Remembering Jerry Herman
Broadway composer & lyricist Jerry Herman (who died December 26th at the age of 88) was inspired to pursue a career in musical theater after seeing the movie, “Annie Get Your Gun.” "I thought, what a gift [Irving Berlin] has given a stranger,” Herman said. “I wanted to give that gift to other people.” What he gave us is a joyful, rousing, life-affirming legacy of music. Should any of us ever find ourselves without a song in our hearts, or a reason to smile, it wasn’t for Herman’s lack of trying.
Watching the cast take its bows at the effervescent London revival of “La Cage aux Folles” in 2008, I was overcome by an unexpected emotion—an overwhelming sense of American pride. That Berlin should be Herman’s inspiration seems apt, for they come across as kindred spirits. Someone once said, “Irving Berlin IS American music.” I would argue that Jerry Herman is, too. Their work shares a wide-eyed innocence and American brass-band optimism—possessing none of Sondheim’s or Kander and Ebb’s droll cynicism or European ennui.
“He was a believer in the best of everything, and a crazy optimist—that touched all of his music,” said Joel Grey, who starred in 1979’s “The Grand Tour.” The story of S.L. Jacobowsky’s flight from Nazi-occupied France, it includes the lyric, “‘I’ll be here tomorrow/Alive and well and thriving/ I’ll be here tomorrow/ It’s simply called surviving.” Clearly Herman was not blind to the darker aspects of life. He just lived to rise above them.
Herman’s “I Am What I Am,” gave the gay rights movement its unofficial anthem.
Nowhere is this more apparent than with his score for “La Cage aux Folles.” The story of a gay couple facing their son’s impending marriage, the show opened on Broadway in 1983 at the height of the AIDS epidemic. As non-threatening as its cross-dressing cast seemed then, I still remember the sense of something defiant taking place. A cadre of gay men (including collaborators Harvey Fierstein and Arthur Laurents, Producer Allen Carr and much of the chorus) rallying against the prospect of death and a propensity towards homophobia. Herman would himself come out as HIV+ in the years that followed. And with, “I Am What I Am,” he gave the gay rights movement its unofficial anthem. Not mournful, but magnificent.
He gave us two of the most fully realized and lasting roles in the musical theater canon: Mame Dennis and Dolly Levi. It was Herman who saw something in the 40-year-old Angela Lansbury, and who—by casting her as Mame—launched her legendary musical theater career. And as beloved as Bette Midler is, it took casting her in the 2017 revival of “Hello, Dolly!” to make her return to Broadway a record-breaking phenomenon.
I challenge anyone to cite a more moving Broadway ballad than "If He Walked Into My Life.” A more memorable duet than “Bosom Buddies.” Or a more thrilling, makes-the-hair-on-your-arms-stand-up number than “Hello, Dolly!” (Though I always get a little teary watching Louis Armstrong sing it in the 1969 film—his wave goodbye to Streisand seeming to hint at his impending death a year and half later.)
Louis Armstrong in the 1969 film, “Hello, Dolly!”
Accepting the Tony for “La Cages”, Herman said winning killed “the rumor that the simple, hummable showtune was no longer welcome on Broadway.” I think the outpouring of love for him these last few weeks proved his songs will always be welcome.
Betty Buckley (who played Dolly in the recent national tour) said, “‘Before the Parade Passes By’ is like a pep talk to yourself—Dolly decides to come back full throttle to the world of the living. The lesson for me in doing the show—and I owe [Jerry] a debt of appreciation—was that joy is a choice.” I can’t imagine a more fitting epitaph.
Jerry Herman chose joy. And how lucky we were to have shared in it.
Enjoy an Insider’s Look at this Broadway Master: “Jerry Herman: You I Like.” Part of the 92nd Street Y’s Lyrics & Lyricists series, this concert will be hosted by Andy Einhorn, Musical Director of the recent “Hello, Dolly!” revival. Feb 22-24, Kaufmann Concert Hall. Tickets from $45 @ 92y.org.