By Scott Barbarino***All of us here at NiteLife Exchange extend our most heartfelt condolences to Cynthia Crane and the Story family as they mourn the loss of husband and father Ted Story: May 13, 1936 – June 11, 2024. The marriage of the pair was a rare one, a storybook union of devotion and true partnership.
With her trademark flaming red hair, Cynthia Crane, a New York City-born singer/chanteuse, not only starred in nightclubs and cabaret rooms up and down the East Coast, but performed in summer stock, Off-Broadway, and for the USO abroad. With Ted, George Ferencz, and Pam Mitchell, she co-founded The Impossible Ragtime Theatre, producing more than 100 plays. She has also performed in all the local New York City clubs for over 50 years including Don’t Tell Mama and Eighty Eights as well as in Paris at L’Express and has been an integral part of the cabaret community in too many capacities to list here, including as a long time member of the MAC Board of Directors. She has been reviewed by The New York Times, Jazz Now, Jazz Times, Daily Variety and Time Out New York. John S. Wilson, in The New York Times, called her “Polished and compelling.”
A memorial service held for Ted on Friday, June 21 at Redden’s Funeral Home would have pleased Ted— a full capacity crowd celebrated his life with memories and stories, and with a goodly amount of humor and hearty laughter. Ted Story was a very special individual, noted as the kind of person who would always tell it like it was and wouldn’t suffer fools but who under all of it had a big heart and lots of compassion.
Here’s what the family shared about him on a card presented to all in attendance:
“Ted Story was born in Batavia, NY to Theodore and Gladys Story. He moved to New York to attend Columbia University and stayed to study acting at HB Studios. Ted began his life in the theater as an actor in summer stock and Broadway productions including The Deputy and South Pacific. Over the years he transitioned from acting to Directing and Producing. He was a founding member and artistic director for The Impossible Ragtime Theatre (IRT) during the heyday of Off-Off Broadway in NYC, producing over one hundred plays on three stages. His 
obsession with Shakespeare led him to co-write a one man show titled Shakespeare’s Treason! with Hank Whittemore. The play was invited to be performed at The Globe Theatre in London.
Ted was a vibrant personality with a love for life. He had a sharp wit and an ability to see the world with his keen sense of humor. Those that knew him well remember his laugh and the welcoming spirit that both he and Cynthia cultivated. Ted and Cynthia’s love for each other and for their children was boundless and they created a home in Greenwich Village which was an extension of this love and creativity. Home was a welcoming hub to all friends—both theirs and their children’s—and this love was reciprocated by everyone that was drawn in.
Ted is survived by his wife of 60 years Cynthia Crane Story, his two daughters Alexandra and Samantha and his two grandsons, Declan and Bowie.”
Alice laughed
“There’s no use in trying,” she said.
“One can’t believe impossible things.”
“I daresay you haven’t had much practice.” said The Queen.
“When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, some-
times I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
