Theatre Register

Ben Harney

Shows · Ben Harney

Actor 1872–1938 On stage 19721981

Benjamin Robertson Harney (March 6, 1872 – March 2, 1938) was an American songwriter, entertainer, and pioneer of ragtime music. His 1895 composition "You've Been a Good Old Wagon but You Done Broke Down" is known as the second ragtime composition to be published and the first ragtime hit to reach the mainstream. The first Ragtime composition published was La Pas Ma La written by Ernest Hogan in 1895. The copyright for "You've Been a Good Old Wagon but You Done Broke Down" was registered in January 1895 (Greenup Music Co.)source, a few months prior to La Pas Ma La (September 1895, J. R. Bell)source, suggesting (contrary to popular belief) it was in fact the first of the two. During the early…

On stage 6 productions, 9 years

1972 Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope Playhouse Theatre · Original · directed by Vinnette Carroll 1,065 perf.
1972 Pippin Imperial Theatre · Revival · directed by Bob Fosse 1,944 perf.
1973 The Pajama Game Lunt Fontanne Theatre · Revival · directed by Zoya Leporska 65 perf.
1975 The Wiz Majestic Theatre · Original · directed by Geoffrey Holder (Gilbert Moses uncredited) 1,672 perf.
1975 Treemonisha Uris Theatre · Original · directed by Frank Corsaro 64 perf.
1981 Dreamgirls Imperial Theatre · Original · directed by Michael Bennett 1,521 perf.

Each row is a staging this name appears in the cast list of, read from the production record rather than from the person record. The person record names works instead, and a work cannot say which run somebody was in — that is how Elaine Stritch ends up filed under Show Boat 1927 when she was in the 1994 revival. No row here says what part was played, because no cast list records it.

Worked with more than once12 names

Vicki Frederick 2 productions
Tiger Haynes 2 productions
Thea Barnes 2 productions
Sally Neal 2 productions
Ronald Dunham 2 productions
Rhetta Hughes 2 productions
Phylicia Ayers Allen 2 productions
Mabel Robinson 2 productions
Joni Palmer 2 productions
Jo Ann Ogawa 2 productions
Hinton Battle 2 productions
Andy Torres 2 productions

Both names in the same cast list, more than once. It is not evidence of a partnership — a long-running company puts the same forty people together every night — but it is where one would start looking. 9 of these names are not links because we hold no record behind them; the name is set from the identifier and its punctuation may be wrong.

In the literature8 passages

  • Book writer/lyricist Tom Eyen handled that scene brilliantly. Manager Curtis Taylor, Jr. (Ben Harney), told the Dreamettes that he’d signed a contract for better engagements, higher pay, and improved living conditions. Only after they were all excited about the good news did he deliver the catch: Effie and Deena would be changing places.…ebooks/Filichia, Peter/Strippers, Showgirls, and Sharks - Peter Filichia.txt
  • Cast: Obba Babatunde, Cleavant Derricks, Loretta Devine, Ben Harney, Jennifer Holliday, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Deborah Burrellebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt
  • IMAN enters as Ben Harney/Curtis Taylor, jr She sees hint and goes over to tenderly sing in his ear, but then she blasts hint on the "Iebooks/Portantiere, Gerard Alessandrini;Michael/B0030EGEYY EBOK - Gerard Alessandrini;Michael Portantiere.txt
  • BEN HARNEY, OBBA BABATUNDE, CLEAVANT DERRICKS, JENNIFER HOLLIDAY, LORETTA DEVINE, SHERYL LEE RALPH in “DREAMGIRLS”theatre-pdfs/A Pictorial History of the American Theatre, 1860-1985 (Blum).txt
  • 6 Tonys including musical actress and actor (Jennifer Holliday and Ben Harney) and featured actor (Cleavontheatre-pdfs/A Pictorial History of the American Theatre, 1860-1985 (Blum).txt
  • produced by Michael Bennett, Bob Avian, Geffen Records (David Geffen), and the Shubert Organization starring Obba Babatunde, Cleavant Derricks, ee Ben Harney, Jennifer Holliday, and Sheryl Lee Ralphtheatre-pdfs/More Opening Nights on Broadway - Steven Suskin.txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

  • What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — actor — apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

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