Editing Gretchen Cryer

{{short description|American playwright}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{blp sources|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Gretchen Cryer
| birth_name = Gretchen Kiger
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1935|10|17}}
| birth_place = [[Dunreith, Indiana]], U.S.
| alma_mater = [[DePauw University]]
| occupation = {{hlist|Playwright|lyricist|actress}}
| years_active = 1967–1987
| spouse = {{marriage|[[David Cryer]]|1958|1971|end=div}}
| children = 3, including [[Jon Cryer]]
}}
'''Gretchen Cryer''' ({{née}} '''Kiger'''; born October 17, 1935)<ref>{{IMDb name|190543}}</ref> is an American [[playwright]], [[lyricist]], and actress. Along with Nancy Ford, she created several successful stage musicals, including ''[[Shelter (musical)|Shelter]]'', ''[[I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road]]'', and ''[[The Last Sweet Days of Isaac]]''. 

==Early life==
Cryer was born Gretchen Kiger<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/18/Gretchen-Cryer.html|title=Gretchen Cryer Biography|publisher=Filmreference.com|date=1935-10-17|access-date=2012-06-22}}</ref> in [[Dunreith, Indiana]], the daughter of Louise Geraldine (née Niven; 1911-1991) and Earl William "Bill" Kiger, Jr. (1911-2004), who sold school supplies and ran a home printing business.<ref name="bookref1">{{cite book|last=Thompson|first=Donald Eugene|title= Indiana authors and their books, 1967-1980|publisher=Wabash College|year=1981|page=90}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=58BkAAAAMAAJ&q=LOUISE+NIVEN+KIGER|title=Who's who in Entertainment|work=google.ca|year=1989|publisher=Marquis Who's Who |isbn=9780837918501|access-date=March 6, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://thebanneronline.com/archive_obits/2004/sep.htm|title=Obituaries September 2004|work=thebanneronline.com|access-date=March 6, 2015|archive-date=March 26, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150326014620/http://thebanneronline.com/archive_obits/2004/sep.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Cryer attended [[DePauw University]] as an English major.

==Career==
In one of her music classes, she met [[Nancy Ford]], and the two forged a friendship that eventually led to a number of professional collaborations as the first female composer-lyricist team in [[Off-Broadway]] and [[Broadway theatre|Broadway New York theater]]. Their first work, ''For Reasons of Royalty'', was produced at DePauw University and their musical ''Rendezvous'' was done at Boston University.

Their first professional New York production was ''[[Now Is The Time For All Good Men (musical)|Now Is The Time For All Good Men]]'' (1967), a highly political piece about Cryer's pacifist brother, who spent time as a teacher in a conservative mid-western high school, that was panned by the critics. Undaunted, they mounted ''[[The Last Sweet Days of Isaac]]'' &ndash; with [[Austin Pendleton]] and [[Fredricka Weber]] &ndash; in 1970, winning not only rave reviews, but the [[Obie Award|Obie]], [[Drama Desk Award|Drama Desk]], and [[Outer Critics Circle Award]]s as well.<ref>{{iobdb name|4241}}</ref>

From there they moved to [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]], but the musical, ''Shelter'' (1973), was not a success, despite a few good reviews. It would prove to be their only Broadway production. Using the pseudonym Sally Niven (Niven is her mother's maiden name), Cryer played the leading role in ''Now Is the Time...'' opposite her real-life husband, David.  Dagne Crane had originally been cast in the part, but left shortly before the opening to become a regular on the soap opera ''[[As the World Turns]]''.

Cryer and Ford's most notable success was ''[[I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road]]'' (1978), based on Cryer's life experiences. She not only co-wrote the piece, but performed in it as well. Despite being lambasted by the critics, the show began to find an audience via word-of-mouth, and producer [[Joseph Papp]] moved it from his [[Public Theater]] in lower [[Manhattan]] to the [http://www.iobdb.com/Theatre/58 Circle in the Square Downtown], where it ran from 12/14/1978 to 3/15/1981.<ref>{{Cite web|title=I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It On the Road|url=http://www.iobdb.com/Production/2521|access-date=2021-04-11|website=www.iobdb.com}}</ref> Cryer and Ford's latest musical, ''[[Einstein and the Roosevelts]]'', premiered at [[DePauw University]] in October 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.depauw.edu/univ/arts/theatre/Season0809/EinsteinandtheRoosevelts/Einstein&theRoosevelts.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905071353/http://www.depauw.edu/univ/arts/theatre/Season0809/EinsteinandtheRoosevelts/Einstein%26theRoosevelts.asp|archive-date=2008-09-05|title=DePauw University Theatre|publisher=DePauw.edu|date=2008-09-05|access-date=2012-06-22|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Cryer appeared in the 1987 film ''[[Hiding Out]]'' as the aunt of her real-life son, Jon Cryer.

Cryer's additional work as a performer included roles on Broadway in ''[[Little Me (musical)|Little Me]]'' (1962), ''[[110 in the Shade]]'' (1963) and ''[[1776 (musical)|1776]]'' (1969).<ref>{{IBDB name}}</ref> Recently, she appeared in two episodes of the Broadway Podcast Network's anthology ''[[Around the Sun (audio drama)|Around the Sun]]'' audio drama (written by Brad Forenza) as part of 2024's Season 4: ''Artists Within''<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-08-28 |title="Around the Sun" Anthology Audio Drama Series Announces its Season Four Cast via "Slice of Life" Profile |url=https://www.theatrereviews.com/around-the-sun-anthology-audio-drama-series-announces-its-season-four-cast/ |access-date=2024-10-01 |website=Theatre Reviews Limited |language=en-US}}</ref>''––''a metaphysical odyssey set amid the cosmos that features writer-performers in leading roles.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://vimeo.com/1004911970 |title=Artists Within |language=en |access-date=2024-10-01 |via=vimeo.com}}</ref> 

==Personal life==
Cryer and her husband, actor/singer [[David Cryer]], divorced in 1971. She has two daughters &ndash; Robin, who has appeared with her in cabaret shows, and Shelley, who is a theatrical make-up artist. Her son is film and television actor [[Jon Cryer]].

Cryer is a member of [[Kappa Kappa Gamma]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|http://gretchencryer.com/}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cryer, Gretchen}}
[[Category:1935 births]]
[[Category:Actresses from Indiana]]
[[Category:American musical theatre actresses]]
[[Category:American musical theatre lyricists]]
[[Category:DePauw University alumni]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Henry County, Indiana]]
[[Category:Songwriters from Indiana]]
[[Category:Yale University alumni]]
[[Category:American women dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century American dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century American actresses]]
[[Category:20th-century American singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American women writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:21st-century American women writers]]
[[Category:Writers from Indiana]]
[[Category:20th-century American women singers]]
[[Category:American Methodists]]