George Furth, a playwright who co-wrote musicals with Stephen Sondheim including Tony Award-winning Company, died on Monday in California at 75. He was hospitalized for a lung infection, but an exact cause has not been reported. Mr. Furth was a lanky, familiar character in many movies and tv shows including Blazing Saddles, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Murder, She Wrote, and Wings.

The New York Times reports:

As a playwright, Mr. Furth reached Broadway several times, both on his own and as a collaborator. “Twigs,” his play about four women from the same family, all played by Sada Thompson, received mixed reviews when it opened on Broadway in 1971, though Mr.

 read more »

For all the theatergoers who snub musicals, Jenna Russell, the 40-year-old actress who plays Dot in Sunday in the Park With George on Broadway, assures you that Stephen Sondheim’s music and lyrics will change your mind. “The more life kind of beats you about a bit, you understand what James [Lapine, the book scribe] and Stephen Sondheim were writing about, the struggles they were trying to illuminate,” she told The Observer over the phone. “Relationships to your parents, relationships with your children, to be creative, to leaving some sort of permanence in the world, death and love and redemptions, all those things. It seems to touch people in very different, personal ways.”  read more »

Hilarity in Park Slope

• Nothing says 'new Financial District condo!' like chic concierge service. The developers of South Star at 80 John Street are luring buyers with amenities from the Gansevoort Hotel (which, of course, the developers also did). Shouldn't private terraces, a "rock-climbing-wall machine" and in-house acupuncture treatment be big enough condo bait? No. (NY Times)
• Who knew New York magazine would be interested in the identity crises of Park Slope mothers searching for a nice night out? This week's profile of "adult space" hits up the Slope's Tea Lounge and Prospect Heights' Amorina, plus Cafe La Fortuna and Bottino in Manhattan. (But can we trust a writer who boasts: "I have eaten tuna tartare with my kid"?) (New York Magazine)
• It's hard to find a bargain in the Lower East Side these days, which surely means the neighborhood is dead. Where is Foreman's? Blame the 'hip Village-type crowd' that likes staying out late. Or blame the phrase 'LoHo.' Or blame the $200-sf rents. (NY Daily News)
• But who should be blamed for the theater district zoning deal that allows theater owners to trade around air rights (thereby building higher than they should)? The City. Who should be blamed for preventing all the extra money from going to state education? Stephen Sondheim and Tony Randall. (New York Times)
• Apparently 34th Street is "the next 'It' neighborhood." And apparently it is entirely rational that tourists and businessmen crave a second Times Square. (Crain's premium)
• DUMBO's waterfront Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park will be open past dark, which means the neighborhood might finally become hip. No matter how bright its lights are, they won't match up to 2012's super-mega Brooklyn Bridge Park. (NY Daily News)
- Max Abelson]]> http://www.observer.com/node/35023#comments Real Estate Daily News LP New York Magazine Holdings LLC Stephen Sondheim The New York Times Company Mon, 07 Aug 2006 04:30:05 -0400 Observer Staff 35023 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/node/50274 And so, to the moment the nation has been waiting for!  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/50274#comments Arts & Culture August Wilson Edward Hall Frank Rich Stephen Sondheim Sun, 26 Dec 2004 19:00:00 -0500 John Heilpern 50274 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/node/50235 My, there's a lot of drama associated with the first musical about a gay couple, the 1983 La Cage Au  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/50235#comments Arts & Culture Sports Daniel Davis Jerry Herman New York Yankees Stephen Sondheim Sun, 19 Dec 2004 19:00:00 -0500 John Heilpern 50235 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/node/49571 It's no pleasure to report that the new production of The Frogs , starring Nathan Lane, illustrates  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/49571#comments Arts & Culture Aristophanes Nathan Lane Stephen Sondheim Susan Stroman Sun, 01 Aug 2004 20:00:00 -0400 John Heilpern 49571 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/node/49506 It is always sad when a show closes, and unbearably so when the closure is stunningly unexpected.  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/49506#comments Arts & Culture Joseph Papp Larry Kramer Stephen Sondheim Worth Street Theater Company Sun, 18 Jul 2004 20:00:00 -0400 John Heilpern 49506 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/node/49168 Reportsof Stephen Sondheim's latest masterpiece are a little premature. But when was  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/49168#comments Arts & Culture John Wilkes Booth Lee Harvey Oswald Samuel Byck Stephen Sondheim Sun, 02 May 2004 20:00:00 -0400 John Heilpern 49168 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/node/49089 It's official: Despite the confused but overzealous TV weathermen, the bikini displays at Barneys an  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/49089#comments Arts & Culture Karen Akers Maria Friedman Patti LuPone Stephen Sondheim Sun, 18 Apr 2004 20:00:00 -0400 Rex Reed 49089 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/node/48961 I don't get to the opera often enough, but whenever I go, I go in style.  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/48961#comments Arts & Culture Joan Littlewood London Stephen Sondheim Tracy Letts Sun, 21 Mar 2004 19:00:00 -0500 John Heilpern 48961 at http://www.observer.com