Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Jerry Herman on Random...

Gerald Sheldon Herman
(1931-2019)...
creator of 18 (Off and On) Broadway shows,
and umpteen songs,
and winner of 2 Grammy Awards and
3 Tonys (one of them, a Lifetime Achievement Award).

Herman was the only composer/lyricist to have had 
3 original productions open on Broadway at the same time 
(from February to May 1969):  
Hello, Dolly!, Mame, and Dear World.
And another first...
 he was the first of two composer/lyricists to have 
3 musicals run more than 1500 consecutive performances 
on Broadway (the other was Stephen Schwartz):
Hello, Dolly! (2,844),
Mame (1,508),
and La Cage Aux Folles (1,761).





Jerry was diagnosed as HIV-positive in 1985,
but survived for many years
thanks to effective drug therapies.
He passed away on Dec. 26, 2019
 of pulmonary complications,
and is survived by his partner, Terry Marler,
and his 2 goddaughters.







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