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Delicious array of vintage clips, stellar interviewees and treasure songs make this a treat musical-theater fans will enjoy in various formats for years to come.
-Dennis Harvey, Variety
This new, 90-minute documentary chronicles the life and career of one of the American Musical Theater’s iconic figures: the composer and lyricist of the legendary Broadway shows Hello, Dolly!, Mame and La Cage aux Folles, and one of the last of Broadway’s Golden Age.
The film chronicles Jerry Herman’s rise from witty off-Broadway revues during the 1950s, to his first Broadway triumphs in the 1960s -- Milk and Honey, followed by the record-breaking Dolly and then Mame -- through the 1970s (Dear World, Mack & Mabel, and The Grand Tour,) to his 1983 smash hit, La Cage aux Folles, which made social and political history.
The star-studded “supporting cast” includes Carol Channing, Angela Lansbury, Charles Nelson Reilly, Marge Champion, Arthur Laurents, Michael Feinstein, Charles Strouse, Fred Ebb, George Hearn, Phyllis Newman, Musical Director Donald Pippin, Francine Pascal, Leslie Uggams, Jason Graae, and theater historians Miles Kreuger and Ken Bloom.
Shot on HD, the film incorporates a remarkable collection of photographs and archival footage (much of it never seen in public) including Carol Channing doing the original Hello, Dolly! title song; Super-8 films of Angela Lansbury in Mame and Dear World; numbers from Mack & Mabel (a cult favorite among aficionados;) scenes from La Cage; and most astonishingly, film of the college musical Jerry wrote at University of Miami.
While Jerry Herman’s shows and songs are noted for their buoyancy and optimism, his work is often more complex than it seems. It requires immense skill to craft a song that people can leave the theater humming. As Michael Feinstein says, “To be simple without being cliché is nearly impossible.”
“Words and Music by Jerry Herman” will be broadcast nationally on PBS on January 1, 2008 at 9:30 pm (check local listings). To purchase a DVD, call 1-800-PLAY PBS, or visit www.shoppbs.org.
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In The News
• DVD Review, John Simon, Broadway.com
• Stage to Screen, Playbill.com
• Review, BroadwayStars
• Review, Variety
• "Broadway at Bedtime" radio program in Australia (QuickTime Audio)
• Review, BroadwayWorld
• The Paley Center for Media (formerly the Museum of Television and Radio)
• Sarasota Film Festival Online Dailies
• Sarasota Film Festival Review
• Stage to Screen, Playbill.com
• Sarasota Festival
• Peter Filichia's Diary
• The Actors' Fund in Los Angeles
• The Actors' Fund in Palm Springs
• Preview, The Lambs Club
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