John Reardon (April 8, 1930April 16, 1988) was an American baritone and actor who was noted for his performances on television, including many appearances on the PBS children's television show ''

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' (sometimes shortened to ''Mister Rogers'') is an American half-hour educational children's television series that ran from 1968 to 2001. It was created and hosted by Fred Rogers. Its original incarnation, the se ...

''. Making his debut with the

New York City Opera The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through its 2013 bankruptcy, and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, dubbed "the peopl ...

in 1954, he sang 33 roles with them until 1972, returning in 1983 for performances as Danilo in ''The Merry Widow''. Reardon was a member of the New York Metropolitan Opera from 1965 until 1977, appearing in such operas as ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

'' and '' Jenufa''. In 1967, Reardon created the role of Orin Mannon (the equivalent of Orestes in Aeschylus' ''Oresteia'') in the world premiere of Marvin David Levy's ''

Mourning Becomes Electra ''Mourning Becomes Electra'' is a play cycle written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. The play premiered on Broadway at the Guild Theatre on 26 October 1931 where it ran for 150 performances before closing in March 1932, starring Lee Ba ...

''. His last performance at the Met was as Papageno in ''The Magic Flute'' on April 6, 1977. He co-starred with

Phil Silvers Phil Silvers (born Phillip Silver; May 11, 1911 – November 1, 1985) was an American entertainer and comedic actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah". His career as a professional entertainer spanned nearly 60 years. He achieved major popularity w ...

on Broadway in the

Jule Styne Jule Styne ( ; born Julius Kerwin Stein; December 31, 1905 – September 20, 1994) was an English-American songwriter and composer widely known for a series of Broadway theatre, Broadway musical theatre, musicals, including several famous frequ ...

musical '' Do Re Mi'', introducing the standard song " Make Someone Happy". He also appeared on Broadway in ''New Faces of 1956'' and

Gian Carlo Menotti Gian Carlo Menotti (, ; July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian-American composer, libretto, librettist, director, and playwright who is primarily known for his output of 25 operas. Although he often referred to himself as an American ...

's '' The Saint of Bleecker Street''. He performed the role of Schaunard in the famous 1956 recording of '' La Boheme'' conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham. In 1960 he created the main role of Mr. McC in a nine-minute opera '' Introductions and Good-Byes'' by Lukas Foss, premiered on May 5, 1960, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

with

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...

conducted by

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

. In 1969 he created the role of Dr. Stone in the premiere of Menotti's '' Help, Help, the Globolinks!'' at the

Santa Fe Opera Santa Fe Opera (SFO) is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. After creating the ''Opera Association of New Mexico'' in 1956, its founding director, John Crosby (conductor), John Crosby, oversaw the building of the f ...

. Reardon was chosen by

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...

to sing the role of Nick Shadow on the composer's second recording of his opera '' The Rake's Progress''. Reardon also appears on several of Ben Bagley's ''Painted Smiles'' "Revisited" albums. Reardon died of AIDS-related pneumonia in 1988, at his home in

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , literal translation, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city, capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Santa Fe County. With over 89,000 residents, Santa Fe is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fourt ...

at age 58.

References

External links

*
Brief biography of John Reardon
*Internet Broadway Database: http://ibdb.com/person.php?id=100913 1930 births 1988 deaths American male musical theatre actors American male television actors American operatic baritones Deaths from pneumonia in New Mexico Male actors from New York City Singers from New York City 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American male opera singers Classical musicians from New York (state) {{US-opera-singer-stub