He began his career as a jazz musician, and writing commercials for radio and television. On the 1955 LP recording of Jean Shepherd Into the Unknown with Jazz Music, Leigh wrote the jazz interludes between radio broadcaster Jean Shepherd's improvisations.
In 1965, Leigh collaborated with lyricist Joe Darion and writer Dale Wasserman to write a musical based on Wasserman's 1959 television play, I, Don Quixote. The resulting show, the musical Man of La Mancha opened on Broadway in 1965 and in its original engagement ran for 2,328 performances. It has been revived multiple times.
Leigh followed with the show Chu Chem, which he also produced, exactly a year after Man of La Mancha, but closed on the road. It finally opened on Broadway in 1989 but ran for only 68 performances.
Cry for Us All, based on the play, Hogan's Goat, opened on Broadway in 1970; it ran for only nine performances. Leigh was the producer as well as composer.[2] His musical Home Sweet Homer, starring Yul Brynner, officially opened on Broadway in January 1976 but closed after one performance. He produced and wrote the music for Saravá which ran for 101 performances in 1979. Leigh both produced and directed the 1985 revival of The King and I starring Brynner featuring in his final performances as the King of Siam.[3]
Lee Adams asked Leigh to collaborate on a musical titled Mike, about producer Mike Todd, but it closed during its pre-Broadway tryout in 1988. After renaming it Ain't Broadway Grand!, the show made it to Broadway in 1993, but lasted only 25 performances.[4] He wrote the musical Halloween with Sidney Michaels, and although Barbara Cook and José Ferrer were in the cast, it did not reach Broadway.[5]
Leigh established Music Makers, Inc., in 1957 as a radio and television commercial production house and was its creative director.[6] His television music included the instrumental music for the ABC Color Logo (1962–65);[7] the TV commercialjingle "Nobody Doesn't Like Sara Lee";[8][9] the Meet the SwingerPolaroid Swinger commercial sung by Barry Manilow; and the Benson & Hedges theme "The Dis-Advantages of You," which reached the Top 40 for The Brass Ring in 1967[10][11] and was heard in a series of Benson & Hedges cigarette commercials at that time.[12][13]
In 1977, Leigh and others at the Yale School of Music established the Keith Wilson scholarship, to be awarded "to an outstanding major in wind instrument playing." A building in The School of Music at Yale University was named "Abby and Mitch Leigh Hall" in 2001.[14]
