All stories by Neil Genzlinger on BroadwayStars

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Bernard Slade, 89, Dies; ‘Partridge Family’ Creator and Playwright by Neil Genzlinger

His “Same Time, Next Year” ran for years on Broadway, was made into a movie and is often described as one of the most-produced plays in the world.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 08:03PM
Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Mark Medoff, ‘Children of a Lesser God’ Playwright, Dies at 79 by Neil Genzlinger

The work, featuring a central character who is deaf, won the Tony Award for best play in 1980 and was turned into an Oscar-winning 1986 movie.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:05PM
Monday, April 15, 2019

Georgia Engel, Gentle-Voiced ‘Mary Tyler Moore’ Actress, Is Dead at 70 by Neil Genzlinger

After gaining fame as the blustery newsman Ted Baxter’s love interest, Ms. Engel went on to “Everybody Loves Raymond” and more.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:58PM
Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Hugh Fordin, Writer and Record Producer, Is Dead at 83 by Neil Genzlinger

His DRG label specialized in the American songbook, cast albums and artists like Barbara Cook.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:27PM
Friday, March 1, 2019

Katherine Helmond, ‘Soap’ and ‘Who’s the Boss?’ Star, Dies at 89 by Neil Genzlinger

Before she found fame on two long-running television series, Ms. Helmond was a well-regarded stage actress.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:13PM
Thursday, February 28, 2019

John O’Neal, 78, Champion of Theater in the Deep South, Dies by Neil Genzlinger

A founder of the Free Southern Theater in 1963, he was as eager to hear his audiences’ stories as he was to perform.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:33PM
Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Kaye Ballard, Indefatigable Comedian and Actress, Dies at 93 by Neil Genzlinger

Best known for the 1960s sitcom “The Mothers-in-Law,” she also had memorable turns in Broadway musicals and rode the nightclub circuit for years.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:04PM
Friday, December 28, 2018

Liza Redfield, Who Broke a Broadway Barrier, Is Dead at 94 by Neil Genzlinger

When she led the orchestra for “The Music Man” in 1960, she became the first woman to be hired as a full-time conductor for a Broadway show.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 08:18PM

Ralph Koltai, Innovative Stage Designer, Is Dead at 94 by Neil Genzlinger

His work in opera, theater and ballet cast aside traditional ideas of what sets should be — realistic and utilitarian — in favor of abstract designs that made a statement.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:54PM
Tuesday, December 25, 2018

Ricardo Barber, Cuban Actor Who Succeeded in New York, Dies at 81 by Neil Genzlinger

He became a core member of the Spanish-language troupe Repertorio Español after leaving Cuba, where he had spent time in a forced-labor camp.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:18PM
Thursday, December 20, 2018

Charles Weldon, Who Led the Negro Ensemble Company, Dies at 78 by Neil Genzlinger

An “accidental actor,” he found himself on Broadway almost immediately after his career began and went on appear frequently onstage.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:24PM
Wednesday, December 19, 2018

John Ford Noonan, ‘Coupla White Chicks’ Playwright, Dies at 77 by Neil Genzlinger

His plays, produced frequently in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, often threw polar opposites together to explore themes both comic and serious.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:54PM
Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Stephen Hillenburg, ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ Creator, Dies at 57 by Neil Genzlinger

His cartoon show, loved by the 12-and-under crowd and by many much older fans as well, spawned two movies and a Tony-nominated Broadway musical.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:50PM
Monday, November 12, 2018

Douglas Rain, Chilly Voice of a Computer Named HAL, Dies at 90 by Neil Genzlinger

Mr. Rain was a regular on the stage at the Stratford Festival for decades, but he was perhaps best known as HAL 9000 in “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:18PM
Thursday, November 1, 2018

Bernard Bragg, Who Showed the Way for Deaf Actors, Dies at 90 by Neil Genzlinger

His achievements included helping to found the National Theater of the Deaf. The actress Marlee Matlin was one of his protégés.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:18PM
Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Carol Hall, ‘Best Little Whorehouse’ Composer, Is Dead at 82 by Neil Genzlinger

Ms. Hall was a moderately successful songwriter until she and two collaborators came up with one of the biggest Broadway hits of the 1970s.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:18PM
Friday, October 5, 2018

Roger Robinson, Who Tackled August Wilson Roles, Dies at 78 by Neil Genzlinger

He won a Tony Award for his work in the 2009 revival of Mr. Wilson’s “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone,” his seventh and final Broadway appearance.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:42AM
Thursday, September 27, 2018

Merle Debuskey, Renowned Theatrical Press Agent, Dies at 95 by Neil Genzlinger

He represented hundreds of shows on Broadway and off and had a long association with Joseph Papp, whom he helped battle to keep Shakespeare free.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:18PM
Thursday, September 20, 2018

Micheline Rozan, a Force Behind a Theater Master, Dies at 89 by Neil Genzlinger

She helped the famed director Peter Brook start an influential theater group in Paris and mount major productions like “The Mahabharata.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:48PM

Stephen Jeffreys, Author of the Play ‘The Libertine,’ Dies at 68 by Neil Genzlinger

He also had a keen eye for undiscovered talent, helping along numerous careers as a reader of new works at the Royal Court Theater in London.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:18PM
Thursday, September 13, 2018

Marin Mazzie, Broadway Musical Star, Is Dead at 57 by Neil Genzlinger

In a long career cut short by cancer, she earned three Tony nominations in just six years, for performances in “Passion,” “Ragtime” and “Kiss Me, Kate.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:48PM
Monday, September 10, 2018

Wakako Yamauchi, Playwright on Japanese-American Life, Dies at 93 by Neil Genzlinger

Her works, drawn from her own experiences, including time in an internment camp, focused on dislocation and assimilation.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:24PM
Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Brian Murray, an Acclaimed Veteran of Broadway, Dies at 80 by Neil Genzlinger

South African-born, Mr. Murray went to Broadway by way of the Royal Shakespeare Company. In a busy career, he was nominated for three Tony Awards.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:18PM
Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Brian Murray, an Acclaimed Veteran of Broadway, Dies at 80 by Neil Genzlinger

South African-born, Mr. Murray went to Broadway by way of the Royal Shakespeare Company. In a busy career he was nominated for three Tony Awards.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 08:18PM

Vivian Matalon, Tony-Winning Director, Is Dead at 88 by Neil Genzlinger

Best known for a revelatory staging of “Morning’s at Seven,” he also directed Noël Coward in his final West End stage performance.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:48PM
Friday, August 17, 2018

John Glines, Who Helped Bring ‘Torch Song’ to Broadway, Dies at 84 by Neil Genzlinger

Mr. Glines was a producer who was committed to plays with gay themes and instrumental in bringing them into the mainstream.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:18PM
Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Gary Beach, Tony Winner for ‘The Producers,’ Dies at 70 by Neil Genzlinger

Mr. Beach’s many Broadway roles also included Lumière, the genial candelabra, in the original cast of “Beauty and the Beast.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:54PM
Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Joe Pintauro, Playwright Who Had Been a Priest, Dies at 87 by Neil Genzlinger

His works on topical subjects like the AIDS crisis and suburban sprawl were widely staged, including by Circle Repertory Company and the Bay Street Theater.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:18PM
Friday, June 1, 2018

Allyn Ann McLerie, Veteran of Broadway, TV and Film, Dies at 91 by Neil Genzlinger

She starred in the Broadway hit “Where’s Charley?” in 1948 and went on to TV fame on “The Tony Randall Show” and “The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:18PM
Friday, May 18, 2018

Lucian Pintilie, Authority-Defying Romanian Director, Dies at 84 by Neil Genzlinger

Both his films and his stage work angered Communist officials, but he was embraced abroad and was an inspirational figure for the Romanian New Wave.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:48PM
Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Tom Murphy, Acclaimed Irish Playwright, Is Dead at 83 by Neil Genzlinger

His dark works avoided the stereotype of a rural Irish utopia, instead exploring subjects like the county’s famine and its history of emigration.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:48PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards