Nick Cordero, actor who died from COVID-19, remembered with music-filled memorial

Hamilton, Ont.-raised theatre star Nick Cordero died at age 41 following complications from COVID-19.

Friends and family gathered virtually to pay tribute to theater performer Nick Cordero in a memorial streamed Sunday on Broadway on Demand.

The Tony-nominated actor and singer died in July at 41 after a months-long battle with Covid-19.

His wife, Amanda Kloots, opened the event after a collage of photos of Cordero over the years.

"Nick would want this memorial to be a celebration," she said. "Something that makes people smile, that makes people sing, that makes people remember his life in a beautiful way."

"Nick always felt so blessed," she added. "He always said that to me: 'I'm so blessed.'"

There was plenty of video, music and memories of Cordero.

In 2014 he was nominated for a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award his role in "Bullets Over Broadway," a role that earned him a Theatre World Award and Outer Critics Circle Award.

Cordero originated the role of the husband, Earl, in the Broadway production of "Waitress," as well as the role of Sonny in the musical version of Chazz Palminteri's "A Bronx Tale."

Robert De Niro, a producer of "A Bronx Tale," offered his love and support to Kloots and her young son with Cordero.

He called Cordero's death "unimaginable" and talked of how much he enjoyed working with the actor.

"We'll all meet up there some day, but he left way, way, way too soon," De Niro said.

Kloots said the memorial also served as a fundraiser for the Save the Music Foundation.