Claibe Richardson

Who was Claibe Richardson?

Claibe Richardson was an American composer.

Born Claiborne Foster Richardson in Lufkin, Texas, he studied at Louisiana State University. His songwriting career began in the early 1950s with material he contributed to revues staged in New York City by Ben Bagley and Julius Monk. In 1964, he composed The Brightest Show on Earth for the World's Fair held in what is now Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

Richardson's first and most notable Broadway theatre score was for the 1971 adaptation of Truman Capote's The Grass Harp. Although the production closed a week after opening night, it has developed a cult following among musical theatre aficionados. Other Broadway credits include incidental music for the 1978 revival of The Royal Family with Rosemary Harris and Eva Le Gallienne, the 1980 revival of The Philadelphia Story with Blythe Danner, and the original play The Curse of an Aching Heart with Faye Dunaway in 1982.

Several of Richardson's other scores, including Lola, Bodoni County and Congo Square, and The Night of the Hunter and Grossinger's have been recorded and received off-Broadway and regional theatre productions.