Harold Prince
Harold Prince
Harold Smith "Hal" Princeis an American theatrical producer and director associated with many of the best-known Broadway musical productions of the past half-century. He has garnered twenty-one Tony Awards, more than any other individual, including eight for directing, eight for producing the year's Best Musical, two as Best Producer of a Musical, and three special awards...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionTV Producer
Date of Birth30 January 1928
CountryUnited States of America
thinking trends want
Producers want to put their music behind revivals but I don't think that's a good trend for the theater at all.
book thinking people
I would like to see more new productions of new material by new composers/lyricists/book writers. I would like to see people take more chances. I think because everything costs so much they're not taking the chances they used to.
thinking rehearsal problem
I like to do everything you can possibly do before you go into rehearsal, because once we are in rehearsal or on the stage there will be a problem I didn't anticipate. It's really good to think we got it all nailed - of course you've never got it all nailed.
thinking musical contemporary
I don't think there's a defined contemporary American musical, do you?
past thinking stopping
I really don't spend time thinking about the past. I think about the future. I'm not stopping.
thinking
You think, 'Musicals, they must always be romantic' - You'd be surprised how few of them historically have ever been romantic.
charge costumes directing george hire looked props shows took visuals
When I started producing, it was George Abbott directing and he would let me do the scenery. He just wanted to know where the doors were - the entrances, the exits; the tables, the props - and then I would hire the designer. I took charge of the visuals - scenery and costumes and so on. And, the shows looked wonderful.
best great mary nurtured recognized stay success tour value weeks
Ethel Merman would stay with a show for years and tour with it. So would Mary Martin, the great stars. They recognized the value of that success and nurtured it. Now, you come from Hollywood, you play 12 weeks and go away. I don't think that's the best policy.
chamber identified meant none
Everything can't be a postage-stamp-sized project. Everything can't be a chamber piece. Musicals aren't even meant to be that, or identified with it... It's none of it simple.
creative director lack responsibility solely suspect talent
There's no lack of talent out there. I suspect there is a lack of creative guidance, and that would not be solely the responsibility of a director but also a producer.
costs people
I would like to see more new productions of new material by new composers/lyricists/book writers. I would like to see people take more chances. I think because everything costs so much they're not taking the chances they used to.
buck endearing
When I was a 25-year-old kid, I raised $260,000 for my first show, 'The Pajama Game,' in such a homemade, pathetic, endearing way - a buck here, a buck there.
commission five future guys likely money musical producers project terrific
I don't know why the guys with the big money don't find five terrific young producers and give each of them enough to commission a musical and to live on for a year. You'd be likely to get at least one project with a future.
One thing is certain: We can't go back. The musical will never be the same as it was.