Terrence McNally

McNally as a young man

Playwright Terrence McNally standing in front of Martin Beck Theater where “The Rink” was playing in 1984, the Kander and Ebb musical for which he wrote the book, his first musical on Broadway

Playwright Terrence McNally, 81, wrote 36 plays and 10 musicals, Theatre changes the heart, then it changes the mind, and that makes people get off their asses and do something. I’m a great believer in theatre as a socially-active force.

McNally receiving Doctor of Fine Arts from NYU in 2019

Terrence McNally and his husband Tom Kirdahy kissing on the day that New York State made same-sex marriage legal

Playwright Terrence McNally, 81, has died,  reportedly from complications from the coronavirus.
His prolific career included winning Tony Awards for the plays “Love! Valour! Compassion!” and “Master Class” and the musicals “Ragtime” and “Kiss of the Spider Woman,”
His full oeuvre (see list below): 36 plays, books for 10 musicals, the librettos for four operas and several screenplays for film and television. His screenwriting was mostly adaptations of his theater, his true love.

“Theater changes hearts, that secret place where we all truly live. The world needs artists more than ever to remind us what truth and beauty and kindness really are,” he said last year when receiving the Tony Award for lifetime achievement. The full speech below.

Last year, Terrence McNally was also made an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts at New York University’s Commencement. NYU Prof (and playwright) Kristoffer Diaz read the citation:” Terrence McNally, one of theatre’s greatest contemporary playwrights, you have created over the past half-century an eclectic and prolific body of work—literally scores of plays, musicals, opera libretti, and scripts for film and television. Your razor wit and complexities of character largely explain how you created theatre that functions as family, launched the careers of great actors, and helped audiences cope with the AIDS crisis that engulfed them. You placed your unique stamp on American drama by probing the urgent need for connection that resonates at the core of human experience. From an expansive mind and generous spirit, you have created masterful and enduring art and in the process have celebrated and uplifted humankind.”

Obituary

Terrence McNally’s plays

Master Class with Zoe Caldwell and Audra McDonald, in 1995

Stephen Spinella, Justin Kirk and John Benjamin Hickey in Love! Valour! Compassion! in 1995

Bad Habits, 1974 a play on Broadway by Terrence McNally with Cynthia Harris, Doris Roberts, Emory Bass, F. Murray Abraham, and Michael Lombard

Deuce, a play by Terrence McNally in 2007, with Marian Seldes and Angela Lansbury

Catch Me If You Can with Aaron Tveit, with book by Terrence McNally

Tyne Daly in Mothers and Sons

the Broadway revival of It’s Only A Play, 2014

Bebe Neuwirth and Lee Pace in Terence McNally’s Golden Age

The Visit, with a book by Terrence McNally, a score by Kander and Ebb

Douglas Hodge and James Cusati-Moyer as Diaghilev and Nijinsky in Fire and Ice

Anastasia, a musical with a book by Terrence McNally

Marin Mazzie, Douglas Hodge, Marsha Mason in Fire and Ice,

Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune written by Terrence McNally and directed by Arin Arbus starring Audra McDonald and Michael Shannon premiere Thursday May 30 2019 at the Broadhurst Theatre New York.

And Things That Go Bump in the Night (1964)
Botticelli (1968)
Sweet Eros (1968)
Witness (1968)
¡Cuba Si! (1968)
Bringing It All Back Home (1969)
Noon (1968), second segment of Morning, Noon and Night
Next (1969)
Where Has Tommy Flowers Gone? (1971)
Bad Habits (1974)
Whiskey (1973)
The Tubs (1974), early version of The Ritz
The Ritz (1975)
Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune (1982)
It’s Only a Play (1986)
Hope (1988), second segment of Faith, Hope and Charity
The Lisbon Traviata (1989)
Prelude and Liebestod (1989)
Lips Together, Teeth Apart (1991)
A Perfect Ganesh (1993)
Hidden Agendas (1994)
Love! Valour! Compassion! (1994)
By the Sea, By the Sea, By the Beautiful Sea (1995)
Master Class (1995)
Corpus Christi (1998)
The Stendhal Syndrome (2004)
Dedication or The Stuff of Dreams (2005)
Some Men (2006)
The Sunday Times (2006)
Deuce (2007)
Unusual Acts of Devotion (2008)
Golden Age (2009)
And Away We Go (2013)
Mothers and Sons (2014)
It’s Only a Play (2014)
Fire and Air (2018)

Musical Theater:

Here’s Where I Belong (1968)
The Rink (1984)
Kiss of the Spider Woman (1992)
Ragtime (1996)
The Full Monty (2000)
The Visit (2001)
A Man of No Importance (2002)
Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life (2005)
Catch Me If You Can (2011)
Anastasia (2016)

Opera:

The Food of Love (1999), music by Robert Beaser
Dead Man Walking (2000), music by Jake Heggie
Three Decembers (2008), music by Jake Heggie
Great Scott (2015), music by Jake Heggie

Film:
The Ritz (1976)
Andre’s Mother (1988)
Frankie and Johnny (1991)
Love! Valour! Compassion! (1997)

TV:
Andre’s Mother (1990)
The Last Mile (1992)
Common Ground (2000)
Mama Malone (1984)

A huge part of me is gone. But then it’s not. Terrence wouldn’t like that. He helped to make me who I am as a person. He is the epitome of love and friendship. Only God knows how much I will miss him. 💔🙏💋 pic.twitter.com/qItUOWkEqI

— Chita Rivera (@Chita_Rivera) March 24, 2020