Harvey Schmidt has passed - RIP

[JBroadway]

Posted: 3/1/18 at 12:16pm

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Legendary-Broadway-Composer-Harvey-Schmidt-Dies-at-88-20180301


A sad day for the musical theatre world indeed. What beautiful music that man had in him.

[HelloDanny]

Posted: 3/1/18 at 12:19pm

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Legendary-Broadway-Composer-Harvey-Schmidt-Dies-at-88-20180301

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 3/1/18 at 12:22pm

How sad. The Fantasticks and 110 are some phenomenal scores. I shall miss him greatly.

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 3/1/18 at 12:48pm

Rest in Peace indeed. He had a marvelous career, in and out of the Theatre.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 3/1/18 at 1:06pm

Will Charlotte St. Martin consider him "special" enough to have the lights dimmed?

[JayG 2]

Posted: 3/1/18 at 1:13pm

IMHO, two of the most beautiful songs ever written for a musical: Is it Really Me? and What is a Woman?

 

[Demitri2]

Posted: 3/1/18 at 1:21pm

My first exposure to Schmidt and Jones was a production of THE FANTASTICKS starring Elliott Gould and a teenage Liza Minnelli. Sitting in the second row, I was mesmerized by the cast and the wonderful score. I've seen the show many many times since but this performance will always stay with me. I also loved Schmidt's drawings on the Ben Bagley album series on the Painted Smiles label. He was quite the artist. Grateful for a lifetime of joy he gave me. RIP Mr. Schmidt.

[bwaylyric]

Posted: 3/1/18 at 1:54pm

Maybe only the Snapple Theatre will dim its lights.

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 3/1/18 at 1:58pm

adamgreer said: "Will Charlotte St. Martin consider him "special" enough to have the lights dimmed?"

I don;t know, seeing as his biggest success was Off-Broadway...

[broadwaybabywannabe2]

Posted: 3/1/18 at 6:18pm

R.I.P... i have loved THE FANTASTICKS since i started listening to the cast recording with Jerry Orbach singing TRY TO REMEMBER back in the 60's...with one of my all time favorite songs MUCH MORE being my personal song i sang when ever i was blue and feeling lonely...and btw..."I am special. Please, God, please, don't let me be normal!"...also i did get many chances when i moved to NYC to "dance till dawn, or if the band could stand it, Just go on and on"...

One of my greatest mother/son moments was when i took my mother to see I DO! I DO! with Robert Preston and Mary Martin, at the Dorothy Chandler Pav. when this show toured in the late 60's!...
 

Updated On: 3/1/18 at 06:18 PM

[fredric47]

Posted: 3/1/18 at 7:13pm

I am greatly saddened by the loss of composer Harvey Schmidt, whom I had the opportunity to meet on two occasions at my alma mater, The York Theatre Company. The first time was in 1982, when York staged the first important revival of "110 in the Shade," which has always been one of my favorite musicals. I love the score so intensely from this show that I volunteered for eight weeks to be a backstage assistant on the production. After the show opened to a glowing review from John S. Wilson of "The New York Times," Harvey came to see the production with his collaborator, librettist-lyricist Tom Jones. I was thrilled to meet both of these gentlemen whom I had idolized from the time of the original 1963 Broadway production of '110,' which I saw in its pre-Broadway tryout here in Philadelphia at the former Shubert, now Merriam, Theatre. I was not disappointed by the Southern gentleman Harvey Schmidt. He was so receptive to my words of praise for his work. It was a joy to be in his presence. My last occasion to come across Harvey and Tom was when they did their revue of songs from their musicals at York entitled, "The Show Goes On," which is the title of a wonderful song from their little known musical, "Mirette," which premiered at the Goodspeed Opera House many years ago. Both Harvey and Tom were the stars of the revue along with three featured cast members. How wonderful it was to hear Harvey play his songs and Tom and the three singers perform them. This time I came prepared with a copy of the calendar that Harvey had designed with his album covers from the Ben Bagley Revisited recordings on the Painted Smiles label each being a monthly illustration. Harvey autographed a page from the calendar using the style of calligraphy that he designed for the title of their most famous musical, "The Fantasticks," and Tom signed his name near it. I have this framed as a glorious memento of our second backstage meeting. I know it sounds silly but I was so impressed by Harvey Schmidt that I often thought of moving down to Texas so that we could become close friends. He never knew this since it was only an unfulfilled fantasy of mine. I just heard Harvey in a recent interview online with Michael Musto on "Theatre Talk", say that after years of lingering illnesses he was finally feeling well. I'm just glad for you, Harvey, hoping that you didn't suffer at the end of your life. Your songs will live on as long as there are singers who appreciate classic musical theatre melodies interfaced with clever and touching lyrics by your talented collaborator. I will definitely make a point of being at your New York City memorial when it is announced.

 

 

[ChgoTheatreGuy]

Posted: 3/1/18 at 7:51pm

I have a ticket stub from the opening night performance of the 1987 musical, "Grover's Corners", that was never able to play on Broadway due to a conflict with Thornton Wilder's nephew...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/122990537021

[TheGingerBreadMan]

Posted: 3/1/18 at 8:02pm

He certainly wrote many gorgeous songs - RIP.

I do believe that he deserves a light dimming - in my opinion, the honor should be for those who impacted the Theatre community, and he absolutely did this. Although his biggest hit never played Broadway, The Fantasticks has become a staple in the musical theatre repertoire and he should be honored for all that he did.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 3/1/18 at 8:02pm

Deep in December it's nice to remember although you know the snow will follow
Deep in December it's nice to remember without the hurt the heart is hollow
Deep in December it's nice to remember the fire of September that made us mellow
Deep in December our hearts should remember and follow

 

RIP Mr Schmidt and thank you.

[markypoo]

Posted: 3/1/18 at 8:03pm

And in addition to actually having seen that production of Grover's Corners, I also have seen 3 productions of The Fantasticks (including 1 at the Edinburgh Festival), I Do! I Do! (Martin/Preston on B'way; Ford/Hines in Chicago), and 1/2 of Celebration on B'way, 1969 - we left at intermission.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 3/1/18 at 8:17pm

I've loved The Fantasticks since I was very small. It's such a beautiful and sweet and surprisingly profound little show. I also absolutely love 110 in the Shade. Thanks, Harvey Schmidt. 

[Tandrews]

Posted: 3/1/18 at 9:55pm

RIP, a lovely gentleman. He will be missed. 

[bk]

Posted: 3/1/18 at 10:21pm

As I posted elsewhere:

Well, Harvey Schmidt has died. Not unexpected - he's been struggling with his health for a decade but always seemed to come back. I met him in 1991 and we became instant friends - he used to call me his best late-in-life friend and boy did I record a lot of Schmidt and Jones songs, cut and otherwise, plus the full shows of I Do! I Do! plus Collette Collage. We supped whenever I was in New York recording and that was every few weeks from 1993 to 2000. After he moved to Tomball I didn't see him as much but we spoke on the phone a lot. I got him out here when we recorded The Fantasticks in Jazz. And we spoke quite a bit last year. So many wonderful memories - but for me the most special of them was having him paint the covers for my first three books - you cannot imagine how special that was and they are GREAT paintings and covers, and then badgering him about a cut song from 110 In the Shade called Evening Star, which I loved for years and wanted to record but the song just wasn't quite a song - and finally giving it one last go and asking him to write a bridge for it, which he said no to. The next morning I got a Fed Ex package from him with a cassette of the song and the most glorious bridge, which finally made the song a song - it was perfect - and had no words and he told me Tom would never write them. I told him to remind Tom of how many Schmidt and Jones shows and songs I'd recorded - the next day I got the words from Tom. We recorded the song (sung by Harvey's late-in-life favorite singer, Guy Haines, who sang many of the rare Schmidt and Jones songs) and everyone loved it - so much so that the song got put back into the show and is now a permanent part of the licensed version. We were working on a long-time project - don't know what will happen to that now. I adored him and will miss him, but what a long and wonderful life he had. RIP dear Harvey, who I know is on his Evening Star somewhere.

[NoName3]

Posted: 3/1/18 at 10:35pm

A beautiful performance of The Fantasticks, originally broadcast on The Hallmark Hall of Fame in 1964.  Although highly abridged and slightly censored the cast is extraordinary and doesn't disappoint: Ricardo Montalban as El Gallo, John Davidson and Susan Watson as Matt and Louisa and Bert Lahr and Stanley Holloway as the fathers.  Philip J. Lang did the delicate orchestrations.

A wonderful tribute to the brilliance of Schmidt and Jones.

I believe the copy I'm linking to is slightly better than the one available at youtube but I think there is even better floating around somewhere.

https://webertube.com/video/28102/the-fantasticks-1964-hallmark-hall-of-fame-telecast

[Dollypop]

Posted: 3/1/18 at 11:17pm

RIP Harvey. I'll always remember you in the light.

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 3/2/18 at 6:24am

rip. loved your work....

[darquegk]

Posted: 3/2/18 at 9:26am

Thank you for the wonderful remembrance, Bruce. It's nice to hear of collaborations between genuinely like-minded people going well.

For the longest time, I appreciated "The Fantasticks" but didn't love it. It was, to me, a "beautiful relic:" one of those shows that could only be thought of in one specific way, presented in one specific fashion, and mean one specific thing. A lovely but fragile museum piece. Then I saw Ted Pappas's metatextual "Fantasticks" in Pittsburgh a year or two ago, and couldn't believe it was the same show I had always touched so delicately.

[fredric47]

Posted: 3/4/18 at 1:00pm

You are welcome for my remembrance of Harvey. I must admit that I came to "The Fantasticks," rather late on when I saw the show in an Equity production that played at my college, Syracuse University, in the early 1970s. I went back and saw the show done in a regional theatre production here in the Philadelphia suburbs about 10 years ago and still loved it. The versions I didn't care for were the Hallmark Hall of Fame truncated version in the early 1960's and the film version. All the best!

[fredric47]

Posted: 3/4/18 at 1:12pm

Bk,

Your comments about Harvey touched me a lot. I am so glad you were there for him. I was too shy to assert myself and now regret not knowing Harvey personally. Our meetings were short and sweet at York Theatre Company where I had an association on the 1982 acclaimed revival of "110 in the Shade," a musical I dearly love. Coincidentally, one of my late relatives' wife was the niece of playwright N. Richard Nash, the playwright for '110,' among other musicals and plays. I hope our paths will cross someday.

Best Wishes,

[justoldbill]

Posted: 3/7/18 at 1:12am

To bk-

Thanks for your thoughts on Harvey.  I only met him sporadically, but we were on each other's Christmas card list (his were real works of art).  I would sometimes run into him in the 80's at various movie poster shows in New York (I was pleased to learn we had a mutual fondness for the film, MAIN STREET TO BROADWAY).  I would also see him at the occasional anniversary performance at the Sullivan Street.  He was truly a kind and gracious soul. I'll miss him.  I'm going to send you an email at Kritzerland.  If you're still contemplating doing MOVIE MUSIC IN A SMALL TEXAS TOWN and need decent copies of the cover artwork, we should talk.