Broadway Casting Director Mark B Simon Has Passed Away

Casting Director Mark Simon has passed away.  He grew up in Providence, RI and as a child saw many shows at Trinity Rep.  He attended Harvard University and NYU.  His first professional job in the theater was as Assistant General Manager at Manhattan Theatre Club.  He worked at the Vivian Beaumont Theater (under Executive Director, Richmond Crinkley) and OOBA (Off-Off Broadway Alliance, now known as ART-NY) alongside Jane Moss. 

During his time at OOBA, Mark was a founder of The Producers’ Collaborative where he co-produced Christopher Hampton’s Total Eclipse at the Westside Arts starting Peter Evans and Michael Cerveris. Mark was a Co-Producer of Joe Orton’s Loot, directed by John Tillinger and starring Joseph Maher, Zoë Wanamaker, Zeljko Ivanek and Alec Baldwin, when it transferred to Broadway’s Music Box Theater from the Manhattan Theatre Club, Loot was nominated for 5 Tony Awards including Best Revival of a Play. 

Before forming Mark Simon Casting, he worked as a Casting Director at Johnson/Liff & Associates, Binder Casting and Livent. Mark participated in the casting of numerous shows both on and off Broadway, including the musicals The Sweet Smell of Success and Ragtime.  He was a Casting Director for New York City Opera and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular.  Mark worked with Jason Robert Brown several times, including on the original productions of Parade, 13, The Last Five Years, and Honeymoon in Vegas. 

He especially enjoyed his collaborations casting for director Harold Prince on Parade, Showboat, Candide, Love Musik, and Hollywood Arms. Mark was nominated for several of CSA’s prestigious Artois Awards and won twice for Ragtime and the Mark Taper Forum production of Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike. 

He moved to Los Angeles to become a Casting Director at Center Theatre Group where he worked until he retired. In Los Angeles he lived in housing provided by The Entertainment Community Fund (formerly The Actors Fund). 

Mark Simon was 70 years old. 

To make a Tribute Donation in his memory to The Entertainment Community Fund https://entertainmentcommunity.org/

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