Harry Rigby (c. 1925 – January 17, 1985) was an American
theatre producer
A theatrical producer is a person who oversees all aspects of mounting a theatre production. The producer is responsible for the overall financial and managerial functions of a production or venue, raises or provides financial backing, and hire ...
and writer.
Born in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
, Rigby joined forces with
Jule Styne and
Alexander H. Cohen
Alexander H. Cohen (July 24, 1920 – April 22, 2000) was an American theatrical producer who mounted more than one hundred productions on both sides of the Atlantic. He was the only American producer to maintain offices in the West End as well a ...
to produce the short-lived 1951
Hugh Martin
Hugh Martin (August 11, 1914 – March 11, 2011) was an American musical theater and film composer, arranger, vocal coach, and playwright. He was best known for his score for the 1944 MGM musical ''Meet Me in St. Louis'', in which Judy Garland ...
musical ''
Make a Wish'' as his first
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
outing. Two years later he enjoyed greater success with ''
John Murray Anderson's Almanac
''John Murray Anderson's Almanac'' is a musical revue, featuring the music of the songwriting team of Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, as well as other composers. It was conceived by John Murray Anderson.
Productions
''John Murray Anderson's Almanac ...
'', a
revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own dur ...
with an eclectic cast that included
Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...
,
Polly Bergen
Polly Bergen (born Nellie Paulina Burgin; July 14, 1930 – September 20, 2014) was an American actress, singer, television host, writer and entrepreneur.
She won an Emmy Award in 1958 for her performance as Helen Morgan in '' The Helen ...
,
Hermione Gingold
Hermione Ferdinanda Gingold (; 9 December 189724 May 1987) was an English actress known for her sharp-tongued, eccentric character.
Her signature drawling, deep voice was a result of nodules on her vocal cords she developed in the 1920s and e ...
,
Billy Wolfe
William Harrison Wolfe (July 4, 1896 – March 7, 1963) was a professional wrestling promoter who was active from the 1930s to the 1950s. Wolfe was the husband and manager of Mildred Burke and ran a traveling troupe of Women's professional wrestli ...
,
Orson Bean
Orson Bean (born Dallas Frederick Burrows; July 22, 1928 – February 7, 2020) was an American film, television, and stage actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He was a game show and talk show host and a "mainstay of Los Angeles’ small ...
,
Kay Medford
Margaret Kathleen Regan (September 14, 1919 – April 10, 1980), better known as Kay Medford, was an American actress. For her performance as Rose Brice in the musical '' Funny Girl'' and the film adaptation of the same name, she was nominated ...
,
Larry Kert
Lawrence Frederick "Larry" Kert (December 5, 1930 – June 5, 1991) was an American actor, singer, and dancer. He is best known for his role of Tony in the original Broadway production of the musical ''West Side Story''.
Early life
Kert was ...
, and
Tina Louise
Tina Louise ( Blacker; born February 11, 1934) is an American actress widely known for her role as movie star Ginger Grant in the CBS television situation comedy ''Gilligan's Island''. With the death of Dawn Wells in 2020, Louise became the las ...
.
A decade passed before Rigby returned to Broadway, this time as a production associate for ''
The Ballad of the Sad Cafe'',
Edward Albee's adaptation of the
Carson McCullers
Carson McCullers (February 19, 1917 – September 29, 1967) was an American novelist, short-story writer, playwright, essayist, and poet. Her first novel, '' The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter'' (1940), explores the spiritual isolation of misfits ...
story. In 1971, he was the driving force behind the hit revival of ''
No, No, Nanette
''No, No, Nanette'' is a musical comedy with lyrics by Irving Caesar and Otto Harbach, music by Vincent Youmans, and a book by Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel, based on Mandel's 1919 Broadway play ''My Lady Friends''. The farcical story involves t ...
'', which lured both
Ruby Keeler
Ethel Ruby Keeler (August 25, 1909 – February 28, 1993) was an American actress, dancer, and singer who was paired on-screen with Dick Powell in a string of successful early musicals at Warner Bros., particularly '' 42nd Street'' (1933). From ...
and
Busby Berkeley
Busby Berkeley (born Berkeley William Enos; November 29, 1895 – March 14, 1976) was an American film director and musical choreographer. Berkeley devised elaborate musical production numbers that often involved complex geometric patterns. Berke ...
out of retirement and started the
nostalgia craze on Broadway. His acrimonious relationship with fellow producer
Cyma Rubin led to a lawsuit that resulted in his credit being reduced to "Revival originally conceived for production by Harry Rigby," but insiders claimed he deserved full credit for the show's success. Undaunted by the experience, he revived the 1919 hit ''
Irene
Irene is a name derived from εἰρήνη (eirēnē), the Greek for "peace".
Irene, and related names, may refer to:
* Irene (given name)
Places
* Irene, Gauteng, South Africa
* Irene, South Dakota, United States
* Irene, Texas, United Stat ...
'', for which he helped adapt a new book, with
Debbie Reynolds two years later.
Rigby died in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
.
Additional Broadway credits
*''
Sugar Babies'' (1979)
[
*''Very Good Eddie'' (1980)
*'']I Love My Wife
''I Love My Wife'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by Michael Stewart and music by Cy Coleman, based on a play by Luis Rego.
A satire of the sexual revolution of the 1970s, the musical takes place on Christmas Eve in suburban Trenton, ...
'' (1977)
*'' Good News'' (1974)
*''Hallelujah, Baby!
''Hallelujah, Baby!'' is a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Adolph Green and Betty Comden, and a book by Arthur Laurents. The show is "a chronicle of the African American struggle for equality during the irst half of the20th centur ...
'' (1967)
Awards and nominations
*1980 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical (''Sugar Babies'', nominee)
*1980 Tony Award for Best Musical (''Sugar Babies'', nominee)
*1977 Tony Award for Best Musical (''I Love My Wife'', nominee)
*1977 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical (''I Love My Wife'', nominee)
*1976 Tony Award for Best Play (''Knock Knock'', nominee)
*1968 Tony Award for Best Musical (''Hallelujah, Baby!'', winner)
*1968 Tony Award for Best Producer of a Musical (''Hallelujah, Baby!'', winner)
Further reading
''The Making of No, No, Nanette'' by Don Dunn, published by Citadel Press, 1972
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rigby, Harry
American theatre managers and producers
American musical theatre librettists
Writers from Pittsburgh
1920s births
1985 deaths
20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
20th-century American businesspeople
Tony Award winners