Ron Simons, who had a busy if rather low-key career as an actor on television before making his biggest impact producing acclaimed Broadway plays such as Thoughts of a Black Man (2021) and the resumption of for girls of color who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enoughdied on Wednesday. The four-time Tony Award winner was 63 years old.
His death was announced by SimonSays Entertainment, the production company he founded in 2009. The cause of death was not immediately known.
“It is with heavy hearts that we announce the unexpected passing of our beloved, blessed and cherished friend Ronald Keith Simons. Funeral details will be announced shortly,” the production company said in a statement.
The Classical Theatre of Harlem said in a separate statement: “We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of our friend and former trustee Ron Simon. Our thoughts are with his family. Ron left an unparalleled legacy on Broadway and beyond. We will always remember his kindness and incredible talent that inspired so many.”
Simons was born Ronald Keith Simons in Detroit on November 30, 1960. He was the only child of a single mother and was raised mostly by his grandparents. After graduating with an MBA from Columbia Business School in 1989, Simons took a job as a project manager at Microsoft before deciding to pursue a career in acting at the age of 39.
Simons moved from California to New York, joined the troupe of the Classical Theatre of Harlem and began to play small roles on television in the mid-1990s. His roles include appearances in Nowhere Man, Jonny Zerothe different law and order franchise series, Marvel’s The Defenders, Daredevil, Succession and on the big screen 27 Dresses, Blue Caprice And After the wedding.
While he continued to get acting jobs until 2019 (his most recent was the TV series The resident), Simons increasingly concentrated on production, initially in the film sector (The night catches usstarring Kerry Washington and Anthony Mackie in 2010) and then, with greater impact, on Broadway. He was part of the production team of the 2012 Tony-winning revival of Porgy and Bess starring Audra McDonald and Norm Lewis and in the same year Endstation longing with Blair Underwood, Nicole Ari Parker and Daphne Rubin-Vega.
He was part of the production teams of three other Tony-winning shows: A gentleman’s guide to love and murder (2013), Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike (2013) and Jitney (2017). Additional credits between 2016 and 2019 are The Gin Game, Hughie and the successful musical Temptations I’m not too proud.
Simons took on the role of lead producer of the acclaimed Thoughts of a Black Man by Keenan Scott II in 2021, making him one of the first producers with one of the first shows to reopen on Broadway after the Covid shutdown. Despite good reviews Thoughts of a Black Man had to cut short its scheduled run due to poor ticket sales, one of many shows that struggled as Covid still ravaged the industry.
The following year, Simons returned to Broadway as executive producer of the well-reviewed revival of Ntozake Shange. for colored girls …Directed by Camille A. Brown.
Both Thoughts of a Black Man And for colored girls… has left an important mark on Broadway. The former was the first production written, directed, starred and produced by black artists. Brown’s Shange revival was the first black woman to direct and choreograph a Broadway production since 1955.
Information on survivors was not immediately available. Memorial services are still pending.
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