Theatre Scrapbook: Howard Ashman and Marvin Hamlisch

October 18, 2012 by

Howard Ashman and Marvin Hamlisch from 1986. Photo by Nancy Kaye.

Author/Lyricist/Director Howard Ashman and Composer Marvin Hamlisch are featured in this photo preparing for Smile, which was their new Broadway-bound musical based on the 1975 movie of the same name about that uniquely American institution — the beauty pageant.  Smile was produced by Lawrence Gordon, Richard M. Kagan, and Sidney L. Shlendker.

Following a pre-Broadway tryout at Baltimore’s Morris Mechanic Theater (September 30 – November 1), Smile began performances at Broadway’s Lunt-Fontanne Theater (205 West 46 Street) on Tuesday evening, November 11. The original production closed on January 3, 1987 after only 48 performances.

Howard Ashman passed away March 14, 1991.  He was best known for writing the lyrics to Little Shop of Horrors (1982), Disney’s Little Mermaid (1989), and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (1991).

Marvin Hamlisch passed away August 7, 2012.  He, of course, was most famous for being the composer of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning musical, A Chorus Line.

Both artists left the theatre community too soon.

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About Mark Beachy

Mark Beachy is the publisher and video producer of the MD Theatre Guide and the NY Theatre Guide.

In 1997 he wrote the play, music, and lyrics in a musical called, “’Bout Baltimore.” This musical won the WMAR TV Channel 2 and Pumpkin Theatre Baltimore Bicentennial Playwriting contest and was produced as a 1-hour television special.

He has directed over 40 productions, including shows for Pumpkin Theatre, Timonium Dinner Theatre, Howard County Center for the Arts, and the Baltimore Children's Theatre where he was the founder and producer for 7 years.

Before starting the MTG in March of 2010, Mark was the performing arts reporter for the Baltimore Examiner.

As a professional actor he has appeared on TV nationally, including on Discovery Health as "Jerry Baldwin" on I Was Dead, “Officer Nunham” on America’s Most Wanted’s Top Cops 2009 and “Alexander T. Crane” in a Japanese TV documentary about Edgar Allan Poe.