Immersing Myself

Hello, friends!  I've been lax in my theater-going lately, work has been very busy.  Well, that's not exactly true.  I went to a very early preview of a new play and a concert of a musical I've already posted about, so I didn't think a new report was necessary about either of them.  I have some shows coming up and a trip to Minneapolis that includes two productions that I'm very excited about, so keep your eyes open for more posts in the next few weeks.  Fingers crossed, of course.

I did want to do a little post about Jerry Herman - he passed away while I was home for the holidays, so I didn't do a post at the time.  After seeing Mack and Mabel last week, I've rather been on a Jerry Herman playlist listening binge.  Which has put a smile on my face.  His musicals' subject matters were disparate, though most dealt with plucky individualists overcoming obstacles to succeed.  But all of them feature toe-tapping music that just puts a big old smile on my face and I notice that "...somehow the ceiling seems a little higher...", to loosely quote one of his songs.  

When I'm in a bad mood, I either put on Barber's "Adagio for Strings" (if I want to weep), or Alanis Morissette's "Jagged Little Pill" (if I want to dive into feeling pissed off), or Herman's La Cage aux Folles (if I want to start smiling).  But, really, all of his musicals make me smile, then cry, then smile some more.  It's sort of a visceral response.  If you want to read an interesting interview about Jerry Herman's process, you should check out this piece from the archives of The Dramatist magazine (I mean, you really should subscribe; there are amazing articles like this every month!): In Conversation with Jerry Herman.  I love when writers interview other writers - they just know how to guide the conversation to get the most interesting, revealing answers.

I'll just link to some of my past thoughts on musicals by Jerry Herman (some of those links are above, if you're interested).  I mentioned in my review of the recent Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly that it was one of the first musicals I can remember seeing.  One of the first professional productions I ever saw was Mame at a local dinner theater.  I remember adoring it and over the years, I've listened to the cast album probably thousands of times.  Ever since my nephew was born, I've had even more affection for it, especially the song "If He Walked Into My Life," which makes me cry every time I try to sing along.  I'm a basket case, I admit it.  And, hello, who doesn't have "We Need a Little Christmas" on their holiday playlist?!  "Bosom Buddies" is also a classic in musical theater songwriting - have you ever seen the clip of Betty White and Carol Channing sing it on an episode of Love Boat?  Get to YouTube and check it out.  But I digress.  Anyway, Mame is another show that I'd love to see in revival, though I admit a bit of it is problematic in this day and age.  Maybe it's best for an Encores! retelling...

I admit I don't know Dear World as well as I should - when the York did a brief run of it, I jumped at the chance to see it.  I also admit that I seriously considered buying a ticket to London when Betty Buckley was performing it there.  Cooler heads (and empty wallets) prevailed there.  Again, I hope to see it have another life sometime soon.  I know that Jerry Herman was hopeful that this show would get another look, so maybe there's an intrepid producer out there who wants to commemorate the loss of a man who loved the theater and what he did.  I know he brought a lot of joy to my life and I'm grateful.  He'll be missed.