We are devastated about the loss of our family member, Michael Friedman. His loss leaves a hole in the theater world that cannot be filled. pic.twitter.com\/ALEU0eTYb9<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 The Public Theater (@PublicTheaterNY) September 9, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Wrote the NYT<\/a>: \u201cHis death stunned the theater community, which had lost many artists to AIDS in the 1980s and 1990s, but fewer in recent years.\u201d<\/p>\n Wrote Playbill<\/a>:<\/p>\n As a composer, Friedman is most known for his work\u00a0Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson,\u00a0<\/i>which opened on Broadway in 2010 following workshops at Williamstown Theatre Festival and New 42nd Street Studios, plus runs in Culver City, California, and New York\u2019s Public Theater. The musical, depicting the populist president as an emo band frontman, became a talking point in the theatre community once more in 2016 due to its thematic ties to the presidential election.<\/p>\n \u201cAndrew Jackson rewrote the history of America as he was going,\u201d Friedman told Playbill in a 2010 interview. \u201cThat\u2019s one of the weird things about taking control of a country; you get to rewrite the narrative entirely.\u201d<\/p>\n Friedman had been working on a piece that musicalized the thoughts of primary voters from across the United States during election season. Each new song would premiere on The New Yorker\u2019s Radio Hour; the magazine had also partially funded the project. \u201cI definitely believe in the politics of music and theatre and popular art,\u201d Freidman told Playbill in 2016. \u201cI certainly think they are a conduit. Art is what survives from protest movements.\u201d<\/p>\n The NYT added<\/a>:<\/p>\n He was a founding associate artist with\u00a0the Civilians<\/a>, an acclaimed downtown troupe that practices what it calls<\/a> \u201cinvestigative theater,\u201d often using verbatim dialogue taken from interviews conducted by the artists.<\/p>\n He was endlessly interested in politics \u2014 a subject that informed much of his work and many of his dinner-table conversations \u2014 and in 2016 he collaborated with The New Yorker and WNYC on\u00a0songs based on interviews with voters<\/a>.<\/p>\n And most recently, he had served as\u00a0artistic director of Encores! Off-Center<\/a>, an annual summer program at New York City Center that presents staged concert performances of Off Broadway musicals.<\/p>\n Playbill adds<\/a>:<\/p>\n In addition to\u00a0Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson<\/i><\/a>, Friedman\u2019s work included music for the musical\u00a0The Fortress of Solitude,\u00a0<\/i>which played the Public in 2014, as well as the Public\u2019s Shakespeare in the Park presentation of\u00a0The Tempest\u00a0<\/i><\/a>the following year. He also penned the score for the 2008 Off-Broadway musical\u00a0The Drunken City,\u00a0<\/i>as well as music for the 2010 Signature Theatre revival of\u00a0Angels in America<\/i><\/a>\u00a0and the Broadway adaptation of\u00a0Misery.<\/i><\/p>\n The Public Theater announced Friedman\u2019s death.<\/p>\n Said Artistic Director Oskar Eustis: \u201cMichael was one of the most brilliant, multi-talented theater artists of our time. He was also a miracle of a human being: loving, kind, generous, hilarious, thrilling. His loss leaves a hole in the theater world that cannot be filled, and a hole in the hearts of those who loved him that will last forever.\u201d<\/p>\n Tributes poured out on Twitter:<\/p>\n Aching with gratitude for the music & joy he gave us. \u2014 Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) September 10, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n RIP Michael Friedman, 41, hugely gifted composer and thinker. An unspeakable loss for the theater world. pic.twitter.com\/x1wblTCVUI<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Adam Feldman (@FeldmanAdam) September 9, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Time with Michael Friedman always made me feel more brave,more clear,more wise,more possible. Only he would know how to make sense of this.<\/p>\n \u2014 Jordan Roth (@Jordan_Roth) September 10, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n If Michael Friedman’s loss is even 1\/10 as painful as the losses felt at the height of the AIDS crisis, I don’t know how anyone functioned.<\/p>\n \u2014 Lane Williamson (@lanewilliamson) September 10, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Love & mercy dear Michael Friedman. An exquisite artist & a wonder of a man<\/a>. Our theater generation has lost one of its brightest stars.<\/p>\n \u2014 Thomas Sadoski (@ThomasSadoski) September 10, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Michael Friedman created things that fit like cement between the bricks. And I loved the way the man<\/a> could talk without taking a breath.<\/p>\n \u2014 Alex Brightman (@ABrightMonster) September 10, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The best tribute we can offer Michael Friedman is his own music from Angels in America. We love you Michael. RIP. t.co\/fMxFC9YPso<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Signature Theatre (@SignatureTheatr) September 9, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n RIP Michael Friedman. This is so sad. I adored working with you and knowing you. The world isn’t as bright anymore without you. \u2014 Donna Vivino (@donnavivino) September 9, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Devastated by news of Michael Friedman’s death but grateful for his music & for the time I got pick his big brain t.co\/ZJndr5cDPU<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/kRrL5VsqaG<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Rob Weinert-Kendt (@RobKendt) September 10, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Michael Friedman was a frantic, funny, tender, explosive talent. A bewildering loss. t.co\/L2re43YhCw<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Michael Schulman (@MJSchulman) September 9, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The post Broadway Veteran Michael Friedman Dies at 41 of Complications from HIV\/AIDS<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n
Mourning all the music we’ll never hear.#RIPMichaelFriedman<\/a>t.co\/f5zghAw4re<\/a><\/p>\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
![\"?\"](\"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/2.3\/72x72\/1f614.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
\n