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Hal Prince has died
I agree that he deserves a theatre named for him. 
"Michael Riedel...The Perez Hilton of the New York Theatre scene"
- Craig Hepworth, What's On Stage
joined:12/13/06
joined:
12/13/06
Lot666 said: "I agree that he deserves a theatre named for him."
Can we just petition (again) to rename the Majestic? Poor guy won't even see the day if it were to happen.
jacobsnchz14 said: "Lot666 said: "I agree that he deserves a theatre named for him. "
Can we just petition (again) to rename the Majestic? Poor guy won't even see the day if it were to happen."
That would be PERFECT.
"Michael Riedel...The Perez Hilton of the New York Theatre scene"
- Craig Hepworth, What's On Stage
Lot666 said: "I agree that he deserves a theatre named for him."
Absolutely agree...it is amazing that hasn't been done already.
Harold Prince was certainly the greatest director of musicals in my lifetime (and I will bet ever). Just think that the same person directed the original productions of She Loves Me, Cabaret, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, the 1973 revival of Candide, which was incredible, Pacific Overtures (IMO the staging was the best part of that flawed production), Sweeney Todd, Evita, Phantom of the Opera, Kiss of the Spider Woman, and that cinematic staging of Show Boat which breathed major life into that old war horse.
I don't always love the fact that I am no longer young. One of the many things that makes that okay is that I was there for every one of those shows. I probably saw performances of the original productions on average 4 or 5 times, and they remain vividly imprinted in my brain as if I had seen them a week ago. I would doubt that any of the Phantom-dismissers on this board will EVER point to Prince's direction as a contributing factor to their dislike.
Then you think of the shows he produced, but did not direct: The Pajama Game, Damn Yankees, Fiorello, West Side Story, A Funny Thing Happened. I doubt there is anyone in the history of the Broadway theatre who has played a pivotal role in so many classic Broadway productions. Even Sondheim was not involved with as many classics.
IMO Prince was involved in a few stinkers, including Grind, Merrily We Roll Along, and A Doll'sLife. I would even go so far as to say that his concept for Merrily was probably the key reason for its miserable failure in 1981. That said, there are stage images from Grind that I still remember vividly to this day, and they were Prince's ideas. I would also printout that NO ONE has ever had a perfect track record, and that his does about as close to that as possible.
The legacy that he has left on the theatre, and the revolutionary approaches he adopted in many shows, will certainly not be approached in my lifetime.
joined:8/4/04
joined:
8/4/04
Posted: 7/31/19 at 11:27am