I don't know much about Laurents besides he isn't well-liked in the theatre community, but I do admire his work. Rest in Peace, Mr. Laurents.Broadway.com wrote:Arthur Laurents, the legendary screenwriter, librettist and director, has died in his sleep at the age of 93, according to Deadline.com.
Laurents wrote the books to two of the most enduring musicals ever written, West Side Story and Gypsy. He also wrote the librettos to the musicals Anyone Can Whistle, Do I Hear a Waltz? (based on his play The Time of the Cuckoo), Hallelujah, Baby!, The Madwoman of Central Park West and Nick & Nora.
He also became a Tony-winning director with the smash hit ‘80s musical La Cage aux Folles. He often directed his own musicals, helming both the 1989 and 2008 Broadway revivals of Gypsy and the 2009 staging of West Side Story.
Among his Hollywood credits, Laurents wrote the screenplays to the Alfred Hitchcock film Rope, the classic romance The Way We Were and the ballet drama The Turning Point. He was nominated for an Academy Award in 1977 for the latter, which also won him a Writers Guild of America Award.
Recently, Laurents was said to be involved in making a deal with Universal Pictures to make a new feature film of Gypsy starring Barbra Streisand.
Laurents also wrote the memoirs Original Story By and Mainly on Directing.
Rest in Peace, Arthur Laurents (1917-2011)
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UmbrellaFish
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Rest in Peace, Arthur Laurents (1917-2011)
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TheSequelOfDisney
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Guess that Babs can finally do Gypsy!
But, yes, Rest in Peace Arthur.
But, yes, Rest in Peace Arthur.
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I'd love to be a fly on the wall at Laurents' funeral... I suppose we can call Mary Rodgers now...
I do respect Laurents' work (on top of "West Side Story" and "Gypsy", he also wrote the screenplay for one of my all-time favourite films, "Anastasia") but I cannot reconcile his poisonous personal attitudes. We shouldn't speak ill of the dead, but never forget this man revelled with glee in learning that Anthony Perkins had been diagnosed with AIDS.
I wouldn't speak too soon about the Babs "Gypsy". The last joke will probably be on us, and Laurents could have left the rights to his works in so much legal red-tape that it would be impossible to wrangle them free in a hurry.
I do respect Laurents' work (on top of "West Side Story" and "Gypsy", he also wrote the screenplay for one of my all-time favourite films, "Anastasia") but I cannot reconcile his poisonous personal attitudes. We shouldn't speak ill of the dead, but never forget this man revelled with glee in learning that Anthony Perkins had been diagnosed with AIDS.
I wouldn't speak too soon about the Babs "Gypsy". The last joke will probably be on us, and Laurents could have left the rights to his works in so much legal red-tape that it would be impossible to wrangle them free in a hurry.