Category Archives: People

Broadway Birthday: Boyd Gaines

Posted on May 11, 2021 by boz

Happy Birthday to four-time Tony-winning performer Boyd Gaines, born May 11, 1953, in Atlanta. During a “gypsy childhood,” due to his salesman father’s frequent job transfers, Gaines attended some dozen grammar schools, eventually graduating high school in California. He began … Continue reading →

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Broadway Birthday: Nicholas Hytner

Posted on May 7, 2021 by boz

Happy Birthday to Olivier- and Tony-winning director Nicholas Hytner, born May 7, 1956, in Manchester, England. He studied at Trinity Hall, Cambridge University, where he cowrote the 1977 Footlights Revue and directed the Brecht-Weill opera Rise and Fall of the City … Continue reading →

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Broadway Birthday: Adrienne Warren

Posted on May 6, 2021 by boz

Happy Birthday to Tony nominee Adrienne Warren, born May 6, 1987, in Hampton Roads, Virginia. A preacher’s daughter, she began singing in her church choir. One of her first stage roles was the lead in a local production of Annie. … Continue reading →

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Broadway Legends: Betty Comden

Posted on May 3, 2021 by boz

Tony- and Grammy-winning writer Betty Comden was born Basya Cohen in Brooklyn to Russian immigrants on May 3, 1917. She attended Erasmus Hall H.S. and studied drama at New York University. In 1938, she met fellow aspiring actor Adolph Green, … Continue reading →

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Broadway Birthday: Sheldon Harnick

Posted on April 30, 2021 by boz

Happy Birthday to Pulitzer-winning writer Sheldon Harnick, born April 30, 1924, in Chicago. He began composing while at Carl Schurz H.S. and graduated from Northwestern (1949) with a bachelor’s in music. After working with various Chicago orchestras, he moved to … Continue reading →

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In Memoriam: Jim Steinman

Posted on April 20, 2021 by boz

Grammy-winning composer Jim Steinman died April 19 in Danbury, Conn. Born Nov. 1, 1947, in New York City, Steinman grew up on Long Island, where he attended George W. Hewlett H.S. In his senior year at Amherst College, he wrote … Continue reading →

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Broadway Birthday: Gavin Creel

Posted on April 19, 2021 by boz

Happy Birthday to Tony- and Olivier-winning performer Gavin Creel, born April 18, 1976, in Findlay, Ohio. After graduating from Findlay H.S., Creel studied musical theater at University of Michigan. Within months of earning his bachelor’s degree in 1998, he landed … Continue reading →

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In Memoriam: Arthur Kopit

Posted on April 5, 2021 by boz

Three-time Tony nominee Arthur Kopit died April 2 at his home in Manhattan. Born Arthur Koenig on May 10, 1937, in New York, his parents divorced when he was 2, and he later adopted his stepfather’s surname. He studied engineering … Continue reading →

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Broadway Birthday: Jonathan Groff

Posted on March 26, 2021 by boz

Happy Birthday to two-time Tony nominee Jonathan Groff, born March 26, 1985, in Lancaster, Pa. Groff was active in his school drama clubs as well as the local Fulton Opera House and Ephrata Performing Arts Center. After graduating from Conestoga … Continue reading →

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Broadway Birthday: Elton John

Posted on March 25, 2021 by boz

Happy Birthday to award-winning composer Elton John, born Reginald Dwight on March 25, 1947, in London. He began playing piano at age 4. At age 11, he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music but quit before graduating … Continue reading →

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