Wally Harper (c. 1941 – October 8, 2004) was an Americanmusical director, composer,conductor, dance arranger, and musical supervisor for manyBroadway andOff-Broadway productions. For three decades from the mid-1970s, he worked withBarbara Cook as pianist, music director and arranger.
Harper was born inAkron, Ohio, in 1951. His mother was a music teacher, and by age 12 he was playing the piano in church. He graduated from theNew England Conservatory andJuilliard School of Music, and first worked preparing vocal arrangements for the Broadway musicalHalf a Sixpence in 1965.[1]
Harper composed two musicals, with book and lyrics bySherman Yellen. The first wasSay Yes! Which was produced at the Berkshire Theatre Festival,Stockbridge, Massachusetts in 2000.[2] The second wasJosephine Tonight!, which was produced (posthumously) by Theatre Building Chicago in 2006,[3] and received praise fromThe Chicago Sun Times for his fine score.
He also composed the Off-Broadway musical,Sensations (1970),[4] and several songs forIrene (1973), as well as dance music for the film,The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982).[5] Harper worked as musical director or arranger on Broadway musicals includingA Day in Hollywood/A Night in The Ukraine (1980),Nine (1982) andMy One and Only (1983).[6] He produced the original cast recordings of those musicals, as well as thePointer Sisters' revival ofAin't Misbehavin' andTommy Tune'sSlow Dancin'.
As a symphony conductor, Harper conducted such orchestras as theLondon Symphony Orchestra, theRoyal Philharmonic, theBBC Orchestra, theMelbourne Symphony and thePhiladelphia Orchestra. He performed at theWhite House for four administrations.
Donating his time and experience, Harper served as guest lecturer for the Juilliard School and the Broadway Musical Theatre Project[2] withTel Aviv University.
He began working with Barbara Cook in the mid-1970s as her musical director, accompanist and arranger.[1] Their first major collaboration was a Carnegie Hall concert in January 1975.[6] The two went on to play "clubs, theatres and concert halls worldwide."[1] During Harper's collaboration with Cook, he arranged and conducted the CD,Oscar Winners: The Lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II. He produced and arrangedIt's Better With a Band, for which he wrote the title song andThe Disney Album, arranged for symphony orchestra. He co-producedClose as Pages in a Book, celebrating the lyrics ofDorothy Fields,Barbara Cook: Live from London,Barbara Cook at Carnegie Hall,As of Today,All I Ask of You,The Champion Season and the CDBarbara Cook Sings Mostly Sondheim. "Cook and Mr. Harper were one of the successful professional marriages in show business. Together, they created intimate piano-and-voice shows for boites and more lavish orchestral concerts for venues such as Carnegie Hall.[7]
Harper died ofcardiac arrest in New York October 8, 2004.[7][8]
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