Rebecca Luker, Tony-nominated Broadway singer and actress, dies at 59 Matt Schudel Rebecca Luker, a Broadway actress and singer who was nominated for three Tony Awards and starred in several classic musicals, including “Show Boat,” “The Sound of Music” and “The Music Man,” died Dec. 23 at a Manhattan hospital. She was 59. Her death was announced in a statement by her husband, actor Danny Burstein. The cause was amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a degenerative neurological disease that leads to paralysis. Ms. Luker was one of the leading figures of musical theater for 30 years, appearing in nine Broadway productions and many others off-Broadway and on stages across the country. Known for her clear, crystalline soprano voice, she recorded several albums and was a popular cabaret performer.
According to
The New York Times, Luker died Wednesday in a Manhattan hospital after announcing in February that she had been diagnosed with ALS late last year. Her death was confirmed by her agent, Sarah Fargo.
Survivors include her second husband, Danny Burstein, like his wife a beloved Broadway performer. The seven-time Tony nominee wrote two columns for
THR this year about his recovery from COVID-19 and how Luker helped him get past the virus.
An operatic soprano, Luker portrayed Magnolia, the daughter who marries a sleazy riverboat gambler, in
Show Boat, which opened on Broadway in 1994; the librarian Marian in
Rebecca Luker, a Broadway Star for Three Decades, Dies at 59
Her Broadway career, fueled by her crystal-clear operatic soprano, brought her Tony Award nominations for “Show Boat,” “The Music Man” and “Mary Poppins.”
Rebecca Luker as Maria, surrounded by the von Trapp children, in the 1998 Broadway revival of “The Sound of Music.” She also starred in hit revivals of “Show Boat” and “The Music Man.”Credit.Sara Krulwich/The New York Times
Published Dec. 23, 2020Updated Dec. 28, 2020
Rebecca Luker, the actress and singer who in a lauded three-decade career on the New York stage embodied the essence of the Broadway musical ingénue in hit revivals of “Show Boat,” “The Sound of Music” and “The Music Man,” died on Wednesday in a hospital in Manhattan. She was 59.