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An
array of Broadway luminaries, including Danny
Burstein, Robert Cuccioli, Jason Danieley, Harvey
Fierstein, Rob Fisher, Jessica Hecht, Judy Kuhn,
Nancy Opel, David Rockwell, Alan Schmuckler, Elena
Shaddow, Alexandra Silber, Emily Skinner, Deborah
Grace Winer, Sherman Yellen, and Karen
Ziemba
gathered on Thursday, Nov. 9th at
the Music Box Theater beginning at 2 pm to pay
tribute to the iconic lyricist Sheldon Harnick.
The event allowed limited seating open to the
public on a first come, first serve basis.
The Committee of Theatre Owners
dimmed the lights of all
41 Broadway theaters in New York for one minute at
exactly 6:45pm in
Harnick’s honor.
One of
our nation’s and world’s most beloved treasures,
Sheldon Harnick passed away at 99 years old on June
23,2023. During his iconic career working on
Broadway and spanning more than seventy years,
Sheldon wrote many of Broadway’s greatest
critically-acclaimed and timeless hit shows.
His
prodigious work earned him numerous awards,
including a Pulitzer Prize, 4 Tony’s and a Grammy. Sheldon,
together with his longtime collaborator Jerry Bock,
created some of the most important and influential
pieces of theater in the world including but not
limited to; Fiorello! (1959): Pulitzer Prize, Tony
Award; Tenderloin (1960); She Loves Me (1963):
Grammy Award; Fiddler on the Roof" (1964) Tony
Award; The Apple Tree (1966) and The Rothschilds
(1970). Other collaborations include A Christmas
Carol with Michel Legrand (1981); Rex with Richard
Rodgers (1976); A Wonderful Life with Joe Raposo
(1986) and The Phantom Tollbooth with Arnold Black
(1995). For Dragons and Malpractice Makes Perfect,
he provided book lyrics and music, He has written
songs for the films The Heartbreak Kid (1972) and
Blame It On Rio (1984) both with music by Cy
Coleman; and Aaron's Magic Village (1995) with
Michel Legrand.
Harnick
is survived by his wife of 58 years, Margery Gray,
his two children Beth Dorn and Matthew Harnick and
four grandchildren.
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