and Passion. He also contributed lyrics to West Side Story and Gypsy, and his new musical, Bounce, recently played Chicago and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. His revised productions of The Frogs and Pacific Overtures were on Broadway stages earlier this season, and the 2004 staging of Assassins won five Tonys, including one for Best Revival of a Musical. Sondheim was also celebrated at the Kennedy Center with all star stagings of six of his musicals — Company, Sweeney, Merrily, Night Music, Sunday and Passion.
Wall to Wall Stephen Sondheim will play the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre at Symphony Space, located in Manhattan at 2537 Broadway at 95th Street. For more information, visit www.symphonyspace.org.
