Laurel Griggs.Photo: Laurel Griggs/Instagram
Laurel Griggs‘ Broadway family is “heartbroken” over the 13-year-old’s tragic death.
Griggs, who was best known for her role as Ivanka in the Tony Award-winning musicalOnce, died on Nov. 5 in New York City due to a“massive asthma attack”after she was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital, her grandfather, David B. Rivlin, confirmed. Doctors were unable to revive her.
“She was so funny and silly, she was a little goofball in the best way,” Jill Zygo tearfully tells PEOPLE. Zygo was the child guardian for the young actors on the Broadway production ofOnce.
“She was just her own person, which was really cool. She was only 7 or 8 when I worked with her for 17 months and 36-40 hours a week. We had so much fun. Even when kids are 7 or 8, they’re not really their own person, but she was really her own person,” Zygo remembers. “She loved theater and her friends. She was very unique and lovable, everyone cared about her. She will be dearly missed.”
Laurel Griggs/Instagram
Many of Griggs’ formerOncecast members also attended the funeral, which took place on Nov. 7 at Park West Riverside in New York City.
“I hadn’t seen her for a couple years but it hit us all really hard,” Zygo says. “We’ve all been texting and emailing. Everyone is really heartbroken. TheOncefamily is a tightknit group. Everyone is really gutted and our hearts are broken. I know a lot of the cast members were at the services. Everyone is shaken up.”
Zygo also reveals that the production’s national tour dedicated a recent show to Griggs and her family. “This beautiful young lady was part of our Once family. Please keep her family in your prayers,” the productionwroteon Facebook Nov. 9.
Griggs’ family members did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.
source: people.com
