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Director-producer Hal Prince dies; Broadway mourns 'giant'

By Karen Butler
"Phantom of the Opera" collaborators Hal Prince (L) and Andrew Lloyd Webber attend a Broadway event in 2006. Prince died Wednesday at the age of 91. File Photo by Ezio Petersen/UPI
"Phantom of the Opera" collaborators Hal Prince (L) and Andrew Lloyd Webber attend a Broadway event in 2006. Prince died Wednesday at the age of 91. File Photo by Ezio Petersen/UPI | License Photo

July 31 (UPI) -- Famed Broadway director and producer Harold "Hal" Prince has died in Iceland at the age of 91.

His spokesman confirmed Prince's death to The New York Times and told the New York Post it occurred after a brief illness.

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Prince was a 21-time, Tony Award-winner known for his stage productions Phantom of the Opera,The Pajama Game, Evita, A Family Affair, Damn Yankees, Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, West Side Story, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music and Sweeney Todd.

"Harold Prince was a director and producer, and a giant on #Broadway. His loss is unfathomable," the Tonys Twitter account said.

"As per his wishes, there will be no funeral but there will be a celebration of his life this fall with the people he loved most, the members of the theatrical community that he was a part of for seven decades," Prince's representative said in a statement.

Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber were among the luminaries to remember Prince on Twitter.

"Farewell Hal. Not just the prince of musicals, the crowned head who directed two of the greatest productions of my career, Evita and Phantom. This wonderful man taught me so much and his mastery of musical theatre was without equal," Webber posted.

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"This man is responsible for so many of us loving and living in the theater. The loss of a giant. So much gratitude for everything he gave us. RIP Hal Prince," singer and actor Josh Groban wrote.

"I am saddened beyond words. There are some people you feel we will never be without. Hal is one of them. I owe so much to him. He knows my love for him. #HalPrince #Broadway," said actress Chita Rivera.

"The great Hal Prince passed away. He was the producer (and often director) of so many shows I loved," actor and writer Seth Rudetsky tweeted.

"RIP our dear Hal Prince. You inspired. You will ALWAYS inspire," offered Kristin Chenoweth.

"So sad that we have lost the great Hal Prince. Such energy, such passion, totally inspiring," rock star Sting said.

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