Sondheim -- a lyricist and composer known for works including West Side Story and Sweeney Todd -- died suddenly in his Connecticut home the day after celebrating Thanksgiving with friends, his attorney F. Richard Pappas said.

The publicist for the ongoing Broadway production of Sondheim's musical Company at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, Rick Miramontez, confirmed the news to AFP.

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"We have lost the Shakespeare of musical theatre," said Marianne Elliott, the director of Company, in a statement shared on the production's Twitter page.

Before the show, Elliott and the cast took to the stage to join the audience in a standing ovation for the songwriter.

Outside the theatre, one attendee wrapped up against the cold of a New York November, Mike Morris, said: "It's the end of an era. This is a person who revolutionized American musical theater."

Another theater-goer, Austin Philemon, called Sondheim "a monumental figure in music theater history."

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