Theatre Register

Lloyd Richards

Shows · Lloyd Richards

Director 1919–2006 On stage 1950–1957

Lloyd George Richards (June 29, 1919 – June 29, 2006) was a Canadian-American theatre director, and actor. While head of the National Playwrights Conference, he helped cultivate many of the most famous theater writers of the 20th century. He was also the dean of the Yale School of Drama from 1979 to 1991 (later Professor Emeritus), and was the first Black director on Broadway. Among Richards' accomplishments are his staging the original production of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, debuting on Broadway to standing ovations, and in 1984 he introduced August Wilson to Broadway in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.

On stage 2 productions, 7 years

1950 A Phoenix Too Frequent / Freight Fulton Theatre · Original · directed by John O'Shaughnessy 5 perf.
1957 The Egghead Ethel Barrymore Theatre · Original · directed by Hume Cronyn 21 perf.

Each row is a staging this name appears in the cast list of, read from the production record rather than from the person record. The person record names works instead, and a work cannot say which run somebody was in — that is how Elaine Stritch ends up filed under Show Boat 1927 when she was in the 1994 revival. No row here says what part was played, because no cast list records it.

Also credited on1 work

I Had a Ball

These come off the person record, which names a work and not a production. So we can say this name is attached to the work and we cannot say which staging, or in what capacity. For a composer or a writer that is the whole career we hold; there is no cast list to find them in.

In the literature8 passages

  • Once again, Lloyd Richards was hired as director of a musical, and once again he was replaced (by Herbert Ross) without losing his directorial credit. The company included a fawn, two deer, two beagle hounds, a redbird, a raccoon, and Carmen Mathews in her latest musical flop. After two tryout dates, The Yearling arrived in New York; the…ebooks/Mandelbaum, Ken/Not Since Carrie_ Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops - Ken Mandelbaum.txt
  • Martin later said that he should never have attempted the book and that Noto should have hired an experienced librettist. Noto later claimed that Lloyd Richards was the problem. The truth was that The Yearling was highly unsuited to the musical stage. With a severe mother who had seen several of her babies die, the death of twelve-year-ol…ebooks/Mandelbaum, Ken/Not Since Carrie_ Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops - Ken Mandelbaum.txt
  • I played Belle, the tart who sang an old-fashioned song at the top of the second act. On our first day, Lloyd Richards welcomed us, and I started weeping. Colleen said to Campbell in front of everyone, “That one’s emotional, I love her already. I don’t know why she’s crying, but she’s crying.” And I told her, “I never went to university,…ebooks/Tepper, Jennifer Ashley/Untold Stories of Broadway, Part 2, The - Jennifer Ashley Tepper.txt
  • Following an impressive Broadway debut in 1959 with Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, director Lloyd Richards was hired for—nothing much. His experience with Raisin’s fine actors (Sidney Poitier, Claudia McNeil, Ruby Dee, Diana Sands) made him the logical (?) choice to helm the 1964 Buddy Hackett laff-fest I Had a Ball,theatre-pdfs/More Opening Nights on Broadway - Steven Suskin.txt
  • FREEMAN By Phillip Hayes Dean; Director, Lloyd Richards; Scenery, Douglas Higgins; Costumes, Bernard Johnson; Lighting, Shirley Prendergast; MuWilliam S. Fischer; Associate Director, Julia Miles; Technical DirecSteve Crowley; Production Assistant, David A. Butlertheatre-pdfs/Theatre World/Theatre World, 1972-73 Season, v. 29 (Willis).txt
  • TWO PLAYS BY RICHARD WESLEY Directed by Lloyd Richards; Setting, James Jokulo; Sound lech Dubaka Boehm Leigh; Stage Manager, Harrison Averytheatre-pdfs/Theatre World/Theatre World, 1973 74 Season, v. 30 (Willis).txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

  • What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — director — apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

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