It will break your heart”); suffered an infamous Broadway flop in 1965 at age 24; and went on to write dozens of groundbreaking plays and musicals about sexuality, homophobia, faith, the power of art, the need to connect, and finding meaning in every moment of life.

Six-time Tony-winning actress Audra McDonald said, “Terrence gets to the truth in a way that makes you laugh and cry in all different areas – musical theatre and plays.

He did it better than anyone else.” McNally had long relationships with playwrights Edward Albee and Wendy Wasserstein; lost a lover and many friends to AIDS; stopped drinking through the intervention of Angela Lansbury; helped launch the careers of Nathan Lane, F. Murray Abraham, Audra McDonald, Doris Roberts, Patrick Wilson, and Joe Mantello; was an early champion of marriage equality and faced violent protests for his play Corpus Christi; survived Stage 3 lung cancer; and married theatre producer Tom Kirdahy.

The Village Voice review of the film said, “I wasn’t prepared for the emotional release of Every Act of Life (written and directed by Jeff Kaufman), a wonderful documentary on the prolific playwright Terrence McNally.

The panelists included Terrence McNally, Jeff Kaufman, F. Murray Abraham, Tyne Daly, Nathan Lane, and Joe Mantello.