News
Elaine Steinbeck, 88,
Author's Widow, Dies
Longtime Broadway production stage manager Bob Borod died suddenly after a long illness Aug. 25, at his home on Martha's
Vineyard, MA, according to friend Merle Frimark.
His first show on Broadway was Drat! The Cat! in 1965. He served as production stage manager or stage manager on countless
productions on Broadway, in Los Angeles, on national and international tours on stage and on television.
Mr. Borod's last Broadway production was Taking Sides, produced by Alexander H. Cohen in 1996. His long association with Cohen
began with Black Comedy/White Lies in 1967, included 12 productions: Sacrilege, Comedy Tonight, Accidental Death of an Anarchist,
Play Memory, Peter Brooks' Carmen, 84 Charing Cross Road, Fun City, Home, Dear World and The Unknown Soldier and His Wife.
Throughout his career, Mr. Borod worked with the top producers, directors, choreographers, composers and creative teams in the
theatre including Harold Prince, Peter Brook, Peter Hall, Michael Bennett, Milos Forman, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Strouse, Betty
Comden and Adolph Green, Sheldon Harnick, Jerry Herman, David Geffen, John Kander and John Dexter.
His credits as stage manager also include Cyrano-The Musical, Three Men on a Horse, La Bête, 3 Penny Opera, Safe Sex, Wild Honey,
Your Arms Too Short To Box With God, Clothes for a Summer Hotel, The Crucifer of Blood, Seesaw, The Little Black Book, And Miss
Reardon Drinks a Little, Applause and Coco.
He was born in Providence, RI, and graduated from Brown University in 1954. While at Brown, he performed in the school productions
and enrolled in the Air Force ROTC. Upon graduation, he entered the air force, trained as a fighter pilot and was stationed in France
in the late 1950s. Following his military service, he returned to Providence and began to work at the Warwick Summer Theatre in
production and then came to New York.
Mr. Borod is survived by his nieces Susan Jones of Wakefield, RI, Patti Gibbons of Warwick, RI, Debbi Rose of Seekonk, MA; a grand
niece and nephew and several cousins. As a production manager and
staging supervisor, he has worked on such diverse productions as Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame, MTV’s Unplugged series, and the Papal Mass in Central Park.
He has managed installations and presentations including the first VHI
Music/Fashion Awards, and has television credits for The State for MTV
and Between the Lions for WGBH. Tom is currently
general/production manager for Center Line Studios, one of New York’s foremost
scenery companies, and is on the faculty of State University of New York at
Purchase. The Scene Design Award, one of the USITT Awards
for Young Designers & Technicians in the Performing Arts, was given in honor of
Tom this year. It was awarded to Timothy R. Semon of the University of
Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music.
Mr. Kelly was an
honored participant throughout the Institute’s Annual Conference & Stage Expo
held February 13-16, 2002 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
OUTLINE OF TERMS FOR THE
42ND STREET TOUR/EQUITY SPECIAL
AGREEMENT Please call Flora Stamatiades at 212-869-8530,
extension 336, with any questions. 1) Minimum salaries will be: Actors: $ 575.00 Stage Manager: $1,200.00 First Assistant Stage Manager: $1,000.00 Second Assistant Stage Manager: $ 700.00 Effective June 30, 2003, minimum salaries will increase to: Actors: $ 592.00 Stage Manager: $1,236.00 First Assistant Stage Manager: $1,031.00 Second Assistant Stage Manager: $ 721.00 The weekly guarantee (the "purchase price" for the show) will be $295,000
plus 10% in most instances. In those cities where the weekly guarantee exceeds
$295,000, Actor salaries will be increased as follows: The total guarantee excluding royalties, if over $295,000, will be multiplied
by 0.195% (note: 0.195% of $295,000 equals approximately $575.00) and the
current actor minimum, i.e., $575.00, will be subtracted from that number and
added to the contractual salary of all Actors earning less than Production
Contract minimums inclusive of all required increments. For example, if the weekly guarantee is $320,000, that number will be
multiplied by 0.195%, for a total of $624.00. Then, $575.00 will be subtracted
from $624.00, for a total increase due of $49.00. $49.00 will then be added to
each Actor's contractual salary. (As noted above, Actors earning more than
Production Contract minimums, including increments, will not have their salaries
adjusted by this $49.00.) In Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, the meal allowances will be
increased by $70/week. Bookings after January 4, 2004 will be subject to the following conditions: No single engagement shall be longer than four weeks; and No more than 40% of the total weeks of the tour after that date shall
comprise engagements of longer than one week. The above notwithstanding, one engagement in Los Angeles may be up to 8 weeks
in length, provided that as of the fifth week, each Actor shall receive no less
than $80 per week in addition to their weekly contractual salary. Regarding the Side Letter between Equity and the League addressing the
League's request that additional compensation for playing seven performances in
seven days at St. Louis MUNY be waived, Equity has agreed to reduce compensation
for the performance on the seventh day to one-eighth (1/8) of minimum salary.
The next STAGE MANAGERS' ASSOCIATION Social Gathering in New York City will be held
on Wednesday,
Elaine Steinbeck, 88,
Author's Widow, Dies
Broadway Stage Manager Bob Borod
Tom Kelly honored
Equity special agreement
New York social gathering
By Enid Nemy
Elaine Anderson Steinbeck, who was one of the first women to become a Broadway
stage manager and who in later years kept bright the artistic torch of her late
husband John Steinbeck, died on Sunday in Manhattan. She was 88 and lived in
Manhattan and Sag Harbor, N.Y.
Mrs. Steinbeck was active in the theater before her marriage to Mr. Steinbeck in
1950 and remained so after his death in 1968.
Elaine Anderson was born in Austin, Tex., on Aug. 14, 1914. She studied drama at
the University of Texas, where she met her first husband, Zachary Scott, the
actor, when both were involved in theater there. They were married in 1934 and
several years later came east. Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne had recommended the
couple to Lawrence Langer of the Theater Guild. The result was a summer job at
the Westport Country Playhouse in Connecticut. Although the young Mrs. Scott had
acting ambitions of her own, she began working for the Theater Guild so that her
husband could pursue his acting career.
In the 1940's she was the stage manager of "Oklahoma!," becoming one of
the first women to achieve that position on Broadway. Soon after, she became one
of the first women to take a show on the road, organizing and supervising the
national tour of "Othello" with Paul Robeson.
The Scotts, who had a daughter, were divorced in 1949.
Mrs. Steinbeck met John Steinbeck during a visit to California in 1950. Mr.
Steinbeck had been asked to escort Ava Gardner to a dinner party in Carmel and
when Miss Gardner was unable to attend, the hostess asked to pick up the actress
Ann Sothern and "a friend." The friend was Elaine Anderson Scott. They were
married that same year, and until his death, Mr. Steinbeck would often raise a
glass at parties and offer a toast to Ava Gardner.
Mrs. Steinbeck, as the executor of the Steinbeck estate, worked to keep
Steinbeck's work in print and promoted books about him. Steinbeck won the Nobel
Prize for Literature in 1962.
She was also active in the Steinbeck Research Center at San Jose State
University in California and in 1996 donated an archive of more than 200 letters
sent to Steinbeck by John F. Kennedy, Harry Truman, Carl Sandburg, Alice B.
Toklas, Ingrid Bergman and others.
Mrs. Steinbeck was a board member of the Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, where
she had a summer home.
She is survived by her daughter, Waverly Scott Kaffaga, of New York City; a
stepson, Thomas Steinbeck; four grandchildren; and two sisters, Jean Boone of
New York City and Frances Atkinson of Tuscaloosa, Ala.
©2003 The New York Times Company
Broadway Stage Manager Bob Borod is Dead at 70
28-AUG-2002
--reprinted from Playbill Online
Mr. Borod was 70 years old and leaves behind credits from four decades, during which he played the vital role of stage manager --
the often unsung hero of productions.
Mr. Borod was trusted by actors obscure and popular, including Angela Lansbury, Anthony Hopkins, Richard Burton, John Lithgow, Ian
McKellen, Lauren Bacall, Alan King, Sting, John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson, Harvey Fierstein, Glenn Close, Kim Cattral, Kate Burton,
Jonathan Pryce, Patti LuPone, Bill Irwin, Jane Seymour, Michael Crawford, Tim Curry, Christopher Walken, Geraldine Page, Lynn
Redgrave, Anthony Perkins, Elliot Gould, Bonnie Franklin, Nancy Marchand, Julie Harris, Jack Klugman, Tony Randall, Joan Rivers, Ann
Reinking, Bob Dishy, Ellen Burstyn, Michele Lee, Rue McClanahan and Katharine Hepburn. He had a close personal friendship with
Hepburn since the musical, Coco, in 1969.
Cohen enlisted Mr. Borod for his productions of The Tony Awards and "Night of 100 Stars" at Radio City Music Hall. Mr. Borod had
said that he tried to retire over the years but Alex Cohen kept calling him back to projects.
Christopher Cohen, son of famed presenter Alexander Cohen, was a stage manager with Mr. Borod over several years, on projects
including the Tonys and "Night of 100 Stars." Their friendship forged in the theatre was so strong that Mr. Borod served as Cohen's
best man at his wedding last year.
"He was extremely capable and extremely calm and never the type to let anything exasperate him, no matter how large the project,"
Cohen told Playbill On-Line. "His calmness and caring were appreciated by star talent and by the producers; he was often the buffer
between producers and the stars. [In star events such as 'Night of 100 Stars'] it always meant there was an ego that had to be
carefully held and nurtured. Bob was perfect for that."
Mr. Borod was trusted in the industry as a watchdog stage manager who would maintain the vision and intentions of the director long
into the run of a hit show, Cohen said.
"Directors that had worked with Bob handed him national companies to direct on his own, " Cohen said. "He was extremely specific
and detail-oriented. Bob would never let a performance go by where someone changed their performance one iota without speaking
to them about it. It didn't matter to Bob whether it was a chorus member or Lauren Bacall, they got a note."
Directors Dexter and Hall trusted Mr. Borod enough to stage the national touring productions of
Equus, Amadeus and M. Butterfly. In
more recent years, Borod directed a production of M. Butterfly and other shows at The Vineyard Playhouse on Martha's Vineyard.
The funeral is Sept. 1 in Providence.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
Distinguished
Achievement Awards were presented to four outstanding
individuals as part of United States Institute for Theatre Technology’s 42nd Annual
Conference & Stage Expo in New Orleans, including Thomas A. Kelly.
USITT’s Distinguished Achievement Awards honor individuals who have established
a career record of achievement in his or her specialty.
Thomas A. Kelly receives his USITT Distinguished
Achievement award from Cindy Poulson.
Photo/Tom Thatcher
Mr. Kelly who received the
Distinguished Achievement Award in Stage Management 2002, has stage-managed more
than 100 shows during the past 30 years. He has had an active career both
on and off Broadway, with his Broadway credits including Hair, the Wiz, Sugar
Babies, Merchant of Venice, and Death of a Salesman (with Dustin
Hoffman). He worked with Christopher Plummer on Cyrano! the Musical
and with Tommy Tune’s productions of The Club and A Day in Hollywood/A
Night in the Ukraine. Tom has also worked in stock and regional theatres.
165 WEST 46th STREET
NEW YORK, NY 10036
April 18, 2001 from 10:00 p.m. -12:00 midnight at Robert Emmett's one of the newer "pubs" in the area,
694 Eighth Avenue (on the corner of 44th Street).
If you enter through the 44th Street door, there is a set of stairs to the 2nd level. At the top of the
stairs, there is a small room/alcove on the left. That's where they'll set us up.
We will operate on a "pay as you go" system -- in other words, drinks and food will be "cash and carry". We trust this will make things easier for
everyone!
You can visit the Robert Emmett web site, if you wish, at www.robertemmetts.com
We hope that you will be able to join us!! Bring your assistants and stage manager buddies. See old friends and meet new ones.
Now that spring is really here, time to come out of hibernation!
RSVP is not required, but it helps us to gauge how many people to expect.
