Today Stephen Sondheim turns 89 and Andrew Lloyd Webber turns 71.  Sondheim made his Broadway debut at the age of 26 in 1956 , Lloyd Webber at 23 in 1971, and, along with John Kander (who turned 92 four days ago), and Jerry Herman (who turns 88, the number of keys in the piano, on July 10th) they are at the very least the dominant musical theater composers of their generation, inspiring new generations of theater makers, their work continually produced around the world and in New York — Lloyd Webber currently in the long-running Phantom of the Opera, and until earlier this year School of Rock; Sondheim currently in Merrily We Roll Along.

Occasionally their music is heard together — such as in the recent Prince of Broadway and in this video

Stephen Sondheim’s Musicals

Saturday Night (1954, produced 1997): Book by Julius and Philip Epstein
West Side Story (1957): Music by Leonard Bernstein, book by Arthur Laurents, directed by Jerome Robbins. Sondheim is the lyricist.

Gypsy (1959): Music by Jule Styne, book by Arthur Laurents, directed by Jerome Robbins. Sondheim is the lyricist.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962): Book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart, directed by George Abbott

Anyone Can Whistle (1964): Book and direction by Arthur Laurents

Do I Hear a Waltz? (1965): Music by Richard Rodgers, book by Arthur Laurents,

Company (1970): Book by George Furth

Follies (1971): Book by James Goldman

A Little Night Music (1973): Book by Hugh Wheeler

The Frogs (1974): Book by Burt Shevelove (2004 version book by Nathan Lane)[112]

Pacific Overtures (1976): Book by John Weidman

Sweeney Todd (1979): Book by Hugh Wheeler

Merrily We Roll Along (1981): Book by George Furth

Sunday in the Park with George (1984): Book and direction by James Lapine

Into the Woods (1987): Book and direction by James Lapine

Assassins (1990): Book by John Weidman

Passion (1994): Book and direction by James Lapine

Road Show (2008): Book by John Weidman (formerly titled Bounce, Wise Guys, and Gold!)

Work in progress with David Ives, tentatively titled Buñuel

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Musicals

The Likes of Us (1965)
Lyrics by Tim Rice
Not produced until 2005

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1968)
Lyrics by Tim Rice

Jesus Christ Superstar (1970)
Lyrics by Tim Rice

Jeeves (1975)
Lyrics by Alan Ayckbourn
Revised in 1996 as By Jeeves

Evita (1976)
Lyrics by Tim Rice

Tell Me on a Sunday (1979)
Lyrics by Don Black

Cats (1981)
Lyrics based on Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot
Additional lyrics after Eliot by Richard Stilgoe and Trevor Nunn

Song and Dance (1982)
Lyrics by Don Black (revised by Richard Maltby, Jr. for Broadway)
Combination of Variations (1978) and Tell Me On A Sunday (1979)

Starlight Express (1984)
Lyrics by Richard Stilgoe
Later revisions by Don Black and David Yazbek
Inspired by the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends books by The Rev. W. Awdry.

Cricket (1986)
Lyrics by Tim Rice
First performed for Queen Elizabeth II’s 60th birthday

The Phantom of the Opera (1986)
Lyrics by Charles Hart
Additional Lyrics by Richard Stilgoe
Based on the Gaston Leroux novel

Aspects of Love (1989)
Lyrics by Don Black and Charles Hart
Based on the David Garnett novel

Sunset Boulevard (1993)
Book and lyrics by Christopher Hampton and Don Black
Based on the Billy Wilder film (1950)

Whistle Down the Wind (1996)
Lyrics by Jim Steinman

The Beautiful Game (2000)
Lyrics by Ben Elton
Updated as The Boys in the Photograph (2009)

The Woman in White (2004)
Lyrics by David Zippel
Based on the Wilkie Collins novel

Love Never Dies (2010)
Book & Lyrics by Glenn Slater
Book by Ben Elton & Frederick Forsyth
Additional lyrics by Charles Hart

The Wizard of Oz (2011)
Book by Andrew Lloyd Webber & Jeremy Sams
Music by Harold Arlen
Lyrics by E.Y. Harburg
Additional music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Additional lyrics by Tim Rice
Based on the 1939 motion picture The Wizard of Oz
Based on the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Stephen Ward the Musical (2013)
Book and lyrics by Christopher Hampton and Don Black

School of Rock (2015)
Lyrics by Glenn Slater
Book by Julian Fellowes
Based on the 2003 film