Rita Gardner

Rita Gardner is an actress/singer who wove her name into the history of musical theater in her stage debut, as "The Girl" (aka Louisa) in the original off-Broadway cast of The Fantasticks (1960). That production managed to break every longevity record for a musical, running over 40 years, and the original cast (which included Jerry Orbach) was lucky enough to have its work preserved on a recording that has been a perennial seller since 1960 on LP and compact disc. As a New York-based actress -- who was married to writer/director Herb Gardner -- Rita Gardner's main focus was th...