Brilliant puzzle! I'm glad I remembered seeing the title FINISHINGTHEHAT referenced in a memorial essay or two! Clever theme and the references throughout to Sondheim and musical theater in general were so much fun!
Company behind "Street Fighter" and "Resident Evil"
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
Across
1A
Company behind "Street Fighter" and "Resident Evil"
7A
Quick jam with the band
11A
DC player
14A
Skin care brand advertised by Renee Elise Goldsberry (too bad she doesn't sing in the commercials!)
15A
Store selling "Sunday II Sunday" hair care products
16A
16 going on 17, for one
17A
Fruit ___ (snack that might give you a tattoo)
18A
Like Benny's style, unlike his tenants in "Rent"
20A
Pays to play
21A
"Render ___ Caesar..."
22A
Word repeated four times in the last verse of "Not Getting Married Today"
23A
Collectible series that included Flash the Dolphin and Splash the Whale
26A
Where Sharks and Jets sharpen their blades
29A
Julieta but not Mirabel, in "Encanto," briefly
30A
"Wind up an ___" (original title for the play "Merrily We Roll Along")
31A
"You ___ you loved me, or were you just being kind?"
33A
Tech. used to disastrous effect in the "Cats" movie
35A
What Audrey 2 does in "Little Shop of Horrors"
39A
Sondheim book subtitled "Collected Lyrics with Attendant Comments, Principles, Heresies, Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes" or a hint to 1-Across, 23-Across, 51-Across, and 71-Across
43A
Take (control)
44A
Maker of Carnival and Stinger
45A
One of eight won by Stephen Sondheim
46A
Batteries in many body mics
48A
___ace
50A
Transfigure someone into a scarecrow (while ironically singing about how no good deed goes unpunished), say
51A
Macbeth II and Always Dreaming, e.g.
57A
"Isn't it nice to know that good will conquer ___?"
58A
Revise, as your collaborator's clues
59A
Joins (up)
63A
Go on pretending that you were best friends with Connor, forging email conversations and all, if you're Evan Hansen
65A
Muppet that yodeled with Julie Andrews in "The Lonely Goatherd"
66A
Sampled "a little priest" at Mrs. Lovett's shop
67A
Black Caucus, e.g.
68A
Lizard with a prehensile tongue
69A
"Mrs. Lovett, what a charming notion, eminently practical and ___ appropriate as always"
70A
Name in "She Loves Me"
71A
Scottish ballad partially set on Halloween
Down
1D
Singer Irene or Alessia
2D
River mentioned in "Kiss Me Kate"
3D
Lob tomatoes at, maybe
4D
Stunt casting choice, for short
5D
Burdens
6D
Bucket-carrying character in "Fantasia"
7D
Largest branch of Islam
8D
Complex headline: "TDE on Kendrick Lamar Eating ___ In a Palm Tree: 'What's the Most LA-est Sh*t We Can Do?'"
9D
Lighting effect that should have a warning
10D
Kid playing Gavroche, usually
11D
Female lead in Lin-Manuel Miranda's "21 Chump Street"
12D
Be in harmony
13D
Toby in "Sweeney Todd" and Jack in "Into the Woods," for two
19D
Life, according to Liza
21D
Eel on sushi menus
24D
Washington Square Park monument (setting of an annual Christmas carol festival)
25D
"Goddammit!"
26D
Like a famous scene (and several songs) in 27-Down
27D
Musical containing an extended drug trip sequence
28D
"The difference between a cow and a bean is a bean can begin an adventure," for one
32D
Turn off
34D
"Petra, such elegant writing, so chic you hardly can read it. What do you think? Who can it be? Even the ___. No, here, let me."
36D
"Pick me!"
37D
Wind down
38D
River mentioned in "Hadestown"
40D
"___ With Me" (Rapunzel's mother's song of warning in "Into the Woods")
41D
"Big, tall, terrible" creature found in the sky in "Into the Woods"
42D
Reset, as a scale
47D
What music often does before an emotional song
49D
"Newsies" director Kenny
51D
"Into the woods without ___, but careful not to lose the way"
52D
Watch party announcement
53D
Awe
54D
"Losing my mind," for one
55D
Dorothy, to Em and Henry
56D
Purchase at a 15-Across
60D
Lawyer Clooney who with husband George donated $13M to save the Mill at Sonning Theater
61D
7xwords puzzle, e.g.
62D
One who might arrive early at the stagedoor to meet their favorite actor