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Meryl Streep, Christine Baranski and Audra McDonald wish Sondheim a happy birthday with rendition of The Ladies Who Lunch

YouTube
YouTube

Meryl Streep, Christine Baranski and Audra McDonald raised a glass to composer Stephen Sondheim, as they sang to celebrate his 90th birthday.

The trio, donning dressing gowns and pouring themselves ample drinks (or swigging straight from the bottle), gave a memorable performance of The Ladies Who Lunch from Sondheim’s musical Company.

They were part of a virtual tribute put together in honour of the composer, featuring some of Broadway’s biggest stage stars including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Patti LuPone, Bernadette Peters, Ben Platt and Sutton Foster.

Jake Gyllenhaal and Annaleigh Ashford delivered their duet Move On from Sunday in the Park with George, which was due to open in the West End in June before the pandemic postponed the transfer.

Likewise, director Marianne Elliott’s production of Company, which stormed the West End last year and starred LuPone, was due to open last month on Broadway.

Take Me To The World streamed live last night, but is available to watch on YouTube – the whole concert is below, though the technical difficulties at the show’s opening have smartly been left out of this recording.

Streep, Baranski and McDonald's rendition is at about 1:58:35 in the video:

The event was hosted by Raúl Esparza, who played the starring role in the Tony Award winning 2006 production of Company, and aimed to raise money for ASTEP (Artists Striving To End Poverty).