The award, established in 2009, will be presented at a black-tie Gala Benefit at the Embassy of Italy April 4. The evening will benefit Signature Theatre’s artistic, education and community programs.

"Signature Theatre is honored to add John Weidman to the list of recipients of The Stephen Sondheim Award," said Signature Theatre artistic director Eric Schaeffer in a statement. "John's collaborations with Stephen Sondheim have been groundbreaking in both their forms and subjects. John's boldness and innovation continues to inspire many young writers today. This is also the perfect time to celebrate John's partnership with Sondheim as we bring a new production of Road Show to Washington this month. We look forward to saluting him at the Embassy of Italy with his Broadway colleagues."

Tony Award winners Michael Cerveris, Richard Maltby Jr., Marsha Norman and Karen Ziemba will join Helen Hayes Award winner Jacquelyn Piro Donovan to honor the renowned Sondheim collaborator.

Weidman’s collaboration with Stephen Sondheim began in 1976 with Pacific Overtures and continued with Assassins in 1990 and Road Show in 2008. Weidman also collaborated with Susan Stroman on the Tony Award-winning musical Contact.

In 2009 Signature Theatre inaugurated The Stephen Sondheim Award in "recognition of the importance of Mr. Sondheim’s work to Signature and to theatre in general." Previous recipients include Angela Lansbury, Bernadette Peters, Patti LuPone, Harold Prince, Jonathan Tunick and James Lapine. Table sponsorship for the 2016 Sondheim Award Gala ranges from $10,000 to $100,000 and includes rewarding, year-long visibility and entertainment benefits. Individual tickets are $1,000. For more information about sponsorship and tickets contact Nathan Alston, Development Manager at (571) 527-1828 or [email protected].