TheaterPizzazz founder and publisher Sandi Durell has died at 84. An erudite critic and compassionate community member, Ms. Durell had been fighting metastasized lung cancer since 2021. News of her passing was confirmed by her family.

Ms. Durell was a critic for more than 30 years, writing, reviewing, producing, and guiding the theatre community with an empathetic hand. A member of the Drama Desk Organization, the Outer Critics Circle Organization, and the American Theatre Critics Association, Ms. Durell was a part of the League of Professional Theatre Women, on the board of American Popular Song Society, and a part of Theater Resources Unlimited Advisory Board.

In 2012, as traditional print theatre criticism began to creak under the pressure of digital expansion, Ms. Durell founded TheaterPizzazz.com, which offered a home masthead to independent theatre critics and analysts who had been swept out to sea following the closure of several papers. Ms. Durell served as the founder, publisher, and editor of TheaterPizzazz until her death, and she personally selected her co-publisher, Eyal Solomon, as her successor, effective immediately.

In addition to her work in the realm of theatre criticism, Ms. Durell served as a producer of Broadway and Hollywood Live! Revues (ShaRell Productions), produced the popular Songwriter Showcase for the American Popular Song Society for 19 years, and was a producer on the Award winning film Broadway the Golden Age with Rick McKay. A vocalist in her spare time, Ms. Durell also served as an angel investor upon occasion.

Ms. Durell is survived by her husband, Dr. Robert Durell, her daughter Cooper Lawrence, and her son-in-law, critic JK Clarke.

The funeral will be held October 27 at noon at Plaza Jewish Community Chapel, 630 Amsterdam Avenue. Per Lawrence, those who wish to attend should dress in bright colors: "My mom would hate everyone in black crying."