Ms. Bryne was a part of the original Broadway companies of Sunday in the Park with George and Into The Woods.
She was not on the list.
British born Shakespeare and Sondheim favorite Barbara Bryne passed away May 2. She was 94. The news was confirmed by a representative of Minnesota's Guthrie Theatre, where Bryne performed several times.
Born April 1, 1929, Ms. Bryne trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts before emmigrating to Canada in the early 1960s. Once in North America, she became a regular fixture of Ontario's Stratford Shakespeare Festival and at Minneapolis, Minnesota's Guthrie Theater, performing in a wide range of Shakespearean productions, including starring roles in King Lear, Richard III, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and more.
On Broadway, however, she became a Sondheim favorite, originating two maternal roles: George's mother in Sunday in the Park with George, and Jack's Mother in Into The Woods. On the regional circuit, she completed the Sondheim Maternal triple crown, playing Madame Armfeldt in A Little Night Music at the Kennedy Center in 2002.
In 1982, Ms. Bryne was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for an Outstanding Actress in a Drama for her role as Kath in the first American production of Joe Orton's Entertaining Mr. Sloane. In 2011, she appeared as Queen Victoria in H.M.S. Pinafore, which was filmed for PBS in late August 2011. On screen, she appeared in the 1993 adaptation of Romeo & Juliet, Amadeus, The Bostonians, The Neverending Story, and The School for Scandal. Her onstage work on Into The Woods and Sunday in the Park With George was also preserved in recorded performances that were later broadcast on PBS.
On television she played "Mrs. Gaffney" on the Tony Randall series, Love, Sidney (1981–83). In 2011 she appeared as Queen Victoria in H.M.S. Pinafore, which was filmed for PBS in late August 2011. Among the films in which she has appeared are: Romeo & Juliet (1993 TV film), Into the Woods (1991 TV film), Two Evil Eyes (1990; "The Black Cat" segment), Sunday in the Park with George (1986 TV film), Amadeus (1984), The Bostonians (1984), and The School for Scandal (1975 TV film).
Following 2012, Ms. Bryne retired from public performance, with her final Broadway appearance being in the most recent revival of Noël Coward comedy Hay Fever, opposite Rosemary Harris.
Ms. Bryne is predeceased by her husband of 65 years, Dennis
Spence, who passed in 2018. She is survived by their daughter, Susan.
Stage
Year Title Role(s) Notes
1966 Henry VI Margery Jourdan
1966 Twelfth Night Maria
1966 King Lear Goneril
1967 Richard III Duchess of York
1967 The Government
Inspector Locksmith's Wife,
Korobkin's Wife
1967 The Merry Wives
of Windsor Ensemble
1968 Tartuffe Mme. Pernelle
1968 The Three
Musketeers Mme. Coquenard,
Landlady of the Gilded Lily
1968 A Midsummer
Night's Dream Puck
1981 Cymbeline The Queen
1981 Entertaining
Mr Sloane Kath Nomination: Drama Desk Award
1984-85 Sunday
in the Park with George Blair Daniels, Old
Lady Broadway debut
1985 Hay Fever Clara
1986-89 Into
the Woods Jack's Mother
1989 The Importance
of Being Earnest Lady Augusta
Bracknell
1992 Romeo and
Juliet Nurse
1993 A Midsummer
Night's Dream Robin Starveling
1994 Sunday in the
Park with George Blair Daniels, Old Lady 10th Anniversary Concert[6]
1995 The Merry Wives
of Windsor Mistress Quickly
1997 Into the Woods Jack’s Mother 10th
Anniversary Concert[7]
2002 A Little Night
Music Madame Armfeldt
2002 The Chairs Old Woman
2003 Three Sisters Anfisa
2006 The Birthday
Party Mistress Quickly
2007 Our Leading
Lady Maude Bentley
2007 Jane Eyre Mrs. Fairfax
2009 When We Are
Married Mrs. Northrop
2010 Macbeth Weïrd Sister
2011 H.M.S. Pinafore Queen Victoria
2012 Hay Fever Clara
2012 Embers Nini
Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1963 Festival Gladys (segment "I Spy")
1967 MisteRogers Miss Paulifficate
1975 Great
Performances Mrs. Candour
1981 CBS Children's
Mystery Theatre Blanche Guizot
1982 Best of the West Miss Hanratty
1982 Maid in America Aunt Melissa TV movie
1983 Svengali Mrs. Burns-Rizzo TV movie
1982–1983 Love,
Sidney Mrs. Gaffney
1984 The Bostonians Mrs. Tarrant
1984 Amadeus Frau Weber
1990 Two Evil Eyes Martha (segment "The Black Cat")
1986–1991 American
Playhouse Jack's Mother / Old
Lady / Blair Daniels
1993 Romeo and
Juliet Nurse TV movie
1995–1996 The Neverending Story Urgl Voice
No comments:
Post a Comment