Ken Wydro, writer, producer and creator of one of Off-Broadway’s biggest successes, “Mama, I Want to Sing,” died on Tuesday, January 21 at his home in Harlem, New York. He was 81 years old.
Ken Wydro enjoyed a successful career as an author of three books, playwright, Broadway producer, public speaker and is best known as the co-creator (with his wife Vy Higginsen) and director of the MAMA, I WANT TO SING musical trilogy. MAMA was the longest running black show in theatre history. The original production played 2,213 performances from 1983 – 1991 at the Heckscher Theatre. There have been several subsequent productions in New York, London and numerous global tours.
Along with Higginsen, he formed the Mama Foundation for the Arts in 1998 to make a joyful noise, to uplift the Black musical treasures of Gospel, jazz and R&B, and to heal and inspire through the power of collective music-making. Today, the Mama Foundation is a thriving intergenerational and interracial Harlem institution.
For the Mama Foundation, Ken co-created and directed several musicals: LET THE MUSIC PLAY GOSPEL, SING HARLEM SING, WE ARE and ALIVE! 55+ AND Kickin’. These show were performed in various theatres and churches throughout Harlem for decades.
For many years, Ken conducted seminars and workshops about working under pressure for major corporations such as IBM, General Foods, E. F Hutton, Warner-Lambert, I.B.M, McGraw-Hill, Avon Products, and Frost and Sullivan in London. Ken spoke to companies about how to think and speak more concisely and effectively under pressure centered on his book, Think on Your Feet.
His other books include: Flying Solo: The Art of Living Single and co-author of The Luigi Jazz Dance Technique.
Ken was also a Broadway producer with credits including: THE MOUNTAINTOP, EVITA, THE BEST MAN, AMERICAN BUFFALO, AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, ALL THE WAY CURIOUS INCIDENT, and JOE TURNER’S COME AND GONE.
He wrote two plays: SECRETS: THE UNTOLD STORY OF SIGMUND FREUD AND CARL JUNG, produced off Broadway at the TBG Theater (312 W. 36th Street in March 2013) and VICE VERSA.
Ken had an undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Rochester and a Master’s Degree in theater from the University of California, Berkeley. He has been an instructor at the City University of New York (CUNY) and has studied professional theater with Lee Strasberg and David LeGrant.
He is survived by his wife of 44 years, Vy Higginsen and his daughter Ahmaya Knoelle Higginson-Wydro.