The lights on Broadway were dimmed last night in memory of Harold Prince, the multi award-winning director and producer who died at the age of 91 yesterday (31 July 2019)
A true Broadway legend, Harold Prince wove his magic on the Great White Way for decades, working with many of the greats and winning 21 Tony Awards in the process.
Born in Manhattan, New York in January 1928, Harold Prince’s Broadway career began in 1950 when he worked as assistant stage manager on the musical revue Tickets, Please! Three years later he had worked his way up to stage manager and also understudied the role of Frank Lippencott in the original Broadway production of Wonderful Town.
An early collaboration with director George Abbott on Call Me Madam led to his first major success as co-producer and his first Tony Award for Best Musical, when Abbott invited Prince to work on the musical comedy The Pajama Game in 1954.
Prince’s golden touch continued with Best Musical Tonys for Damn Yankees in 1956, Fiorello! in 1960 and A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum in 1963. Two years later Prince’s Tony Award-winning run continued with the original production of Fiddler on the Roof.
The Broadway premiere of Cabaret in 1966 which won eight Tonys including Prince’s first for Best Director was followed four years later by Company which earned Prince Tonys for his work as both director and producer.
A Little Night Music in 1971 earned Prince another Tony as producer, while Follies (1972), Candide (1974), Sweeney Todd (1979), Evita and The Phantom of the Opera (1968) all added to his Tony Award haul for his work as director. His final Tony Award for director came in 1995 for his highly acclaimed production of Show Boat.
Prince’s glittering career also included the original productions of West Side Story in 1957, She Loves Me in 1963, Side by Side by Sondheim in 1977 and Kiss of the Spider Woman in 1993.
Honoured with special Tony Awards for Fiddler on the Roof and Candide in the 1970s, Prince was also presented with a Lifetime Achievement Tony in 2006. Prince’s final Broadway credit was in 2017 with the musical revue Prince of Broadway which featured re-creations of songs from shows directed and produced by Prince.
Survived by his wife of 56 years, Judy, his daughter, Daisy, his son, Charles and his grandchildren, Phoebe, Lucy and Felix, Prince died in Reykjavik, Iceland after a short illness.
Lin Manuel-Miranda was among the many musical theatre leading lights who took to Twitter to pay tribute to the prolific producer and director, writing: “Hal Prince was a giant. Every footprint he left in our world changed its landscape forever. His first email to me hangs in my office, framed. His friendship meant everything to all of us, What a life. What a light. What a tremendous loss.”
Actress Chita Rivera posted: “I am saddened beyond words. There are some people you feel we will never be without. Hal is one of them. I owe so much to him. He knows my love for him.”
Michael Crawford posted: “Hal Prince’s passing is such a sad and heavy loss to musical theatre. What an amazing legacy he leaves us, with so many years of extraordinary work. It was indeed the greatest honour to have worked with him. My thoughts to Judy and the family.”
Paying tribute to his friend and colleague, Andrew Lloyd Webber posted: “Not just the prince of musicals, the crowned head who directed two of the greatest productions of my career, Evita and Phantom. This wonderful man taught me so much and his mastery of musical theatre was without equal.”
Angela Thomas
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