Jerry Herman |
The Composer Jerry Herman first burst onto the Broadway scene with Milk and Honey, and was nominated for both a Tony Award and a Grammy Award. With Hello,Dolly! in 1964, he won the Tony Award, Variety's Best Composer and Best Lyricist Awards, a Gold Record and a Grammy Award. Then in 1966, he won another Grammy Award, Best Lyricist Award, and Gold Record for the hit Mame. With Dear World, he was one of the few composer/lyricists to have three musicals running on Broadway simultaneously. Mr. Herman continued his Broadway career with Mack & Mabel in 1974 (his personal favorite score) and The Grand Tour in 1979. He also contributed songs to A Day in Hollywood, A Night in the Ukraine. With La Cage Aux Folles in 1983, he won the Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Best Score, and became the only composer/lyricist in history to have had three shows that each ran over 1,500 performances. Jerry's Girls, a revue of his life's work, has played on Broadway as well as in every other major American city, and a smash revival of Mack & Mabel played in England. He has been elected to the Songwriter's Hall of Fame, and was also presented with a Johnnie Mercer Award in 1987. In 1996, he wrote the music and lyrics for Mrs. Santa Claus, a television special starring Angela Lansbury. In 1999 he began a new musical called Miss Spectacular written for the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas for an opening in the year 2001. Mr. Herman believes in writing melodic songs that can have lives of their own outside of the shows for which they are written. The Musicals THE BROADWAY MUSICALS OF JERRY HERMAN LA CAGE AUX FOLLES (1983 - PALACE THEATRE) With a book by Harvey Fierstein (based on the play of the same name by Jean Poiret), a Tony award, and an armload of fresh, exciting new songs La Cage Aux Folles is one of Jerry Herman's major hit shows. The diverse subject matter turned out flawlessly colorful characters played by Broadway veterans George Hearn and Gene Barry. From this wonderful score comes the banner song I Am What I Am, the very touching Song On The Sand, and the lively, feel-good tune called The Best Of Times. THE GRAND TOUR (1979 - PALACE THEATRE) The Grand Tour was written by Jerry Herman's long-time collaborator Michael Stewart. The subject matter, based on the S.N Behrman play called Jacobowsky and the Colonel, was a challenge for Jerry and quite different from anything he had worked on before. The musical starred Joel Grey and Florence Lacey and has some characteristically sweet songs filled with heart-warming lyrics. Jerry is particularly fond of I Belong Here and I'll Be Here Tomorrow and a spirited polka called You I Like. MACK & MABEL (1974 - MAJESTIC THEATRE) Written by Michael Stewart and based on the life of silent-film era mogul Mack Sennett, and his leading lady Mabel Normand, Mack & Mabel starred the irrepressible Bernadette Peters and Broadway's Robert Preston. Mack & Mabel is set in the glamour filled, early days of Hollywood complete with the comic antics of the zany Keystone Kops. A 1995 Revival at the Picadilly Theatre in London won the Evening Standard Award for Best Musical. A treasury of songs abound, from Jerry Herman's favorite score, in this story of ill-fated romance including the passionate Time Heals Everything, I Won't Send Roses, the joyous Tap Your Troubles Away and the brassy hit Wherever He Ain't. DEAR WORLD (1969 - MARK HELLINGER THEATRE) Dear World was again a collaboration with Lawrence and Lee based on The Madwoman of Chaillot by Jean Giradoux. The musical was directed by Joe Layton and starred Angela Lansbury, Jane Connell, and Milo O'Shea. Jerry had fallen in love with this play which was a very delicate piece of art. There are a number of deeply stirring songs written for this musical including I Don't Want To Know and And I Was Beautiful. MAME (1966 - WINTER GARDEN THEATRE) Considered by many to be Jerry Herman's best musical, Mame has great style in every department. Mame is based on the novel Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis with the stage play written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. A winning team, and one of Jerry's favorite experiences in the theatre, Mame was directed by Gene Saks and starred Angela Lansbury, Jane Connell, and Beatrice Arthur. Winner of the Grammy Award for Original Cast Album and three Tony Awards, Mame features the incomparable ballad If He Walked Into My Life, made famous by such singing stars as Eydie Gorme and Leslie Uggams, and the wonderfully sassy Bosom Buddies. HELLO, DOLLY! (1964 - ST. JAMES THEATRE) Hello, Dolly! still holds the highest record for more Tony Awards than any other Broadway show to date. It was the biggest hit of the decade and after 25 years is still "goin'" strong. With a book by Michael Stewart and direction by Gower Champion Hello, Dolly! starred the legendary Carol Channing and is based on the novel The Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder. In addition to the many famous show-stopper hits are lovely, plaintive melodies such as Ribbons Down My Back and It Only Takes A Moment as well as classic Broadway musical comedy in It Takes A Woman and So Long Dearie. MILK AND HONEY (1961 - THE MARTIN BECK THEATRE) This is Jerry Herman's first Broadway musical and, apparently, the first Broadway musical ever to have an Israeli setting. Written by Don Appell and starring Opera stars Robert Weede, Mimi Benzell and Broadway's Molly Picon, Milk and Honey was a hit. Jerry's entrée to Broadway received a Tony nomination and released a popular cast album featuring the song Shalom, which was recorded by Eddie Fisher. |
The Best of Times Jerry Herman's The Best Of Times (originally titled "Tune the Grand Up") was conceived by Paul Gilger in 1980 for his hometown community theatre in Mansfield, Ohio. Paul felt certain that the focus of this revue would be Jerry Herman's messages and that the lyrics would lead him to the songs. Paul set out to create a show where the songs, and their messages, carried their own weight. Jerry Herman's The Best Of Times is driven by a winning pianist/singer who opens the show contemplating a phrase from Hello, Dolly! then segues into the festive "It's Today" from Mame where he is joined by five spirited singers who carry out the welcoming message. From there the show slides into a seamless dialogue of lyric and music enabling the performers to "speak" and interact through Jerry Herman's songs. Original and clever twists are introduced to give the songs a welcome surprise. Mr. Gilger found an opportunity to present the revue in a newly formed cabaret club atop San Francisco's Nob Hill called The 1177 Club. In May, 1985, the show opened and was a hit receiving audience and critical response alike. Rave reviews, full houses and a bevy of awards greeted Mr. Herman who arrived after hearing from his longtime friend, Ted Hook, from Shubert Alley's famed Ted Hook's BackStage, that something special was happening in San Francisco. The success continued for two and a half years at which time a second company headed to San Diego for a warm reception at the San Diego Repertory's Lyceum Theater where the Revue, once again, sent the crowds out humming. |
Jerry Herman, Caroline O'Connor and friends. Caroline O'Connor starred as Mabel in the London production of Mack and Mabel in 1995 and again in the Production Company's Mack and Mabel in Melbourne in August 2001. |
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Jerry Herman |
Click on Caroline to link to her Website |
