Stephen Sondheim at 80

Young Man of Song
Born in New York, Stephen Sondheim developed an interest in musical theater at an early age. He was exceedingly fortunate in that he made friends in his early adolescence with Jamie Hammerstein, the son of the great Broadway lyricist Oscar Hammerstein. The veteran songwriter took the young Sondheim under his wing and helped him hone his composing skills, at one point even allowing him to observe as Hammerstein and his partner Richard Rodgers worked on portions of their future classics, The King and I and South Pacific.

• Glee's Broadway Roots