Rita Gardner

Rita Gardner (born October 23, 1934) is an American actress and singer.

For the British geographer, see Rita Gardner (academic).
Gardner in 1966.

Career

Gardner made her stage debut Off-Broadway as Luisa in the original cast of The Fantasticks in 1960.[1][2]

Additional 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), and The Foreigner (2004).[3]

Gardner made her Broadway debut in the short-lived musical (65 performances) A Family Affair in 1962 as Sally Nathan.[4] She was featured in a brief 1963 revival of Pal Joey as Linda English[5] and replaced Susan Watson soon after the opening of Ben Franklin in Paris in 1964.[6] 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).[7] She had a featured role in The Wedding Singer in 2006.[8]

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),[9] 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 includes ballads from The Fantasticks.[10] She performed the revue at the Metropolitan Room in New York City in 2011.[11]

Gardner's television credits include appearances in Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

She studied acting at HB Studio[12] in New York City.

Personal life

Gardner was married to the playwright Herb Gardner; the marriage ended in divorce. She was a faculty member for the sixth annual Cabaret Conference at Yale University in 2008.[13]

References
  1. Portantiere, Michel. "Rita Gardner Remembers" theatermania.com, March 7, 2000
  2. The Fantasticks lortel.org, accessed February 16, 2019
  3. "Rita Gardner Off-Broadway" lortel.org, accessed February 16, 2019
  4. A Family Affair playbill (vault), accessed February 16, 2019
  5. Pal Joey ibdb.com, accessed February 16, 2019
  6. " Ben Franklin in Paris replacements" ibdb.com, accessed February 16, 2019
  7. Morning's at Seven ibdb.com, accessed February 16, 2019
  8. Jacobson, Lynn. "Legit Reviews. The Wedding Singer" Variety, February 10, 2006
  9. Nassour, Ellis. "Scott Wise Gets Lucky in Goodspeed's New Musical, Aug. 1", Playbill, August 1, 1997
  10. Portantiere, Michael. "Rita Gardner Remembers" theatermania.com, March 7, 2000
  11. Gioia, Michael. "Rita Gardner's Try to Remember Will Play Limited Engagement at NYC's Metropolitan Room" playbill, September 2, 2011
  12. HB Studio Alumni
  13. Hetrick, Adam. "Hall, Gardner, Lutvak, Myers, Mayes and McKnight to Perform at Yale", Playbill, July 28, 2008
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