The Broadway community mourns the loss of prominent producer Ashton Springer, who passed away on July 15^th at age 82. The marquees of Broadway theatres in New York will be dimmed in his memory on Wednesday, July 24^th, at exactly 8:00 p.m. for one minute.

"A producer or co-producer of numerous Broadway shows in the 1970s and early '80s, Ashton Springer produced plays and musicals by and about African-Americans that brought both black and white audiences to Broadway. Our thoughts are with his family and friends," said Charlotte St. Martin, Executive Director of The Broadway League.

Mr. Springer produced plays ranging from No Place to Be Somebody (Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1970) to the Tony Awardâ nominated Bubbling Brown Sugar (1976). His 1977 all-black revival of Guys and Dolls was also Tony Awardâ nominated. Other Broadway productions included Eubie!, Whoopee!," Inacent Black, Going Up, Cold Storage, and Athol Fugard's A Lesson From Aloes.

Mr. Springer went to high school in The Bronx and attended Ohio State University.

He is survived by a sister and two sons.