Harold Smith Prince (born Harold Smith; January 30, 1928 – July 31, 2019), commonly known as Hal Prince, was an American theatre director and producer known for his work in musical theatre. One of the foremost figures in 20th century American theatre, Prince became associated throughout his career with many of the most noteworthy musicals in Broadway history, including ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play '' Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid ...

'', ''

Fiddler on the Roof ''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Imperial Russia in or around 1905. It is based on ''Tevye and his Daughters'' (or ''Tevye the ...

'', ''Cabaret'', ''Sweeney Todd'', and '' Phantom of the Opera'', the longest running show in Broadway history. Many of his productions broke new ground for musical theater, expanding the possibilities of the form by incorporating more serious and political subjects, such as Nazism (''

Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dinin ...

''), the difficulties of marriage (''

Company A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared ...

''), and the forcible opening of 19th-century Japan (''

Pacific Overtures ''Pacific Overtures'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by John Weidman, with "additional material by" Hugh Wheeler. Set in 19th-century Japan, it tells the story of the country's westernization starting in 185 ...

''). Over the span of his career, he garnered 21

Tony Awards The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

, including eight for directing, eight for producing the year's Best Musical, two as Best Producer of a Musical, and three special awards.

Early life

Prince was born to an affluent family in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, the son of Blanche ( Stern) and Harold Smith. He was adopted by his stepfather, Milton A. Prince, a stockbroker. His family was of German Jewish descent. Following his graduation from the Franklin School, later called the Dwight School, in New York, he entered the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...

, where he followed a liberal arts curriculum and graduated in three years at age 19. He later served two years with the United States Army in post-World War II Germany.

Career

Prince began work in the theatre as an assistant stage manager to theatrical producer and director

George Abbott George Francis Abbott (June 25, 1887 – January 31, 1995) was an American theatre producer, director, playwright, screenwriter, film director and producer whose career spanned eight decades. Early years Abbott was born in Forestville, New Y ...

. Along with Abbott, he co-produced ''

The Pajama Game ''The Pajama Game'' is a musical based on the 1953 novel '' 7½ Cents'' by Richard Bissell. The book is by George Abbott and Richard Bissell; the music and lyrics are by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. and dances were staged by Bob Fosse in hi ...

'', which won the 1955

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

for Best Musical. He received Tony Awards for 1956's ''

Damn Yankees ''Damn Yankees'' is a 1955 musical comedy with a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop, music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story is a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., dur ...

'', 1960's ''

Fiorello! ''Fiorello!'' is a musical about New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia, a reform Republican, which debuted on Broadway in 1959, and tells the story of how La Guardia took on the Tammany Hall political machine. The book is by Jerome Weidman an ...

'' and 1963's ''

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum ''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart. Inspired by the farces of the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman playwright Plautu ...

'', and Tony nominations for 1958's ''

'' and ''

New Girl in Town ''New Girl in Town'' is a musical with a book by George Abbott and music and lyrics by Bob Merrill based on Eugene O'Neill's 1921 play ''Anna Christie'', about a prostitute who tries to live down her past. ''New Girl'', unlike O'Neill's play, foc ...

''. He went on to direct and produce his own productions in 1962 beginning with the unsuccessful '' A Family Affair''"Harold Prince Broadway"
''Playbill Vault''. Retrieved July 31, 2019. followed by his first critically successful musical, ''

She Loves Me ''She Loves Me'' is a musical with a book by Joe Masteroff, music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. The musical is the third adaptation of the 1937 play '' Parfumerie'' by Hungarian playwright Miklós László, following the 1940 ...

'' (Tony nomination, 1964). He received a Tony Award for producing ''

'' (1965) and almost gave up musical theatre before his Tony winning success directing and producing with

Kander and Ebb Kander and Ebb were a highly successful American songwriting team consisting of composer John Kander (born March 18, 1927) and lyricist Fred Ebb (April 8, 1928 – September 11, 2004). Known primarily for their stage musicals, which include ' ...

's ''

'' in 1966, followed by Kander and Ebb's '' Zorba'' (Tony nomination, 1969). 1970 marked the start of his greatest creative collaboration, with composer/lyricist

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March 22, 1930November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. One of the most important figures in twentieth-century musical theater, Sondheim is credited for having "reinvented the American musical" with sho ...

. They had previously worked on ''

'' and their association spawned a long string of landmark productions, including ''

'' (Tony Award, 1970), ''

Follies ''Follies'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The plot takes place in a crumbling Broadway theater, now scheduled for demolition, previously home to a musical revue (based on the ''Ziegfeld Fol ...

'' (Tony Award, 1971), ''

A Little Night Music ''A Little Night Music'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the 1955 Ingmar Bergman film ''Smiles of a Summer Night'', it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Its title is a ...

'' (Tony Award, 1973), ''

'' (Tony nomination, 1976), ''

Side by Side by Sondheim ''Side by Side by Sondheim'' is a musical revue featuring the songs of Broadway and film composer Stephen Sondheim. Its title is derived from the song "Side by Side by Side" from ''Company''. History The musical had its origins when David ...

'' (Tony nomination, 1977), and ''

Sweeney Todd Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as the villain of the penny dreadful serial '' The String of Pearls'' (1846–47). The original tale became a feature of 19th-century melodrama and London legend. A barber from Fleet Stre ...

'' (Tony Award, 1979). Following '' Merrily We Roll Along'' (1981), which ran for 16 performances, they parted ways until '' Bounce'' in 2003. He received a Tony nomination for directing ''

On the Twentieth Century ''On the Twentieth Century'' is a musical with book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Cy Coleman. Based partly on the 1932 play ''Twentieth Century'' and its 1934 film adaptation, the musical is part operetta, part farce an ...

'' (1978) and won twice for the

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musical ...

musicals '' Evita'' (1980) and ''

The Phantom of the Opera ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a novel by French author Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serial in from 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910, and was released in volume form in late March 1910 by Pier ...

'' (1988). Between them, Prince was offered the job of directing ''

Cats The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members o ...

'' by Lloyd Webber but turned it down and directed ''

A Doll's Life ''A Doll's Life'' was a 1982 musical with music by Larry Grossman, and a book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. A sequel to the 1879 Henrik Ibsen play ''A Doll's House'', it told the story of what happened to the lead character, Nora, ...

'' (1982) with lyricists

Betty Comden Betty Comden (May 3, 1917 - November 23, 2006) was an American lyricist, playwright, and screenwriter who contributed to numerous Hollywood musicals and Broadway shows of the mid-20th century. Her writing partnership with Adolph Green spanned ...

and

Adolph Green Adolph Green (December 2, 1914 – October 23, 2002) was an American lyricist and playwright who, with long-time collaborator Betty Comden, penned the screenplays and songs for some of the most beloved film musicals, particularly as part of Ar ...

. The musical continued the story of Nora Helmer past what

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential pla ...

had written in ''

A Doll's House ''A Doll's House'' ( Danish and nb, Et dukkehjem; also translated as ''A Doll House'') is a three-act play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having be ...

''. It ran for five performances; ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote, "It was overproduced and overpopulated to the extent that the tiny resolute figure of Nora became lost in the combined mechanics of Broadway and the Industrial Revolution." Broadway wags dubbed the show either "A Doll's Death" or, due to the omnipresent portal out of which Nora slammed in the prologue, "A Door's Life." Prince's other commercially unsuccessful musicals included ''

Grind A blade's grind is its cross-sectional shape in a plane normal to the edge. Grind differs from blade profile, which is the blade's cross-sectional shape in the plane containing the blade's edge and the centre contour of the blade's back ( ...

'' (Tony nomination, 1985), which closed after 71 performances, and ''

Roza Roza may refer to: People Last name *Fernando Luiz Roza (b. 1985), Brazilian soccer player *Lita Roza (1926–2008), British singer First name * Roza Anagnosti (born 1943) Albanian actress *Roza Baglanova (1922–2011), Soviet/Kazakh oper ...

'' (1987). However, his production of ''The Phantom of the Opera'' eventually became the longest-running show in Broadway history. Prince ultimately stopped producing because he "became more interested in directing". '' Kiss of the Spider Woman'', which he directed in 1993, received the Tony Award for Best Musical. In 1994, Prince became a Kennedy Center Honoree. He received a 1995 Tony Award for directing ''

Showboat A showboat, or show boat, was a floating theater that traveled along the waterways of the United States, especially along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, to bring culture and entertainment to the inhabitants of river frontiers. Showboats were a ...

,'' and was nominated again for 1999's ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of s ...

''. In 2000, he was awarded the

National Medal of Arts The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and patrons of the arts. A prestigious American honor, it is the highest honor given to artists and arts patrons ...

. In 2006, Prince was awarded a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. In 2007, he directed his last original musical on Broadway, ''

LoveMusik ''LoveMusik'' is a musical written by Alfred Uhry, using a selection of music by Kurt Weill. The story explores the romance and lives of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya, based on ''Speak Low (When You Speak Love): The Letters of Kurt Weill and Lotte Le ...

'' and on May 20 of that year, he gave the commencement address at

Gettysburg College Gettysburg College is a private liberal arts college in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1832, the campus is adjacent to the Gettysburg Battlefield. Gettysburg College has about 2,600 students, with roughly equal numbers of men and women. ...

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Gettysburg (; non-locally ) is a borough and the county seat of Adams County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The Battle of Gettysburg (1863) and President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address are named for this town. Gettysburg is home to ...

. He was presented with the American Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award by awards council member and author

Toni Morrison Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist. Her first novel, '' The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed '' S ...

at a 2007 ceremony in Washington, D.C. In 2008 Prince was the keynote speaker at

Elon University Elon University is a private university in Elon, North Carolina. Founded in 1889 as Elon College, Elon is organized into six schools, most of which offer bachelor's degrees and several of which offer master's degrees or professional doctora ...

's Convocation for Honors celebration. Prince co-directed, with

Susan Stroman Susan P. Stroman (born October 17, 1954) is an American theatre director, choreographer, film director and performer. Her notable theater productions include '' The Producers'', '' Crazy for You'', ''Contact'', and '' The Scottsboro Boys''. She is ...

, the 2010 musical '' Paradise Found''. The musical features the music of

Johann Strauss II Johann Baptist Strauss II (25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (german: links=no, Sohn), was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed ove ...

as adapted by

Jonathan Tunick Jonathan Tunick (born April 19, 1938, New York City) is an American orchestrator, musical director, and composer, and one of seventeen " EGOTs" - people to have won all four major American showbusiness awards: the Tony Awards, Academy Awards, Em ...

with lyrics by Ellen Fitzhugh. The book was written by Richard Nelson, based on

Joseph Roth Moses Joseph Roth (2 September 1894 – 27 May 1939) was an Austrian journalist and novelist, best known for his family saga '' Radetzky March'' (1932), about the decline and fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, his novel of Jewish life '' Job'' ...

's novel ''The Tale of the 1002nd Night''. The musical premiered at the

Menier Chocolate Factory The Menier Chocolate Factory is a 180-seat off-West End theatre, which comprises a restaurant, bar and rehearsal rooms. It is located in a former 1870s Menier Chocolate Company factory at 53 Southwark Street, a major street in the London Borou ...

in London on May 19, 2010 and closed on June 26, and starred

Mandy Patinkin Mandel Bruce Patinkin (; born November 30, 1952) is an American actor and singer, known for his work in musical theatre, television and film. He is a critically acclaimed Broadway performer, having received three Tony Award nominations, winning ...

. A retrospective of Prince's work titled '' Prince of Broadway'' was co-directed by Prince and

and presented by

Umeda Arts Theater is a Japanese theater located at Chayamachi Applause in Chayamachi, Kita-ku, Osaka, operated by Umeda Arts Theater Co., Ltd. It opened in 1992. Umeda Arts Theater Co., Ltd. is a member of Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group and a subsidiary of Hankyu Corp ...

in Tokyo, Japan in October 2015. The book was written by David Thompson with additional material and orchestrations by

Jason Robert Brown Jason Robert Brown (born June 20, 1970) is an American musical theatre composer, lyricist, and playwright. Brown's music sensibility fuses pop-rock stylings with theatrical lyrics. He is the recipient of three Tony Awards for his work on ''Parad ...

. Prince was slated to direct ''

The Band's Visit ''The Band's Visit'' ( he, ביקור התזמורת, Bikur Ha-Tizmoret) is a 2007 comedy-drama film, directed and written by Eran Kolirin, and starring Saleh Bakri, Ronit Elkabetz, Sasson Gabai and Uri Gavriel. It is an international co-prod ...

'' in 2016 but withdrew due to scheduling conflicts. ''Prince of Broadway'' opened in August 2017 at the

Samuel J. Friedman Theatre The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, formerly the Biltmore Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 261 West 47th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1925, it was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in the neo-Renais ...

in New York with a cast featuring Chuck Cooper,

Janet Dacal Janet Dacal (born in Los Angeles, California) is an American actress, singer, and performer in musical theatre. She received the Drama Desk Award for her performance in the Broadway musical ''In the Heights''. Early life Dacal's parents are f ...

, Bryonha Marie Parham, Emily Skinner,

Brandon Uranowitz Brandon Jacob Uranowitz is an American stage and screen actor. He is best known for his roles as Adam Hochberg in the musical ''An American in Paris'' (2014–15) and Mendel Weisenbachfeld in the 2016 Broadway revival of ''Falsettos''. A four-tim ...

, Kaley Ann Voorhees,

Michael Xavier Michael D. Xavier (born Michael David Smith; 27 November 1978) is an English actor and singer. Early life Michael David Smith (later known as Michael Xavier) attended Knutsford High and ultimately completed his professional acting training a ...

Tony Yazbeck Tony Yazbeck (March 14, 1979) is an American actor, singer, and dancer, best known for his work on the Broadway stage, including the revival of '' On the Town'', for which he received 2015 Tony Award and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations for ...

, and Karen Ziemba. In addition to musicals, Prince also directed operas including

Josef Tal Josef Tal ( he, יוסף טל; September 18, 1910 – August 25, 2008) was an Israeli composer. He wrote three Hebrew operas; four German operas, dramatic scenes; six symphonies; 13 concerti; chamber music, including three string quartets; ins ...

's ''Ashmedai'', Carlisle Floyd's ''

Willie Stark ''Willie Stark'' is an opera in three acts and nine scenes by Carlisle Floyd to his own libretto, after the 1946 novel ''All the King's Men'' by Robert Penn Warren, which in turn was inspired by the life of the Louisiana governor Huey Long. The o ...

'', Puccini's ''

Madama Butterfly ''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is based on the short story " Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Lu ...

'', and a revival of Bernstein's ''

Candide ( , ) is a French satire written by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment, first published in 1759. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled ''Candide: or, All for the Best'' (1759); ''Candide: or, Th ...

'' (Tony Award, 1974). In 1983 Prince staged ''

Turandot ''Turandot'' (; see below) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, posthumously completed by Franco Alfano in 1926, and set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. ''Turandot'' best-known aria is " Nessun dorma", ...

'' for the

Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August ...

(conductor:

Lorin Maazel Lorin Varencove Maazel (, March 6, 1930 – July 13, 2014) was an American conductor, violinist and composer. He began conducting at the age of eight and by 1953 had decided to pursue a career in music. He had established a reputation in th ...

; with

José Carreras Josep Maria Carreras Coll (; born 5 December 1946), better known as José Carreras (, ), is a Spanish operatic tenor who is particularly known for his performances in the operas of Donizetti, Verdi and Puccini. Born in Barcelona, he made his de ...

and

Éva Marton Éva Marton (born 18 June 1943) is a Hungarian dramatic soprano, particularly known for her operatic portrayals of Puccini's '' Turandot'' and '' Tosca'', and Wagnerian roles. Vocal training and early years Marton was born in Budapest, wher ...

Legacy

Prince was the inspiration for

John Lithgow John Arthur Lithgow ( ; born , 1945) is an American actor. Lithgow studied at Harvard University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before becoming known for his work on the stage and screen. He has been the recipient of numerous ...

's character in

Bob Fosse Robert Louis Fosse (; June 23, 1927 – September 23, 1987) was an American actor, choreographer, dancer, and film and stage director. He directed and choreographed musical works on stage and screen, including the stage musicals ''The Pajam ...

's film '' All That Jazz''. He was also assumed to be the basis of a character in Richard Bissell's novel ''Say, Darling'', which chronicled Bissell's own experience turning his novel '' 7½ Cents'' into ''The Pajama Game''. According to Masterworks Broadway, "besides his achievements as a producer and director, Prince is also known for bringing innovation to the theatrical arts. In collaboration with Stephen Sondheim, he was a pioneer in the development of the 'concept musical,' taking its departure from an idea or theme rather than from a traditional story. Their first project of this kind, ''Company'' (1970), was a solid success and paved the way for other innovative musicals." According to ''The New York Times'', "He was known, too, for his collaborations with a murderer's row of creative talents, among them the choreographers

Jerome Robbins Jerome Robbins (born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz; October 11, 1918 – July 29, 1998) was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television. Among his nu ...

, Michael Bennett and

; the designers

Boris Aronson Boris Aronson (October 15, 1898 – November 16, 1980) was an American scenic designer for Broadway and Yiddish theatre. He won the Tony Award for Scenic Design six times in his career. Biography The son of a Rabbi, Aronson was born in Ki ...

, Eugene Lee, Patricia Zipprodt and

Florence Klotz Florence Klotz (October 28, 1920 – November 1, 2006) was an American costume designer on Broadway and on film. Biography Born in Brooklyn, New York, she graduated from Parsons School of Design, and went to work painting fabrics for Brooks C ...

; and the composers

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

, John Kander,

and

." The Harold Prince Theatre at the Annenberg Center of the University of Pennsylvania is named in his honor. A documentary titled ''Harold Prince: The Director's Life'' was directed by

Lonny Price Lonny Price (born March 9, 1959) is an American director, actor, and writer, primarily in theatre. He is perhaps best known for his creation of the role of Charley Kringas in the Broadway musical '' Merrily We Roll Along'' and for his New York d ...

and broadcast on PBS ''Great Performances'' in November 2018. In 2019,

The New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress) ...

for the Performing Arts presented an extensive exhibit honoring the life and work of Harold Prince. Prince served as a trustee for the library and on the National Council of the Arts of the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

. At the behest of Lotte Lenya, whom he cast in ''

'' (1966), Prince also served on the Board of Trustees of The Kurt Weill Foundation for Music and as a judge of their Lotte Lenya Competition. Andrew Lloyd Webber said: "There isn't anybody working on musical theater on either side of the Atlantic who doesn't owe an enormous debt to this extraordinary man....Hal was very minimalist with his sets. People think of ''Phantom'' as this great big spectacle. That's an illusion. Hal always looked at the show as this big black box in which the stage craft enabled you to believe there was this impressive scenery all around you."

said: "More than anything else, when I think about Hal, I think about his belief in theater. He believed in what it could do....He thought a lot about the world and the political systems and emotional support systems in it. He was very much a political artist."

Personal life

Prince married Judy Chaplin, daughter of composer and musical director

Saul Chaplin Saul Chaplin (February 19, 1912 – November 15, 1997) was an American composer and musical director. He was born Saul Kaplan in Brooklyn, New York. He had worked on stage, screen and television since the days of Tin Pan Alley. In film, he wo ...

, on October 26, 1962. They are parents of Daisy Prince, a director, and Charles Prince, a conductor. Actor

Alexander Chaplin Alexander Chaplin (né Gaberman; born March 20, 1971) is an American actor. Chaplin's most prominent role was that of speechwriter James Hobert on the sitcom ''Spin City''. As with the rest of the ''Spin City'' main cast, Chaplin has featured ...

, best known as "James Hobert" on ''

Spin City ''Spin City'' is an American sitcom television series that aired from September 17, 1996 to April 30, 2002, on ABC. Created by Gary David Goldberg and Bill Lawrence, the show is set in a semi-fictionalized version of the New York City mayor' ...

'', is Prince's son-in-law. At the time of his death, Prince lived in Manhattan and Switzerland.

Death

Prince died in

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

, Iceland, on July 31, 2019, at the age of 91. The marquee lights of Broadway theatres were dimmed on July 31, 2019, in the traditional gesture of honor. A memorial was held at Broadway's

Majestic Theatre Majestic Theatre or Majestic Theater may refer to: Australia * Majestic Theatre, Adelaide, former name of a theatre in King William Street, Adelaide, built 1916, now demolished * Majestic Theatre, Launceston, a former cinema in Tasmania designed ...

on December 16, 2019.

Work

Stage productions

Source: ''Playbill'' (vault); Internet Broadway Database * ''

Tickets, Please! ''Tickets, Please!'' is a musical revue. It contains sketches by Sketches by Harry Herrmann, Edmund Rice, Jack Roche and Ted Luce, with music and lyrics by Lyn Duddy, Joan Edwards, Mel Tolkin, Lucille Kallen and Clay Warnick. Incidental music i ...

'' (1950) – assistant stage manager * ''

Call Me Madam ''Call Me Madam'' is a musical written by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. The musical is a satire on politics and foreign policy that spoofs postwar America's penchant for lending billions of dollars to ...

'' (1950) – assistant stage manager * ''

Wonderful Town ''Wonderful Town'' is a 1953 musical with book written by Joseph A. Fields and Jerome Chodorov, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and music by Leonard Bernstein. The musical tells the story of two sisters who aspire to be a writer and act ...

'' (1953) – stage manager * ''

'' (1954) – co-producer * ''

'' (1955) – co-producer * ''

'' (1957) – co-producer * ''

'' (1959) – co-producer * ''

'' (1960) – co-producer * '' Tenderloin'' (1960) – co-producer * ''They Might Be Giants'' (1961) – co-producer * ''A Call on Kuprin'' (1961) – producer * '' Take Her, She's Mine'' (1961) – producer * '' A Family Affair'' (1962) – director * ''

'' (1962) – producer * ''

'' (1963) – producer, director * ''

'' (1964) – producer * ''

Baker Street Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder William Baker, who laid out the street in the 18th century. The street is most famous for its connection to the fictional detec ...

'' (1964) – director * '' Flora, The Red Menace'' (1965) – producer * '' It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman'' (1966) – producer, director * ''

'' (1966) – producer, director * '' Zorba'' (1968) – producer, director * ''

'' (1970) – producer, director * ''

'' (1971) – producer, director * ''

The Great God Brown ''The Great God Brown'' is a play by Eugene O'Neill, first staged in 1926. O'Neill began writing notes for the play in 1922 – "Play of masks – removable – the man who really is and the mask he wears before the world" – and wrote the play be ...

'' (1972) – artistic director * ''

Don Juan Don Juan (), also known as Don Giovanni ( Italian), is a legendary, fictional Spanish libertine who devotes his life to seducing women. Famous versions of the story include a 17th-century play, ''El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra'' ...

'' (1972) – artistic director * ''

'' (1973) – director, producer * ''Sondheim: A Musical Tribute'' (1973) – performer * '' The Visit'' (1973) – director * ''Chemin de Fer'' (1973) – artistic director * ''

Holiday A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or t ...

'' (1973) – artistic director * ''

'' (1974) – producer, director * ''

Love for Love ''Love for Love'' is a Restoration comedy written by British playwright William Congreve. It premiered on 30 April 1695 at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre. Staged by Thomas Betterton's company the original cast included Betterton as Valentin ...

'' (1974) – director * ''

The Member of the Wedding ''The Member of the Wedding'' is a 1946 novel by Southern writer Carson McCullers. It took McCullers five years to complete, although she interrupted the work for a few months to write the novella '' The Ballad of the Sad Café''.McDowell, Marga ...

'' (1975) – artistic director * ''

The Rules of the Game ''The Rules of the Game'' (original French title: ''La règle du jeu'') is a 1939 French satirical comedy-drama film directed by Jean Renoir. The ensemble cast includes Nora Gregor, Paulette Dubost, Mila Parély, Marcel Dalio, Julien Carette, ...

'' (1974) – artistic director * ''

'' (1976) – producer, director * ''

'' (1977) – producer * ''Some of My Best Friends'' (1977) – director * ''

'' (1978) – director * ''

'' (1979) – director * '' Evita'' (1979) – director * '' Merrily We Roll Along'' (1981) – director * ''

'' (1981) – director * ''

'' (1982) – producer, director * ''Play Memory'' (1984) – director * ''

Diamonds Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

'' (1984) – director * ''

'' (1985) – producer, director * ''

'' (1986) – director * ''

'' (1987) – director * ''

'' (1987) – director * ''Grandchild Of Kings'' (1992) (Off-Broadway) – adaptation (from the stories of

Seán O'Casey Seán O'Casey ( ga, Seán Ó Cathasaigh ; born John Casey; 30 March 1880 – 18 September 1964) was an Irish dramatist and memoirist. A committed socialist, he was the first Irish playwright of note to write about the Dublin working classes. ...

) director and adapter * '' Kiss of the Spider Woman'' (1993) – director * ''

Show Boat ''Show Boat'' is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock worke ...

'' (1994) – director * ''The Petrified Prince'' (1994) Off-Broadway – director * '' Whistle Down the Wind'' (1996) Washington, DC * ''

'' (1997) – director * ''

'' (1998) – director, co-conceiver * ''3hree'' (2000) – supervisor, director (''The Flight of the Lawnchair Man'') * ''

Hollywood Arms ''Hollywood Arms'' is a play by Carrie Hamilton and Carol Burnett. It ran at the Goodman Theatre and on Broadway in 2002. The play is adapted from Carol Burnett's memoir '' One More Time''. Background and productions The dramedy is set in Holly ...

'' (2002) – producer, director * '' Bounce'' (2003) – director * ''

'' (2007) – director * '' Paradise Found'' (2010) – director * '' Prince of Broadway'' (2015) – director

Filmography

* ''

Something for Everyone ''Something for Everyone'' is a 1970 American black comedy film starring Angela Lansbury, Michael York, Anthony Higgins, and Jane Carr. The film was based on the novel ''The Cook'' by Harry Kressing, with a screenplay by Hugh Wheeler. The pl ...

'' (1970) – director * ''

'' (1977) – director

Awards and nominations

Sources: ''Playbill'' (vault); Internet Broadway Database; ''Los Angeles Times''

Bibliography

*Prince, Harold, ''Contradictions: Notes on Twenty-six Years in the Theatre'', Dodd, Mead (1974 autobiography) *Prince, Harold (1993), ''Grandchild of Kings'', Samuel French *Hirsch, Foster (1989, rev 2005), ''Harold Prince and the American Musical Theatre'', Applause Books, (with Prince providing extensive interviews and the foreword), *Ilson, Carol (1989), ''Harold Prince: From Pajama Game To Phantom of the Opera And Beyond'', Cambridge University Press, *Ilson, Carol (2000), ''Harold Prince: A Director's Journey'', Limelight Series, Hal Leonard Corporation *Napoleon, Davi, '' Chelsea on the Edge: The Adventures of an American Theater,'' Iowa State University Press (Includes a preface by Prince and a full chapter about the production of ''Candide'') *Brunet, Daniel; Angel Esquivel Rios, Miguel; and Geraths, Armin (2006), ''Creating the "New Musical": Harold Prince in Berlin'', Peter Lang Publishing *Thelen, Lawrence (1999), ''The Show Makers: Great Directors of the American Musical Theatre'', Routledge *Guernsey, Otis L. (Editor) (1985), ''Broadway Song and Story: Playwrights/Lyricists/Composers Discuss Their Hits'', Dodd Mead

References

External links

* * * * * * *
Harold Prince ''Downstage Center'' interview
at

American Theatre Wing The American Theatre Wing (the Wing for short) is a New York City–based non-profit organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre", according to its mission statement. Originally known as the Stage Women's War Relief ...

.org, May 2008
Harold Prince papers, 1954–1999
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, is located in Manhattan, New York City, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side, between the Metro ...

Harold Prince papers
at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

Ruth Mitchell papers, 1887–1999 (bulk 1946–1999)
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

Harold Prince scores, 1955–1983
held by the Music Division,

Interview with Harold Prince
by Bruce Duffie, November 11, 1982 {{DEFAULTSORT:Prince, Harold 1928 births 2019 deaths American adoptees American expatriates in Switzerland American musical theatre directors American people of German-Jewish descent American theatre directors American theatre managers and producers Broadway theatre directors Broadway theatre producers Drama Desk Award winners Film directors from New York City Kennedy Center honorees Military personnel from New York City People from Manhattan Special Tony Award recipients Tony Award winners United States National Medal of Arts recipients University of Pennsylvania alumni