1. Harold Prince

2. In the Beginning Prince started as an Assistant Stage Manager in the 1950’s. His first known shows were Tickets, Please!(1950) And Call Me Madam(1952). Prince was also the Stage Manager for Wonderful Town (1954)

3. I Want to be A Producer! Prince started his producing career working with his mentor George Abbott. The first musical he produced with Abbot was Pajama Game in 1956 which won a Tony Award for Best Musical.

4. Other Musicals Produced with Abbot Damn Yankees (1955) Fiorello! (1959) A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962)

5. L’Chaim! Prince’s best blockbuster was Fiddler On The Roof which at one time held the title as the longest-running show in Broadway history. It opened in theatres on September 22, 1964

6. Maria, Maria! Prince workied with Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein, Jerome Robbins and Sondheim on West Side Story in 1957. The show was a modern-day spin on Romeo and Juliet set against gang warfare on NYC streets. It was a production so far ahead of its time, however, that few truly appreciated its integration of story, music and dance.

7. Wilkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome! Nearly a decade after West Side Story, Prince produced Cabaret. He had begun to explore ways of stretching stagecraft so as to resemble film. For this production, he hung a huge mirror over the stage in which the audience sees its reflection, thereby involving them in the tragedies on stage and “indicting them as possible co-conspirators in a world where Nazism could easily take root.”

8. Sondheim Company (1970) use of constantly shifting perspectives, inner monologues, and dance on Aronson’s pristine set. Follies (1971) a blend of past and present simultaneously presented on stage. “Ghosts” (younger versions of the older characters) wore stark black or white clothing in contrast to the other modern-day clothing. A Little Night Music (1973) an operetta examining the many manifestations of love and romance played against a score composed in three-quarter time Candide (1974) pioneered the site specific stagings that became in vogue later. Pacific Overtures (1976) was a story about the opening of Japan to the West and incorporated Noh theatre techniques. Sweeny Todd (1979) was the most gruesome of the pair’s collaborations. It also pushed the boundaries of musical theatre by “marrying” opera and musical comedy. The last show the pair did was Merrily We Roll Along (1981)which flopped. It was a comedy about friendship that was told in reverse chronology. The backward time frame confused audiences and the cast was mostly young, inexperienced actors. Shows that Prince collaborated with Sondheim on:

9. Don’t Cry… Yet! Prince found his saving grace with Evita (1978) written by Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice. The pop opera about Argentina’s first lady Eva Peron, was blended with Prince’s usual cinematic approach with the traditionally operatic. Because of the wide success of this show, Webber asked Prince to produce The Phantom of the Opera in 1986.

10. Bravi, Bravi, Bravissimi! Prince has since been the producer of The Phantom of the Opera and spent much of the 80’s and 90’s alternating between directing operas around the world and staging musicals. He further scored a major triumph with his approach to Show Boat in 1995 for which he earned is 20 th Tony Award.