Terrence McNally, Writer: American Playhouse. © Copyright 2021 The Globe and Mail Inc. All rights reserved. If you are able, please subscribe to globeandmail.com. He won two more for his plays "Love! “I like to work with people who are a lot more talented and smarter than me, who make fewer mistakes than I do, and who can call me out when I do something lazy,” he told LA Stage Times in 2013. We also hope you will share important coronavirus news articles with your friends and family. McNally was also behind dozens of other works such as the musicals "Anastasia" and "The Full Monty," and "Mothers and Sons," a play about a mother whose son died of AIDS. Playwright Terrence McNally is seen at the 73rd annual Tony Awards 'Meet the Nominees' press day, in New York, in a May 1, 2019 file photo. Terrence McNally, the admired playwright and librettist who received five Tony Awards while bringing his perspective on the world to such productions as Kiss … “Theater changes hearts, that secret place where we all truly live,” he said at the 2019 Tony Awards, where he accepted a lifetime achievement award. Mr. McNally also explored gay themes in the book for the musical Kiss of the Spider Woman, for which he won his first Tony Award. Terrence McNally, the playwright behind "Master Class" and "Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune," has died of complications from coronavirus. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia University in 1960 with a degree in English. McNally, who was married to Broadway producer Tom Kirdahy, was openly gay and often wrote about the lives of gay men in his plays. and "Master Class.". (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions) Terrence McNally has … I'm a print subscriber, link to my account, Read more about following topics and authors. He was a lung cancer survivor and had a lung disease called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Polk said. Non-subscribers can read and sort comments but will not be able to engage with them in any way. If you would like to write a letter to the editor, please forward it to letters@globeandmail.com. This translation has been automatically generated and has not been verified for accuracy. and Master Class and the musicals Ragtime and Kiss of the Spider Woman, has died of complications from the coronavirus. Thank you for your patience. Please log in to listen to this story. He was 81. Full Disclaimer. McNally, who last year received the Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in … “He’s a true giant in our art form, and he will be missed and we are lucky that we had him and had his art for as long as we did.”. The Zero Canada Project provides resources to help you manage your health, your finances and your family life as Canada reopens. The 74th Annual Tony Awards Nominations to Be Announced on Thursday, October 15th; ... By Terrence McNally. His breakout, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, about a romance between a waitress and short order cook, was later adapted into a film starring Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer. New York University gave him an honorary doctorate in 2019. Terrence McNally was born on November 3, 1938 in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA. Scoop a new vibe in the numbers and do today’s Daily Sudoku. Mr. McNally was at the Actors Studio when he was hired by novelist John Steinbeck to be a tutor and guardian to his sons. Mr. McNally was a lung-cancer survivor who lived with chronic inflammatory lung disease. Your subscription helps The Globe and Mail provide readers with critical news at a critical time. He was married to Thomas Kirdahy. CNN's Deborah Doft contributed to this report. His The Visit was a meditation on revenge. McNally, one of America’s great playwrights whose prolific career included winning Tony Awards for the plays "Love! Terrence McNally, one of America’s great playwrights whose prolific career included winning Tony Awards for the plays "Love Thank you for your continued support. Read our. Mr. McNally and his partner, Thomas Kirdahy, married in Vermont in 2003, and again in Washington in 2010. Playwright Terrence McNally sits for a portrait at his home on March 2, 2020, in New York. Avoid the use of toxic and offensive language. Andrew Hamilton, president of New York University, told the crowd that day that Mr. McNally put a “unique stamp on American drama by probing the urgent need for connection that resonates at the core of human experience.”. (AP Photo/H. Give your brain a workout and do today’s Daily Cryptic Crossword. His It’s Only a Play was a valentine to theatre-making. In the interest of public health and safety, all our coronavirus news articles are free for anyone to access. That means: If you do not see your comment posted immediately, it is being reviewed by the moderation team and may appear shortly, generally within an hour. Valour! If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support. His love of opera informed his works Golden Age, The Lisbon Traviata and Master Class, which explored the life of opera diva Maria Callas. Charles Sykes… Terrence McNally, one of America's great playwrights whose prolific career included winning Tony Awards for the plays Love! TERRENCE McNally, who has died aged 81 from complications of Covid-19, was a Tony award-winning playwright, whose slow burn of a career moved through controversy to commercial success. Produced by Manhattan Theatre Club, Lynne Meadow, Barry Grove, and Jujamcyn Theatres. He was 24. His speech was not like those of young progressives, but still worth hearing. Terrence McNally, the four-time Tony Award -winning playwright and one of the leading chroniclers on stage of modern gay life, has died of complications … His absurdist, symbolic melodrama about good and evil confounded critics. One of Mr. McNally’s earliest theatre attempts was writing the book for a musical adaptation of Mr. Steinbeck’s East of Eden, which was called Here’s Where I Belong and lasted only a single performance on Broadway in 1968. This is a space where subscribers can engage with each other and Globe staff. "Terrence McNally was a legend among legends on Broadway," actor. (1971), The Tubs (1974), Bad Habits (1974) and The Ritz (1975), a farce set in a gay bathhouse that ran more than a year on Broadway and became Mr. McNally’s first produced screenplay. 1993 / Book (Musical) Kiss of the Spider Woman--The Musical by Terrence McNally. Valour! Terrence McNally (Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions) This May 14, 2006 file photo shows Tony Award winning playwright Terrence McNally in front of the Philadelphia Theater Company in Philadelphia. He was an openly gay writer who wrote about homophobia, love and AIDS. Writer Terrence McNally won a 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award at the Tony Awards. NEW YORK — Terrence McNally, one of America’s great playwrights whose prolific career included winning Tony Awards for the plays “Love! McNally, who last year received the Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, died in a hospital in Sarasota, Florida, according to his publicist, Matt Polk. Chita Rivera starred in all three. Terrence McNally, Tony Award-Winning Playwright, Dies From Coronavirus Complications McNally's career spanned more than 60 years across the world of entertainment. The Manhattan Theater Club, the first company to consider staging it, received death threats and temporarily cancelled the production before enjoying a successful run. Comments that violate our community guidelines will not be posted. McNally's publicist said in a statement sent to AFP that the esteemed artist was a lung cancer survivor who lived with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In 2018, Mr. McNally was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He was 81. Acclaimed playwright Terrence McNally died Tuesday due to complications from the coronavirus.He was 81. Mr. McNally died Tuesday at Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Sarasota, Fla., according to representative Matt Polk. FILE - This May 1, 2019 file photo shows playwright Terrence McNally at the 73rd annual Tony Awards "Meet the Nominees" press day in New York. With wit and thoughtfulness, he tackled the strains in families, war and relationships and probed the spark and costs of creativity. If you are looking to give feedback on our new site, please send it along to, To view this site properly, enable cookies in your browser. Valour! In the interests of public health and safety, our coronavirus news articles are free for anyone to access. Click here to subscribe. He was 81. McNally, who last year received the Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, died in a hospital in Sarasota, Florida, according to his publicist, Matt Polk. Updated 2252 GMT (0652 HKT) March 24, 2020. Some of his Broadway musical adaptations include The Full Monty, adapted from the British film and scored by David Yazbek; Catch Me if You Can, based on the Steven Spielberg film, and scored by composer Marc Shaiman and lyricist Scott Wittman; and Ragtime, the musical based on the novel by E.L. Doctorow, which won four Tony Awards. It was a time of oppression. About Terrence McNally. Mr. McNally sometimes was controversial, especially with his play Corpus Christi, which depicts a modern-day Jesus as a gay man. Kick back with the Daily Universal Crossword. 351 King Street East, Suite 1600, Toronto, ON Canada, M5A 0N1, Just $1.99 per week for the first 24 weeks, var select={root:".js-sub-pencil",control:".js-sub-pencil-control",open:"o-sub-pencil--open",closed:"o-sub-pencil--closed"},dom={},allowExpand=!0;function pencilInit(o){var e=arguments.length>1&&void 0!==arguments[1]&&arguments[1];select.root=o,dom.root=document.querySelector(select.root),dom.root&&(dom.control=document.querySelector(select.control),dom.control.addEventListener("click",onToggleClicked),setPanelState(e),window.addEventListener("scroll",onWindowScroll),dom.root.removeAttribute("hidden"))}function isPanelOpen(){return dom.root.classList.contains(select.open)}function setPanelState(o){dom.root.classList[o?"add":"remove"](select.open),dom.root.classList[o? “The world needs artists more than ever to remind us what truth and beauty and kindness really are.”, F. Murray Abraham, the Oscar winner who appeared on Broadway in The Ritz, said of Mr. McNally: “His plays are a pleasure to do, but what he says is important, too. Terrence McNally, left, and husband Tom Kirdahy arrive at the 73rd annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, June 9, 2019, in New York … His 2014 Broadway play, Mothers and Sons – revisiting Mr. McNally’s 1990 TV movie, Andre’s Mother, which won him an Emmy Award – explores the relationship between a mother and her dead son’s former gay partner. Mr. McNally was born in St. Petersburg, Fla., and grew up in Corpus Christi, Tex., listening to radio broadcasts of The Green Hornet and the Metropolitan Opera. Terrence McNally, a four-time Tony Award-winning playwright, died on Tuesday of complications from the coronavirus. He also contributed to opera as a librettist – The Food of Love in 1999 with music by Robert Beaser, Dead Man Walking in 2000 with music by Jake Heggie and 2015’s Great Scott with Mr. Heggie. Readers can also interact with The Globe on Facebook and Twitter . Multiple Tony-winning playwright Terrence McNally dies at 81 One of America’s great playwrights, a writer who won Tony Awards for the plays "Love By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer March 25, 2020, 12:11 AM A string of successes followed, including Where Has Tommy Flowers Gone? He was 81. Compassion! Audio for this article is not available at this time. He died on March 24, 2020 in Sarasota, Florida. Terrence McNally, one of America’s great playwrights whose prolific career included winning Tony Awards for the plays Love! Playwright Terrence McNally is seen at the 73rd annual Tony Awards 'Meet the Nominees' press day, in New York, in a May 1, 2019 file photo. And he’s like a fountain he keeps on writing and writing and writing.”, Tributes poured in online from Broadway figures, including from fellow playwrights Paula Vogel, who called Mr. McNally “the soul of kindness” and Lin-Manuel Miranda, who called Mr. McNally “a giant in our world, who straddled plays and musicals deftly.” Actor Conrad Ricamora described Mr. McNally as “the most kind, brilliant person to work with” and talk-show host James Corden tweeted: “He was an absolute gentleman and his commitment to the theatre was unwavering. Some information in it may no longer be current. We aim to create a safe and valuable space for discussion and debate. Compassion!" Compassion! We aim to have all comments reviewed in a timely manner. This is a space where subscribers can engage with each other and Globe staff. Terrence McNally with his husband Tom Kirdahy at the 2019 Tony Awards in New York City. You came together overnight. His play The Ritz became one of the first plays with unapologetic gay characters to reach a mainstream audience. He was a writer and actor, known for American Playhouse (1980), Frankie and Johnny (1991) and The Ritz (1976). Our voices were heard, and we won.” Holding his Tony high, he said, “So this is for freedom. (CNN) Acclaimed playwright Terrence McNally died Tuesday due to complications from the coronavirus. (CNN)Acclaimed playwright Terrence McNally died Tuesday due to complications from the coronavirus. He collaborated three times with legendary composer John Kander and lyricist Freb Ebb – on The Rink, Kiss of the Spider Woman and The Visit. Also available in French and Mandarin. McNally died Tuesday at Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Sarasota, […] He was 81. Valour! McNally, one of America’s great playwrights whose prolific career included winning Tony Awards for the plays "Love! He won four Tonys and an Emmy. Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s comment community. "remove":"add"](select.closed),dom.control.setAttribute("aria-expanded",o)}function onToggleClicked(){var l=!isPanelOpen();setPanelState(l)}function onWindowScroll(){window.requestAnimationFrame(function() {var l=isPanelOpen(),n=0===(document.body.scrollTop||document.documentElement.scrollTop);n||l||!allowExpand?n&&l&&(allowExpand=!0,setPanelState(!1)):(allowExpand=!1,setPanelState(!0))});}pencilInit(".js-sub-pencil",!1); // via darwin-bg var slideIndex = 0; carousel(); function carousel() { var i; var x = document.getElementsByClassName("subs_valueprop"); for (i = 0; i < x.length; i++) { x[i].style.display = "none"; } slideIndex++; if (slideIndex> x.length) { slideIndex = 1; } x[slideIndex - 1].style.display = "block"; setTimeout(carousel, 2500); } //, Stage stars like Terrence McNally, Paula Vogel hit the road. He was 81.McNally, a … It was revived on Broadway in 2019 starring Audra McDonald. McNally won two Tony Awards for writing the books for the musicals "Ragtime" in 1998 and "Kiss of the Spider Woman" in 1993. However, The Globe depends on subscription revenue to support our journalism. Due to technical reasons, we have temporarily removed commenting from our articles. Mr. McNally’s first Broadway play, And Things That Go Bump in the Night, didn’t fare much better in 1965. “You came together when I was in trouble. Compassion!" Thank you.”. When picking up his Ragtime Tony Award, Mr. McNally thanked the theatre community for its outcry. Follow topics and authors relevant to your reading interests. Valour! He was 81. Mr. McNally’s Lips Together, Teeth Apart, about two married couples who spend a weekend on Fire Island, was a landmark play about AIDS. Terrence McNally (November 3, 1938 – March 24, 2020) was an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Valour! earned him another Tony Award for its portrayal of eight gay men facing issues of fidelity, love and happiness. He will be missed by so many of us.”, Composer Tom Kitt, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Next to Normal, told the Associated Press he considers Mr. McNally “irreplaceable.”, “Terrence was an extraordinary man and a brilliant artist,” Mr. Kitt said. He rebounded with the 1969 off-Broadway hit Next, a two-character comedy about a reluctant draftee reporting for an army physical. Switch gears. Terrence McNally, a four-time Tony Award-winning playwright, died on Tuesday of complications from the coronavirus. McNally, a … His play Love! We hope to have this fixed soon. Terrence McNally, who passed away this winter, is the recipient of four Tony Awards for Love!Valour! The Broadway career of Terrence McNally earned him individual recognition at the 2019 Tony Awards, when he received a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in Theatre. In 2017, his musical reworking of the film Anastasia landed on Broadway. FILE - This May 14, 2006 file photo shows Tony Award winning playwright Terrence McNally in front of the Philadelphia Theater Company in Philadelphia. Compassion!” and “Master Class” and the musicals “Ragtime” and “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” has died of complications from the coronavirus. This article was published more than 6 months ago. Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s comment community. Tony-winning playwright Terrence McNally has died at 81 from complications of coronavirus. Newsday called it “ugly, perverted, tasteless.” It closed in less than three weeks. Compassion! “A lot of people stop learning in life, and that’s their tragedy.”. NEW YORK: Terrence McNally, a revered American playwright, librettist and screenwriter whose long career earned him four Tony awards and an Emmy, died Tuesday following coronavirus complications.He was 81 years old. His plays and musicals explored how people connect – or fail to.