I woke up to a sad Facebook posting this morning that a friend of mine had passed away. His name was Michael Kuchwara, theater critic for the news wire service Associated Press.
Whenever I think of Mike, I always go to the night he took me along to the Papermill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey. He was going to review their production of Stephen Sondheim's "Follies," which was being considered as a possible Broadway revival (which ultimately did not happen).
"Tonight is a very important night in your musical theater education," he told me.
It was customary that Mike be given two tickets to whatever show he was going review (two on the aisle). He was very generous with that second ticket and because of that generosity, I got to see many shows (on and off Broadway), as his guest. Mike was also very encouraging in my desire to be a writer and seemed to take great pleasure in watching me taking in all that "The Theatah" had to offer. He was always especially amused when I would (often) confuse Dorothy Louden with Dorothy Lyman.
As is tradition, the lights of Broadway will be dimmed on May 25th for 1 minute (at 7pm). So fitting for a gentlemen who truly LOVED "The Theatah."
Thanks, Mike. You were a highly respected part of the Broadway community, and helped make New York City an even more special place to me than it already was.
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