Tony Winner and Circle in the Square Co-Founder Theodore Mann Dies at 87

Theodore Mann, co-founder and Artistic Director of Circle in the Square, passed away on February 24. He was 87 years old. Broadway theaters will dim their lights on at 8PM on February 24 in his honor for one minute.

Mann has produced and/or directed more than 250 productions including Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Mourning Becomes Electra, The Glass Menagerie, Awake and Sing!, The Night of the Iguana, Sweeney Todd, The Rose Tattoo, True West, The Iceman Cometh and A Streetcar Named Desire.

In 1951, he co-founded Circle in the Square Theatre with Jose Quintero. The two are credited for beginning the off-Broadway movement with their production of Tennesse Williams' Summer and Smoke.  In 1963, Mann founded Circle in the Square Theatre School, a training program for young actors.

Mann received the 1957 Tony Award for Best Play for Long Day’s Journey Into Night and a 1976 Special Tony Award acknowledging 25 continuous years of quality productions at Circle in the Square. He has been nominated for an additional 12 Tony Awards and 7 Drama Desk Awards. In 1999, he received the Tao House Award from the Eugene O’Neill Foundation for his distinguished career in theatre and for his dedication to the works of O’Neill. In November 2007, Applause Books published Mann's Memoir, Journeys In The Night: Creating a New American Theatre with Circle In The Square, which tells the story of his partnership with Jose Quintero and the rise of the Circle in the Square Theatre from Off-Broadway to Broadway.

Mann was married to Patricia Brooks. He is survived by two sons Andrew and Jonathan and five grandchildren.