Broadway Producer Randall L. Wreghitt Dies of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Theatrical producer Randall L. Wreghitt died on May 18, reportedly of complications from carbon monoxide poisoning. He was 55. A message on his official website broke the news: “Our beloved Randall passed away early this morning. All arrangements are pending as of now and we will keep you posted.”

A 1978 graduate of Iowa State University, Wreghitt began his career as a newspaper reporter in Spencer, Iowa, before taking a staff job at two theaters in Minneapolis and then a position as senior marketing representative at Disney World. After moving to New York, he worked in marketing and promotions for the Big Apple Circus before breaking into theater as an associate producer of Three Tall Women.

Wreghitt’s Broadway credits include The Miracle Worker, Impressionism, Grey Gardens, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Little Women, Golda’s Balcony, Metamorphoses, Hedda Gabler, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Lonesome West, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Electra and Band in Berlin. He was an associate producer of the original Broadway production of The Real Thing.

His off-Broadway productions include The Waverly Gallery, As Bees in Honey Drown, The Springhill Singing Disaster, The Boys in the Band, The Food Chain, Camping with Henry and Tom and Zombie Prom. Overseas, Wreghitt produced the West End productions of Lobby Hero and The Boys in the Band and the Edinburgh Festival production of Velocity. The recipient of the 1996 Robert Whitehead Award for “outstanding achievement in commercial theatrical producing,” he also headed Pro-Marketing, a marketing and promotions company that specializes in entertainment.

A blog entry posted by Wreghitt in February 2011 said, “I have a pretty ambitious production calendar shaping up over the next two years…Talley’s Folly, Aesop & Company, The Great Game and more.” In an interview with the Iowa State student newspaper, he reflected,  “I’ve had my big hits and big failures, but that is part of working in theater.”