HAL PRINCE

HAL PRINCE
On May 13, 1954, at the age of ?? Hal Prince produced his first musical on Broadway, The Pajama Game, based on the popular novel 7 ½ Cents, a story of union strength in the garment industry. The music was written by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. It had the good run of 1063 performances. It would be followed the next year with an opening on May 5th by Damn Yankees, based on The Yankees Take the Penant. Based on the Faust legend of someone selling their soul to the devil for special powers, Damn Yankees ran for 1019 performances and introduced the world to the talents of Gwen Verdon singing Whatever Lola Wants and Ray Walton playing the role of the devil. Hal would go on to produce, among other major hits, Fiddler on the Roof, Sweeney Todd, and recently Phantom of the Opera. Hal’s meteoric rise to the pinnacle of Broadway’s producers came about in a most unusual way, when he approached George Abbott as a young man to be an apprentice. Abbott had no job openings for a young inexperienced upstart, so Prince determined to work a year at no salary to glean from the master the business. It worked.