Composer and lyricist Jerry Herman, of Hello Dolly!, Mame and La Cage aux Folles fame, gets the musical revue treatment next month when the Gallery Players stage Jerry's Girls at their Brooklyn theater.
A cast led by Lorinne Lampert, Inuka Ivaska and Danielle Ferretti will sing songs from the Jerry Herman musical theater catalog, including Hello Dolly!, La Cage Aux Folles, Mame and Milk and Honey. The cast will also feature Jen Brooks, Hilary Goldman and Allison St. Rock. Steve Velardi directs, with choreography by Michael Kidney.
The music and lyrics of Jerry Herman are sung from a stage somewhere in the world every night of every year. In 1987 the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Theatre Hall of Fame inductee became the first composer/lyricist in history to have three of his musicals run for more than 1,500 consecutive Broadway performances. (Only Stephen Schwartz has repeated the feat.) Now 83, he received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2010.
Yiddish Theater legend Molly Picon appeared in Milk and Honey, Herman's first Broadway musical, which netted the composer a Tony Award nomination in 1962 as well as a Grammy Award nomination. He followed up that Israel-themed musical with Hello, Dolly! in 1964, which became the longest-running show of its time and won a then-record 10 Tony Awards. Mame followed in 1966, another hit.
Herman's final smash was La Cage aux Folles in 1983, which won a Best Musical Tony Award. Both of its Broadway revivals have also won Best Musical Tonys.
This 50th anniversary year of the debut of the Broadway premiere of Hello, Dolly! is also the 20th anniversary of the first full-scale production of Jerry's Girls, which Larry Alford conceived with Herman. That 1984 Palm Springs production starred Carol Channing, Leslie Uggams and Andrea McArdle. The revue played on Broadway the following year, with Chita Rivera joining the cast and receiving a Tony Award nomination.
Jerry's Girls will run from December 6 - 21 at The Gallery Players at 199 14th Street, between 4th and 5th Avenues, in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
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