'''Waslav Richard Rychtarik''' (July 20, 1894<ref>''U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014'' on Ancestry.com (access by subscription).</ref> — July 10, 1982<ref name=nytobit>"Richard Rychtarik, 87, Designer of Stage Sets," ''New York Times'' (July 12, 1982), page A12.</ref>) was a Czech-born American set and costume designer. His significance was in his efforts to bring modernism to operatic and theatrical stage productions primarily during the 1930s and 1940s. Despite his work for opera and theater, his best known work was as set designer for the television series ''The Honeymooners.''
==Career== He was born Choceň in what is now the Czech Republic.<ref>"Waslav Richard Rychtarik," ''U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942'' on Ancestry.com (access by subscription).</ref>
During Rychtarik's early years he became obsessed with the stage. He claimed to have attended performances at National Theatre of Prague nearly every day, staging puppet performances in his home, even constructing a set in his high school gymnasium. At a time when one could not study staging design, he studied architecture at the Czech Technical University in Prague.<ref>Barbora Příhodová, "Transatlantic transmissions in opera: the forgotten work of Czech-American Designer Richard Rychtarik," ''Theatre and Performance Design'' 4 no. 3 (2018), page 244.</ref>
He viewed Max Reinhardt as a primary influence. Obtaining small jobs assisting the theatrical crew, he was able to follow Reinhardt's work around Europe.<ref>Barbora Příhodová, "Transatlantic transmissions in opera: the forgotten work of Czech-American Designer Richard Rychtarik," ''Theatre and Performance Design'' 4 no. 3 (2018), pages 245-246.</ref>
He first visited the United States in 1920.<ref>"Vaslaw Rychtarik," arriving July 23, 1920, in ''New York, Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957'' on Ancestry.com (access by subscription)</ref> before settling permanently in 1925.<ref name="Barbora Příhodová 2018 page 242">Barbora Příhodová, "Transatlantic transmissions in opera: the forgotten work of Czech-American Designer Richard Rychtarik," ''Theatre and Performance Design'' 4 no. 3 (2018), page 242.</ref>
After emigration he began working for the Cleveland Play House, and the Cleveland Orchestra.<ref name=nytobit/> In a 1934 speech, he rejected the idea of realism in favor of incorporating the "best theater practices" to engage the audience.<ref name="Barbora Příhodová 2018 page 246">Barbora Příhodová, "Transatlantic transmissions in opera: the forgotten work of Czech-American Designer Richard Rychtarik," ''Theatre and Performance Design'' 4 no. 3 (2018), page 246.</ref>
Under the leadership of conductor Artur Rodziński, the Cleveland Orchestra embarked upon a series of staged operas. Rychtarik was able to infuse his creations with the ideas which he absorbed from Reinhardt as well as modernist designers such as Vlastislav Hofman.<ref name="Barbora Příhodová 2018 page 246"/> He designed sets for ''Otello'' (1934), ''The Barber of Seville'', ''Carmen'' (both in 1935), the American premiere of ''Lady Macbeth of Mzsensk'',<ref name=nytobit/> ''Der Rosenkavalier'', and ''Tosca'' (all 1935), ''Elektra'', ''Die Fledermaus'', ''Parsifal'', ''Tannhäuser'', and ''Die Walküre'' (all 1936).
He left Cleveland and moved to New York City where he worked as scenic advisor for New York City Center and City Center Opera.<ref name=nytobit/>
Engaged by the Metropolitan Opera, he designed new productions of ''Alceste'' (1941), ''Die Zauberflöte'' (1941), ''Phoebus and Pan'' (a dramatization of Cantata no. 201, ''Geschwinde, ihr wirbelnden Winde, BWV 201'') (1942), Act 1 of ''Faust'' (1942; Rychtarik redesigned act 1 of the production originally designed by Joseph Urban), ''The Island God'' (1942), ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' (1942), ''La Serva Padrona'' (1942), and ''Manon'' (1947).<ref>[http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/frame.htm "Rychtarik" in the Met Opera Database, accessed 2 June 2019.]</ref> In 1947 became the Met's technical director.<ref name=nytobit/>
During the 1940s he also created productions for the New York City Opera, including The Bartered Bride, Carmen, The Flying Dutchman, Pagliacci, La Traviata, La Vie Parisienne (all 1945) and Rigoletto (1946).<ref name=ibdb>[http://ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/richard-rychtarik-26466 "Rychtarik, Richard" in ''IBDB.com'' (accessed 2 June 2019).]</ref>
His single Broadway production was the short-lived musical ''Once Over Lightly'' which opened November 19, 1942.<ref name=ibdb/>
He applied for U.S. citizenship on May 17, 1943.<ref>"Rychtarik, Waslav Richard" in ''New York, Index to Petitions for Naturalization filed in New York City, 1792-1989'' on Ancestry.com (access by subscription).</ref>
In 1949 he joined CBS as chief scenic designer for television.<ref name=nytobit/> He designed the sets for ''Studio One in Hollywood'' (1948-1953), ''The Morey Amsterdam Show'' (1948), and most notably ''The Honeymooners'' (1955-1956). Subsequently, he designed the sets for the 1957 season of ''The Jackie Gleason Show''.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0725193/?ref_=fn_al_nm_2 "Rychtarik, Richard" in ''IMDB.com'' (accessed 2 June 2019).]</ref> He retired from CBS in 1964.<ref name=nytobit/>
Rychtarik taught scenic design at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Mannes School of Music, and was one of the founding faculty members of the Tanglewood Music Center. Among his students at Tanglewood were Sarah Caldwell.<ref>Barbora Příhodová, "Transatlantic transmissions in opera: the forgotten work of Czech-American Designer Richard Rychtarik," ''Theatre and Performance Design'' 4 no. 3 (2018), page 243.</ref>
Richard Rychtarik died at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City after a brief illness.<ref name=nytobit/>
==Significance== Professor Barbora Příhodová summarized Rychtarik's work: <blockquote>By adapting the work of European scenic artists such as Adolphe Appia, Max Reinhardt and Vlastislav Hofman, Rychtarik embraced modernist thinking about staging and applied it in his work for opera. As a scenographer, he combined architectonic forms, distinctive colors, and conceptual work with light to transform the stage into a multifunctional dramatic space. With his scenographic designs and realizations he helped to disseminate and push through the vision of opera-theatre with a strong visual component, as practiced by Joseph Urban during his years on North-American stages, and so contributed to carving out a space for the designer as both the artist and the artisan, and one of the important agents in the process of opera-making.<ref name="Barbora Příhodová 2018 page 242"/></blockquote>
==Personal== Richard Rychtarik's first wife was Charlotte Schwarzkopf (died 1951).<ref>"Charlotte Rychtarik," in ''New York, Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957'' on Ancestry.com (access by subscription). Although already married in 1920, the manifest indicates she was travelling with her mother, Martha Schwarzkopf to visit a daughter who had already settled in Cleveland, OH.</ref><ref>According to the 1930 census (which provides an incorrect age, stating he was 55 in 1930 when he was only 35), both Richard and Charlotte were married when they were 25. See ''1930 United States Federal Census'' on Ancestry.com (access by subscription).</ref>
He married his second wife, Gertrud (known as Trude) Schwarzschild (1912–2003) in 1952. (Her previous marriage to Oskar Freitag ended with his death.) They had one daughter.<ref>"Richard Rychtarik," ''New York, New York, Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018'' on Ancestry.com (access by subscription).</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://archives.nypl.org/mus/20098 The Richard Rychtarik papers] in the [http://www.nypl.org/locations/lpa/music-division Music Division] of [http://www.nypl.org/locations/lpa The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts] *[http://archives.nypl.org/the/22462 The Richard Rychtarik costumes and set designs] in the [https://www.nypl.org/about/divisions/billy-rose-theatre-division Billy Rose Theatre Division] of [http://www.nypl.org/locations/lpa The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts] *[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/23322551.2018.1523602 Barbora Příhodová, "Transatlantic transmissions in opera: the forgotten work of Czech-American Designer Richard Rychtarik," ''Theatre and Performance Design'' 4 no. 3 (2018)]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rychtarik, Richard}} Category:1894 births Category:1982 deaths Category:American scenic designers Category:Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States Category:Metropolitan Opera people Category:Opera designers Category:People from Choceň Category:CBS people Category:20th-century American designers