Rita Gardner

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For the geographer, see Rita Gardner (geographer).
Rita Gardner
File:Rita Gardner 1966.JPG
Gardner in 1966
Born Rita Schier
(1934-10-23)October 23, 1934
New York City, U.S.
Died Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.
New York City, U.S.
Occupation Actress · singer
Years active 1958–2020
Spouse(s) Herb Gardner (m. 1957; divorce 1970)
Peter Cereghetti (divorced)
Robert Sevra (?-2022; her death)
Website ritagardner.com

Rita Gardner (née Schier;[1] October 23, 1934 – September 24, 2022) was an American actress and singer.

Career

Gardner made her stage debut Off-Broadway in Jerry Herman's musical review Nightcap (1958)[2][3] before her breakout turn as Luisa in the original cast of The Fantasticks in 1960.[4][5][6] Other off-Broadway credits include The Cradle Will Rock (1964), To Be Young, Gifted, and Black (1969), Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (1972), Steel Magnolias (1987), Wings (1993), and The Foreigner (2004).[7][8]

Gardner made her Broadway debut in the short-lived musical (65 performances) A Family Affair in 1962 as Sally Nathan.[9][10] She was featured in a brief 1963 revival of Pal Joey as Linda English[11] and replaced Susan Watson soon after the opening of Ben Franklin in Paris in 1964.[12] Her Broadway career subsequently stalled, finding her serving as a standby or understudy in On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1965), The Last of the Red Hot Lovers (1969), and Morning's at Seven (2002) (understudy for Cora and Esther).[13] She had a featured role as Rosie in The Wedding Singer in 2006,[14] with three musical numbers including the song "Move that Thang".[15]

Gardner's regional theatre credits include Show Boat and The Impossible Years at the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, Pennsylvania (1983), the musical Lucky in the Rain at the Goodspeed Opera House (1997),[16] and Eleanor: A Love Story at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. (1999). She appeared in the national tour of Kiss of the Spider Woman (1994). She gave a critically acclaimed performance in Murderers at The Cincinnati Playhouse (2007).

In 2002, she appeared in her one-woman revue Try to Remember: A Look Back at Off-Broadway at the Sullivan Street Playhouse in New York City on Saturday evenings. The revue included ballads from The Fantasticks.[17] She performed the revue at the Metropolitan Room in New York City in 2011.[18]

Gardner's television credits include appearances in Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (on season one episode 18),[19] Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Dora the Explorer (as Grandma Fox).

Gardner studied acting at HB Studio[20] in New York City. She was a faculty member for the sixth annual Cabaret Conference at Yale University in 2008.[21]

Personal life and death

Born in New York City, Rita Schier was the daughter of Nathan and Tillie (née Hack) Schier. She had an elder brother, Lewis.[22][23]

She married playwright Herb Gardner in 1957; the marriage ended in divorce in 1970. That same year, she remarried, to Peter Cereghetti, and then divorced not long after. Her last marriage was to playwright Robert Sevra, who survived her.[24]

Rita Gardner died of leukemia on September 24, 2022 in New York City, at the age of 87.[25][26]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Portantiere, Michel. "Rita Gardner Remembers" theatermania.com, March 7, 2000
  5. ↑ The Fantasticks lortel.org, accessed February 16, 2019
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ "Rita Gardner Off-Broadway" lortel.org, accessed February 16, 2019
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ A Family Affair playbill (vault), accessed February 16, 2019
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Pal Joey ibdb.com, accessed February 16, 2019
  12. ↑ " Ben Franklin in Paris replacements" ibdb.com, accessed February 16, 2019
  13. ↑ Morning's at Seven ibdb.com, accessed February 16, 2019
  14. ↑ Jacobson, Lynn. "Legit Reviews. The Wedding Singer" Variety, February 10, 2006
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Nassour, Ellis. "Scott Wise Gets Lucky in Goodspeed's New Musical, Aug. 1", Playbill, August 1, 1997
  17. ↑ Portantiere, Michael. "Rita Gardner Remembers" theatermania.com, March 7, 2000
  18. ↑ Gioia, Michael. "Rita Gardner's Try to Remember Will Play Limited Engagement at NYC's Metropolitan Room" playbill, September 2, 2011
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Hetrick, Adam. "Hall, Gardner, Lutvak, Myers, Mayes and McKnight to Perform at Yale", Playbill, July 28, 2008.
  22. ↑ Family Profile (screenshot). Accessed September 26, 2022.
  23. ↑ Lewis Schier reference, newspapers.lib.sfu.ca. Accessed September 28, 2022.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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