Alan Jay Lerner: A Lyricist's Letters by Dominic McHugh Read Free Book Online Page A

and
Camelot
(1960).
         2 Alan Jay Lerner,
The Street Where I Live
(London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1978),16.
         3 Brothers George Gershwin (1898–1937) and Ira Gershwin (1896–1983) formed one of the most successful composer-lyricist teams of the 1920s and 1930s. Their songs were used extensively in Lerner’s screenplay for
An American in Paris
. As one of the leading lyricists of the previous generation, Ira Gershwin was revered by Lerner, while the Gershwins’
Porgy and Bess
was one of Lerner’s favorite works.
         4 Richard Rodgers (1902–79) was one of the most prolific and successful Broadway composers of the twentieth century, particularly noted for his rich collaborations with Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II. He also briefly collaborated with Lerner on an aborted project in the 1960s.
         5 Lorenz Hart (1895–1943) was the first of Richard Rodgers’s two major lyricists. Their hit musicals include
On Your Toes
(1936),
Babes in Arms
(1937), and
Pal Joey
(1940).
         6 Irving Berlin (1888–1989) was the composer and lyricist of numerous musicals, including
Annie Get Your Gun
(1946) and
Call Me Madam
(1950). Among his dozens of successful songs are “Cheek to Cheek,” “Let’s Face the Music and Dance,” “White Christmas” and “God Bless America.”
         7 Vincent Youmans (1898–1946) wrote a number of successful musicals in the 1920s and 1930s, most notably
No, No, Nanette
(1925).
         8 Lerner,
Street
, 17.
         9 Alan Jay Lerner,
The Musical Theatre: A Celebration
(Glasgow: Collins, 1986) .
         10 Jerome Kern (1885–1945) was a prolific composer of musicals including
Show Boat
(1927) and
Roberta
(1933).
         11 Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960) was one of Broadway’s most beloved librettists and lyricists and was best known as the second major collaborator (along with Lorenz Hart) of composer Richard Rodgers.
         12 DuBose Heyward (1885–1940) wrote the play
Porgy
(1927) and collaborated with Ira Gershwin on the libretto and lyrics for its operatic adaptation,
Porgy and Bess
(1935).
         13 Lerner,
The Musical Theatre
, 69 and 133.
Show Boat
opened on December 27, 1927, and ran for 572 performances.
Porgy and Bess
opened on October 10, 1935, and ran for 124 performances.
         14 Reproduced in Stephen Citron,
The Wordsmiths
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1996), 107 .
         15 Lerner,
Street
, 19.
         16 John F. Kennedy (1917–63) was the 35th president of the United States from January 1961 until he was assassinated in November 1963.
         17 “Awards Bestowed at Choate School,”
New York Times
, May 24, 1936, N10.
         18 Lerner,
Street
, 24.
         19 Cole Porter (1891–1964) was the composer and lyricist of musicals including
Anything Goes
(1934) and
Kiss Me, Kate
(1948).
         20 Copies of the songs were consulted in the Library of Congress’s copyright deposit.
         21 Benjamin Welles (1916–2002) was a famous biographer and journalist.
         22 Nathaniel Benchley (1915–81) was a major novelist and children’s author.
         23 Stanley Miller (1916–77) went on to work as a Voice of America aide in Washington, D.C.
         24 “Hasty Pudding Show Socks Café Society,”
Harvard Crimson
, February 29, 1938. (Accessed at http://www.thecrimson.harvard.edu/article/1938/2/19/hasty-pudding-show-socks-cafe-society/?print=1 on January 9, 2013.)
         25 “Hasty Pudding Goes on National Hookup in Preview Tonight,”
Harvard Crimson
, March 23, 1938. (Accessed at http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1938/3/23/hasty-pudding-goes-on-national-hookup/ on January 9, 2013.)
         26 “Hasty Pudding’s Graduates See Show,”
Harvard Crimson
, March 29, 1938. (Accessed at http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1938/3/29/hasty-puddings-graduates-see-show-eat/ on January 9, 2013.)
         27 “Harvard Players Give a Satire Here,”
New York Times
, April 9, 1938.
         28