[Deathwatch] Isabelle Stevenson, chairman of the board of the American Theatre Wing, 90

[Deathwatch Central]

Isabelle Stevenson, American Theatre Wing Chair and Tireless Supporter
of Broadway, Dead at 90
Mon Dec 29

Isabelle Stevenson, longtime leader and chairman of the board of the
American Theatre Wing, which promotes and supports theatre and partners
on the Tony Awards, died Dec. 28, according to Wing publicist Shirley
Herz.

Mrs. Stevenson was 90 and died in her home after a short illness. She
had been active in ATW projects in recent years, even following heart
surgery. For many, she represented the face of legit Broadway theatre
for years, appearing on the Tony Awards and in the televised theatre
seminars on New York area TV.

ATW is, simply, "devoted to promoting excellence in the theatre,"
according to its website, and so was Mrs. Stevenson, who was given a
special lifetime achievement Tony Award honor in 1999.

In 2000, Mrs. Stevenson, president of the American Theatre Wing from
1966-98, recovered after eight hours of heart surgery June 6 to repair
a torn aorta that caused her to collapse at her home following the Tony
Awards that year.

Mrs. Stevenson was a vaudeville dancer, the "Lubow" in an act called
Nice, Florio and Lubow. As president of the Wing, she worked to develop
new audiences by initiating such programs as "Introduction to Broadway"
(which sends high school kids to see Broadway shows) and "Theatre in
Schools" (which sends theatre professionals to high schools to speak).
She created and produced cable TV's "Working in the Theatre" seminars
and was its longtime host.

As Wing chairman of the board, she oversaw with the president a diverse
range of programs designed to bring the theatre directly into the
community as well as nurture a new generation of theatregoers.

Mrs. Stevenson joined ATW's board in 1954, but her show business career
began long before that, according to her bio on the Tony Awards site.
She made her debut in Earl Carroll's Vanities, an annual musical
extravaganza that rivaled Florenz Ziegfield's Follies and George
White's Scandals. She toured the United States as a dancer and was part
of a Royal Command Performance at London's Palladium before Queen
Elizabeth. She enjoyed even bigger success at the Olympia Theatre in
Paris when Le Figaro hailed her as "the blonde Josephine Baker."

Mrs. Stevenson also studied journalism at New York University, and both
fashion and costume design at the Traphegan School of Design. At
Greystone Publishing, she supervised publication of books on
decorating, design and sewing. In 1965, she became president of the
Wing for what was expected to be an interim period.

Mrs. Stevenson has been co-chairman of the New York City Board of
Education's All-Day Neighborhood Schools, was formerly on the board of
directors of The Museum of the City of New York and the board of New
Dramatists, Inc.

Mrs. Stevenson has been honored at the New Yorker for New York Awards,
receiving The Elizabeth Chapin Award for Volunteers in the Arts for the
Citizens Committee for New York City. She was also honored by the
Encore Community Services (St. Malachy's, The Actors' Chapel) with
their Heart to Heart Award. In 2001 she was inducted into the Theatre
Hall of Fame and also that year received the Tree of Life Award from
the Jewish National Fund.

Mrs. Stevenson and her late husband resided in New York City, and
summered in France. They were parents of two daughters and an adopted
niece: Susan Brown of New York City, Laura Maslon of Venice, CA, and
her niece Francine Ringold Johnson of Tulsa, OK. She also had two
grandsons: David S. Brown and Ethan W. Brown and one
great-granddaughter Ella. She is also survived by great grandnieces and
grandnephews and their children. Services will be held in New York City
at All Souls Unitarian Church, 1157 Lexington Avenue Dec. 30 at 2 PM.

Marquee lights will be dimmed on Broadway in her honor Dec. 30.