from Los Angeles:
Arthur Laurents, who died Thursday as an exceptionally young nonagenarian, was one musical theater writer who was impossible to overlook. Dismiss him — and how could you dismiss the man who wrote the books for "West Side Story" and "Gypsy"? — and you'd have your head handed to you, no matter if you were a lowly reviewer or a formidable diva.
Feisty, irascible, sharp-tongued and fearless, he had a reputation in the theater as someone who was always spoiling for a fight. Age hadn't mellowed him. Even in his late 80s and early 90s, when he was busy directing revivals of his classics on Broadway, he was still settling scores with a few choice quips.
As the news of his death spread Thursday evening, theater people were trading stories about the "holy terror" that was Laurents. Harvey Fierstein reminded his Twitter following of a joke he made on the occasion of Laurents' 85th birthday that his legendary colleague (who won a Tony for directing "La Cage aux Folles," for which Fierstein wrote the book) was "living proof that the good die young." At the intermission of "War Horse" at Lincoln Center, friends were speculating whether Barbra Streisand would at last get to star in a new film version of "Gypsy" now that Laurents was no longer around to block it from happening.
This might sound like sacrilege, but the truth is these comments were made by people who revere Laurents and wouldn't dream of questioning his hallowed place in the Broadway firmament. But Laurents was not just a great theater artist — he was also a great theatrical character. His bitchiness enlivened the Rialto, his feuds fed the tabloid columnists and his gossip kept the after-show drinks crowd at Sardi's, Joe Allen and Angus McIndoe tittering over a second martini. He didn't just kiss and tell in his memoir "Original Story By"; he indicted anyone who discriminated against him as a gay man or double-crossed him in showbiz.
