Broadway star and musician Lawrence Hamilton died Thursday. He was 59. According to friends and Hamilton’s Facebook page, the Foreman (Little River County) native died in New York City during surgery.
Hamilton’s career spanned the globe, with Broadway credits including “Play On,” “Jelly’s Last Jam,” “The Wiz,” “Uptown It’s Hot,” “Blues in the Night” and “Ragtime.”
He was musical director for opera star Jessye Norman and performed at the White House, at the Vatican for Pope Paul II, and in concert with the legendary Lena Horne.
At the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, he appeared as Whining Boy in “The Piano Lesson,” created by Souvenir.
Hamilton was also a member of the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame and Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame.