Frank Corsaro, Broadway and Opera Director, Dies at 92

Frank Corsaro, a director with ties to the worlds of Broadway and opera, has died at the age of 92.

The son of Argentinean immigrants, Corsaro made his Broadway debut as an actor in a 1951 revival of The Taming of the Shrew. His first Broadway production as director was The Honeys in 1955, a Roald Dahl play starring Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy. He famously directed the premieres of The Night of the Iguana by Tennessee Williams, and the Scott Joplin folk opera Treemonisha, which transferred to Broadway in 1975. Corsaro directed 10 Broadway shows over the course of his career; his last was It's So Nice to Be Civilized in 1980.

In the opera world, Corsaro had a longtime association with New York City Opera, where he directed classic works like Madama Butterfly, La Traviata, and Don Giovanni, introducing controversial techniques like video projections and multimedia. His work was seen around the country at venues like Houston Grand Opera.

Corsaro married Mary Cross Lueders, a mezzo-soprano with City Opera, in 1971 and they remained married through her death in 2016. He is survived by his son, Andrew Corsaro, two grandchildren, and brother Anthony Corsaro.