The Man Who Transformed Broadway

Harold Smith Prince was the George Kennan of modern musical theater. He was present at the post–World War II creation of a brand of boffo showmanship that came to dominate Broadway in the days when Broadway was still a dominant force—in some ways, the dominant force—in American popular music and culture. Prince prevailed through changing tastes and times—the rise of rock and roll and the counterculture—and helped pioneer the creation of the “concept musical,” in which plot and character are subordinate to style or theme.

And when he died, at 91, yesterday in Iceland, Prince could claim more Tony Awards (21) than any other creator or producer, and bragging rights as the original director of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s , the longest-running musical in Broadway