Tony Award-winning Broadway producer Ron Simons dies at age 63 | News

“It is with heavy hearts that we announce the unexpected passing of our beloved, blessed and cherished friend Ronald Keith Simons,” the production company wrote in a statement on Facebook.

Simons won Tonys for producing “Porgy and Bess” with Norm Lewis and Audra McDonald, “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” with Jefferson Mays, “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” with Sigourney Weaver, and “Jitney” with John Douglas Thompson.

He also co-produced Hughie (with Forest Whitaker), The Gin Game (with Cicely Tyson and James Earl Jones), Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations, an all-black production of A Streetcar Named Desire, the remake of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf, and the original Thoughts of a Colored Man.

In 2022, after the first full season since the death of George Floyd reignited the conversation about race and representation in America, Simons was pleased that Broadway was able to offer one of its most diverse Tony programs yet.

“I can assure you that I have never seen so many people of color in all categories of the Tony Awards,” he told the Associated Press. “I was so encouraged and impressed by that.”

In the film sector, Simons produced “Night Catches Us” with Kerry Washington, Anthony Mackie and Wendell Pierce, “Gun Hill Road” with Esai Morales and Judy Reyes, “Blue Caprice” with Isaiah Washington and Tequan Richmond and “Mother of George” with Danai Gurira.

Simons, who holds a bachelor’s degree from Columbia College, an MBA from Columbia Business School and an MFA from the University of Washington, was a product manager at Microsoft when he decided to change his life and pursue a career in entertainment.

He began as an actor, performing in regional theaters including the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, the Seattle Repertory Theatre, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, and the Classical Theatre of Harlem.

He has appeared in the films “27 Dresses” and “Mystery Team,” and on television in “The Resident,” “Law & Order,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” and “Law & Order: SVU.”