The lights were dimmed on Broadway before the evening curtain on Mar. 18 to honor the memory of Peter Louis Feller, who built the sets for a half century of landmark Broadway productions.

The stars came out to memorialize him, May 1, at a 1 PM (ET) ceremony at Broadway's Winter Garden Theatre on 50th St. George Hearn (The Diary of Anne Frank) and Loni Ackerman performed. Glenn Close, Jane Alexander, Harold Prince and producer Manny Azenberg also appeared, as did designers John Napier and Tharon Musser, David Hays, Philip Smith and Alan Anderson.

Feller, technical production supervisor of more than 2,000 Broadway shows including Fiddler on the Roof, West Side Story, Cabaret, Fiorello! and Sweeney Todd, died Mar. 13 in Melbourne, FL, at the age of 78.

Feller, whose father was the renowned Broadway carpenter Peter Feller, was chosen by Irving Berlin to build the scenery for the 1942 wartime musical This is the Army. He received his first Tony Award in 1952 for Outstanding Stage Technician for Call Me Madam and was honored with a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre in 1984.

Feller collaborated with the great scenic designers of this century including Jo Mielziner, Oliver Smith, Boris Aronson, Peter Larkin, Ming Cho Lee, Santo Loquasto, John Lee Beatty and Robin Wagner. He also worked with such notable directors as George Abbott, Harold Prince, Jerome Robbins, Michael Bennett and Trevor Nunn, and with producers including David Merrick, Manny Azenberg and the Shubert Organization. A letter from designer John Napier was also read. Feller is survived by his wife of 56 years, Katherine; two sisters; two sons, Peter and Philip; and three grandchildren.

For those who wish to make a charitable contribution, the family has requested donations in Peter Feller's memory be made to the following theatre organization: Henegar Center, 625 E. New Haven, Melbourne, FL 32901.

-- By Rebecca Paller
and David Lefkowitz