passages Tag

Scott Livermore Bennett, Jr. | Eclectic theater comrade (1946-2026)

Scott ("Scotty") Livermore Bennett, Jr. The world is a little less joyful today without an ATCA stalwart who loved jokes, puns, wordplay, and the delight of awaiting the rise of the theater curtain “on the aisle”.  Scott Livermore Bennett, Jr. (who always asked to be called “Scotty”)...

Charles Edward Whaley | Veteran ATCA member and Kentucky gentleman

Charles Edward Whaley Charles Edward Whaley, long-term ATCA member, died Oct. 30, 2025 at the age of 97. Whaley was a journalist who covered education and the arts in the course of a seven-decade career. He was born on February 29, 1928 in Williamstown, in Grant County,...

Edward Rubin | ATCA member, critic, and curator dies at 84

Edward "Fast Eddy" Rubin EDWARD RUBIN, an iconoclastic theater critic, arts critic and curator, who wrote for decades about theater and the visual arts, died after a protracted battle with bladder cancer at Calvary Hospital on June 15, 2025. He was 84. Rubin, who went by the...

Misha Berson | ATCA member, critic, advocate of new plays (1950-2025)

Misha Berson On Thursday, February 13, longtime ATCA member Misha Berson passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. Misha was an active member of our organization, most recently co-chairing with Cameron Kelsall the New Play committee that conveys the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award and Osborn Award. She was...

Christine Dolen | former ATCA leader and major force in regional theater

Christine Dolen Christine Dolen, a former leader of the American Theatre Critics Association and a major force in evolving local theater itself, died Saturday in her home in Davie, Florida at the age of 74. The world of South Florida theater -- from its presentations to its...

Christine Dolen | longtime Miami theater critic and ATCA member, dies at 74

Christine Dolen You can get a good understanding of Christine Dolen’s place in the South Florida theater community from the outpouring of hundreds of testimonials posted on social media in the hours after her death was announced on Sunday. She died on Feb. 1 at age...

Bill Gale | former ATCA Chair and Providence critic, dies at 87

Bill Gale Bill Gale, the longtime critic for the Providence Journal, gave a lot to the American Theatre Critics Association during his decades of active involvement, including three years as chair of the executive committee (1984-87). Friends recalled that he was somewhat nervous about being the...

Sandi Durell | critic and publisher, dies at 84

Sandi Durell (1940-2024) TheaterPizzazz founder and publisher Sandi Durell has died at 84, as reported by Playbill.com. News of her death due to metasticized lung cancer was confirmed by her family. Ms. Durell was a critic for more than 30 years, member or board member of many...

Claudia Harris | past ATCA International committee chair, dies at 85

Claudia Woolston Harris For many years, Claudia Harris was a power broker in ATCA. Without her support, I might never have been elected to the Executive Committee in 1990 just a couple of years after joining the organization. Past leaders Nancy Melich and Elizabeth Maupin were...

Mario Fratti, playwright, critic, past ATCA member, dies at 95

Mario Fratti. Photo: Joseph Marzullo Playwright, critic, educator, and man about town Mario Fratti has died at the age of 95. Many in the theater world know him as responsible for the Italian play Six Passionate Women adapted from Federico Fellini’s film 8 1/2 that was...