Thomas Hilbert Connell III (October 25, 1942 – April 18, 2010) was a longtime chief stage manager at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

Biography

Connell was born on October 25, 1942, in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

, and grew up in

Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, along the Long Island Sound within Connecticut's Gold Coast. It is northeast of New York City. The town had a population of 27,141 according to the 2020 U.S. Census. History ...

. He was a singer, pianist and violist in high school, and was inspired by a class trip to the Met's ''La Bohème'' to enter the opera industry. Connell earned his bachelor's degree in English and Comparative Literature from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. He served in the military during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, flying Navy transport planes. He later did graduate work in music at

University of Hawaiʻi The University of Hawaiʻi System, formally the University of Hawaiʻi and popularly known as UH, is a public college and university system that confers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees through three universities, seven com ...

. Connell staged managed operas in graduate school and worked for a few regional opera companies before joining the Met as stage manager in 1977. From 1981 until his death, he was the company's chief stage manager, also known as the production stage manager. Connell died on April 18, 2010, at his home in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

Personal life

Connell's first marriage to Katherine Snyder ended in divorce. He then married writer and

Ogilvy & Mather Ogilvy is a New York City-based British advertising, marketing, and public relations agency. It was founded in 1850 by Edmund Mather as a London-based agency. In 1964, the firm became known as Ogilvy & Mather after merging with a New York City a ...

executive Stephanie Pierson, a marriage also ended in divorce. He had two daughters, one from each marriage, and his second daughter, Phoebe Connell, is married to Jacob Danziger, a son of

Russell Sage Foundation The Russell Sage Foundation is an American non-profit organisation established by Margaret Olivia Sage in 1907 for “the improvement of social and living conditions in the United States.” It was named after her recently deceased husband, rail ...

President

Sheldon Danziger Sheldon H. Danziger (born September 30, 1948) is an American economist, focusing in trends in poverty and inequality, and the effects of economic and demographic changes and government social programs on disadvantaged groups, currently the Henry J. ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Connell, Thomas H. 1942 births 2010 deaths Columbia College (New York) alumni Metropolitan Opera people Stage managers University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni People from Ann Arbor, Michigan