Angela Lansbury to receive Sondheim Award

Angela Lansbury will receive the first Stephen Sondheim Award from the Signature Theatre Company which is well known for staging Sondheim works. The Arlington-based company has produced 18 shows by the composer and earlier this year announced this new award. The honour will be formally presented to Miss Lansbury at a gala dinner next April.

It is particularly poignant that she get the award as Miss Lansbury’s first appearance in musical theatre was over 50 years ago in 'Anyone Can Whistle,' for which Sondheim wrote the score.

Angela Lansbury is now 84 and has won five Tonys for productions including "Gypsy" and "Sweeney Todd" which were both groundbreaking works from Sondheim. Later this month she is returning to Broadway in a revival of Sondheim's "A Little Night Music," co-starring Catherine Zeta-Jones.