All stories by BRUCE WEBER on BroadwayStars

Sunday, August 2, 2015

Robin Phillips, Director Who Revitalized Canada’s Stratford Festival, Dies at 75 by Bruce Weber

Mr. Phillips, a British theater director, added productions and brought in stars like Maggie Smith during his tenure as artistic director in the ’70s.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:22PM
Thursday, June 11, 2015

Ron Moody, Actor Best Known as Fagin in ‘Oliver!,’ Dies at 91 by Bruce Weber

Mr. Moody, a British character actor, flared to prominence in the role of Dickens’s guru of thievery, in the stage and screen adaptation of “Oliver!”.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:34PM
Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Jim Bailey, Character Actor in Drag, Dies at 77 by Bruce Weber

Mr. Bailey, who performed in the guise of pop divas like Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand, was a Las Vegas favorite, but he also played supper clubs, cabarets, Carnegie Hall and the London …

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:33AM
Monday, May 25, 2015

After a Cameo on Cable, Jets Hit the Stage by BRUCE WEBER

The police stopped rush-hour traffic at Eighth Avenue and West 47th Street on Wednesday so the buses could pass through and their passengers, burly men in jackets and ties, could make the cu…

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

Mick Lally, Irish Actor and Founder of the Druid Theater, Dies at 64 by BRUCE WEBER

Mr. Lally's troupe has received international acclaim for its productions of works by Irish playwrights, especially J. M. Synge and Martin McDonagh.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

Irving Ravetch, Screenwriter of ‘Hud,’ Dies at 89 by BRUCE WEBER

Irving Ravetch, whose playwriting career stalled on the brink of Broadway but who became half of one of Hollywood’s most successful husband-and-wife screenwriting teams, creators of th…

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

Joe Mantell Is Dead at 94; Played Sidekick in ‘Marty’ by BRUCE WEBER

Mr. Mantell was a character actor who, nearly 20 years apart, delivered two of movie history’s more memorable lines, one to Ernest Borgnine and one to Jack Nicholson.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

Tom Bosley, ‘Happy Days’ Dad, Dies at 83 by BRUCE WEBER

Mr. Bosley played the reliably kind father on TV’s “Happy Days” and won a Tony onstage for “Fiorello!”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

Shannon Tavarez, Nala in ‘Lion King’, Dies at 11 by BRUCE WEBER

Shannon spent seven months performing in the show before receiving a diagnosis of leukemia in April.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

Playwright Clears His Stage and Bookcases by BRUCE WEBER

Ed Schmidt’s personal farewell to the theater, “My Last Play,” takes place in his Brooklyn living room.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

Marcia Lewis, Stage Actress and Singer, Dies at 72 by BRUCE WEBER

Marcia Lewis, an actress and singer known for bringing a comic brassiness to Broadway revivals of “Grease” and “Chicago,” died on Tuesday in Nashville. She was 72.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

Margot Stevenson, Prolific Broadway Actress, Dies at 98 by BRUCE WEBER

Ms. Stevenson, who appeared in a handful of movies and television shows, spent most of her career on the stage.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

Romulus Linney, Wide-Ranging Playwright, Dies at 80 by BRUCE WEBER

Mr. Linney roved along many intellectual paths, refashioning classical works for modern times and adapting contemporary novels for the stage.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

James McLure Dies at 59; Wrote Garrulous Plays by Bruce Weber

Mr. McLure, who was best known for plays like “Lone Star” and “Pvt. Wars,” had a following in the West and in regional theaters.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

Haila Stoddard, Actress and Theatrical Producer, Dies at 97 by Bruce Weber

Ms. Stoddard, after a long career onstage and in television roles, brought the works of Noël Coward, James Thurber and Harold Pinter to Broadway.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

I’m Not Really a Corpse. I Just Played One Onstage. by BRUCE WEBER

An obituary writer gets a role for a night in “Play Dead,” which milks entertainment from the universal human attraction to what repels us: most of all, death.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

An Obit Writer’s Chance to Think Inside the Box by Bruce Weber

A man who writes about death for a living stepped into a stage coffin for a role in “Play Dead,” an Off Broadway show.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

Inventing Her Life as She Goes Along by BRUCE WEBER

Author: Doug Wright
Producers: Delphi Productions, Playwrights Horizons

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM
Thursday, April 23, 2015

Frederic Morton, Author Who Chronicled the Rothschilds, Dies at 90 by Bruce Weber

His 1962 family history “The Rothschilds” became a Broadway musical.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:54PM
Friday, April 10, 2015

Judith Malina, Founder of the Living Theater, Dies at 88 by Bruce Weber

Ms. Malina, with her husband, Julian Beck, created a troupe that advanced the idea of political theater in America.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:19PM
Sunday, March 29, 2015

Gene Saks, Tony-Winning Director of Neil Simon Hits, Dies at 93 by Bruce Weber

Mr. Saks, who switched from acting to directing in midcareer, won three Tony Awards and became the leading interpreter of the plays of Neil Simon.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:31PM
Thursday, February 5, 2015

Ike Schambelan, Director Who Brought Disabled Artists to the Stage, Dies at 75 by Bruce Weber

Mr. Schambelan started the company Theater Breaking Through Barriers as a vehicle for vision-impaired actors to perform their craft.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:37PM
Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Edward Herrmann, Actor With a Noble Air, Dies at 71 by Bruce Weber

Mr. Herrmann could be formidable or friendly and was often cast in movies and on television in affluent roles as a lawyer, judge or millionaire.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:48PM
Monday, December 22, 2014

Billie Whitelaw, Longtime Beckett Muse, Dies at 82 by Bruce Weber

Ms. Whitelaw, an English actress, first encountered Samuel Beckett’s work at the National Theater in London in 1964.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:28PM
Friday, December 5, 2014

Brian Macdonald, Eclectic Choreographer and Director, Dies at 86 by Bruce Weber

Mr. Macdonald worked with classical, contemporary and regional material, from Bach to Gilbert and Sullivan and on to Leonard Cohen.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:50PM
Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Bunny Briggs, Tap Dancing Virtuoso, Dies at 92 by Bruce Weber

Mr. Briggs’s career bridged the history of tap from Bill (Bojangles) Robinson to Savion Glover.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:07PM
Thursday, November 20, 2014

Mike Nichols, Celebrated Director, Dies at 83 by Bruce Weber

Mike Nichols, one of America’s most celebrated directors, whose long, protean résumé of critic- and crowd-pleasing work earned him adulation both on Broadway and in Hollywood, died on We…

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:46AM
Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Donald Saddler, Dancer, and a Choreographer on Broadway, Dies at 96 by Bruce Weber

A soloist with Ballet Theater, Mr. Saddler made his Broadway musical theater debut in 1947, and he went on to win two Tonys as a Broadway choreographer.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:19AM
Friday, October 31, 2014

Herb Schapiro, Playwright Behind ‘The Me Nobody Knows,’ Dies at 85 by Bruce Weber

Inspired by essays by urban children, Mr. Schapiro had the idea for what became a “dark and lovely” Broadway musical.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:35PM
Monday, September 29, 2014

Sheldon Patinkin, Force in Chicago Theater, Dies at 79 by Bruce Weber

As a director at Second City and Steppenwolf and a department chairman at Columbia College, Mr. Patinkin helped to develop Chicago’s robust theatrical scene.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:07PM

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