Ron Taylor

Ronald James Taylor (October 16, 1952 – January 16, 2002) was an American actor, singer and writer.

He grew up in Galveston, Texas, and later moved to New York City to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Taylor was born on October 16, 1952, in Galveston, Texas to Marian and Robert "Bruno" Taylor and had two sisters, Roberta and Frances.

He attended O'Connell High School, and Wharton County Junior College, where he was a football player, and a participant in the school choir and theater.

The choir teacher suggested he join after overhearing him singing The Temptations.

He favoured music over football, and at the age of 19 attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, intending to become a singer.

Taylor, a "barrel-chested bass-baritone", had an extensive career in musical theater.

Upon graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Taylor was unable to read sheet music and could "barely" play the piano, but found work as a singer.

After graduating, Taylor began working in musical theater, appearing in The Wiz (1977), before getting his break with the 1982 off-Broadway production Little Shop of Horrors.

Taylor voiced the killer plant Audrey II in the show, which ran for five years and over 2,000 performances.

Taylor created and starred in the musical revue It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues, which charted the history of blues music from its African origin to American success.

In 1977 he played the Cowardly Lion in a national touring production of The Wiz.

Taylor subsequently played Great Big Baby in the 1978 Broadway production Eubie! and Caiaphas in a performance of Jesus Christ Superstar.

He voiced Audrey II, the "street-smart, funky, conniving" talking killer plant which is an "anthropomorphic cross between a Venus flytrap and an avocado", in the original off-Broadway production of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken's "black-comedy musical" Little Shop of Horrors from 1982.

Audrey II was played by four increasingly large puppets, operated by Martin P. Robinson, while Taylor sat in a box at the back of the stage to voice the role, standing to perform his musical numbers.

The two kept in close proximity to ensure "that voice and action are always synchronized" and "developed a rapport" which was "the only thing that allow[ed] the character to really bloom."

Taylor disliked sitting in the box as it left him feeling disconnected from the audience.

The part was his break and was described by Jesse McKinley of The New York Times as "a role Mr. Taylor's booming voice was made for...[he] soon put his stamp on Audrey's signature line: 'Feed me, feed me!'" Members of the public often used the line when they saw Taylor.

At the 1983 Drama Desk Awards, Taylor won the award for Outstanding Special Effects for his performance, which he shared with Robinson.

In the 1984 Broadway production of The Three Musketeers at The Broadway Theatre, Taylor played Porthos, one of the three title characters.

After fifteen preview performances, the show ran just nine times before closing.

Frank Rich wrote that the musketeers were "professionally played" by Taylor and his co-stars Brent Spiner and Chuck Wagner but felt the three had "little dialogue and often seem like interchangeable stand-ins for the Three Stooges."

A similar view was held by William B. Collins of the Philadelphia Inquirer who said they "speak as in one voice and behave like comedians who have been stranded without good material."

Taylor created and starred in the musical revue It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues, which charted the history of blues music from its African origin to American success.

He conceived the original idea for the show when he played blues musician Rufus Payne in a 1987 production of Lost Highway, a play about singer Hank Williams at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts in Denver, Colorado.

He proposed the idea to director Randal Myler who eventually accepted it in 1994.

Taylor co-wrote the revue with Myler, Lita Gaithers, Charles Bevel and Dan Wheetman, and also served as its associate producer.

Taylor was the revue's lead singer and acted as its narrator; his numbers included "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man", "The Thrill is Gone", "Blues Man" and "Let the Good Times Roll".

It was initially performed as a 45-minute production at 25 local high schools.

Because of their positive reception, the show was expanded to two hours and 50 songs, with three people being added to the original cast of four, and was regularly performed at the Denver Center.

Taylor described the performance as "very cordial", with the audience close to performers, and that "one show is never the same as the next because of the songs, of what they are. Blues is about how you feel today. One day, you're down; another day is real happy and giddy. We're all laughing. Randy's direction captures that. It's always so personal, bringing the audience into the piece."

As well as African music, the revue includes "country, gospel, the old blues, Appalachian music," featuring music by Patsy Cline, Brenda Lee, Mahalia Jackson, Jimmy Rogers, Nina Simone and Muddy Waters.

In 1995, the revue ran for a month at the Cleveland Play House, in conjunction with the opening of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, before touring at other regional theaters.

Originally performed at high schools in Denver as a 45-minute piece, the revue was expanded to two hours, played around the country and opened on Broadway in 1999.

It was met with critical acclaim, ran for eight months, and saw Taylor receive two Tony Award nominations.

He also had numerous television roles, appearing in Family Matters, The Simpsons, Twin Peaks, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Ally McBeal, Matlock and L.A. Law.

His performance in the latter, as a singer who performed the American national anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner" at baseball games, led him to perform the anthem at several real-life sporting events.

Taylor was married and had one son.

Little Shop of Horrors was performed over 2000 times before it closed in 1987.

He died in January 2002 after suffering a heart attack.