Hal Prince Can't Take Half a Day Off? — Page 2

I agree completely with Rath. It is about the work and not the awards. For him to stop his work just to come to NY (at LEAST 2 days) would be compromising the work he's being lauded for. I think he's too much the professional to do something like that. I admire him for having his priorities in order.

As for the Kennedy Center - They would not give an award to someone who would or could not attend. It's part of the requirements laid down in the nomination process. This is why they refused to give their award to the 99 year old Irving Berlin. That was the year I stopped having any respect or admiration for their award.

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PurdyBacall --- You said it best.

Can any of you imagine what it would do to a cast & crew's morale if their director said, "Sorry, gang, but I'll be missing our final rehearsal before previews start, so I can stand at a podium and accept an award on the other side of the country?"

So many of you seem to think it's egotistical for him NOT to show up.

I see it as just the opposite, under these circumstances. And this is not your "father's Phantom" here. It's been overhauled and reimagined for this inflated production. Good or bad remains to be seen, but they can't all go on auto-pilot right now. That would be suicidal.

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"...to accept an award that could have been given to 100 other people who actually would have shown up?"

That's an idiotic statement. The award's not being given because the person showed up but because of Prince's singular, significant, and historic contributions to theater.


Winston Smith
Oceania