Suzie Howie, right, with fellow PR queen Ann Morrison. Picture: Julie Kiriacoudis Source: Herald Sun
Howie's death has stunned Melbourne's theatre scene. Picture: Chris Groenhout Source: Herald Sun
PUBLICITY queen Suzie Howie has died on the eve of the opening of her last show, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
"Dim the lights at the Princess, the Maj and the Regent," actor Marina Prior said.
"Ask the audience to pause and hold back their applause. A great friend has left the theatre."
Though she has been sick for many years, Howie's death has stunned Melbourne's theatre scene.
Tributes have begun flooding in from around the globe for the Melbourne PR dynamo who worked with the likes of Sammy Davis, Cher, Kirk Douglas, Paul Hogan, Barry Humphries, Rudolph Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn during her stellar career.
Ever the professional, Howie continued to work from her hospital bed at Kyneton District Hospital's palliative care unit until her husband took her laptop and phone from her two weeks ago. She died on Thursday night after battling cancer for seven years.
Howie worked tirelessly behind the scenes of almost every major musical of the 30 years, from Cats, Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera to Mamma Mia!, Jersey Boys, Wicked and Mary Poppins.
She also publicised more than 600 shows: drama, opera, ballet and circuses and the visits of scores of international celebrities including Pope John Paul II - as well as the landmarks of Australian cinema, The Man From Snowy River and Crocodile Dundee.
A diminutive and dynamic redhead, Forum producer, John Frost said Howie was "the best" in the business and "an original".
And the biggest names in the entertainment industry agreed.
In a letter to Howie before she died, theatre producer, Cameron Mackintosh, wrote: "There are no words to express what you mean to me and how much I have depended on you for advice and support over the last 30 years.
"You are the best there is, both in your work and more importantly as a friend, and I insist that you keep on being so Until Tomorrow Comes."
Howie also made an impact on theatre legend Andrew Lloyd Webber who wrote to her while she was ill: "I wanted you to know that I am thinking of you and to tell how pleased I was that we were able to work together on Love Never Dies - it was great to have you looking after me again."
John Frost said: "The passing of Suzie Howie is a great loss to the theatre.
"She was a shining star in my life, always funny, generous and thank God totally outrageous.
"As a publicist she was number one in her field. The industry has lost a person who lived and loved being the best at what she did. Thank you Suzie for being a total original."
Howie would not have wanted that. She wrote her own ``valedictory'' a month ago, thanking her husband Paul Taylor, his family and Taylor's first wife, Maggie Pinkney.
"After 30 years of lunches, launches, pre-show drinks and after show parties enough is enough. My funeral will be private, for family only, and I want no memorial. I just want to float away," she said.
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