Harry Rigby
Encyclopedia
Harry Rigby was a Tony Award
-winning American
theatre producer and writer.
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
, Rigby joined forces with Jule Styne
and Alexander H. Cohen
to produce the short-lived 1951 Hugh Martin
musical
Make a Wish
as his first Broadway
outing. Two years later he enjoyed greater success with John Murray Anderson's Almanac
, a revue
with an eclectic cast that included Harry Belafonte
, Polly Bergen
, Hermione Gingold
, Billy Wolfe
, Orson Bean
, Kay Medford
, Larry Kert
, and Tina Louise
.
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
story. In 1971, he was the driving force behind the hit revival of No, No, Nanette
, which lured both Ruby Keeler
and Busby Berkeley
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
, for which he helped adapt a new book, with Debbie Reynolds
two years later.
Rigby died in New York City
.
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
-winning American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
theatre producer and writer.
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, Rigby joined forces with Jule Styne
Jule Styne
Jule Styne was a British-born American songwriter especially famous for a series of Broadway musicals, which included several very well known and frequently revived shows.-Early life:...
and Alexander H. Cohen
Alexander H. Cohen
Alexander H. Cohen was a prolific 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 as on Broadway.-Personal life:Cohen was born in New York City...
to produce the short-lived 1951 Hugh Martin
Hugh Martin
Hugh Martin was an American musical theater and film composer, arranger, vocal coach, and playwright. He is best known for his score for the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me In St...
musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
Make a Wish
Make a Wish (musical)
Make a Wish is a musical with a book by Preston Sturges and Abe Burrows, who was not credited, and music and lyrics by Hugh Martin.Based on Sturges' screenplay for the 1935 film The Good Fairy, which in turn is based on the play of the same name by Ferenc Molnár as translated by Jane Hinton, the...
as his first Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
outing. Two years later he enjoyed greater success with John Murray Anderson's Almanac
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...
, a revue
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 American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
with an eclectic cast that included Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte
Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
, Polly Bergen
Polly Bergen
Polly Bergen is an American actress, singer, and entrepreneur.-Career:Bergen appeared in many film roles, most notably in the original Cape Fear opposite Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum...
, Hermione Gingold
Hermione Gingold
Hermione Gingold was an English actress known for her sharp-tongued, eccentric persona, an image enhanced by her sharp nose and chin, as well as her deepening voice, a result of vocal nodes which her mother reportedly encouraged her not to remove. She starred on stage, on radio, in films, on...
, Billy Wolfe
Billy Wolfe
William Harrison “Billy” Wolfe 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 wrestlers alongside her.-Early life:...
, Orson Bean
Orson Bean
Orson Bean is an American film, television, and Broadway actor. He appeared frequently on televised game shows in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, including being a long-time panelist on the television game show To Tell the Truth....
, Kay Medford
Kay Medford
Kay Medford , was an American character actress and comedienne.She was born Margaret Kathleen O'Regan in New York City to James and Mary O'Regan, first-generation Irish-American parents, both of whom had died by the time she was 15 years old...
, Larry Kert
Larry Kert
Larry Kert was an American actor, singer, and dancer. He is best known for creating the role of Tony in the original Broadway version of West Side Story.-Early life:...
, and Tina Louise
Tina Louise
Tina Louise is an American actress, singer, and author. She is best known for her role as the "movie star" Ginger Grant on the television situation comedy Gilligan's Island .-Early life:...
.
A decade passed before Rigby returned to Broadway, this time as a production associate for The Ballad of the Sad Cafe
The Ballad of the Sad Cafe
The Ballad of the Sad Café is a novel by Carson McCullers.-Plot:The Ballad of the Sad Café opens on the set of a small, isolated Southern town...
, Edward Albee
Edward Albee
Edward Franklin Albee III is an American playwright who is best known for The Zoo Story , The Sandbox , Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , and a rewrite of the screenplay for the unsuccessful musical version of Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's . His works are considered well-crafted, often...
's adaptation of the Carson McCullers
Carson McCullers
Carson McCullers was an American writer. She wrote novels, short stories, and two plays, as well as essays and some poetry. Her first novel The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter explores the spiritual isolation of misfits and outcasts of the South...
story. In 1971, he was the driving force behind the hit revival of No, No, Nanette
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...
, which lured both Ruby Keeler
Ruby Keeler
Ruby Keeler, born Ethel Hilda Keeler, was an actress, singer, and dancer most famous for her on-screen coupling with Dick Powell in a string of successful early musicals at Warner Brothers, particularly 42nd Street . From 1928 to 1940, she was married to singer Al Jolson...
and Busby Berkeley
Busby Berkeley
Busby Berkeley was a highly influential Hollywood movie director and musical choreographer. Berkeley was famous for his elaborate musical production numbers that often involved complex geometric patterns...
out of retirement and started the nostalgia
Nostalgia
The term nostalgia describes a yearning for the past, often in idealized form.The word is a learned formation of a Greek compound, consisting of , meaning "returning home", a Homeric word, and , meaning "pain, ache"...
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 (musical)
Irene is a musical with a book by James Montgomery, lyrics by Joseph McCarthy, and music by Harry Tierney.Based on Montgomery's play Irene O'Dare, it is set in New York City's Upper West Side and focuses on immigrant shop assistant Irene O'Dare, who is introduced to Long Island's high society when...
, for which he helped adapt a new book, with Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds is an American actress, singer, and dancer.She was initially signed at age 16 by Warner Bros., but her career got off to a slow start. When her contract was not renewed, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer gave her a small, but significant part in the film Three Little Words , then signed her to...
two years later.
Rigby died in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Additional Broadway credits
- Sugar BabiesSugar BabiesSugar Babies is a musical revue conceived by Ralph G. Allen and Harry Rigby, with music by Jimmy McHugh, lyrics by Dorothy Fields and Al Dubin and various others. The show is a tribute to the old burlesque era...
(1979) - I Love My WifeI Love My WifeI 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, New Jersey, where two married couples who have been close friends...
(1977) - Good NewsGood News (musical)Good News is a musical with a book by Laurence Schwab and B.G. DeSylva, lyrics by DeSylva and Lew Brown, and music by Ray Henderson.The show opened on Broadway in 1927, the same year as Show Boat, but its plot was decidedly old-fashioned in comparison to Show Boats somewhat tragic and daring...
(1974) - Hallelujah, Baby!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 musical chronicle of the African American struggle for equality during the [first half of the] 20th century."...
(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 AwardDrama Desk AwardThe Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
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)