Broadway Theaters to Dim Lights in Memory of Late Producer Martin Richards

The Broadway community will mourn legendary producer Martin Richards, who died November 26 at the age of 80, by dimming the theater marquee lights on November 27 for one minute at exactly 7 PM.

Richards’ productions of Sweeney Todd, La Cage aux Folles and The Will Rogers Follies won Tonys for Best Musical. He also received Best Musical nominations for On the Twentieth Century, Grand Hotel and Sweet Smell of Success and a Best Play nomination for the Pulitzer Prize winner Crimes of the Heart. In total, his shows won more than 40 Tony Awards. His most recent Broadway credit was the 2005 biographical musical Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life.

Richards also served as a producer on the film version of Chicago, for which he won an Academy Award in 2003. His other film producing credits include The Shining, Boys From Brazil and Fort Apache, The Bronx.

Richards is survived by his brother Bruce Klein and a niece and nephew. Memorial donations may be made to the New York Center for Children or the Mary Lea Johnson Richards Institute.