Nine Broadway theaters will dim their lights Friday in memory of Phyllis Newman.
Newman, an actor who was also the founder of a women’s health initiative for the Actors Fund of America, passed away on Sept. 15, 2019 at age 86. The American Airlines, Broadhurst, Helen Hayes, Lunt-Fontanne, Lyric, New Amsterdam, Samuel J. Friedman, St. James, and Vivian Beaumont Theatres will all dim their lights for one minute on Sep. 27 at 7:45 p.m.
“Broadway has lost a force of nature who was as much a leading lady offstage as on,” Thomas Schumacher, chairman of The Broadway League, said in the press release. “Beyond her indelible mark as an actor, it’s impossible to overstate the extraordinary good that Phyllis Newman did over 30 years for our community through The Actors Fund and The Phyllis Newman Women’s Initiative.”
As an actor of stage and screen, Newman’s Broadway credits include “Broadway Bound,” “On the Town,” “Bells are Ringing” and “Subways Are for Sleeping,” for which she won a 1962 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.
She was also the first recipient of the Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award in 2009 for her founding of the Phyllis Newman Women’s Initiative.
Newman was married to writer and lyricist Adolph Green from 1960 until his death in 2002. They are survived by their children Amanda Green and Adam Green.
