Headlines: Stagedoor Manor Camp to Honor Stephen Sondheim

Stagedoor Manor, the famous performing arts camp in the Catskill Mountains, has announced a special celebration of the works of composer Stephen Sondheim. Dubbed “A Weekend in the Country with the Music of Stephen Sondheim,” the event will include full-scale productions of six Sondheim musicals: Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Into the Woods, Side by Side by Sondheim and West Side Story.

Stagedoor has a long history with Sondheim, who made a cameo appearance in the 2003 movie Camp, which was filmed and based at the Sheldrake, NY, mecca for stagestruck 10- to 18-year-olds. “Stephen Sondheim’s shows are the most requested by our students,” production director Konnie Kittrell said in a statement. Sondheim reportedly responded that he is “blushingly flattered” by the upcoming tribute.

In the summer of 2008, Stagedoor premiered Dramafest, a program to discover and encourage the next generation of playwrights, modeled on Sondheim's Young Playwrights Inc. Selected winners direct and produce their scripts while at Stagedoor, then have their work published through Samuel French, Inc.

Notable Stagedoor alumni include actors Robert Downey Jr., Zach Braff, Natalie Portman, Mandy Moore, Bryce Dallas Howard and Jon Cryer, director Shawn Levy, composer Jeanne Tesori, and writer Jonathan Marc Sherman.