Helen Marie Guditis

Helen Marie Guditis of East 74th Street in Manhattan, Founder and President of “The Theatre Museum” located in New York City, died in her sleep on December 3, 2012, following a valiant four-year-long battle with cancer. She passed away in Columbia, South Carolina, home of her brother, Albert John Guditis; nephew, Jay Matthew Guditis, his wife Mary and grand-nephews, Nathaniel and Nicholas. Born in Chicago, Illinois to Albert and Helen Guditis, she graduated from Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, New York; and received an MBA from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. After directing and appearing in several plays at The Theatre on the Lake in Chicago, she moved to New York City in 1972, to begin a successful career in Broadway and off-Broadway productions. In the 1980’s she began teaching speech and drama in the New York Public Schools, which she did for many years. In 2003 she founded the Broadway Theatre Museum in Manhattan. She changed the name to The Theatre Museum in 2007, and it has successfully functioned with partnerships and associations in greater New York and the rest of the country. The Museum has provided exhibitions, educational, and public programs to bring together scholars of the Broadway Theatre, architects, historians, and actors to chronicle the Broadway Musical Theatre since 1900. This included an exhibition which focused on the evolution of theatre architecture on Broadway from 1903 to the present entitled “A New Century, A New Style”. In 2009, The Museum showcased “Showboat! Round the Bend” at the Waterfront Museum in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The presentation “Brooklyn Sees Stars”, which explored the history of musical theater in Brooklyn, was presented at the Brooklyn Public Library and at Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus until 2011. Other projects which are currently in development by Ms. Guditis included “The Other Boroughs” and “The Circuits” which chronicle the routes travelling musical shows took in the early 20th Century. In lieu of flowers, please send tax deductible contributions to: The Theatre Museum, 40 Worth Street, Suite 824, New York, New York 10013 (www.thetheatremuseum.org). A memorial service for Helen will be held 11 o'clock, Saturday, December 29, 2012 at Northeast United Methodist Church, 4000 Hardscrabble Rd, Columbia, with The Rev. David W. Day officiating.

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Helen Marie Guditis

April 11, 1945 - December 3, 2012