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Mitch Leigh

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Mitch Leigh
Leigh in 2013[1]
Born
Irwin Stanley Michnick

(1928-01-30)January 30, 1928
Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.
DiedMarch 16, 2014(2014-03-16) (aged 86)
Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
Alma materYale University (BM, MM)
OccupationComposer
Notable workMan of La Mancha
Spouses
  • Renee Goldman (divorced)
  • Abby Kimmelman
Children3, including Eve
AwardsTony Award
Contemporary Classics Award

Mitch Leigh (born Irwin Stanley Michnick; January 30, 1928 – March 16, 2014) was an American musical theatre composer and theatrical producer best known for the musical Man of La Mancha.

Early years

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Leigh was born Irwin Stanley Michnick in Brooklyn on January 30, 1928, where he grew up in the Brownsville neighborhood.[1][2] His father was from Ukraine.[2] After service in the U.S. Army, he graduated from Yale in 1951 with a Bachelor of Music, and in 1952 received his Master of Music degree under Paul Hindemith.[1][3]

Career

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He began his career as a jazz musician, and writing commercials for radio and television.[1] On the 1955 LP recording of Jean Shepherd Into the Unknown with Jazz Music, Leigh wrote the jazz interludes between radio broadcaster Jean Shepherd's improvisations.

Broadway

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In 1965, Leigh collaborated with lyricist Joe Darion and writer Dale Wasserman to write a musical based on Wasserman's 1959 television play, I, Don Quixote. The resulting show, the musical Man of La Mancha opened on Broadway in 1965 and in its original engagement ran for 2,328 performances. It has been revived multiple times.

Leigh followed with the show Chu Chem, which he also produced, exactly a year after Man of La Mancha, but closed on the road. It finally opened on Broadway in 1989 but ran for only 68 performances.

Cry for Us All, based on the play, Hogan's Goat, opened on Broadway in 1970; it ran for only nine performances. Leigh was the producer as well as composer.[4] His musical Home Sweet Homer, starring Yul Brynner, officially opened on Broadway in January 1976 but closed after one performance. He produced and wrote the music for Saravá which ran for 101 performances in 1979. Leigh both produced and directed the 1985 revival of The King and I starring Brynner featuring in his final performances as the King of Siam.[5]

Lee Adams asked Leigh to collaborate on a musical titled Mike, about producer Mike Todd, but it closed during its pre-Broadway tryout in 1988. After renaming it Ain't Broadway Grand!, the show made it to Broadway in 1993, but lasted only 25 performances.[6] He wrote the musical Halloween with Sidney Michaels, and although Barbara Cook and José Ferrer were in the cast, it did not reach Broadway.[7]

Television

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Leigh established Music Makers, Inc., in 1957 as a radio and television commercial production house and was its creative director.[8] His television music included the instrumental music for the ABC Color Logo (1962–65);[9] the TV commercial jingle "Nobody Doesn't Like Sara Lee";[10][11] the Meet the Swinger Polaroid Swinger commercial sung by Barry Manilow; and the Benson & Hedges theme "The Dis-Advantages of You," which reached the Top 40 for The Brass Ring in 1967[12][13] and was heard in a series of Benson & Hedges cigarette commercials at that time.[14][15]

Academic legacy

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In 1977, Leigh and others at the Yale School of Music established the Keith Wilson scholarship, to be awarded "to an outstanding major in wind instrument playing." A building in The School of Music at Yale University was named "Abby and Mitch Leigh Hall" in 2001.[16]

Personal life

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After a marriage to Renee Goldman ended in divorce, Leigh married Abby Kimmelman.[1] He had one child from his first marriage and two from his second, one of whom is playwright Eve Leigh.[1] Leigh died from complications of a stroke and pneumonia at a Manhattan hospital on March 16, 2014, at the age of 86.[2]

Jackson 21

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To avoid taxation for his earnings from Man of La Mancha, Leigh purchased 1,000 acres of land in Jackson Township, New Jersey over many years.[2] He planned to turn it into a mixed-use development called "Jackson 21".[1][2] Towards the end of his life, he began advertising it on television, saying that its prospective residents would have to be "really nice" people.[2][17] According to The Washington Post, the commercials confused viewers, many of whom thought Leigh was running a scam or a starting a cult.[2] No major construction had taken place by the time of his death, and the project was essentially abandoned afterward.[18]

Awards

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Leigh won a Tony Award for composing the music for Man of La Mancha. He was also nominated for a Tony Award as the director of the 1985 revival of The King and I. He received the Contemporary Classics Award from the Songwriter's Hall of Fame for "The Impossible Dream".[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Gates, Anita (March 17, 2014). "Mitch Leigh, Who Composed 'Man of La Mancha,' Dies at 86". The New York Times. p. A21. Retrieved December 25, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g McArdle, Terence (March 17, 2014). "Mitch Leigh, 'Man of La Mancha' composer and jingle writer, dies at 86". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 25, 2024.
  3. ^ YAM March 2001 - Who's Been Blue Archived July 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Suskin, Steven."Mitch Leigh's Cry For Us All Comes to CD, Plus Kitty's Kisses" Archived January 7, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, playbill.com, October 25, 2009
  5. ^ Suskin, Steven (2000). Show Tunes: The Songs, Shows, and Careers of Broadway's Major Composers. Oxford University Press. p. 109. ISBN 9780195125993. Retrieved June 20, 2024 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ [1] Archived October 9, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Weber, Bruce (May 2, 2011). "Sidney Michaels, 83, Author Of Hit Broadway Shows - Obituary (Obit); Biography - NYTimes.com". New York Times. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
  8. ^ a b Baker, Dorie. "Composer Mitch Leigh Endows Chair in Jazz at Yale" (Press release). Yale University Office of Public Affairs. Archived from the original on July 15, 2010. Retrieved February 9, 2010.
  9. ^ ABC - Network ID - 1960s - YouTube
  10. ^ Classic Sara Lee Commercial, YouTube
  11. ^ "Advertising Jingle Music Folio Books", classicthemes.com, accessed February 9, 2010
  12. ^ "The Dis-Advantages of You," The Brass Ring, 1967, YouTube
  13. ^ The Brass Ring, "The Dis-Advantages of You," 1967, YouTube
  14. ^ Vintage Benson & Hedges 1960s Cigarette TV Commercials, YouTube
  15. ^ The Disadvantages with the Benson & Hedges 100's, YouTube
  16. ^ "Yale School of Music Names Building in Honor of Mitch and Abby Leigh" Archived July 27, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, opa.yale.edu, September 7, 2001
  17. ^ Diamond, Michael L. (April 23, 2013). "Composer only wants nice people in N.J. development". The Asbury Park Press. Retrieved October 25, 2024.
  18. ^ "Jackson Twenty-One Under Fire for Failing to Deliver Vision That Was Promised". Shore News Network. August 9, 2023. Retrieved October 25, 2024.
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