Stage Door News
Stage Door News
James M. Nederlander, one of the great theatrical producers, died yesterday in New York at the age of 94. In honour of his contributions to the theatre world, the marquee lights of Toronto's ED Mirvish Theatre will be dimmed tonight.
Fresh out of Air Force in 1943, Mr. Nederlander joined his father’s fledgling theatrical business. By 1964, he and his father bought the Palace Theatre in New York and launched an organization that would own and operate nine Broadway theatres, five in Chicago, one in Los Angeles and three in London, U.K.
He was also the producers of hundreds of major shows, some of them among the greatest successes in commercial theatre.
Said David Mirvish: “When my father bought and restored the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Jimmy Nederlander was in the audience at the opening night in September 1963. Over the years we have worked with him on many productions, some touring into our theatres in Toronto, others playing in New York and London. He was among the greats, a man who lived and breathed theatre and show business.
“We are honoured to have known and worked with him and will acknowledge his passing and pay our tributes to his genius in the time-honoured tradition of the theatre: by dimming the marquee lights of the Ed Mirvish Theatre tonight, which is currently home to the Royal Shakespeare Company’s MATILDA, The Musical.”
Photo: James M. Nederlander. ©Jim Spellman.
2016-07-27
Toronto: Marquee lights at the Ed Mirvish Theatre dimmed to honour James M. Nederlander