Winner of a record-setting 21 Tony Awards with over 50 musicals, plays and operas to his credit, Harold Prince “belongs on the Mount Rushmore of living directors.” No other person has shaped Broadway as has Prince, and perhaps no other person can bring to audiences a more engaging and informed account of American theater.

His extraordinary resume includes many of the most important musicals of the past six decades, from West Side Story (’50s), Fiddler on the Roof and Cabaret (’60s), Follies, Sweeney Todd and Evita (’70s), to Phantom of the Opera (’80s) and a definitive revival of Showboat (’90s).

His latest work includes directing Stephen Sondheim’s musical, Bounce, which opened in summer 2003 at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre. He also directed Hollywood Arms, a 2002 play written by Carol Burnett and her daughter, Carrie Hamilton, based on Burnett’s 1986 memoir, One More Time.
 
In his lectures, Prince looks back on his storied career and discusses the changes that have taken place on Broadway over the years, including the impact of higher ticket prices and increased corporate investment. He also speaks of his enthusiasm for regional theater throughout America.

Prince truly has led a life in the theater — beginning in his boyhood (“Ever since I went to the theater at age 8, I enjoyed a fantasy life, sitting at home inventing plays with tin soldiers from the five-and-dime.”), through a tour of duty in Korea (“When I got back, the troop ship landed in Hoboken, N.J. I went straight to the theater, in uniform, carrying my duffel bag.”) and into his still-flourishing prime.
 

Totally captivated both morning and evening audiences.

The Cleveland Playhouse

His other musicals include the Broadway hits Parade, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Candide, A Little Night Music, Pacific Overtures, Company, She Loves Me, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Pajama Game, Damn Yankees and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Fiorello!

Prince has directed many plays, including The Visit, The Great God Brown, End of the World and Hollywood Arms, a 2002 play written by Carol Burnett and her daughter, Carrie Hamilton, based on Burnett’s 1986 memoir, One More Time. Off-Broadway he directed his own play, Grandchild of Kings, and the musical, The Petrified Prince, at the Public Theater.

He directed two films, Something for Everyone and A Little Night Music, as well as operas for the Metropolitan Opera, The New York City Opera, the Houston Grand Opera and the Vienna Staatsoper. He also directed the original production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera in London and on Broadway and eight other productions worldwide, including most recently in Las Vegas.

A trustee for the New York Public Library and a member of the National Council for the Arts for six years, Prince was a 1994 Kennedy Center Honoree and a recipient of the National Medal of Arts in 2000. In June of 2006, he made room on his mantle for yet another honor — the special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, which was presented to him at the 60th annual Tony Awards.

Prince's newest show, LoveMusik, about the love affair and marriage of composer Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya, will debut on Broadway in spring 2007.