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Jerry
Herman (born July 10, 1931) is an American composer and lyricist,
known for his work in Broadway musical
theater. He composed the scores for the hit Broadway musicals Hello,
Dolly!, Mame, and
La
Cage aux Folles. He has
been nominated for the Tony
Award five times, and won twice, for La Cage aux Folles and Hello,
Dolly!. In 2009,
Herman received the Tony Award for
Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre.
[edit] Broadway career
In 1960, Herman made his Broadway debut with the revue From
A to Z, which featured
contributions from newcomers Woody Allen and Fred EbbParade,
and
asked if he would be interested in composing the score for a show about
the
founding of the state of Israel. The
result was his first full-fledged Broadway musical, Milk
and
Honey (starring Molly
Picon), in 1961. It received respectable reviews and ran for 543
performances. as well. That same year producer Gerard
Oestreicher approached him after seeing a performance of
In 1964, producer David
Merrick united Herman with Carol Channing for a project that was to become
one of his most successful, Hello,
Dolly!. The original
production ran for 2,844 performances, the longest running musical for
its time,
and was later revived three times. Although facing stiff competition
from Funny
Girl, Hello, Dolly! swept the Tony
Awards that season,
winning 10, a record that remained unbroken for 37 years, until The
Producers won 12 Tonys in 2001.
In 1966, Herman's next musical was the smash hit Mame starring Angela Lansbury,
which introduced a string of
Herman standards, most notably the ballad "If He Walked Into My Life",
the
holiday favorite "We Need a Little Christmas", and the title tune.
Although not commercial successes, Dear World (1969)
starring Angela Lansbury,
Mack & Mabel (1974) starring Robert
Preston and Bernadette Peters,
and The
Grand Tour (1979) starring Joel Grey are noted
for their
interesting concepts and their melodic, memorable scores. Herman
considers
Mack & Mabel his personal favorite score, with later
composition
La
Cage aux Folles in a close
second. Both Dear World and Mack & Mabel have
developed a cult
following among Broadway aficionados.
In 1983, Herman had his third mega-hit with La
Cage aux Folles starring George Hearn and Gene
Barry, which broke
box-office records at the Palace Theatre and earned Herman yet another Tony
Award for Best Musical. From
its score came the gay anthem "I
Am What I Am" and the
rousing sing-a-long "The Best of Times."
[edit] Impact and
recognition
Many of Jerry Herman's show
tunes have become pop standards. His
most famous composition, "Hello,
Dolly!", is one of the most popular tunes ever to have originated in
a
Broadway musical, and was a #1 hit in the United States for Louis Armstrong,
knocking The Beatles from #1
in 1964. A
French recording by Petula
Clark charted in the Top Ten in both Canada and France.
"If He Walked into My Life" from Mame was
recorded by
Eydie Gormé,
winning
her a Grammy
Award for
Best Vocal Performance, Female in 1967. "I
Am What I Am" from
La
Cage aux FollesGloria
Gaynor and became a disco favorite.
Other well known Herman showtunes include "Shalom" from Milk and
Honey;
"Before the Parade Passes By", "Put On Your Sunday Clothes", and "It
Only Takes
a Moment" from Hello, Dolly!; "It's Today!", "Open a New Window",
and
"Bosom Buddies" from Mame; and "I Won't Send Roses" and "Time
Heals
Everything" from Mack & Mabel.
Herman is the only composer/lyricist in history to have three
musicals run
more than 1500 consecutive performances on Broadway: Hello,
Dolly!Mame (1,508), and La
Cage aux Folles (1,761).
His work is honored by a star on the Hollywood
Walk of Fame, at 7090 Hollywood
Boulevard. Other honors include the Jerry
Herman Ring Theatre, named
after him by his alma mater.
He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1982.[5] (2,844),
Herman's work has been the subject of two popular musical revues, Jerry's Girls (1984)
conceived by Larry Alford, and Showtune (2003) conceived by Paul Gilger and
produced by Jennifer Strome.
A 90 minute documentary about his life and career, "Words and Music
by Jerry
Herman," by filmmaker Amber Edwards, was broadcast on PBS in 2008. In
1989,
American-playwright Natalie
Gaupp wrote a short play titled "The Jerry Herman Center." The play
is a
comedy which portrays the lives of several patients in "The Jerry Herman
Center
for Musical Theatre Addiction." In the 2008 film WALL-E, Herman's music
from Hello, Dolly! influences WALL-E and gives him emotions.
| Jerry Herman | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Gerald Herman |
| Born | July 10, 1931 New York City, NY, U.S. |
| Genres | Musical theatre |
| Occupations | Composer, Lyricist |
| Years active | 1954 – Present |
| Website | www.jerryherman.com |
| Notable instruments | |
| piano | |