Lani Ball

(1940-2015) Theatrical stage manager on Broadway, for touring companies and international corporate events, Lani Ball died from complications of a heart attack in Davis, CA., on June 27, 2015. She was 74. Ms. Ball was born on Christmas Day, 1940, in Honolulu (hence her name, inspired by her parents' wedding song, "Sweet Leilani, Heavenly Flower"). The family relocated to Sacramento, and Lani attended local schools including Sierra Elementary and McClatchy Senior High, where she developed an interest in the theatre. She joined the Sacramento Civic Theatre as staff member and performer, and attended San Francisco State University, where she majored in theatre with a concentration on acting, but soon discovered a talent for stage management, and pursued that path. She worked at the San Francisco Actors Workshop in the '60s, under the direction of Jules Irving and Herbert Blau. After several years there, the company was invited to create a repertory theatre program for the new Vivian Beaumont Theatre at New York's Lincoln Center. Lani was among the 25 company members chosen for the relocation. She eventually became one of the company's main stage managers, which led to other work on Broadway starting in the late '60s through the '80s. She worked for producer David Merrick for two years, then became stage manager of the original production of "Hair." She also stage-managed "Cyrano the Musical" starring Christopher Plummer, and the revival of "Sweet Charity" with Debbie Allen. This was one of the last productions director /choreographer Bob Fosse worked on before he died in 1987. Lani also served as stage manager for touring productions of "A Chorus Line," "Anything Goes," and "Ain't Misbehavin'," and was one of the stage managers during the five-year run of "The Phantom of the Opera" at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. In 1968, Lani stage-managed the five summer repertory productions of the California Shakespeare Festival in Los Gatos, CA. In the '90s she served as assistant to Elizabeth Huddle, Artistic Director of the Portland Center Stage in Oregon; Lani and Liz had known each other since high school, and worked together at SFSU, for the Actors Workshop, with the Lincoln Center repertory company, and at CSF. In her later years, Ms. Ball worked as coordinator and stage manager of Fortune 500 corporation events throughout the United States and abroad. She retired and bought a home in Davis in 2005, where she lived until her death. Lani has no survivors, except for her hundreds of friends and acquaintances. Services are pending, and in lieu of flowers, it is requested that donations be made in her name to local food banks or the SPCA.