Categories
Acting

A Prince Among Men

They will dim the lights on Broadway in honor of the passing of Hal Prince. Mr. Prince’s many achievements and his collection of honors will be well documented in many publications, and there will be tributes of all kinds in all media, to which I add my own small and oblique one here.

th

I never met Mr. Prince, but I knew him to be an extraordinary man of theatre, outstanding in his courtesy. I’ll tell you why.

Because he wrote back to me.

No fewer than three times.

Each time by return of post.

When I arrived in New York in 1999, I put up a one-man show in an off-off-Broadway space in the upper 50s on 8th Avenue.

Naturally I sent mailing pieces to as many industry professionals as I could find addresses for, while developing a monologue with which I hustled the discount seekers in Times Square in the manner of one of the too-many performers at the Edinburgh Festival. An excerpt would be:

“Nicole Kidman naked live onstage! – Not in this show, but it’s a matter of global importance that you see it tonight!”

Among the many postage stamps in which I invested, one was fixed to a postcard addressed to Mr. Prince whom I knew by reputation of course. He knew me not at all, not enough to distinguish me from a bar of soap.

Hal Prince wrote a personal card back. By return of post. Let me say that again.

By return of post.

He regretted not being able to see the show and he wished me well with it. This exercise was repeated three times. Each time, I confidently expected that he would file my postcards in the bin and ignore them. But no, each time a personal hand-written message came back with a polite regret and an explanation of his other commitments.

It’s difficult to convey how extraordinary this is. And what an outstanding example of good manners way beyond usual practice in theatre circles. For example:

When I graduated from the Central School in Britain some time back in the last millennium I wrote to each of the 120 repertory theatres in the country (of which about 30 remain). I filed their word-processed rote-replies under F.O.A.D.

I wrote to the head of casting at the RSC once a week for two years, eventually I was granted a general interview (not an audition, that never came), where the opening gambit was, “Now, have you written to me?”

How to describe this astonishing attention to detail from a man well known to be a workaholic and one of the giants of the business? And which, by the way was hugely encouraging to a struggling actor trying to come to notice.

I think the phrase I want is: noblesse oblige

14 replies on “A Prince Among Men”

Thanks for the remembrance. When I was a teenager I saw the original Broadway production of Cabaret, which Prince had so masterfully directed. It remains one of the brightest memories in my theater-going life.

Extraordinary! I wish my record has been as immaculate: unsought scripts unread; CVs – + glossies, often – acknowledged, yes, but the CVs given the once-over and the glossies unreturned (unless with SAE); and, occasionally, yes, letters of congratulation churlishly unacknowledged; B&B letters not always written, and too often sent ridiculously late.

À nos moutons: 1) a date, or dates, or suggestions for such, for dinner (or lunch) here; and 2) did/do I have the correct address? I’m enquiring about mode of transport: if air, you should have received it some time ago; if sea (I had an idea sea-mail had been abandoned), we can wait.

Bestest, Terry

On Thu, 1 Aug 2019 at 7:07 am, McPhillamyActorBlog wrote:

> Colin McPhillamy posted: “They will dim the lights on Broadway in honor of > the passing of Hal Prince. Mr. Prince’s many achievements and his > collection of honors will be well documented in many publications, and > there will be tributes of all kinds in all media, to which I add my o” >

What a salute to a true gentleman of
the theatre and a Prince of Creation,
Imagination and Kindness! Thank you, Colin!❤️😴❤️

Thanks for that, Colin!

Btw, I vividly remember writing to Alan Ayckbourn shortly after graduating from Webber D, back in the mid/late 70’s. I was cast in “Move Over Mrs Markham” at the Swan, Worcester. He was still AD at the Theatre in the Round, Scarborough, and I was hoping he might come and catch a performance. He wrote back to me very promptly, in his own hand, and apologised that he would by unable to attend, due to being in New York for the opening of his latest play. These guys are Princes among men!

Lesley xx

Sent from my iPhone

>

Wonderful Colin. I had a similar response when I wrote to Sada Thompson after I saw her in a show. I was fan girling. And she wrote me a lovely Christmas card in response. It’s how I hoped she’d be. I’m so glad to read of Mr. Prince and has generous spirit. Much love to you and Trish.
Beth

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *