Herman Turns 76 on 7/10; 'Words and Music' Trailer Online

Jerry Herman, the beloved Broadway composer and lyricist turns 76, tomorrow, Tuesday, July 10.
 
Since January of this year, the soon-to-be-seen NJN/PBS documentary Words and Music by Jerry Herman, a film by Amber Edwards has been greeted with applause and standing ovations at preview screenings around the country at The Lambs Club, The Players Club, The Actors Home, The Actors Fund in Palm Springs and Los Angeles, the Sarasota Film Festival, Oklahoma City's deadCenter Film Festival, NY's Museum of Television and Radio and the 92nd St Y.
 
This new documentary chronicles the life and career of one of musical theater's iconic figures: Jerry Herman, the composer and lyricist of the smash hit shows Hello, Dolly!, Mame and La Cage Aux Folles.  Words and Music by Jerry Herman will be aired on PBS during the 2007-2008 season.
 
To celebrate his birthday, here's a link to see the trailer.
 
The 90-minute film by award-winning filmmaker Amber Edwards of NJN Public Television, 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 Hello, Dolly! and Mame), through the 1970s (Dear World, Mack and Mabel, and The Grand Tour) to his 1983 triumph La Cage Aux Folles, which also made social and political history.
 
The star-studded "supporting cast" of the documentary 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.
 
"Nearly five years in the making, the film incorporates a remarkable collection of photographs and archival footage (much of it never seen in public before) including Carol Channing doing the original Hello, Dolly! title song; Donald Pippin's personal Super-8 films of Angela Lansbury in Mame and Dear World; numbers from Mack and Mabel (a cult favorite among aficionados); scenes from La Cage; and most astonishingly, film of the college musical Jerry wrote while at University of Miami," state press notes.
 
Here are opportunities for the public to see "Words and Music by Jerry Herman" prior to the national PBS broadcast in January 2008:
 
Monday, September 17th, University of Miami, in the Jerry Herman Ring Theater.  6 PM screening followed by Q&A with filmmaker. More information is at this link. 
 
Wednesday, September 19th, The Kennedy Center, Terrace Theater, 6 PM.  Admission is free, but arrive early as seating is limited.  Screening followed by Q&A with Jerry Herman and filmmaker Amber Edwards. More information is at this link. 
 
Monday, September 24th, The Brooklyn Academy of Music's Rose Cinema. 7 PM screening followed by Q&A with filmmaker. Free to BAM Cinema Club members. More information is at this link.
 
Mill Valley Film Festival, San Rafael, CA - October 4 - 14th, two screenings TBA.  More information is at this link.

Photo by Bill Dow

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