“Not only was Natasha Richardson one of the greatest actresses of her generation, but she was also a treasured member of the Roundabout family and a wonderful friend. Our hearts go out to Natasha's family at this devastating time.”
Todd Haimes
Artistic Director, Roundabout Theatre Company
Visit Roundabout's tribute to Natasha>>
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Jennifer
March 21, 2009
She was simply wonderful.
Shoshana
March 21, 2009
Wonderful tribute. I wish I could have seen her on stage.
Jonathan Lee
March 21, 2009
In June 2006 I traveled with my daughter Amy from our home in Newburyport, MA to New York City for her first time. Amy had just completed her Junior year as an English major at Connecticut College. We were walking down 53rd Street when Amy spotted Natasha coming out of the stage door. Natasha stopped and talked with Amy and told her she hopped she would attend the evening performance of “Streeetcar”. We did and Natasha was brilliant! Afterward we spoke with her again outside and she recognized Amy, signed her “Streecar” poster and let me take a picture of them together. That evening is one of my favorite memories ever and I owe it to Natasha Richardson. Liam Neeson and his family are in my thoughts.
John Pope
March 21, 2009
First of all, the Web site’s tribute to Natasha Richardson is heartbreaking. What a great talent she possessed.
My wife and I were lucky enough to get the last two standing-room tickets for a Saturday-night “Cabaret” performance early in its run, when it was still in Henry Miller’s Theater. it still haunts me; I especially remember Richardson’s look of absolute loss when she sang the title song. Since then, it’s the only version of that song that I can accept. Forget about the bouncy interpretation. Her rendition was the real thing.
Jack Lane
March 21, 2009
Natasha Richardson made going to the theatre an event. Everything she did was a must see simply because she was that fine of an actress. To have her voice silenced and her magnificent spirit lifted off the earth is unimaginable. Ms. Richardson made the world a better place to live in and that is something that can never be taken away from her family, friends and fans. God rest her beautiful soul.
Joseph Lucas
March 22, 2009
Natasha was a wonderful actress just on the verge of sharing her greatest performances with us. I was so saddened by this end to what was really important for her… her being the wife and mother of a beautiful family. That was the role that she undoubtedly cherished the most and regarded as one no award recognition could outshine. She was a diamond whose memory will shine bright forever.
Kim
March 24, 2009
It’s the weirdest thing but, when people would ask that (party game) question, “If you had to trade places (lives) with someone, who would it be?” I always said, “Natasha Richardson.” She was a luminous artist – not a vacant celebrity – with obvious joy in her work, marriage and family (including her extended family – especially the evident closeness with her mother). Who wouldn’t want that?
I hope that, after we all die, things like this will make sense.
PLEASE say that there’s a recording – audio, video, bootleg, ANYTHING – of the Little Night Music concert. I would pay dearly for any footage.
Missy
March 25, 2009
She spoke to me in a way no other artist ever did. She was an inspiration as an actress and as a human being. I was absolutely shattered to hear of her injury and then her passing. It is unfathomable to me that there will not be another chance for me to see her on a stage sharing her incredible gift with her audience. I had the privilege to see her in Closer in 1999 and it was a transfixing and transforming experience. I am mourning her loss and will always feel a tinge of sorrow each time I go to theatre and realize that she will never grace the stage again. The world is a little dimmer without her in it. My thoughts and prayers go out to her family. I am sure that she is shining down her love upon them.
Trish
March 25, 2009
Natasha Richardson was a class act and a truly wonderful actress. My heart goes out to her family in this difficult time. She will be missed very much on the NY stage.
John Murdock
March 25, 2009
This is such an amazing tribute. How wonderful!
Lee Tannen
March 25, 2009
Thanks Todd. Such an exquisite remembrance.
Suz
March 26, 2009
I met her once and she was gracious and lovely. I saw her often at different events with her husband Liam Neeson. They seemed to make the perfect couple.
This is a lovely tribute and my heart goes out to her family.
renee
March 27, 2009
Thank you so much for this moving tribute to a “Princess of the Theatre”. I mourn for her and I mourn for her family…a true Royal Family of the theatre who has given me such joy both on stage and in the movies.
Susan Valente
March 27, 2009
She was lovely in every respect. She was missed when she left the stage, she was missed when she didn’t make a movie for a while and now she will be forever missed. She had the magic.
Stuart Osnow
March 27, 2009
We saw Ms. Richardson in Cabaret from a table upfront and thoroughly enjoyed her. We sat near her in the audience several times at other Roundabout productions. Our kids watch Parent Trap all the time and we are all so fond of her.
Sorry to Roundabout and The family for her loss.
Stuart and Lois Osnow
Sarah
March 27, 2009
Natasha Richardson WAS Sally Bowles, brashly going to a new place and then terrified to be performing in a Berlin cabaret – but doing it with style. That bravado and fragility gave us the true Sally. She broke my heart. As Blanche DuBois, she lived in the past (real or imagined), but also was manipulative, quietly fierce – and showed us a complete woman. Her performance in that role was a revelation. We are grateful to have had her with us. We shall not see one so gifted soon. My deep sympathy to her husband, mother and family.
Michael Koslow
March 27, 2009
Thank you for this lovely tribute. Natasha Richardson is the reason I started subscribing to Roundabout when she appeared in Anna Christie. She was a very special actress and person and her death is a reminder of how precious and precarious life can be. She radiated joy and her talent was a gift to us all. The shock and sadness of her passing is something we must find a way to live with. My deepest sympathy to her family, of course. That she made us all feel lik her family is amazing. May she be remembered forever!
Carole DeMouth
March 27, 2009
Thank you for putting together this tribute to Natasha Richardson. I was devasted by her passing but fortunate to have seen her performances at the Roundabout. She was a wonderful actress whose passion for her craft was always at the forefront of her performance. She always shined. I saw her speaking with Charlie Rose. When she spoke about her family her face lit up in a show of love. In life we have to count our blessings and she had a loving husband, beautiful children, devoted family and a fulfilling career – in her short life she was blessed. She will be missed.
Marie Bosso
March 27, 2009
I was lucky to see Natasha in Anna Christie, Cabaret & Streetcar. I have been a member since the days on 23rd st. Natasha was truly a wonderful actress with a huge legacy. She was definintely taken away too soon. My heart goes out to her two young sons and their father. Even after death she is helping those in need.
May God Bless her and her family.
Gloria Byron
March 27, 2009
I was among those lucky enough to have seen Natasha Richardson in virtually all her Roundabout roles and to have known her, if only slightly, from back in the days when I was active in helping with Roundabout’s annual raffle and, during those events, present at the theatre almost daily. Her incredible talent was matched by her sweet and genuine amiability toward the volunteers on that project. No surprise that even after her death, her family honored her legacy of generosity toward those in need. May the pain of their loss soon fade, leaving only their fondest memories of her.
D Miller
March 27, 2009
We became subscribers of Roundabout specifically to see Natasha Richardson and Alan Cumming in Cabaret. It’s over 10 years later and here we are, still loving the magic of live performance. There is nothing like the connection, the bond, you feel in theater. That is why we will all miss Natasha so much. She was a truly gifted actress, and we were there for that transient magic, the human connection, that you only get from the theater. She touched us all.
Clay Ballard
March 27, 2009
I was privileged to see Ms. Richardson in both ‘Cabaret’ and in ‘Streetcar.’ Both performances were indelible, but Ms. Richardson’s Blanche was a tour de force. I am from the South and more than many other performances of Blanche I have seen, she captured the iron fist in the laciest of gloves. More particularly, I saw ‘Streetcar’ on my mother’s birthday, who would have been 73 in 2005. My mother died in late 2004 and I went to Streetcar to honor her memory — ‘Streetcar’ was one of her favorite plays — as much as for the play itself. My family had made the decision to take Mom off of life support. Difficult and painful as it was, it was the right decision. I couldn’t help but see the parallels and I wept for my mother, for Ms. Richardson and for her family.
Babette
March 27, 2009
What a loss! I saw her in Streetcar and was mesmerized by her. What an extraordinary actress who touched so many. She and her talent will be sorely missed.
Barbara Garner
March 27, 2009
Thank you so much for putting this together …. Maybe an acting scholarship fund in her name for young people would be a lasting tribute to this wonderful, talented, beautiful young woman.
Lynn Manuell
March 27, 2009
I met Natasha backstage at Anna Christie with a mutual friend. She was as charming and glamorous offstage as on. I was stunned and saddened by her death. I send my loving throughts to her family and friends. I am grateful for the numerous opportunities I had to see her in Roundabout Productions. I can’t imagine there will not be another chance. Lynn
Sharon
March 27, 2009
What a great loss to the theatre community. I’m sad that I won’t get to see her onstage again.
Ellen Menkin
March 28, 2009
I, too, was priveleged to see Natasha Richardson as Sally Bowles. She embodied the role truthfully and with a melancholy that was soulful. Ironically, another icon of the British Isles, Sean Connery, was seated in front of me and I had to ask him to move so I could see her performance!!! I did not realize how tall he was!!! But, she was taller by her performance alone. Her Blanche in “Streetcar” was so beautiful. In my work, I deal with people in the Broadway community and her accident mirrored the accident of someone I was working with–I made SURE he had a CT scan to rule out any issues…
Natasha Richardson was impeccable in her art and her life and her family, friends and fans will miss her decency and her spirit.
Kim Howie
March 30, 2009
I have been attending Roundabout over 15 years and still can vividly recall how I felt as I watched Natasha Richardson and Liam Neeson in “Anna Christie.” The acting was so powerful and breathtaking. I am a Eugene O’Neill fan and cannot think of better performances in one of his plays. “Cabaret” was also a highlight of Roundabout theatre going. I felt that she was brave to take on a role so associated with another actress and she made you forget what came before. Those of us who got to see her on stage are very lucky and it is so sad that others will not have that same good fortune in the future.
monica coyle
March 30, 2009
Thank you, Roundabout, for introducing me to the wonderful art of Natasha Richardson in “Anna Christie,” “Cabaret” and “Streetcar.” And thank you for providing this forum to just express my sadness. From the moment I heard the news about her accident up until the day of her death I felt so at a loss to express how strangely personal the news felt to me. And strangely enough, on that day of her death, I was speaking with a Roundabout staffer, renewing our subscription, and found myself consoled that there was someone with whom I could talk about her. I do not usually follow the lives of “celebrities,” but having seen Natasha Richardson and Liam Neeson in “Anna Christie” I began to follow their real-life relationshiip. How tragic to see it come to an end, for both of them and their sons. They’re in my thoughts and will continue to be.
Steve Gimson
March 31, 2009
In my eyes, Natasha was the consumate lady and humanitarian. Broadway has lost beautiful person.
suejuly
March 31, 2009
Natasha Richardson was dazzling in her beauty and talent. I missed seeing “Anna Christie” and have regretted it ever since but I saw her in “Cabaret” twice and in “Streetcar” and was privileged to be in the audience for “A Little Night Music” which was truly wonderful. It is very painful to realize that she is gone. My heart aches for her family and for all of us.
Annette Horvath
April 1, 2009
In 1993 my daughter invited me to see “Anna Chrisite” at Roundabout.
At the time, she was most interested in Liam Neisen. After the performance, we waited and she and others got his autograph, Natasha’s too. That evening we were introduced to two exquisitely talented actors. Their chemistry was evident, and we seemed to take note, thereafter, of their marriage, their rising careers, their new family. I guess we all live vicariously through others, and if their was ever a woman for us women to admire and emulate, it was Natasha Richardson. In her all too brief a life, the only consolation, if there can be any, is that she did not waste a minute of it, and brought so much pleasure to those of us who relished her performances.
Danny
April 6, 2009
Thank you for this beautiful tribute. Natasha Richardson was a lovely actress and such a role model to me and many others. I was completely devastated when I heard the tragic news. But I’ll aways smile when I see one of her movies on tv, or see a clip of her astonashing performance in Cabaret on youtube. She and her family are in my prayers.
ana
April 8, 2009
I am going to New York in a couple of weeks and I wish I can feel her spirit in every theater corner of the city. I had the greatest luck to see her in Closer, and the shine she emaned from the play I still can feel it. My love to theater grow after her performance and although she did movie films, I think was theater where she glow the most as the great dama she was. A painful loss for the stage lovers and specially for her family.
From Spain with love.
Dorothy Samel
April 10, 2009
We were lucky enough to have seen Ms. Richardson in three Roundabout productions — Cabaret, Streetcar, and the benefit concert performance of A Little Night Music this past January. Never in a million years did I think that when we saw her on January 12th it would be for the last time.
I never met her, or had any contact with her, but something about her was so powerful and magnetic that when I heard of the accident, I was upset; when the news of how badly she was injured began to seep out, I was in shock; when she died, I was devastated.
My heart breaks for her husband, sons, and mother in particular, and for everyone who knew and loved her. I just wanted to add my thanks to Roundabout, too, for this beautiful tribute, and for giving people who love the theatre, and who loved Natasha Richardson (even from a great distance), the chance to offer their deepest sympathies to the family, friends, and colleagues of this truly special woman.
We’ve been subscribers for about a dozen years now, and the feeling I’ve gotten is that Roundabout is more than just a business (although it accomplishes that quite well), and that its people are more like a family than mere co-workers. We try to run our firm that way, too, and so I know that this tragedy has affected each and every person at Roundabout and would like to offer my condolences to you all as well.
Sean Cashin
April 10, 2009
Natasha Richardson was a luminous actress. I was blessed to have seen her work in Cabaret, Closer and A Streetcar Named Desire. Her brilliant performances in those shows will stay with me always. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to see her work on stage. She will be forever missed. My condolences and prayers go out to her family.
Monica
April 16, 2009
A wonderful tribute for a wonderful spirited woman who sought to make the world a more beautiful place through her gift of performance and her work for charity. She will be missed by all who knew her personally and those of us who admired her dignity and her craft and her grit. Bless us all….
bill and betty
April 17, 2009
Dear Rioundabout,
Your images captured Natasha Richardson at her most beautiful moments, which must have been difficult becase there were so many.
We’ve seen in all three Roundabout productions and all were memorable, but non more so than “Anna Christie.” The scenes she share with Liam were magic, exhilarating and very exciting. Of course, it was more than acting; they were falling in love and each audiece bore witness to mutual attraction. The loss of her talent and beauty make her death all the more tragic. Thank you for your foresight in finding Natasha and convincing her to appear on your stage.
bill and betty
bill and betty
April 17, 2009
Dear Roundabout,
Your images captured Natasha Richardson at her most beautiful moments, which must have been difficult becase there were so many.
We’ve seen in all three Roundabout productions and all were memorable, but non more so than “Anna Christie.” The scenes she share with Liam were magic, exhilarating and very exciting. Of course, it was more than acting; they were falling in love and each audiece bore witness to mutual attraction. The loss of her talent and beauty make her death all the more tragic. Thank you for your foresight in finding Natasha and convincing her to appear on your stage.
bill and betty
Marcos Namit
April 26, 2009
I was fifteen and just coming out the closet when I first discovered Miss Natasha’s rendition of “Cabaret” on disc. Like her Sally Bowles, I had hoped during that point of my life on singing and playing piano in small nightclub venues because I knew of my limitations. I absolutely identified with her characterization because she knew who she was, and then tried to hide it. I did the same thing to myself; and felt a very strong connection to her angst. I feel privileged to have seen that performance in 1998. I have never seen a thing so sad, and powerful at the same time. Remembering her performance in “Cabaret” and listening to it on disc has been a profound comfort in my life throughout the years knowing that someone like Sally was around. When Miss Richardson died, I was devastated and I said a silent prayer hoping that she’s somewhere safe and good. I will truly miss seeing her around Broadway.
Edward Damato
April 27, 2009
Rarely when I hear about the death of someone I don’t personally know do I feel as if someone in my family passed away, that shock of tragic loss. I felt that way about Natasha Richardson. Then I thought about the fact that we sort of were family, the Roundabout family of which I have been a subscriber since 1993. I saw her in Cabaret and Streetcar and was hoping to see her in more of our theater in the future. How I will miss that. My deepest sympathy to her family which includes all of us at Roundabout.
Marianne Dryden
June 23, 2009
For Ana and others:
You can see all her stage performances on tape at the Kennedy Center Library. You will also find her performance of “Suddenly, Last Summer” (from TV) there. “Suddenly Last Summer” can also be purchased as part of the Maggie Smith series “Maggie Smith at the BBC,” which is available on Amazon and eBay. Many of her movies are also available on Amazon and eBay.
I believe that I had never seen a single performance of Natasha’s until recently, after I learned of her death. I have recently bought all her movies and I am searching for tapes of her other performances. I knew Vanessa Redgrave’s work and I guess this is why I noticed that an article about Natasha was in a magazine that I read about fifteen years ago. I read the article about Natasha and Liam, written after her second son had been born. Like Dame Judy Dench has said, Natasha had a “luminous quality” and it shone through her great beauty, as well as through her work. After having seen a picture of Natasha and Liam in the magazine, I felt that Natasha was the loveliest and the luckiest person in the world. I knew that she would be happy forever and that nothing would ever harm her.
I could never see movies or plays back then, because I had great responsibility in my life. When I heard of Natasha’s death, I was in shock for several months. As someone here has said, I cannot believe that the world has lost Natasha, who has brought love to so many through her professional and her humanitarian work, and through her example of devotion to her family.
I am greatly saddened that I can no longer carry around the hope that I felt, just knowing that someone like Natasha lived in our world. I cannot even imagine the difficulty that her family faces. May their grief be assuaged with time, and may their loving memories of her never fade.