Composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim left behind a massive legacy when he died in 2021, one that ushered in an entirely new era of musical theater. When he was ten years old, he was mentored by one-half of the legendary Rodgers and Hammerstein, Oscar Hammerstein II, which laid the foundation for his career on the stage. While Rodgers and Hammerstein reinvented the American musical for their generation, Sondheim took the knowledge given to him by his mentor and created something entirely new for his own generation. He would make his debut with a beast of a show in 1959: West Side Story. He was only 27 years old when the musical made its Broadway debut, making him incredibly young, yet massively successful already.
In the years after writing West Side Story, Sondheim would write classics like Company, Into the Woods, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleeter Street. Not only were some of Sondheim’s most beloved musicals gracing the stages of Broadway multiple times during revivals, but they also were turned into movies. While some were more successful than others, they are a testament to his enduring legacy. These are the best movie adaptations of his musicals.
6 Into the Woods
Sondheim originally came out with the lyrics for the story of Into the Woods in 1986, and, decades later, it was finally turned into a Hollywood movie. Into the Woods is rooted in the classic European fairytales that many in the Western world are familiar with, such as Little Red Riding Hood. The movie’s story begins with the Baker (James Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt) attempting to have a child, but a Witch (Meryl Streep) curses them and prevents any possible pregnancies. As a loophole to get out of the curse, she demands that they bring her four items, leading the story down a spiral questioning what exactly is a happy ending.
5 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum was originally produced on Broadway in 1962, and the movie adaptation came out four years later. Set in Rome during Emperor Nero’s reign, a slave named Pseudolus only wishes to buy his freedom. He finds his ticket out when he discovers that his master’s son has fallen in love with a girl. He bargains for his freedom on the chance that he will make the girl fall in love with his master’s son, thus making this a win-win situation if he manages to pull it off. However, things do not go as planned, taking viewers down a quick ride through the fast-paced world of ancient Rome.
4 West Side Story (1961)
Mirisch Pictures
The original West Side Story came out in 1961 and became an iconic movie of its generation, elevating Sondheim’s status above the theater world by making the music into a more accessible medium: film. Although West Side Story has its problems when it comes to depicting Puerto Ricans, making it a movie that represents the attitude of the era it came from, its doomed Romeo & Juliet storyline introduced the notion of interracial love before it was even legal in the United States. There is a reason West Side Story is considered one of the most classic musical movies released.
3 Gypsy
The book and music for Gypsy were originally based on the memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee, a well-known burlesque entertainer, actress, and playwright during the early 19th Century. Natalie Wood and Rosalind Russell star as a mother-daughter duo that wants to make it big in the world of vaudeville. The mother (Russell) is a classic stage mom who wants nothing but success for her daughter, even if it costs her relationship with her other daughter (Wood). When the quote-on-quote more talented daughter decides to hang up the towel and elope, the mother tries to place her second daughter on the stage in her stead, teaching them all lessons about forgiveness and choosing their own destinies.
2 West Side Story (2021)
Amblin Entertainment
Fresh off the heels of a failed Broadway revival that generated controversy, Steven Spielberg adapted West Side Story for contemporary eyes. Released in 2021, the new movie adaptation starred Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler as Tony and Maria, while the costars were full of old Broadway favorites: Ariana DeBose (Hamilton), Mike Faist (Newsies, Dear Evan Hansen), David Alvarez (Billy Eliot the Musical), and several of the old Newsies cast members. While this edition of West Side Story still is unable to escape from the confines of the storyline’s issues, it is still better about representation than the original movie. Best of all, Rita Moreno returns as a new character, passing on her legacy to the next generation.
1 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler came out with Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in 1978, and they took home the Tony Award for Best Musical due to their efforts. Johnny Depp stars as Sweeney Todd, the barber who uses his razors to murder his victims while his business partner (Helena Bonham Carter) turns them into meat pies. Tim Burton’s dark, gritty vision comes alive in this adaptation, making it thrilling and horrifying at the same time. Legend has it that Sweeney Todd was even Sondheim’s favorite movie adaptation of his work, even though the movie took creative liberties when turning away from the source material.