Margo Lion, Tony Award-Winning Producer of HAIRSPRAY and More, Has Passed Away

BroadwayWorld is saddened to report that Margo Lion, Broadway and off-Broadway producer, has passed away. Lion is best known for her role in producing Hairspray.

Originally, Lion worked in politics, but after spending three years at the University of Iowa's Playwrights Workshop where her former husband, Ted Nemeth, was a graduate student, Lion's focus turned from education to her earlier interest in theater.

Lion's cousin, MacArthur Award recipient and director/choreographer Martha Clarke, introduced Lion to Lyn Austin from whom she learned the ropes with Austin's not-for-profit company, Music-Theater Group/Lenox Arts Center.

The first musical Lion produced on Broadway was Jelly's Last Jam, based on Jelly Roll Morton and the origins of jazz.

Other notable Broadway credits include Angels in America, On the Town, Elaine Stritch at Liberty, Caroline or Change, The Wedding Singer, Catch Me If You Can, and Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, among others.

Lion was an adjunct professor and a member of the Dean's Council at the NYU Tisch School for the Arts. She served on the Board of Directors of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids and on the advisory boards of the Baltimore Young Women's Leadership School, and The Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts, PUBLICOLOR.

In 2009 Margo Lion was selected by President Barack Obama to co-chair the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities.

Lion's productions have garnered 20 Tony Awards, 4 Olivier Awards and 1 Pulitzer Prize. Following the opening of Hairspray, she was awarded the key to the city of Baltimore by then Mayor, Martin O'Malley.

Marc Shaiman paid a touching tribute to Lion on his Facebook page. Read his words in the post below: