Gerald Freedman, who directed countless plays, operas and musicals, including the original “Hair” in 1967 and more than a dozen Broadway productions, died March 17 at his home in Winston-Salem, NC. He was 92.

“I’m most proud of the way I’ve opened up so many actors to what acting really is,” the New York Times quoted him. “They have talent, they have intelligence, they have imagination but they have to add a reality. That’s the essence of anything they do. And that’s it, really. Reality. It sounds very simple, but it’s very difficult.”