In Memoriam: Arthur P. Siccardi

	Arthur Siccardi

Production supervisor Arthur P. Siccardi (better known as "Artie") died December 23 from complications of pneumonia; he was 89. Born in Englewood, New Jersey in 1931, he started out as a minor league baseball pitcher, playing for the Johnson City Cardinals between 1951 and 1953. He got started in the theatre with a gig as show carpenter on the first national tour of the musical Gypsy. After years of backstage work, he established Arthur Siccardi Theatrical Services in 1975, serving as technical coordinator, production manager, or production supervisor on a list of shows that constitutes a virtual history of Broadway in the late 20th and early 21st centuries

His credits included Annie (1977); Ain't Misbehavin' (1978); Sweeney Todd (1979); Whose Life Is It, Anyway? (1979); Talley's Folly (1980); Children of a Lesser God (1980); A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine (1981); Dreamgirls (1982); "Master Harold"...and the boys (1982); Cats (1982); Brighton Beach Memoirs (1983); My One and Only (1983); Baby (1984); The Real Thing (1984); Sunday in the Park with George (1984); Biloxi Blues (1985); Song and Dance (1985); Social Security (1986); Broadway Bound (1986); Fences (1987); Burn This (1987); A Walk in the Woods (1987); Rumors (1988); Jerome Robbins' Broadway (1988); Lend Me a Tenor (1989); The Heidi Chronicles (1989); Gypsy (with Tyne Daly, 1989); Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (with Kathleen Turner, 1990); The Grapes of Wrath (1990); Lettice and Lovage (1990); Lost in Yonkers (1991); Falsettos (1992); Laughter on the 23rd Floor (1993); Sunset Boulevard (1994); Victor/Victoria (1995); the ultra-long-running revival of Chicago (1996); The Beauty Queen of Leenane (1998): Annie Get Your Gun (with Bernadette Peters, 1999); Dame Edna: The Royal Tour (1999); Kiss Me, Kate (with Marin Mazzie and Brian Stokes Mitchell, 1999); Mamma Mia! (2001); Gypsy (with Bernadette Peters, 2003); Wonderful Town (with Donna Murphy, 2003); I Am My Own Wife (2003); The Pillowman (2005); The Color Purple (2005); and Billy Elliot (2008).

Siccardi's awards include a Tony Honor for Excellence in Theatre in 2012 and the SUNY Purchase Backstage Legends and Masters Award the same year. He possessed an IATSE Gold Card for Local 728, given to those who have dedicated many years of service to the union.

Siccardi, who divided his time between Miami; New York City; Cold Spring, New York; and Tupper Lake, New York, was married to Jane Waller, who died in 1991, and Susan MacNair, who died in 2005. A son, Arthur III, died in 2012. He is survived by his son, Drew; daughter-in-law Lori; grandchildren Melanie Tocco and Cody Siccardi; and great-grandchildren Emerson Wilder Tocco and Amalia Jane Tocco.

Donations in Siccardi's memory can be made to Broadway/ Cares/Equity Fights Aids (broadwaycares.org), The Wild Center at Tupper Lake (wildcenter.org), and the Goff-Nelson Library at Tupper Lake. (Checks should be made payable to Goff-Nelson Memorial Library and sent to the Library at 41 Lake Street, Tupper Lake, NY 12986.) Due to COVID-19 restrictions, a memorial tribute will be planned later.