07-31-2019, 06:33 PM
Harold Prince, theater impresario, giant of the Broadway musical:
Harold Smith Prince (January 30, 1928 – July 31, 2019) was an American theatrical producer and director associated with many of the best-known Broadway musical productions of the 20th century.
Over the span of his career, he garnered 21 Tony Awards, more than any other individual, including eight for directing, eight for producing the year's Best Musical, two as Best Producer of a Musical, and three special awards.
Prince began work in the theatre as an assistant stage manager to theatrical producer and director George Abbott. Along with Abbott, he co-produced The Pajama Game, which won the 1955 Tony Award for Best Musical.[8] He went on to direct his own productions in 1962 beginning with A Family Affair and hit a series of unsuccessful productions.[9]
He almost gave up musical theater right before he hit success with Kander and Ebb's Cabaret in 1966. 1970 marked the start of his greatest collaboration, with composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim. They had previously worked on West Side Story and at this point decided to embark on their own project. Their association spawned a long string of productions, including Company (1970), Follies (1971), A Little Night Music (1973), Pacific Overtures (1976), and Sweeney Todd (1979).[9] Following Merrily We Roll Along (1981),[10] which was not successful, running for 16 performances, they parted ways until Bounce (2003).[9][11]
Prince directed operas[11] including Ashmedai, Willie Stark, Madama Butterfly, and a revival of Candide. In 1983 Prince staged Turandot for the Vienna State Opera (conductor: Lorin Maazel; with José Carreras, Éva Marton).[12]
He directed two of Andrew Lloyd Webber's successes, Evita (1979) and The Phantom of the Opera (1986).[9][11] He was offered the job of directing Cats by Lloyd Webber but turned it down.[citation needed]
Despite creating a number of hugely popular musicals in the late 1970s and early 1980s such as Sweeney Todd and Evita, Prince had his first critical failure with Stephen Sondheim in 1981 with Merrily We Roll Along.[10]
Determined to bounce back, he started working on a new musical A Doll's Life with lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green that would continue the story of Nora Helmer past what Henrik Ibsen had written in A Doll's House. It was also badly received and ran for 5 performances; The New York Times reviewer wrote "It was overproduced and overpopulated to the extent that the tiny resolute figure of Nora became lost in the combined mechanics of Broadway and the Industrial Revolution."[13]
Prince's other commercially unsuccessful musicals included Grind (1985), which closed after 71 performances,[14] and Roza (1987). However, his production of The Phantom of the Opera, debuting on Broadway in 1988, eventually became the longest-running show in Broadway history.[15] Prince ultimately stopped producing because he "became more interested in directing".[9][11]
Prince was the inspiration for John Lithgow's character in Bob Fosse's film All That Jazz.[citation needed] He was also assumed to be the basis of a character in Richard Bissell's novel Say, Darling, which chronicled Bissell's own experience turning his novel 7½ Cents into The Pajama Game.[16]
In 2000, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.[17] In 2006, Prince was awarded a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre.[18] On May 20, 2007, he gave the commencement address at Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. In 2008 Prince was the keynote speaker at Elon University's Convocation for Honors celebration.[19]
Prince co-directed, with Susan Stroman, the 2010 musical Paradise Found. The musical features the music of Johann Strauss II as adapted by Jonathan Tunick with lyrics by Ellen Fitzhugh. The book was written by Richard Nelson, based on Joseph Roth’s novel The Tale of the 1002nd Night. The musical premiered at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London on May 19, 2010 and closed on June 26, and starred Mandy Patinkin.[20][21]
A retrospective of his work, titled Prince of Broadway, presented by Umeda Arts Theater, premiered in Tokyo, Japan in October 2015.[22] The book was written by David Thompson with additional material and orchestrations by Jason Robert Brown. The revue is co-directed by Susan Stroman and Prince. The revue opened on Broadway in August 2017 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.[23][24] Directed by Prince and Stroman (also choreographer), the cast featured Chuck Cooper, Janet Dacal, Bryonha Marie Parham, Emily Skinner, Brandon Uranowitz, Kaley Ann Voorhees, Michael Xavier, Tony Yazbeck, and Karen Ziemba.[25]
The Harold Prince Theatre at the Annenberg Center of the University of Pennsylvania is named in his honor.[26]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Prince
Stage productions
Source: Playbill (vault)[9]; Internet Broadway database[30]
Harold Smith Prince (January 30, 1928 – July 31, 2019) was an American theatrical producer and director associated with many of the best-known Broadway musical productions of the 20th century.
Over the span of his career, he garnered 21 Tony Awards, more than any other individual, including eight for directing, eight for producing the year's Best Musical, two as Best Producer of a Musical, and three special awards.
Prince began work in the theatre as an assistant stage manager to theatrical producer and director George Abbott. Along with Abbott, he co-produced The Pajama Game, which won the 1955 Tony Award for Best Musical.[8] He went on to direct his own productions in 1962 beginning with A Family Affair and hit a series of unsuccessful productions.[9]
He almost gave up musical theater right before he hit success with Kander and Ebb's Cabaret in 1966. 1970 marked the start of his greatest collaboration, with composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim. They had previously worked on West Side Story and at this point decided to embark on their own project. Their association spawned a long string of productions, including Company (1970), Follies (1971), A Little Night Music (1973), Pacific Overtures (1976), and Sweeney Todd (1979).[9] Following Merrily We Roll Along (1981),[10] which was not successful, running for 16 performances, they parted ways until Bounce (2003).[9][11]
Prince directed operas[11] including Ashmedai, Willie Stark, Madama Butterfly, and a revival of Candide. In 1983 Prince staged Turandot for the Vienna State Opera (conductor: Lorin Maazel; with José Carreras, Éva Marton).[12]
He directed two of Andrew Lloyd Webber's successes, Evita (1979) and The Phantom of the Opera (1986).[9][11] He was offered the job of directing Cats by Lloyd Webber but turned it down.[citation needed]
Despite creating a number of hugely popular musicals in the late 1970s and early 1980s such as Sweeney Todd and Evita, Prince had his first critical failure with Stephen Sondheim in 1981 with Merrily We Roll Along.[10]
Determined to bounce back, he started working on a new musical A Doll's Life with lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green that would continue the story of Nora Helmer past what Henrik Ibsen had written in A Doll's House. It was also badly received and ran for 5 performances; The New York Times reviewer wrote "It was overproduced and overpopulated to the extent that the tiny resolute figure of Nora became lost in the combined mechanics of Broadway and the Industrial Revolution."[13]
Prince's other commercially unsuccessful musicals included Grind (1985), which closed after 71 performances,[14] and Roza (1987). However, his production of The Phantom of the Opera, debuting on Broadway in 1988, eventually became the longest-running show in Broadway history.[15] Prince ultimately stopped producing because he "became more interested in directing".[9][11]
Prince was the inspiration for John Lithgow's character in Bob Fosse's film All That Jazz.[citation needed] He was also assumed to be the basis of a character in Richard Bissell's novel Say, Darling, which chronicled Bissell's own experience turning his novel 7½ Cents into The Pajama Game.[16]
In 2000, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.[17] In 2006, Prince was awarded a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre.[18] On May 20, 2007, he gave the commencement address at Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. In 2008 Prince was the keynote speaker at Elon University's Convocation for Honors celebration.[19]
Prince co-directed, with Susan Stroman, the 2010 musical Paradise Found. The musical features the music of Johann Strauss II as adapted by Jonathan Tunick with lyrics by Ellen Fitzhugh. The book was written by Richard Nelson, based on Joseph Roth’s novel The Tale of the 1002nd Night. The musical premiered at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London on May 19, 2010 and closed on June 26, and starred Mandy Patinkin.[20][21]
A retrospective of his work, titled Prince of Broadway, presented by Umeda Arts Theater, premiered in Tokyo, Japan in October 2015.[22] The book was written by David Thompson with additional material and orchestrations by Jason Robert Brown. The revue is co-directed by Susan Stroman and Prince. The revue opened on Broadway in August 2017 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.[23][24] Directed by Prince and Stroman (also choreographer), the cast featured Chuck Cooper, Janet Dacal, Bryonha Marie Parham, Emily Skinner, Brandon Uranowitz, Kaley Ann Voorhees, Michael Xavier, Tony Yazbeck, and Karen Ziemba.[25]
The Harold Prince Theatre at the Annenberg Center of the University of Pennsylvania is named in his honor.[26]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Prince
Stage productions
Source: Playbill (vault)[9]; Internet Broadway database[30]
- Tickets, Please! (1950) - assistant stage manager
- Call Me Madam (1950) - assistant stage manager
- Wonderful Town (1953) - stage manager
- The Pajama Game (1954) - co-producer
- Damn Yankees (1955) - co-producer
- New Girl in Town (1957) - co-producer
- West Side Story (1957) - co-producer
- Fiorello! (1959) - co-producer
- West Side Story (1960) - co-producer
- Tenderloin (1960) - co-producer
- A Call on Kuprin (1961) - producer
- Take Her, She's Mine (1961) - producer
- A Family Affair (1962) - director
- A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962) - producer
- She Loves Me (1963) - producer, director
- Fiddler on the Roof (1964) - producer
- Baker Street (1964) - director
- Flora, The Red Menace (1965) - producer
- It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman (1966) - producer, director
- Cabaret (1966) - producer, director
- Zorba (1968) - producer, director
- Company (1970) - producer, director
- Follies (1971) - producer, director
- The Great God Brown (1972) - artistic director
- Don Juan (1972) - artistic director
- A Little Night Music (1973) - director, producer
- Sondheim: A Musical Tribute (1973) - performer
- The Visit (1973) - director
- Chemin de Fer (1973) - artistic director
- Holiday (1973) - artistic director
- Candide (1974) - producer, director
- Love for Love (1974) - director
- The Member of the Wedding (1975) - artistic director
- The Rules of the Game (1974) - artistic director
- Pacific Overtures (1976) - producer, director
- Side by Side by Sondheim (1977) - producer
- Some of My Best Friends (1977) - director
- On the Twentieth Century (1978) - director
- Sweeney Todd (1979) - director
- Evita (1979) - director
- Merrily We Roll Along (1981) - director
- Willie Stark (1981) - director
- A Doll's Life (1982) - producer, director
- Play Memory (1984) - director
- Diamonds (1984) - director
- Grind (1985) - producer, director
- The Phantom of the Opera (1986) - director
- Roza (1987) - director
- Cabaret (1987) - director
- Grandchild Of Kings (1992) (Off-Broadway) - adaptation (from the stories of Seán O'Casey) director and adapter[31][32]
- Kiss of the Spider Woman (1993) - director
- Show Boat (1994) - director
- The Petrified Prince (1994) - director
- Whistle Down the Wind (1996)
- Candide (1997) - director
- Parade (1998) - director, co-conceiver
- 3hree (2000) - supervisor, director (The Flight of the Lawnchair Man)[33]
- Hollywood Arms (2002) - producer, director
- Bounce (2003) - director
- LoveMusik (2007) - director
- Paradise Found (2010) - director
- Prince of Broadway (2015) - director
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.