Theatre Register

Mervyn Nelson

Shows · Mervyn Nelson

Director 1915–1991 On stage 1940–1943

Mervyn Nelson (c. 1915 – 17 August 1991) was a stage actor, writer, director and producer. At the age of five, he started acting in vaudeville theatre, and then performed in Broadway theatre shows during the 1940s and 1950s, including Early to Bed in 1943. His stage performances were well reviewed in Billboard. In 1950, he wrote and produced an all-black revue called The Jazz Train which told the story of the history of jazz music and featured musical accompaniment from a number of top jazz performers. He also wrote and directed the 1971 cult gay drama movie Some of My Best Friends Are.... He died at the age of 76 on 17 August 1991. Mervyn is buried in Locust Valley Cemetery, Locust Valley,…

On stage 3 productions, 3 years

1940 Tis of Thee Maxine Elliotts Theatre · Original · directed by Esther Junger 1 perf.
1942 New Faces of 1943 Ritz Theatre · Original · directed by Lawrence Hurdle 94 perf.
1943 The Snark Was a Boojum 48th Street Theatre · Original · directed by Alexander Kirkland 5 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

Tickets, Please!

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 literature5 passages

  • Direction : Mervyn Nelson; Producer : Arthur Klein; Choreography : Joan Mann (choreography for “Washington Square” and “Spring Has Come” by Dorothy Jarnac); Scenery : Ralph Alswang; Costumes : Peggy Morrison; Lighting : Uncredited; Musical Direction : Phil Ingallsebooks/Dietz, Dan/Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals, The - Dan Dietz.txt
  • Director and Producer : Mervyn Nelson; Choreography : Paul Steffen; Scenery and Lighting : Peggy Clark; Costumes : Frank Thompson; Musical Direction : Milton Rosenstockebooks/Dietz, Dan/Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals, The - Dan Dietz.txt
  • Direction : Mervyn Nelson; Producer : William L. Taub; Choreography : Tommy Wonder; Scenery : Nikki Eastman; Costumes : George Drew; Lighting : Unknown; Musical Direction : Otto Frohlichebooks/Dietz, Dan/Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals, The - Dan Dietz.txt
  • Direction : Mervyn Nelson; Producers : Mark Kroll and Charles Conaway; Choreography : Bob Copsey; Scenery and Costumes : Raoul Pene du Bois; Lighting : Louis Popeil; Musical Direction : Ray O’Brienebooks/Dietz, Dan/Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals, The - Dan Dietz.txt
  • Idea conceived by Rosetta Lenoire; Directed and Staged by Mervyn Nelson; Set, Conrad McLaren; Lighting, Adrian Durlester; Costumes, Richard Bexfield; Choreography, Bil Jamis; Administrative Assistant, Virginia M. Lynch; Vocal Direction, Seymour Penzner.theatre-pdfs/Theatre World/Theatre World, 1972-73 Season, v. 29 (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.
  • Any portrait. 1,626 of 7,139 people have one, so this is the usual case rather than the exception.
  • 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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