Lonny Price

Lonny Price (born March 9, 1959) is an American actor, director and writer, primarily in theatre. He is best known for his New York directing work, including Sunset Boulevard, Sweeney Todd, Company, and Sondheim! The Birthday Concert. As an actor, he is perhaps best known for his creation of the role of Charley Kringas in the Broadway musical Merrily We Roll Along, Neil Kellerman in Dirty Dancing, and Ronnie Crawford in The Muppets Take Manhattan.

Biography

Early life Price was born in New York City, the son of Edie L. (Greene), a merchandise manager, and Murray A. Price, a car leasing company owner. Price grew up in Fresh Meadows, New York and Metuchen, New Jersey. He attended the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts, and the Juilliard School, which he only attended for a year in order to begin pursuing acting professionally.

Acting career His early career was spent performing in Off-Broadway productions, including Class Enemy in 1979, for which he won a Theater World Award for outstanding stage debut.

His first major Broadway credit was the ill-fated Stephen Sondheim/Hal Prince/George Furth musical Merrily We Roll Along (1981), which underwent constant changes during an unusually long preview period and closed after only sixteen performances. His next show, the Athol Fugard play "Master Harold"...and the Boys—in which he portrayed a South African student opposite Danny Glover and Zakes Mokae as the family servants—ran for eight months.

Possibly his most significant Off-Broadway stage credit as an actor is the William Finn – James Lapine musical Falsettoland as Mendel in 1990.

Price's film and television credits include major supporting roles in The Muppets Take Manhattan and Dirty Dancing, and guest appearances on The Golden Girls and Law & Order, among others.

In 1989, he appeared as Jimmy Durante in the musical biography Durante.

Directing career

Price made his directorial debut with the Off-Broadway revival of The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N in 1989 for the American Jewish Theater, followed by The Rothschilds and Juno, both of which received Outer Critics Circle nominations for Best Revival.

Price served as Associate Artistic Director for the American Jewish Theatre from the late 1980s through the mid-1990s. He was artistic director at Musical Theatre Works, a non-profit theatre dedicated solely to the development of new musicals until 2002, when he became resident director.

He was a staff director for the ABC soap opera One Life to Live, for which he was part of a team that received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Drama Series Directing in 1995.

He has directed numerous musical productions, both concert and non-concert, with the New York Philharmonic, which include Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd with Patti LuPone and George Hearn in 2000, for which he won an Emmy Award, Leonard Bernstein's Candide (2004), with Kristin Chenoweth, Sir Thomas Allen, and Patti LuPone, Passion with Patti LuPone and Audra McDonald, which won an Emmy Award, and Camelot with Gabriel Byrne, Marin Mazzie, Christopher Lloyd, and Nathan Gunn, among other productions.

In 2000, Price co-wrote (with Linda Kline), directed, and starred in A Class Act, based on the life and career of composer-lyricist Edward Kleban, whose sole Broadway credit was A Chorus Line. The score consisted of songs Kleban had written for other shows that remained unproduced. After a two-month run at the Manhattan Theatre Club, it transferred to the Ambassador Theatre, where it fared less successfully and closed after three months.

In March 2010, he conceived and directed Sondheim! The Birthday Concert at the New York Philharmonic, celebrating the composer-lyricist's 80th Birthday. The PBS television broadcast was nominated for several Emmy Awards, and Price won for "Outstanding Directing For A Variety, Music Or Comedy Special".

In April 2011, he directed an acclaimed concert production of Sondheim's Company with Neil Patrick Harris, Stephen Colbert, Martha Plimpton, Christina Hendricks, and Patti LuPone, backed by the New York Philharmonic.

In 2013, he again directed Sweeney Todd at the New York Philharmonic, this time starring Emma Thompson and Bryn Terfel. The PBS telecast for Live from Lincoln Center won the Emmy Award for "Outstanding Variety, Music, Or Comedy Special".

He has directed numerous productions at the Chicago Ravinia Festival, including Sweeney Todd, Gypsy, Sunday in the Park With George, Anyone Can Whistle, Passion, and Annie Get Your Gun. Frequent collaborators for his productions include performers Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, Michael Cerveris, and George Hearn, and musical director and conductor Paul Gemignani.

He directed the 2014 Broadway production of Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill starring McDonald, who won her historic sixth Tony Award for her performance as Billie Holiday. He would subsequently stage the production in 2017 on the West End in London, again starring McDonald, as well as the HBO special. In 2016, he directed the acclaimed London revival of Sunset Boulevard starring Glenn Close, which transferred to Broadway and played a limited run in 2017.

In 2016, Price directed the documentary Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened, which chronicles the ill-fated journey of Stephen Sondheim and Harold Prince's original 1981 Broadway musical Merrily We Roll Along. It played the New York Film Festival, and was named one of the New York Times Top Ten Films of 2016.

His episodic television directing work includes five episodes of Desperate Housewives and three episodes of 2 Broke Girls.

In 2019, Price directed the Roundabout Theatre Company premiere of the musical Scotland, PA. Price is a guest instructor at HB HB Studio.

Personal life Price is openly gay.

Credits

Broadway YearTitleRoleNotes 1981 The Survivor Rudy Merrily We Roll Along Charley Kringas 1982 "Master Harold"...and the Boys Hally 1986 Rags Ben 1987 Broadway Roy Lane Burn This Larry (replacement) 1994 Sally Marr…and her escorts Director, Writer 2001 A Class Act Ed Kleban, Director, Book Tony Award for Best Musical (nominee) 2003 Urban Cowboy Director "Master Harold"...and the Boys Director 2007 110 in the Shade Director Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical (nominee), Drama Desk Award for Best Revival of a Musical (nominee) 2014 Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill Director also West End 2017 Sunset Boulevard Director also West End 2022 Walking with Ghosts Director also West End

Off-Broadway YearTitleRoleTheater/CompanyNotes 1979 Class Enemy Rakes Perry St. Theater 1983 Up from Paradise Abel Jewish Repertory Theater 1985 Rommel’s Garden Private Ackenbaum Harold Clurman Theater 1986 Room Service Faker Englund Roundabout Theatre Company 1987 Come Blow Your Horn Buddy Baker Jewish Repertory Theatre 1989 The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N Director Jewish Repertory Theatre 1990 Falsettoland Mendel Lucille Lortel Theatre The Rothschilds Director American Jewish Theatre Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Revival (nominee) 1991 Grown Ups Director American Jewish Theatre The Matchmaker Director Roundabout Theatre Company 1992 Juno DirectorVineyard Theatre Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Revival (nominee) 1995 Pal Joey Director New York City Center 1996 The Springhill Singing Disaster Director 47th Street Theatre 1997 Visiting Mr. Green Director Union Square Theatre 1999 Finian's Rainbow Director New York City Center2000 Sweeney Todd Director David Geffen Hall A Class Act Ed Kleban, Director, Book New York City Center2004 Can-Can Director New York City Center Candide DirectorDavid Geffen Hall 2006 Kismet Director New York City Center Stopping Traffic Director Vineyard Theatre 2011 Company Director David Geffen Hall 2019 Scotland, PA DirectorRoundabout Theatre Company

Film YearTitleRoleNotes 1980 Headin’ for Broadway Steven Levy 1981 The Chosen Davey 1984 The Muppets Take Manhattan Ronnie Crawford 1987 Dirty Dancing Neil Kellerman 1988 Hot to Trot Frank 1992 Flodder in Amerika! Geoffrey 2016 Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened Director, Writer

Television

Awards and nominations