After graduating with a degree in science, Betty Comden strove to find work as an actress. During this period, the late ’30s, she met Adolph Green (b. December 2, 1915, the Bronx, New York City, New York, USA, d. October 24, 2002, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA), who was also seeking work in the theater. Unsuccessful in their attempts to find acting jobs, Comden and Green formed their own troupe, together
with another struggling actress, Judy Holliday.

In the absence of suitable material, Comden and Green began creating their own and discovered an ability to write librettos and lyrics. At first their success was only limited, but in the early ’40s they were invited by a mutual friend, Leonard Bernstein, to work on the book and lyrics of a musical he planned to adapt from his ballet score “Fancy Free.” The show, in which Comden and Green also appeared, was retitled “On the Town” (1944), and became a huge success; Comden and Green never looked back. “On the Town” was followed by “Billion Dollar Baby” (1945, music by Morton Gould), the flop “Bonanza Bound” (1947), and an assignment in Hollywood for the musical films GOOD NEWS (1947), THE BARKLEYS OF BROADWAY (1949), ON THE TOWN, and TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME (both 1949).

In the ’50s and ’60s Comden and Green were back on Broadway, collaborating with Bernstein again on “Wonderful Town” (1953), and with Jule Styne on “Two on the Aisle,” “Peter Pan,” “Say, Darling,” “Do Re Mi,” “Subways Are for Sleeping,” “Fade Out-Fade In,” “Halleluja, Baby!”, and most notably, “Bells Are Ringing” (1956), in which the leading role was played by their former associate Judy Holliday. Among their films were SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN (1952), for which they wrote the screenplay, incorporating the songs of Nacio Herb Brown, and THE BAND WAGON (1953), again contributing the screenplay, which was peppered with the songs of Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz.

For IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER (1955), they wrote the screenplay and lyrics (music by André Previn) and later in the ’50s and into the ’60s wrote screenplays for AUNTIE MAME (1958) and BELLS ARE RINGING (1960), among others. From the late ’50s they also performed their own accomplished two-person stage show. After writing the libretto for “Applause” (1970), they continued to make sporadic returns to the musical stage with “Lorelei” (1974), “On the Twentieth Century” (1978), “A Doll’s Life” (1982) and “The Will Rogers Follies” (1991).

Among their best-known songs are “Just In Time,” “Make Someone Happy,” “Lonely Town,” “Some Other Time,” “Never Never Land,” “It’s Love,” “Long Before I Knew You,” “Lucky To Be Me,” “New York, New York,” “The Party’s Over,” and “The Right Girl For Me.” Regarded as the longest-running creative partnership in theater history, Comden and Green gained several Tony Awards, a Grammy, and Kennedy Center Awards. They were elected to the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame and the Theater Hall of Fame. Albums celebrating their work have been released by Sally Mayes and Blossom Dearie, among others. In 1993, 40 years after they wrote one of their most famous numbers, “Ohio,” for “On the Town,” the governor of that U.S. state threw an opulent anniversary party, “The Show Must Go On: Fifty Years of Comden and Green,” in their honor. As well as seeing their musical “On the Town” return to Broadway, the duo continued to receive tributes and awards throughout the ’90s, including the ASCAP Richard Rodgers Lifetime Achievement Award and the Stage Directors and Choreographers President’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Theater. A revue of their songs, “Make Someone Happy,” opened the Bay City season in 1997, and a year later they wrote a new book and English dialogue for the Metropolitan Opera’s revival of Johann Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus.” In 1999, a two-night Carnegie Hall tribute to Comden and Green featured an all-star lineup that included Faith Prince, Lilias White, Elaine Stritch, and Brian Stokes Mitchell (“Ragtime”). The partnership was finally ended with the death of Adolph Green in October 2002.

FURTHER READING:
BETTY COMDEN AND ADOLPH GREEN: A BIO-BIBLIOGRAPHY, Alice M. Robinson.
OFF STAGE, Betty Comden.
THE NEW YORK MUSICALS OF COMDEN & GREEN.

Source: Biographical information provided by MUZE. Excerpted from the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF POPULAR MUSIC, edited by Colin Larkin. © 2004 MUZE UK Ltd.

Photo credits: Photofest and the New York Public Library

The following was written prior to Cy Coleman’s death in November 2004.

A classically trained child prodigy and concert pianist turned popular songwriter and Broadway tunesmith, Coleman made his Carnegie Hall debut at age seven and by his late teens had become somewhat of a society darling, performing jazz piano in sophisticated New York nightclubs. By the 1950s, he turned to composing pop standards (with lyricists Joseph McCarthy Jr., Bob Hilliard, and Hal David) for the likes of Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole and ran his own New York nightspot, The Playroom.

Teaming with clever lyricist Carolyn Leigh, Coleman wrote such hit songs as “Witchcraft” and “Firefly” before the pair composed their first two Broadway efforts — the spirited Lucille Ball vehicle “Wildcat” (1960), which produced the showstopper “Hey, Look Me Over,” and the brilliantly brash Neil Simon musical satire “Little Me” (1962), with its seductive hits “I’ve Got Your Number” and “Real Live Girl” and its tour-de-force performance by TV star Sid Caesar as all seven male characters.

In 1966, Coleman wed his rhymic, upbeat jazzy scores to the words of veteran lyricist Dorothy Fields for the bouncy, insinuating score to “Sweet Charity” (based on Fellini’s film, “Nights of Cabiria” and filmed by Bob Fosse in his 1969 directorial debut) and in 1973 for “Seesaw,” the less than successful — but nonetheless catchy — musical version of William Gibson’s play “Two for the Seesaw.” Subsequently, he employed a variety of styles, from country and western to blues, for the intimate wife-swapping musical “I Love My Wife” (1977) and composed the bumptuous circus musical “Barnum” (1980), which also marked his debut as a Broadway producer.

Coleman has won three Tony Awards: for the comic operetta “On the Twentieth Century” (1978; with lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green); for his brilliant jazz-inflected score for the witty and stylish film noir musical “City of Angels” (1990; with David Zippel); and for the folksy, glitzy pastiche score for “The Will Rogers Follies” (1991; again with Comden and Green). In 1996, he released an album of songs for a proposed musical, “The Life,” that included tracks by Liza Minnelli and George Burns. With lyrics by Ira Gassman, it is the story of the denizens of NYC’s 42nd Street, including prostitutes and pimps. This, in turn, led to a full-scale Broadway mounting the following year. While the show had its share of fans, it only managed a run of just over a year. The composer’s next full-scale stage musical wasn’t produced until the 21st century, and then in Amsterdam. Coleman wrote the music for “Grace, The Musical” (2001), a fictionalized biography of actress-turned-princess Grace Kelly.

Coleman composed his first film score for FATHER GOOSE (1964), which included the song “Pass Me By,” and composed the scores for a trio of Sydney Lumet-directed features: GARBO TALKS (1984), POWER (1986), and FAMILY BUSINESS (1989).

Source: Excerpted from Baseline. BaselineStudioSystems — A Hollywood Media Corp. Company.

Photo credits: Photofest

An important composer for the musical theater, Bock studied the piano from an early age and was soon able to play quite complicated compositions by ear. He wrote the music for various shows while studying at high school and the University of Wisconsin in the ’40s, and subsequently worked on revues at summer camps and for television. In 1955 Bock and lyricist Larry Holofcener contributed some songs to the Broadway revue “Catch a Star,” and a year later, with George Weiss, they provided the complete score for “Mr. Wonderful,” a musical vehicle for Sammy Davis Jr., which ran for 383 performances. Bock and Holofcener’s last assignment together was for the “Ziegfeld Follies of 1956,” which closed before it reached New York. Shortly afterward, Bock met lyricist Sheldon Harnick (b. April 30, 1924, Chicago, Illinois, USA), and they formed what is arguably the most important musical partnership of the ’60s. Harnick had been a dance band violinist before moving to New York in , where he had several of his songs performed in revues such as “New Faces of 1952” (“Boston Beguine”) and “Shoestring Revue.” Bock and Harnick’s first effort, “The Body Beautiful” (1958), was a failure, but “Fiorello!” (1959) ran for 795 performances.

Next came the underrated “Tenderloin” (1960), a humorous exposé of vice in New York with some good songs including “Little Old New York,” “The Picture of Happiness,” and “How the Money Changes Hands.” In 1963 the team wrote several numbers for the critically acclaimed marionette show “Man in the Moon,” and later in the same year, came up with what is considered to be their best score, for “She Loves Me.” With delightful songs such as “Will He Like Me?”, “Ice Cream,” “A Trip to the Library,” and “She Loves Me,” plus Broadway’s favorite ingénue, Barbara Cook, it warranted a longer stay than just 302 performances. Bock and Harnick’s next show clocked up more than 10 times that total in New York, and was a smash hit around the world. “Fiddler on the Roof” (1964), starring Zero Mostel, became one of the most cherished of all Broadway musicals, and gave the world of popular music (and Jewish functions of all kinds) hit songs such as “Matchmaker, Matchmaker,” “Sunrise, Sunset,” and the immortal “If I Was a Rich Man.” It proved impossible to follow, and for the remainder of the decade the composers worked on a variety of projects, including a Sherlock Holmes musical, “Baker Street,” “The Apple Tree,” which was based on stories by Mark Twain and others and ran for 463 performances, and “Her First Roman,” based on George Bernard Shaw’s play “Caesar and Cleopatra,” to which they contributed a few songs. After “The Rothschilds” (1970), which had a strong Jewish theme and was similar in a way to “Fiddler on the Roof,” Bock and Harnick ended their partnership.

Bock has been inactive for over 20 years, with no apparent musical work forthcoming. In 1971, Harnick gave his “observations on the fine art and craft of lyric writing” at a recital in the “Lyrics and Lyricists” series at the 92nd Street Y in New York, and since then his projects have included “Pinocchio” (1973) with music by Mary Rodgers, “Rex” (1976) with music by Richard Rodgers, and an English translation of the “Umbrellas of Cherbourg” with composer Michel Legrand for a 1979 off-Broadway production. In ’80s there was a projected musical, “Dragons,” that did not materialize, and in the ’90s Harnick collaborated with Joe Raposo on “A Wonderful Life,” and with Thomas Z. Shepard on “Love in Two Countries,” neither of which opened on Broadway following their out-of-town tryouts. In 1997, Harnick contributed the book to “Good Company: Songs That Made It From Shows That Didn’t.” Premiered in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, the score included such gems as “More Than You Know,” “Time on My Hands,” and “All the Things You Are.”

Source: Biographical information provided by MUZE. Excerpted from the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF POPULAR MUSIC, edited by Colin Larkin. © 2004 MUZE UK Ltd.

Photo credits: Photofest

Eubie Blake grew up to the sounds of ragtime music, and before the turn of the century was playing piano in sporting houses and other similar establishments. He was a composer too, and in 1915 joined forces with Noble Sissle; they played in vaudeville as a double act and wrote together extensively. In 1921 Sissle and Blake wrote the score for a Broadway show — a remarkable accomplishment for blacks at that time. “Shuffle Along,” which starred Flournoy Miller, Aubrey Lyles, Gertrude Saunders, and Sissle himself (with Blake on the piano), included several admirable songs, including “Bandana Days,” “Gypsy Blues,” “Love Will Find a Way,” “Everything Reminds Me of You,” “Shuffle Along,” and “If You’ve Never Been Vamped by a Brown Skin (You’ve Never Been Vamped at All).”

There was also one enormous hit, “I’m Just Wild About Harry,” which became popular at the time for artists such as Marion Harris, Ray Miller, and Paul Whiteman, among others, and gave a boost to Harry S. Truman’s election campaign in 1948. Blake contributed to other Broadway musicals and revues such as “Elsie,” Andre Charlot’s “Revue of 1924,” and Lew Leslie’s “Blackbirds of 1930.” For the latter, he and Andy Razaf wrote “Baby Mine,” “That Lindy Hop,” “My Handy Man Ain’t Handy No More,” and another substantial hit, the lovely reflective ballad “Memories of You.” After one more Broadway musical, “Swing It” (1937), Blake reunited with Sissle for a time, and then spent much of World War II entertaining troops with the USO.

In the ’50s Blake demonstrated and lectured on ragtime, but his day seemed to be past. Then, in 1969, at the age of 86, Blake’s fortunes were revived when John Hammond recorded the old man playing piano and talking about his life. The concurrent vogue for ragtime helped his comeback and the next years were filled with honors, recordings, concerts, festivals, and television appearances; in 1978, his life and music were celebrated in a Broadway show, “Eubie,” which was also televised in the USA and later staged in London. In 1983 Blake contributed to the lists of favorite quotations when, on the occasion of his 100th birthday, he said: “If I’d known I was going to live this long, I would’ve taken better care of myself.” He died five days later.

FURTHER READING:
REMINISCING WITH SISSLE AND BLAKE, Robert Kimball and William Bolcom.
EUBIE BLAKE, Al Rose.
EUBIE BLAKE: KEYS OF MEMORY, Lawrence T. Carter.

Source: Biographical information provided by MUZE. Excerpted from the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF POPULAR MUSIC, edited by Colin Larkin. © 2004 MUZE UK Ltd.

Photo credits: Photofest, Getty Images, and the New York Public Library

Bernstein was a major and charismatic figure in modern classical music and the Broadway musical theater. He was also a conductor, composer, pianist, author, and lecturer. A son of immigrant Russian Jews, Bernstein started to play the piano at the age of 10. In his teens he showed an early interest in the theater, organizing productions such as “The Mikado” and an unconventional adaptation of “Carmen,” in which he played the title role. Determined to make a career in music, despite his father’s insistence that “music just keeps people awake at night,” Bernstein eschewed the family beauty parlor business. He went on to study first with Walter Piston and Edward Burlingaunt Hill at Harvard, then with Fritz Reiner, Isabella Vengerova, and Randall Thompson at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, and finally with Serge Koussevitzky at the Berkshire Music Institute at Tanglewood. Bernstein had entered Harvard regarding himself as a pianist, but became influenced by Dimitri Mitropoulos and Aaron Copland. They inspired him to write his first symphony, “Jeremiah.” In 1943 he was chosen by Artur Rodzinski to work as his assistant at the New York Philharmonic. On November 14, 1943, Bernstein, deputized at the last minute for the ailing Bruno Walter, conducted the New York Philharmonic in a concert that was broadcast live on network radio. The next day, he appeared on the front pages of the newspapers and became a celebrity overnight.

In the same year, he wrote the music for “Fancy Free,” a ballet, choreographed by Jerome Robbins, about three young sailors on 24 hours’ shore leave in New York City. It was so successful that they expanded it into a Broadway musical, with libretto and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Retitled “On the Town” and directed by George Abbott, it opened in 1944, with a youthful, vibrant score, which included the memorable anthem “New York, New York,” “Lonely Town,” “I Get Carried Away,” and “Lucky to Be Me.” The 1949 film version, starring Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly and directed by Kelly and Stanley Donen, is often regarded as innovatory in its use of real New York locations, although Bernstein’s score was somewhat truncated in the transfer. In 1950 Bernstein wrote both music and lyrics for a musical version of J. M. Barrie’s “Peter Pan,” starring Jean Arthur and Boris Karloff. His next Broadway project, “Wonderful Town” (1953), adapted from the play “My Sister Eileen,” by Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov, again had lyrics by Comden and Green, and starred Rosalind Russell, returning to Broadway after a distinguished career in Hollywood. Bernstein’s spirited, contemporary score, for which he won a Tony Award, included “Conversation Piece,” “Conga,” “Swing,” “What a Waste,” “Ohio,” “A Quiet Girl,” and “A Little Bit of Love.” The show had a successful revival in London in 1986, with Maureen Lipman in the starring role.

“Candide” (1956) was one of Bernstein’s most controversial works. Lillian Hellman’s adaptation of the Voltaire classic, sometimes termed a “comic operetta,” ran for only 73 performances on Broadway. Bernstein’s score was much admired, however, and one of the most attractive numbers, “Glitter and Be Gay,” was sung with great effect by Barbara Cook, one year before her Broadway triumph in Meredith Willson’s “The Music Man.” “Candide” has been revived continually since 1956, at least twice by producer Hal Prince. It was his greatly revised production, which included additional lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and John Latouche (original lyrics by Richard Wilbur), that ran for 740 performances on Broadway in 1974. The Scottish Opera’s production, directed by Jonathan Miller in 1988, is said to have met with the composer’s approval, and Bernstein conducted a concert version of the score at London’s Barbican Theatre in 1989, which proved to be his last appearance in the U.K.

Bernstein’s greatest triumph in the popular field came with “West Side Story” in 1957. This brilliant musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” was set in the streets of New York, and highlighted the violence of the rival gangs, the Jets and the Sharks. With a book by Arthur Laurents, lyrics by Sondheim in his first Broadway production, and directed by Jerome Robbins, Bernstein created one of the most dynamic and exciting shows in the history of the musical theater. The songs included “Jet Song,” “Something’s Coming,” “Maria,” “Tonight,” “America,” “Cool,” “I Feel Pretty,” “Somewhere,” and “Gee, Officer Krupke.” In 1961, the film version gained 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Bernstein’s music was not eligible for an award because it had not been written for the screen. In 1984, he conducted the complete score of “West Side Story” for the first time, in a recording for Deutsche Grammophon, with a cast of opera singers including Kiri Te Kanawa, José Carreras, Tatania Troyanos, and Kurt Allman. Bernstein’s last Broadway show, “1600 Pennsylvania Avenue” (1976), was an anticlimax. A story about American presidents, with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, it closed after only seven performances. Among Bernstein’s many other works was the score for the Marlon Brando movie, ON THE WATERFRONT (1954), for which he was nominated for an Oscar; a jazz piece, “Prelude, Fugue and Riffs,” premiered on U.S. television by Benny Goodman in 1955; and “My Twelve Tone Melody” written for Irving Berlin’s 100th birthday in 1988.

In his celebrated classical career, which ran parallel to his work in the popular field, Bernstein was highly accomplished and prolific, composing three symphonies, a full-length opera, and several choral works. He was musical director of the New York Philharmonic from 1958-69, conducted most of the world’s premier orchestras, and recorded many of the major classical works. In the first week of October 1990, he announced his retirement from conducting because of ill health, and expressed an intention to concentrate on composing. He died one week later on October 14, 1990. In 1993, BBC Radio marked the 75th anniversary of his birth by devoting a complete day to programs about his varied and distinguished career. A year later, “The Leonard Bernstein Revue: A Helluva Town,” played the Rainbow & Stars in New York, and, on a rather larger scale, in June of that year the New York Philharmonic presented their own celebration entitled “Remembering Lenny.” Further contrasting interpretations of Bernstein’s work were heard in 1994 when television coverage of the World Cup used his 1984 recording of “America” as its theme, while the new pop band, Thunderballs, “viciously mugged” the song (with permission from the Bernstein estate) under the title of “1994 America.”

Source: Biographical information provided by MUZE. Excerpted from the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF POPULAR MUSIC, edited by Colin Larkin. © 2004 MUZE UK Ltd.

Photo credits: Photofest and the Library of Congress

Irving Berlin’s popular music served as a social barometer for much of the 20th century: it marched to war with soldiers, offered hope and inspiration to a nation in bleak times, and rejoiced in the good things embodied in the American way of life. It also provided anthems for American culture in such standards as “White Christmas,” “Easter Parade,” “God Bless America,” and “There’s No Business Like Show Business.”

Born Israel Baline on May 11, 1888, in Temun, Siberia, Berlin fled with his family to America to escape the Russian persecution of Jews. They arrived in New York in 1893, settling in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Compelled by poverty to work rather than attending school, Berlin made money by singing on streetcorners and later secured a job as a singing waiter at the Pelham Cafe. During this time, he also began writing songs of his own, and in 1907 he published “Marie from Sunny Italy,” signing the work I. Berlin and thereby establishing the pseudonym under which he would become so well known.

Berlin continued his involvement in the burgeoning music industry as a young man, initially working at odd jobs in the neighborhood that was becoming known as Tin Pan Alley and eventually securing a job as a lyricist for the music-publishing firm of Waterson & Snyder. In 1911, his “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” became a huge hit and immediately earned him the title “King of Tin Pan Alley.” Entirely self-taught as a musician, Berlin developed a unique musical style by playing only on the black keys. Most of his early songs were therefore written in the key of F-sharp, but, by using a transposing keyboard, Berlin was able to compose in various keys.

By the 1920s, Berlin had become one of the most successful songwriters in the country, despite his lack of formal training. Opening the Music Box Theater with Joseph N. Schenck and Sam Harris in 1921, Berlin began to stage his own revues and musical comedies. When the Great Depression hit in 1929, Berlin, like many others, lost his fortune. His misfortunes did not last long, and he returned to the theater with the show, “Face the Music” (1932). Berlin received his greatest accolades for the Broadway musical, “Annie Get Your Gun” (1946), starring Ethel Merman, which introduced the undeclared anthem of show business, “There’s No Business Like Show Business.”

Established on the Broadway stage, Berlin took his musical talents to Hollywood, writing the scores for such hit musical films as TOP HAT (1935) and HOLIDAY INN (1942). One song from HOLIDAY INN, “White Christmas,” remains even today the best-selling song ever recorded. Written during World War II, the song’s great appeal lay in part in its evocation of an earlier, happier time, enhanced greatly by Bing Crosby’s mellow, wistful delivery.

Berlin’s songs have also served as a rallying cry for the nation during two world wars. While serving in the Army in World War I, Berlin wrote patriotic songs for the show “Yip, Yip Yaphank” (1918), and in 1942 he wrote “This Is the Army.” The proceeds from performances of the latter totalled over 10 million dollars, and were donated to the Army Relief Fund. Berlin’s most famous patriotic work remains the song, “God Bless America,” written initially during World War I, but sung in public for the first time by Kate Smith for an Armistice Day Celebration in 1938.

Berlin also wrote some of the most popular love ballads of the century. “When I Lost You” was written in honor of his first wife, who died within the first year of their marriage, and some of his most poignant songs, including the hauntingly beautiful “What’ll I Do,” “Always,” and “Remember” were written for his second wife, the heiress Ellin Mackay.

Berlin died on September 22, 1989 in New York City. His long, remarkable life seemed to illustrate that the American Dream was achievable for anyone who had a vision. He had received awards ranging from an Oscar to a Gold Medal ordered by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. He had become an icon of American popular music, rich and successful, and had helped shape the evolution of that genre through his use and adaptation of a variety of styles, despite a lack of education and formal training. Many of his songs had become an integral part of the tapestry of American life, accompanying representative scenes ranging from the idealized world of elegant dances by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers to the humble family fireside Christmas. It was his role as the spokesman of the American people as a collective whole — his ability to give voice to their fears, regrets, and hopes in a most compelling way — that constituted his great contribution to popular culture of the century.

Source: Excerpted from ST. JAMES ENCYCLOPEDIA OF POPULAR CULTURE. 5 VOLS., St. James Press, © 2000 St. James Press. Reprinted by permission of The Gale Group.

Photo credits: Photofest

Harold Arlen is best remembered for the melodies to such popular tunes as “Stormy Weather,” “Get Happy,” “That Old Black Magic,” and “Over the Rainbow.” A pianist from the age of nine, Arlen formed the Snappy Trio at the age of fifteen and performed professionally in Buffalo cafes and on boats. Eventually he moved to New York City, became rehearsal pianist for a musical in 1929, and wrote his first hit. “Get Happy” was originally an improvisation Arlen launched into to relieve the boredom of having to repeat the show songs while the singers polished their performance. Soon Arlen, with his lyricist, Ted Koehler, was working on the famous Cotton Club revues and establishing a reputation as “the foremost writer of Negro tunes” with “Stormy Weather,” “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea,” and “I Love a Parade.” Several of his jazz- and blues-influenced tunes became closely identified with the singers who sang them — Judy Garland and “Over the Rainbow,” Frank Sinatra and “Last Night When We Were Young,” and Ethel Waters and “Stormy Weather.”

Much of Arlen’s music was written for plays or movies. The 1939 film classic THE WIZARD OF OZ was among his most famous projects, featuring the Academy Award-winning “Over the Rainbow.” In all, Arlen wrote the music for 25 films, 10 Broadway shows, and more than 100 songs. His lyricists included Koehler, Johnny Mercer, Ira Gershwin, and E. Y. Harburg, the lyricist for THE WIZARD OF OZ.

Source: Excerpted from CONTEMPORARY NEWSMAKERS 1986, ISSUE CUMULATION, Gale Research, © 1987 Gale Research. Reprinted by permission of The Gale Group.

Photo credits: Photofest and the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Carl Van Vechten Collection (LC-USZ62-103724 DLC).

This composer, lyricist, and producer had two hit Broadway shows in the ’50s, but has since been unable to produce another one. The son of a concert pianist, Adler was not attracted to classical music, and studied to be a writer at the University of North Carolina before spending three years in the U.S. Navy. After his discharge he went into the advertising business, and occasionally composed songs in his spare time. In the early ’50s he met Jerry Ross (b. Jerold Rosenberg, March 9, 1926, the Bronx, New York, USA, d. November 11, 1955, New York, USA), and they began to write songs together. In 1953, contracted to Frank Loesser’s publishing company Frank Music, they had a hit with “Rags to Riches,” which became a U.S. chart-topper for Tony Bennett. After contributing several numbers to the revue “John Murray Anderson’s Almanac,” Adler and Ross wrote the complete score for “The Pajama Game,” which opened on Broadway in May 1954 and ran for 1,063 performances. Several of the songs became popular outside the show, including “Hernando’s Hideaway,” “Hey There” (a U.S. number 1 for Rosemary Clooney) and “Small Talk.”

Almost exactly one year later, they returned with the highly entertaining baseball musical “Damn Yankees,” which once again was full of lively and tuneful songs such as “Heart,” which became successful for Eddie Fisher and the Four Aces, and “Whatever Lola Wants,” a chart hit for Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Shore. The show was settling in for a run of 1,019 performances when Ross died of leukemia in November 1955. Three years later, “Everybody Loves a Lover,” another Adler-Ross song, which does not appear to have been included in a show or film, became a hit for Doris Day. After Ross’ death Adler turned his hand to producing, but without success: “The Sin of Pat Muldoon,” Richard Rodgers’ “Rex,” and “Music Is” (for which Adler also wrote the music) were major disappointments. In the ’60s he wrote both music and lyrics for “Kwamina” and “A Mother’s Kisses,” but neither took off. His score for “Kwamina,” a show whose theme was a plea for racial tolerance in Africa and starred his then-wife Sally Ann Howes, was regarded as a fine piece of work, and can now be reassessed following the rerelease of the original cast recording by Broadway Angel Records. Adler has also been actively writing for television commercials, and directing business conventions and political rallies.

FURTHER READING:
YOU GOTTA HAVE HEART, Richard Adler with Lee Davis.

Source: Biographical information provided by MUZE. Excerpted from the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF POPULAR MUSIC, edited by Colin Larkin. © 2004 MUZE UK Ltd.

Photo credits: Photofest

A notable lyricist and librettist for the musical theater, after studying at Ohio State University and at Columbia University’s Pulitzer School of Journalism in New York, Adams worked for a time in the newspaper and magazine business before meeting composer Charles Strouse in 1949. During the ’50s the new team wrote material for a great many summer resort revues, and contributed to the New York production “Shoestring ’57.” In 1960 they wrote the complete score for “Bye Bye Birdie,” which ran for 607 performances and starred Dick Van Dyke and Chita Rivera. Two years later, their “All American” could only manage 80 performances, although it contained the lovely “Once Upon a Time,” which was introduced by Ray Bolger and Eileen Herlie. After collaborating with Jerry Herman on just one song – “Before the Parade Passes By” — for his smash hit, “Hello, Dolly!” (1964), Adams and Strouse endured mixed fortunes during the next few years. “Golden Boy,” starring Sammy Davis Jr. and Billy Daniels, ran for 569 performances, “It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman” could only manage 129, but “Applause” (1970), a vehicle for the Hollywood legend Lauren Bacall, gave the songwriters their second hit and stayed around for over two years.

In the ’70s and ’80s, it was downhill all the way for Adams and Strouse, although the latter was more successful with other collaborators. “I and Albert” was dismissed by London audiences after only three months, “A Broadway Musical” gave just one performance at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater in New York in 1978, and an attempt to cash in on a previous success with “Bring Back Birdie” was given the bird and folded after four nights. Adams turned to Mitch Leigh, the composer of “Man of La Mancha,” a show that had run for well over 2,000 performances in the ’60s, but their attempt to musicalize a biography of the legendary producer Mike Todd, which they called “Mike,” closed during its pre-Broadway tryout in 1988. Not to be outdone, five years later they managed to stage it in New York under the title of “Ain’t Broadway Grand,” but it only ran for 25 performances. Lee Adams was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1989.

Source: Biographical information provided by MUZE. Excerpted from the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF POPULAR MUSIC, edited by Colin Larkin. © 2004 MUZE UK Ltd.