Hal Prince's 36-year Playbill streak ends with the closing of Merrily We Roll Along

The director and producer's name has been on Broadway Playbills for nearly four decades, except for the year theaters were shut down due to the pandemic. With the closing of Merrily We Roll Along earlier in July, however, Hal Prince's name will not feature in the printed magazine for the first time since 1987.

The end of an era

Harold Smith Prince began his theatrical career as an assistant stage manager to George Abbott with whom he co-produced the Tony Award-winning 1955 musical, The Pajama Game. He continued to receive Tonys for his work through the following decades before finally stepping out on his own A Family Affair (1962) and She Loves Me (1964).

His award-winning streak was later matched with his name consistently appearing in Broadway Playbills, beginning with the musical Roza in 1987. This was followed by the 1987 revival of Cabaret and the 1988 transfer of The Phantom of the Opera to Broadway, cementing Prince's name as a mainstay in the Theater District.

"Extra! Extra! Read all about it!"

Playbill is a monthly magazine that publishes theater-related news. Most importantly, the publication circulates printed copies with details of currently playing shows, generally distributed at theater doors. Since its beginnings in the late 1800s, the magazine has become a permanent fixture at all Broadway and Off-Broadway theaters, with its reach extending outside New York City to theaters across the country.

Prince's extensive work in theater saw his name featured in several of Playbill's published works but his nearly-four-decade streak is still unprecedented, considering his final Broadway credit was the 2015 musical Prince of Broadway. The director and producer passed away in 2019, leaving behind an unparalleled theatrical legacy that continues to inspire and shape the world.

Composer, lyricist, and playwright Jason Robert Brown once said of Prince, "More than anything else, when I think about Hal, I think about his belief in theater. He believed in what it could do." Prince's body of work, which includes titles like West Side Story, Take Her, She's Mine, Baker Street, Don Juan, Sweeny Todd, Evita, Kiss of the Spider Woman, and Showboat, not only shaped modern theater, it showcased the artist's social and political views through art and entertainment in a way that helped inform modern culture itself.

Prince's absence has already left a gaping hole in the tapestry of Broadway and seeing a Playbill without his name feels like a bittersweet ending to a remarkable run. Thankfully, the director and producer's work continues to be showcased on Broadway. This includes Cabaret at the August Wilson Theatre (for which Prince isn't officially credited) and the upcoming Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends which celebrates the titular artist's work and that of his collaborators (including Prince). The world of theater has also been pushing for a theater in the director's honor, which would further cement the name Hal Prince in Broadway history.

Check out the revival of Cabaret at the August Wilson Theatre till May 2025.