Harold shares stories from his work on West Side Story, Phantom of the Opera, Sweeney Todd, Cabaret, and Prince of Broadway in this interview on his theater career. He discusses his work with Stephen Sondheim, balancing the roles of directing and producing, as well as his impact on musical theater as a whole. This Q&A moderated by Broadway World’s Richard Ridge is part of the The Business, a SAG-AFTRA Foundation series of discussions with industry experts, providing performers with advice on how to navigate the often complex waters of the entertainment world.
Harold Prince directed the original productions of She Loves Me, It’s a Bird…Superman, Cabaret, Zorba, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Pacific Overtures, On the Twentieth Century, Sweeney Todd, Evita, Merrily We Roll Along, The Phantom of the Opera, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Parade and LoveMusik. He directed acclaimed revivals of Candide and Show Boat. Mr. Prince produced the original productions of The Pajama Game; Damn Yankees; New Girl in Town; West Side Story; Fiorello!; Tenderloin; Flora, the Red Menace; A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum; and Fiddler on the Roof. Mr. Prince is a trustee for the New York Public Library and previously served on the National Council on the Arts for the NEA. Mr. Prince is an Officier in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French Government. He is the recipient of 21 Tony Awards, a Kennedy Center Honor and a National Medal of the Arts from President Clinton for a career in which “he changed the nature of the American musical.”
0:00 Introduction
2:42 Prince of Broadway
11:16 Impact on musical theater
15:11 Sense of Occasion (book)
20:40 Creative producing
25:45 Phantom of the Opera
29:09 George Abbott & Robert E. Griffith
38:58 Damn Yankees
40:30 West Side Story
43:21 Beginning directing
48:26 She Loves Me
51:45 Cabaret
58:42 Stephen Sondheim, Company
1:02:55 Follies
1:05:30 A Little Night Music
1:08:22 Most difficult show
1:11:05 Sweeney Todd
1:15:00 Balancing producing and directing
1:17:34 Evita
1:20:23 Kiss of the Spider Woman
1:22:43 Parade, Show Boat
1:27:57 Best advice