The great actor Michael Gambon passed away recently. Why his stage skills were lauded he was most widely known from the role he took over after the death of the great Richard Harris. The roll was some dude named Dumbledore in the latter Harry Potter movies. I saw none of those movies (sorry) but I’m sure he was great.

I saw The Great Gambon (as the great Ralph Richardson named him) in an amazing Broadway play by one of my favorite playwrights David Hare “Skylight” that I saw in November 1995. The three hander script is complicated and brilliant and has the unusual feature of a full spaghetti dinner actually cooked onstage. It smelled delicious. While it features two great young actors Michael Carmago and Lia Williams, it was Michael Gambon’s nuanced and compelling performance that makes this one of my most memorable Broadway event. His character was not by any means a hero, but Mr. Gambon created a performance I will remember for the rest of my life. Now and again you get that special magic in a stage play and I will never be without it. Thank you Michael Gambon.

Lia Williams, Michael Gambon, and Michael Carmago taking bows on Broadway “Skylight” by David Hare