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Edward Harrigan (October 26, 1844June 6, 1911), sometimes called Ned Harrigan, was an
Irish-American , image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png , image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state , caption = Notable Irish Americans , population = 36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...
actor, singer, dancer, playwright, lyricist and theater producer who, together with
Tony Hart Norman Antony Hart (15 October 1925 – 18 January 2009),Debrett's People of Today 2008, Debrett's Peerage Ltd, 2007. known professionally as Tony Hart, was an English artist best known for his work in educating children in art through his role ...
(as Harrigan & Hart), formed one of the most celebrated theatrical partnerships of the 19th century. His career began in minstrelsy and
variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
but progressed to the production of multi-act plays full of singing, dancing and
physical comedy Physical comedy is a form of comedy focused on manipulation of the body for a humorous effect. It can include slapstick, clowning, mime, physical stunts, or making funny faces. Physical comedy originated as part of the Commedia dell'arte. It ...
, making Harrigan one of the founding fathers of modern American
musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...
.


Early years

Harrigan was born at
Corlear's Hook The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally an im ...
in Lower Manhattan, New York City. He was one of 13 children, only four of whom lived past infancy. Their father was a Protestant from Newfoundland, and their mother was described as "a Protestant Yankee".Cullen
p. 484
/ref> After Harrigan's parents divorced when he was 18, he worked at
caulk Caulk or, less frequently, caulking is a material used to seal joints or seams against leakage in various structures and piping. The oldest form of caulk consisted of fibrous materials driven into the wedge-shaped seams between boards on ...
ing ships, and his work eventually took him to San Francisco. As a pastime, he wrote new lyrics to existing melodies, and the result found popularity with his fellow workers.


Harrigan and Hart partnership

Harrigan made his first stage appearance in 1867 at the Olympic, a San Francisco "melodeon", as that city's variety theaters were then known. A brief partnership with comic Sam Rickey was followed by a fourteen-year stage career with
Tony Hart Norman Antony Hart (15 October 1925 – 18 January 2009),Debrett's People of Today 2008, Debrett's Peerage Ltd, 2007. known professionally as Tony Hart, was an English artist best known for his work in educating children in art through his role ...
, whom he met in Chicago in 1870. Although Harrigan wrote the lyrics and stage patter, the diminutive Hart's charm and singing talent played a large role in the duo's success. Harrigan and Hart went in 1871 to Boston, where they had their first big success at John Stetson's Howard Athenaeum. They then moved on to New York, where they first worked with Tony Pastor before beginning a long run at Josh Hart's Theatre Comique. By the mid-1870s they began moving from the
variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a co ...
toward
musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...
. Harrigan's sketches on the Comique's crowded bill featured comic Irish, German and black characters drawn from everyday life on the streets of New York. Their breakthrough hit was the 1873 song and sketch "The Mulligan Guard", a lampoon of an Irish neighborhood "militia" with music by
David Braham David Braham (1834 – April 11, 1905) was a London-born musical theatre composer most famous for his work with Edward Harrigan and Tony Hart. He has been called "the American Offenbach". Early life (1834–1873) David Braham was born in L ...
, who would become Harrigan's musical director and father in law. It became their signature piece, and they featured it in many of their slapstick skits and plays."Tony Hart"
Internet Accuracy Project, accessed October 1, 2014
In 1876, Harrigan took over the Comique himself, along with Hart and manager Martin Hanley. By 1878, with ''The Mulligan Guard Picnic'', Harrigan & Hart settled down on Broadway and performed in seventeen of their shows over the next seven years. Though still broad and farcical, these shows featured music that was integrated with a more literary story line, together with the dialogue and dance, and the shows began to resemble modern
musical comedy Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...
. Harrigan wrote the stories and lyrics, and Braham wrote the music. Although the plays gradually became longer as more songs, dances, and stage business was added, the tickets remained the same price. Harrigan and Hart's comedy was about everyday people, and so it was fitting that working folk were able to afford to fill up the seats. These shows were very popular, especially with New York's immigrant-based lower and middle classes, who were delighted to see themselves comically (but sympathetically) depicted on stage. The action of the plays took place in downtown Manhattan and concerned real-life problems, such as interracial tensions, political corruption, and gang violence, all mixed with broad, street-smart comedy, puns and ethnic dialects. Harrigan played the politically ambitious Irish saloon owner "Dan Mulligan", and Hart played the
African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...
washerwoman "Rebecca Allup". One of Harrigan's most popular plays with the Mulligan Guard Series, the ''Mulligan Guard's Ball'' (1880), shows off the smooth juxtaposition of the comedy, musicality, and a healthy dose of humanity that made Harrigan's plays so distinctive. Full of laughable chaos and "Harrigan hilarity", the Irish militia and Black militia within the act butt heads in a satirical whirlwind of dance, stage violence, and buffoonery.Moody, Richard. ''Ned Harrigan: From Corlear's Hook to Herald Square''. Chicago: Nelson-Hall Inc., Publishers, 1980. The ''New York Herald'' compared the Mulligan series to the ''Pickwick Papers'' by
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...
, and one devotee wrote: "America has produced nothing more national, more distinctly its own, than these plays of the Irish in New York". People spoke of Ned Harrigan as the American Molière. Although the Theatre Comique was eventually shut down for financial reasons, Harrigan announced in 1881 that they would build a fresh and elegant "
New Theatre Comique The Church of the Messiah at 728–30 Broadway, near Waverly Place in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City, was dedicated in 1839 and operated as a church until 1864. In January 1865 it was sold to department store magnate Alexander Tur ...
" several blocks further north on Broadway. The building they renovated was originally the home of the Church of the Messiah but had hosted many other theatres throughout the years. However, this theatre was not to last; it burned to the ground in 1884.


Marriage and decline

After the theatre collapsed, so did the partnership. Harrigan had married Annie Braham, David's daughter, on November 18, 1876. Their family continued in his footsteps, as son William Harrigan, daughter
Nedda Harrigan Nedda Harrigan Logan (August 24, 1899 – April 1, 1989) was an American actress. Early life Harrigan was the youngest of 10 children of entertainer Edward Harrigan and his wife, Annie (Braham) Harrigan. Her grandfather was conductor Dav ...
, and granddaughter Ann Connolly all became Broadway performers. However, Harrigan's habit of hiring relatives soured his partnership with Hart. In May 1885, five months after the fire, Harrigan and Hart appeared on Broadway together for the last time. Hart's health deteriorated, and he died at age 36 in 1891, while Harrigan opened up his Harrigan's Theatre in 1890 on Herald Square. Twenty-three of his plays achieved runs of more than 100 performances each on Broadway. Harrigan continued writing plays and performing until his last public appearance on March 16, 1910. Harrigan died in 1911.


''Harrigan 'n Hart''

In 1985, a musical celebrating the partnership, '' Harrigan 'N Hart'', opened on Broadway. The show has a book by Michael Stewart, lyrics by Peter Walker, and music by
Max Showalter Max Gordon Showalter (June 2, 1917 – July 30, 2000), sometimes credited as Casey Adams, was an American film, television, and stage actor, as well as a composer, pianist, and singer. He appeared on more than 1,000 television programs. One ...
is based on the book ''The Merry Partners'' by Ely Jacques Kahn, Jr. and material found by Nedda Harrigan Logan. Harry Groener portrayed Harrigan,
Mark Hamill Mark Richard Hamill (; born September 25, 1951) is an American actor and writer. He is known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the '' Star Wars'' film series, beginning with the original 1977 film and subsequently winning three Saturn Awards ...
(of ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...
'' fame) played Hart, and Joe Layton directed.
Frank Rich Frank Hart Rich Jr. (born 1949) is an American essayist and liberal op-ed columnist, who held various positions within ''The New York Times'' from 1980 to 2011. He has also produced television series and documentaries for HBO. Rich is curren ...
of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' found the show dull and "aimless", and it closed after 25 previews and four regular performances.''Harrigan 'n Hart''
Internet Broadway Database, accessed October 1, 2014


Works

* 1877: '' Old Lavender'' * 1878: ''The Mulligan Guard Picnic'' * 1879: ''The Mulligan Guards' Ball'' * 1880: ''The Mulligan Guards' Surprise'' which included the hit song "Whist! The Bogie Man" words by Harrigan and music by
David Braham David Braham (1834 – April 11, 1905) was a London-born musical theatre composer most famous for his work with Edward Harrigan and Tony Hart. He has been called "the American Offenbach". Early life (1834–1873) David Braham was born in L ...
. * 1881: ''
The Major ''The Major'' is the first BBC natural history documentary film to be made in colour, though it was originally screened, in 1963, in black and white, as colour television broadcasts did not begin in the United Kingdom until 1967. After that it ...
'' * 1882: ''Squatter Sovereignty'' * 1883: ''The Mulligans' Silver Wedding'' * 1883: ''Cordelia's Aspirations'' * 1886: '' The Leather Patch'' * 1888: ''Waddy Googan'' * 1890: ''Reilly and the Four Hundred''


Notes


References

* * * Greenleaf, Jonatha
''A History of the Churches, of All Denominations, in the City of New York''
(New York: E. French, 1846) * Kahn, E.J. (1955) ''The Merry Partners: The Age and Stage of Harrigan and Hart'' (Random House). Biography of Harrigan and Hart. * Moody, Richard. (1980) ''Ned Harrigan - From Corlear's Hook to Herald Square.'' (Chicago: Nelson Hall)


Further reading

* Dormon, James H. "Ethnic Cultures of the Mind: The Harrigan-Hart Mosaic." American Studies Fall 1992: 21–40. JSTOR. Web. 8 March. 2013. * Finson, Jon W., ed. (1997).
Collected Songs, 1873–1896
'. Music of the United States of America (MUSA) vol. 7. Madison, Wisconsin: A-R Editions.


External links

*




Harrigan and Braham
at Music of the United States of America (MUSA)
Edward Harrigan papers, 1871–1984
Billy Rose Theatre Division,
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, is located in Manhattan, New York City, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side, between the Metro ...

Edward Harrigan papers, circa 1870–1908, Manuscripts and Archives Division, New York Public Library








Brown University

Ashland Elks Lodge {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrigan, Edward 1844 births 1911 deaths 19th-century American male actors American male stage actors Songwriters from New York (state) Vaudeville performers American people of Irish descent American musical theatre composers American dramatists and playwrights