Emanuel "Manny" Azenberg (born January 22, 1934) is an American theatre producer and

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

whose professional relationship with playwright

Neil Simon Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He has received mo ...

spans thirty-three years.

Life and career

Azenberg was born in

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

, the son of Hannah (née Kleiman) and Charles Joshua Azenberg. He attended the

Bronx High School of Science The Bronx High School of Science, commonly called Bronx Science, is a public specialized high school in The Bronx in New York City. It is operated by the New York City Department of Education. Admission to Bronx Science involves passing the Sp ...

. He became interested in the theatre after seeing his uncle, former

Yiddish theatre Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Central European Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satiric or nostalgic revu ...

actor Wolfe Barzell, perform in the 1948 play ''Skipper Next to God'' by Jan de Hartog. After studying at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

and serving time in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

, he became the assistant company manager for ''The Legend of Lizzie'', an ill-fated 1959 play that closed after two performances. He worked for

David Merrick David Merrick (born David Lee Margoulis; November 27, 1911 – April 25, 2000) was an American theatrical producer who won a number of Tony Awards. Life and career Born David Lee Margulois to Jewish parents in St. Louis, Missouri, Merrick gra ...

and Alexander H. Cohen before earning his first producing credit with '' The Lion in Winter'' in 1966.Emanuel Azenburg at JewishTheatre.com
Azenberg first met Neil Simon in 1963 when the two played

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

with

Robert Redford Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award from four nominations, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, the Cec ...

, who was appearing in Simon's play '' Barefoot in the Park'' at the time. Their professional association began with ''

The Sunshine Boys ''The Sunshine Boys'' is an original two-act play written by Neil Simon that premiered December 20, 1972 on Broadway starring Jack Albertson as Willie Clark and Sam Levene as Al Lewis and later adapted for film and television. Plot The pla ...

'' in 1972 and continued with '' The Good Doctor'', ''

God's Favorite ''God's Favorite'' is a play by Neil Simon, loosely based on the Biblical Book of Job. It was produced on Broadway in 1974. Production Produced by Emanuel Azenberg, the play opened on Broadway at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on December 11, 1974 a ...

'', '' Chapter Two'', '' They're Playing Our Song'', '' I Ought to Be in Pictures'', '' Brighton Beach Memoirs'', ''

Biloxi Blues ''Biloxi Blues'' is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon. It portrays the conflict of Sergeant Merwin J. Toomey and Arnold Epstein, one of many privates enlisted in the military stationed in Biloxi, Mississippi, seen through the eyes of E ...

'', ''

Broadway Bound ''Broadway Bound'' is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon. It is the last chapter in his Eugene trilogy, following ''Brighton Beach Memoirs'' and ''Biloxi Blues''. Plot overview The play is about Eugene and his older brother, Stanley, dea ...

'', '' Lost in Yonkers'', ''

Jake's Women ''Jake's Women'' is a 1992 play by Neil Simon. The play centers on Jake, a writer suffering from psychosis. Jake talks to many of the women he knows, both in real life and in his imagination, as he works to save his marriage. In 1996, the play was ...

'', '' The Goodbye Girl'', and '' Laughter on the 23rd Floor'', among others.Emanuel Azenberg at the Internet Broadway Database
/ref> Additional Azenberg credits include ''

Mark Twain Tonight! ''Mark Twain Tonight!'' is a one-man play devised by Hal Holbrook, in which he depicted Mark Twain giving a dramatic recitation selected from several of Twain's writings, with an emphasis on the comic ones. Background The recitation's genesis was ...

'', '' George M!'', '' The Rothschilds'', ''

Two Gentlemen of Verona ''The Two Gentlemen of Verona'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1589 and 1593. It is considered by some to be Shakespeare's first play, and is often seen as showing his first tentative steps in laying ...

'', '' Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death'', '' Sticks and Bones'', '' That Championship Season'', ''

The Wiz ''The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz"'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls (and others) and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's children's novel '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' ...

'', '' Ain't Misbehavin''', '' Whose Life is it Anyway?'', '' "Master Harold"...and the Boys'', '' The Real Thing'', ''

Sunday in the Park with George ''Sunday in the Park with George'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It was inspired by the French pointillist painter Georges Seurat's painting ''A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande J ...

'', '' A Day in the Death of Joe Egg'', '' Jerome Robbins' Broadway'', ''

The Iceman Cometh ''The Iceman Cometh'' is a play written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill in 1939. First published in 1946, the play premiered on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theatre on October 9, 1946, directed by Eddie Dowling, where it ran for 136 perf ...

'', ''

Rent Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

'', '' Movin' Out'', ''

Stones in His Pockets ''Stones in His Pockets'' is a two-hander written in 1996 by Marie Jones for the DubbleJoint Theatre Company in Dublin, Ireland. The play is a tragicomedy about a small rural town in Ireland where many of the townspeople are extras in a Hollywo ...

'', and Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of ''

La Bohème ''La bohème'' (; ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '' quadri'', '' tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giusep ...

''. In an interview with ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', Azenberg observed, "I am not a deep thinker. I am not a writer, though I recognize good ideas when I see them. I am there to service people. A producer creates an atmosphere — or tries to — that is genuinely comfortable, so the best creative work can take place. You try to keep peace, because there are so many disparate groups within the theatre." Azenberg also has taught theatre at

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist Jam ...

for two decades. He was elected to the

American Theatre Hall of Fame The American Theater Hall of Fame in New York City was founded in 1972. Earl Blackwell was the first head of the organization's Executive Committee. In an announcement in 1972, he said that the new ''Theater Hall of Fame'' would be located in the ...

in 2009. He is married to Lani Sundsten, a one-time dancer and the original

stage manager Stage management is a broad field that is generally defined as the practice of organization and coordination of an event or theatrical production. Stage management may encompass a variety of activities including the overseeing of the rehearsal p ...

for ''

Cats The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members o ...

'', and he is the father of five children: Karen, Lisa, Rebecca, Jessica, and Joshua.

Awards

*1978

Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical is an annual award presented by Drama Desk The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially hono ...

(''Ain't Misbehavin) *1978 Tony Award for Best Musical (''Ain't Misbehavin) *1980 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play (''Children of a Lesser God'') *1980

Tony Award for Best Play The Tony Award for Best Play (formally, the Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre) is an annual award given to the best new (non-musical) play on Broadway, as determined by Tony Award voters. There was no award in the Tonys' first yea ...

(''Children of a Lesser God'') *1982 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play (''"Master Harold"...and the Boys'') *1982 Tony Award for Best Play (''"Master Harold"...and the Boys'') *1984 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical (''Sunday in the Park with George'') *1984 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play (''The Real Thing'') *1984 Tony Award for Best Play (''The Real Thing'') *1985 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival (''A Day in the Death of Joe Egg'') *1985 Tony Award for Best Revival (''A Day in the Death of Joe Egg'') *1985 Tony Award for Best Play (''Biloxi Blues'') *1989 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical (''Jerome Robbins' Broadway'') *1989 Tony Award for Best Musical (''Jerome Robbins' Broadway'') *1991 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play (''Lost in Yonkers'') *1991 Tony Award for Best New Play (''Lost in Yonkers'') *1999 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play (''The Iceman Cometh'') *1999 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play (''The Iceman Cometh'') *2002 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play (''Private Lives'') *2002 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play (''Private Lives'') *2012 Special Tony Award, Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Azenburg, Emanuel American theatre managers and producers Tony Award winners Drama Desk Award winners Duke University faculty People from the Bronx 1934 births Living people The Bronx High School of Science alumni New York University alumni Male actors from New York City