Hal Prince, producer and director who created some of Broadway’s biggest hits in the second half of the 20th century, as well as a record 21 Tony Awards winner, died at the age of 91 on Wednesday.

The news was confirmed by his publicist, who said that Prince died in Reykjavik, Iceland, after a brief illness. There would be no funeral for him, only a ceremony celebrating his life in the autumn this year, according to his family cited by reports.

Prince became a wunderkind producer in the 1950s with hits including "West Side Story," the groundbreaking re-imagining of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet."

He turned to directing in the 1960s with hits including "Cabaret," set in decadent Berlin amid the rise of the Nazis, for which he won the first of eight Tonys as best director.

Prince is a legendary figure in Broadway's history. His directorial productions include "Cabaret," "Sweeney Todd," "Evita" and "Phantom of the Opera".

He was also famed for dynamic collaborations with two composers, American Stephen Sondheim and Briton Andrew Lloyd Webber, and for being a protégé of legendary Broadway showman George Abbott.

He joined with Sondheim to create a series of sophisticated musicals in the 1970s, then teamed with Lloyd Webber for the blockbusters "Evita" and "The Phantom of the Opera," which became the longest-running show in Broadway history.

"The Phantom of the Opera" - the story of a disfigured musical genius obsessed with a young operatic soprano - opened in London in 1986, then took Broadway by storm in 1988.

"There is not a single scene in the show that does not have a surprise in it," Prince told Playbill in 2011 of "Phantom."

"Sometimes it's fire that you don’t know is going to be there, sometimes it's a voice, sometimes it's a piano playing by itself, but there's always something. And sometimes it's a piece of scenery almost falling on a diva," Prince said.

"He has a more acute ear than most producers. He takes it seriously and is more daring, imaginative and endlessly creative. He likes to take chances," Sondheim said.

As a director, he also pioneered the "concept musical" with Sondheim, with shows presenting themes in place of a narrative plot. "Follies," for example, used a reunion of chorus girls to explore growing older.

"The Phantom of the Opera" was firstly introduced to China in 2003, and has held several tours around the country in the following years. It has garnered a number of loyal fans during the past years, and a Chinese version was even produced.

(With inputs from Reuters)