About Tony

Tony Tanner, a versatile actor, writer and director whose biggest Broadway success was directing "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" in 1982, a production that helped make that musical a staple of American community and high school theater, died on Sept. 8 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 88.

His husband and only immediate survivor, Henry Selvitelle, confirmed the death but did not specify the cause.

"Joseph" was perhaps the high point of Mr. Tanner's respectable if not flashy career in both his native Britain and the United States. A colorful telling of the biblical story of Joseph, it had started out in the 1960s as a school project by Andrew Lloyd Webber (music) and Tim Rice (lyrics) and had been performed in Britain and the United States over the years. But Mr. Tanner's Broadway version elevated its profile considerably.

The show started Off Broadway at the Entermedia Theater in the East Village before transferring to Broadway, where it ran for more than a year and a half and earned Mr. Tanner two Tony Award nominations, for best direction of a musical and best choreography. Its most lasting effect — vital to high school and college theater departments everywhere — was its casting a woman in the part of the Narrator, a role as important as that of Joseph himself; it's now standard practice.

Most, though not all, previous productions had made the Narrator male. Mr. Tanner, in an essay on his website, said that that had originally been his concept as well.

"Someone did it in Brooklyn with a Black man playing the Narrator, so that's what we looked for. Believe it or not, could not find the right one in New York City. 'Bring in the girls,' I said."

The role went to Laurie Beechman, who would in 1984, as a replacement player, step into another Lloyd Webber musical, "Cats," in the role of Grizabella. (The character sings the famous "Memory.") Her work in "Joseph" earned her a Tony nomination for best featured actress in a musical.

"We found Laurie Beechman with the soaring, searing voice and we had it made."

Mr. Tanner was born on March 27, 1932, in Hillingdon, Middlesex, England. He began his career as an actor in Britain, appearing in numerous stage productions and television programs before making his mark as a director and choreographer.

His Broadway directing credits included productions that showcased his ability to blend physical comedy with musical storytelling — a skill honed over decades of performing and directing in both the West End and on Broadway.

Beyond "Joseph," Mr. Tanner's career spanned decades of work in theatre, television, and film on both sides of the Atlantic. He was known for his exacting standards, his wit, and his deep love of the theatrical form.

He is remembered by colleagues and audiences alike as a consummate theatre artist — one whose influence on American musical theatre, particularly through "Joseph," continues to be felt in productions staged every year across the country.