New York Theater Producer Honey Waldman Passes Away at 87

The New York Times reports that Honey Waldman, who along with her husband refurbished a movie house in Nyack and a bank in the East Village into two theaters, passed away on December 8, 2013, due to heart failure. She was 87.

Read the original obituary here.

Waldman and her husband, producer Bruce Becker, renovated the Broadway Theater in Nyack, NY and reopened the building as Tappan Zee Playhouse in 1958. The "first lady of the American theater" Helen Hayes appeared in the first production of the theater's first summer season. Stars such as Alan Arkin, Julie Harris, Faye Dunaway, Jack Benny, Liza Minnelli and more also appeared in productions for the theater. Tappan Zee Playhouse closed after a fire in 1976 and was demolished in 2004.

Then in 1963, Waldman and Becker created the Bouwerie Lane Theater from the German Exchange Bank building at Bowery and Bond Street. The off-Broadway house kicked off its first season with The Immoralist, starring Frank Langella. The Jean Cocteau Repertory took over the theater in 1974 and put on productions there until 2006. Bouwerie Lane has now been converted into condos.

Waldman also appeared onstage in the ensemble of the 1953 Broadway production of Cyrano de Bergerac.

Donations may be sent in Honey's memory to one of the following two organizations:
- Alzheimer's Foundation of America, 322 8th Avenue, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10001
- Yiddish Artists and Friends Actors Club, c/o Ruth Harris, 379 Barnard Avenue, Cedarhurst, NY 11516