Happy birthday, John! Thank you for being such a champion of the craft of musical theater writing. I greatly appreciate your mentorship and your belief in my work.

Many happy birthday wishes to a true gentle man - a scholar, a teacher, a mentor, a mensch. Wishing you a wonderful birthday, and years & years ahead that are healthy and full of adventures and joy.

Thank you for being my mentor and teacher. You have changed my life!

Jim and I appreciated all your great comments from as far back as Lehman Engel. I loved your support for "Dali"!

You hold a special place in my heart. It's because of you that I ever composed any musical theatre at all. Coming to the world of musical theatre as a singer/songwriter, I learned most of what I know from you. And that resulted in my composing 5 musicals. They would not have had a glimmer on this earth stage without you. Your belief in me has taken me miles. And will continue to do so. Wishing you great health, continued creativity and collaboration and the fruition of your fondest dreams.
with love,

Happy birthday John. Thanks for everything you've taught me and all the great criticism and ideas you've shared. You are one of a fabulous kind! Much love,

I have wonderful memories of many great conversations at NAMT meetings and your work with Midwest Musicals. All the best on your 80th birthday.

Craft. I was thirsty for it, I needed it, and thanks to your work, I was able to study it from here, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (a place I know you visited long ago)! NMI made my writing fundamentally better, and I will always be grateful for it. I am so glad I was able to meet you when I came down to LA to visit HQ!
Yours, with love and admiration,

Happiest of Birthdays John!
It seems to be year of 80s .. you are the 7th person I know who is turning 80.
Congratulations and all best wishes!

Happy birthday John!! You have been such a guiding light in our lives. Jan and I owe a tremendous debt of thanks to you. I hope you have a fabulous birthday!! We love you.

Happy Birthday!!! I am so grateful for your mentorship and friendship! Thank you for teaching me and championing my work. Love,

Happy Birthday to one Broadway Baby from another!!!

Mentor, teacher and inspiration to so many, including me!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN!
Thank you for your time, support and sage advice.
Ajay & I are extremely grateful to have met you and wish you a VERY happy birthday and many more to come xxx

Happy 80th you lovely, legendary and insightful man! Keep doing what you love! Many hugs, x

Impossible to believe you’re 80! Except that your accumulated wisdom and insight suggests 180. Have a great day, a great time, a great big gin. And thank you for the many years of support you’ve given to Mercury and all it’s members. Love and all good wishes - xx

You cannot be 80! It has been a pleasure getting to know you through MMD and I wish you the happiest of birthdays and many happy returns.

Thank You for bringing so much creative provocation, caring support, sparkling insight and artistic wisdom to so many MMD writers over all your years of commitment to the Company. We have absolutely loved and appreciated you being on the Board, running events, mentoring members and being our friend, so on behalf of MMD I'm giving you a Huge Happy Birthday Hug from all your UK fans. Thank you too for welcoming me into the MMD Family with such generosity. So much love and many happy returns, Emily and MMDxxx

John--working with you, learning from you, and creating art alongside you was one of the great joys of my life. Thanks for giving me my very first professional directing gig for Beach Wars and then the chance to get my hands (albeit for only a moment) on The Nervous Set. Thanks, to, for the stories, the advice, the mentorship, and the musicals! Most importantly, however, thanks for (not) being a Narrow-minded, Small horizoned, Partisan, opinionated, Bigoted reactionary mule.

Wishing you a wonderful birthday! Thank you for all of your support and inspiration throughout the years.

Thank you, John, for all you’ve taught me about musical theatre. I’m may be a slow learner, but I’ve learned a lot from you in the past forty years.

I wish you all the birthday good wishes that your heart desires and hope you have a wonderful day filled with music and fun!

Happy Birthday to our dear musical maven and mentor. Beloved by so many, I can't even BEGIN to imagine the size of this card.
Love,

John! I am wishing you a wonderful birthday and covid free year! I miss you and NMI and the gang but glad that I can wish you well on an E card!!! xoxo

Thank you for all your wisdom and guidance!! Much love to you on your 80th!!

John: Congratulations, you ol' codger! I love that you are now one of my favorite octogenarians. xox

Happy 80th birthday, John, thank you for all you have done for musical theatre.

Happy birthday John! And thanks so much for all of the help and support you have given all of us in NMI over the years! Wishing you a happy 80 more!

Happy birthday John! Thank you for all of your inspiration and wisdom. May your best years be ahead!

What a tremendous milestone. 80 years is nothing to shake a stick at. Well, maybe a cane but definitely not a stick. I'm grateful I had the opportunity to not only meet you but to sit under your instruction as I learned to navigate the world of musical theatre. Your work with so many has not and will not be in vain. It lives on John. Thank you and Happy Birthday! Now keep movin!

John, Thanks for your wisdom, enthusiasm, humor and humility in sharing your mastery of the musical. Happy Birthday!

Save this space for me. Fabulous Birthday Comment to come! Wait. Wait. Here it is: "Welcome to the Eighties. You make us feel young!" Love ya!

Many more happy, productive years, John!

Happy Birthday, you young whipper-snapper.

Hey John,
I didn’t want to write Dear John—anyway—much love on your 80th.
“There was a star danced, and under that was I born” —Shakespeare
Thank you for shining your star on all us Artists.
Much Love,

Happy Birthday John!
It's been so long since my days on the TBC board. I hope you have a wonderful birthday.

Happy Birthday! Your wonderful organization has brought so much joy to my life.

Happy birthday to a great mentor, great talent, and even better human being!

Happy Birthday from Wilmette. I am so grateful to you and to your friendship all the way back to the musical theater conference with Chris Grady. I hope your days are bright and full of wonderful musical theater. With Love from Illinois,

John, You have Sparked up our lives and our musicals! Thank you for your guidance and patience over the years. May your show run for many more seasons!

What an honor to be sharing this wonderful day with you. You are a very gifted and talented man whom I have admired through the years. I wish you many more wonderful years in the arts and to have your heart filled with music and love.

Dear John, You 'sparked' inspiration and creativity in me, and for that I am eternally grateful. You are FANTASTIQUE!!! Thank you John Sparks!!!!! Happy Birthday, and many more!!!

John, Creating new musicals with New Tuners under your guidance are among my happiest theatrical memories. So many fun and productive years at The Theatre Building and that wonderful week at the Beverly Arts Center with Cashel Byron. Happy 80th Birthday, Music (Theatre) Man!

With fond memories of TBC's Writer's Workshop and your kind guidance and encouragement. Happy Birthday!

John: Everyone will congratulate you on your talent and knowledge. And rightfully so. But I want to say how honored I am to know you as a real person with humanity, goodness and generosity of spirit. With love...

John, you are such an amazing human being, mentor and presence in my life. Thank you for your gifts, your generosity and for being a kind witness in my journey to find my voice. You truly have sprinkled sparks of light on my path. Thank you. I wish you love, light , fun and peace. Happy birthday dear John!

Being 80 ain’t hard—every day after is a gift. Fond regards,

Happy, happy birthday John! I hope you feel so loved and celebrated today, because you are so worth celebrating! I am so grateful for you and the profound impact you've had on my life. Your mentorship and encouragement gave me the courage to call myself a writer, pursue my dreams, and become the person I was meant to be--and I am only one of the hundreds of lives you have touched. The world is full of beauty, music, stories, and art because of you--both those you have created yourself, and those you have mentored into being. THANK YOU for who you are and what you do. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Thank you for your Musical Guidance. Hope your dreams continue to come true.

Thank you, John, for creating a world of musical theatre for literally any aspiring composer. With hundreds of writers behind you have made your long life more worthwhile than you can imagine!

Not only do I want to wish you a happy 80th birthday dear John, but I want to thank you for believing in me and encouraging me throughout the years. Your support has always been invaluable

Here's to memories, music-making, wishing on stars, and blowing out 80 candles on your birthday cake -we're wishing with you - Joan and Paul

Happy 80th, John!

Happiest of Birthdays, John! Thank you for all that you have done for the Musical Theater community. Your notes on my work in particular have always been insightful and illuminating. You are a blessing on the theater world.

Every contact I reach out to on East Coast knows the great John Sparks. You are the best!

Dear John! At four years your senior (remember the day you challenged that? I was thrilled), I can tell you that the eighties are not so bad. The great thing is giving up what doesn't please you any more. Not that I have given up on Morality Play, which still has the possibility of life. So do you and I. Thank you for all you taught me, and long life to you! Love,

Happy birthday John! I hope you have a wonderful day filled with particularly great cake!

Happy Birthday to an ICON of our industry! Thank you, John, for the way you give yourself above and beyond as a mentor to others, while staying in the game yourself as a writer. You are the REAL DEAL, and I am privileged to know you. Now how in the heck are you 80 years old? You continue to impress me! Sending you much love and gratitude, John. xoxo

I'll never forget my exit interview from NMI's Core, when you started commenting, for an unexpected duration, about my pencil. Hopefully I've made a more interesting impression on you since then. Thanks for years of sage wisdom, fine directorial work, and endless enthusiasm for musical theatre.

John, I hope your 80th is your best birthday ever and you have many great birthdays to come! You are a very wise man and teacher and I learned so much from you. I wish I could see you to give you a big birthday hug!

Happy birthday, you delightful human being!

John! I consider going through the introductory workshop with you to be the absolute backbone of any musical theater knowledge I possess. Your enthusiasm was infectious, you got me excited about songs and ideas in a whole new way, and I still find myself quoting you all the time. Thank you for being you, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Happy Birthday, John! It's been about ten years since I took the workshop in Chicago, and I am now circling back around to the work via "writingmusicaltheater.com". I remember feeling incredibly inspired by your teaching, grateful that you spent your time and energy flying across the country, and personally invested in. I am now grateful that there are classes online that I can take that don't require me to choose between the stability of my job and pursuing my passion. From one teacher to another, thank you, thank you for everything you do. And happy birthday!

John, with your deep knowledge and guidance you have enhanced the growth of musical theater community, in general, and for me in particular, widening my skill range to better apply to my writing projects, dramatic or otherwise. Happy 80th birthday to a man who's lived a full and appreciated life!

Happy birthday, John! I still remember your talk on the first day of the Core Curriculum. Musical theatre makes life worth living - that really resonates with me! I’m so grateful for the opportunity the NMI has given me to enter the musical theatre writing world. Thank you again.

John, thank you so much for your incredible service to writers, composers, and the field of musical theater. I'm grateful to you for your mentorship and guidance, and my entire NMI experience!

Here’s to many reprises in a life devoted to our beloved musical theatre art. Greetings from New Zealand. Happy Birthday, John.

The world became a better place on June 24th, 1941! Much love to you, John,

John, thanks for your wisdom and encouragement! It has been invaluable!

Happy birthday, John! I loved learning from you and writing with you, and wish you all the best!

Having a great time at NMI, John! Thanks for all your hard work!

John -- I am so grateful for your deep sense of commitment to the theater community and your mentorship to so many artists in the Los Angeles Basin. I learned of NMI through Stephen Nolly who is now in the celebrated Writers on the Verge Program of NBC which launches careers placing artists onto TV writing staffs. Through Stephen, I leaned about this wonderful community. I am grateful to have been held through all of Covid with this precious space.

Happy Birthday John, and thanks for all that you've done to make me a better writer!

John, thank you for your talent and friendship and infectious love of this art form! Happy birthday!!!

Ever since I met you, I felt like I was at the right place and the right time in my life with musical theater...thank you for being such a wonderful guide...i could feel the passion of musical theater in your heart, and you're such a beautiful spirit. Wishing you an amazing 80th John..keep shining always.