Alan Jay Lerner: A Lyricist's Letters (19 page)

    
One of the pleasures of having such success with
My Fair Lady
was the way in which it allowed Lerner to become good friends with various of his musical idols. These included composer-lyricist Cole Porter (1891–1964), of
Anything Goes
and
Kiss Me, Kate
fame, who loved the show so much that by the end of the year, through Lerner’s gift, he was seeing the show almost every Wednesday night. The following letter was written by Lerner to Porter after the two had spent an evening together. Porter had raved about Lerner’s work and been promised the weekly tickets:

    
To Cole Porter

    
July 2, 1956

    
Dear Cole:

    
I enjoyed seeing you so very much the other night. Your enthusiasm for the show means more to me than I can possibly say. I am naturally always pleased when people like it, but especially so when some do, and I can’t think of anybody to whom that applies more than you.

        
I’ll have your seats for you in the fall and I do hope we’ll be able to have an evening together while you’re here.

        
Have a wonderful summer.

Best regards,

Alan

    
P.S. Crest Toothpaste is dazzling. I bought a tube the next morning. Best thing since French pastry.

    
Porter was delighted about the tickets, as he told Lerner in a short note: “My ‘subscription’ seats for
My Fair Lady
arrived, and I can’t tell you how deeply I appreciate it.” He added: “From now on, any time you happen to be in your theatre and want a companion between the acts, I shall be there on Wednesday nights.”

    
During the summer of 1956, Lerner started to grapple with the
Gigi
screenplay, and finished the first draft during the fall. He also managed to persuade Maurice Chevalier to star in the film, though his first choice for the title role, Audrey Hepburn, was unwilling to repeat her performance as Gigi from Anita Loos’ stage adaptation of Colette’s novella on which the musical was based.
⁵³
At the same time, Lerner and Loewe started to search for material for a new stage project. The novel
Greenwillow
by magazine fiction writer B. J. Chute was proposed in October, though it was declined and eventually taken up by Frank Loesser.
⁵⁴
An interesting column in the
New York Times
in December indicated the next work by “the
Fair Lady
Team” would involve a co-production by Lerner, Loewe and Moss Hart: “They aim to pool their talents in writing a musical.…Their work would be divided on the following basis: book, Mr. Lerner and Mr. Hart; lyrics, Mr. Lerner; music, Mr. Loewe; staging, Mr. Hart.”
⁵⁵
Although the three men did indeed collaborate on their next stage musical,
Camelot
(1960), it is intriguing to note that Hart’s name was not in the end associated with writing the book, given his influence on the script of
Fair Lady
and this article announcing his involvement with the script of the new show.

    
Meanwhile,
Fair Lady
required some attention if the show was to sustain its success. Rex Harrison had only signed up for a year’s run, and the team was desperate to have him extend his contract. Therefore, Lerner persuaded John Gielgud (1904–2000), the veteran British stage actor, to agree to play Higgins on Broadway for five months and then take the show to London, if Harrison would not stay in it for a longer run:

    
Telegram to Herman Levin

    
November 15, 1956

    
GIELGUD WILLING TO PLAY BROADWAY NOVEMBER THROUGH MARCH AND THEN LONDON. WE CAN NOW PUT PRESSURE ON HARRISON TO SIGN AT LEAST TILL JUNE OR LOSE LONDON. CABLE PROGRESS OF NEGOTIATIONS. IF NEGATIVE, FRITZ AND I WILL FLY TO LONDON TO SEE GIELGUD ABOUT MUSIC.

ALAN

Lerner knew that Harrison was eager to appear in the show’s London debut, returning home from his triumph in a Broadway musical, and that this would be the leverage required to make him extend his New York contract. Though he was good friends with Harrison, Lerner knew that he had to step in for Levin and manipulate the situation for the good of the show, and indeed Harrison ultimately agreed to their terms.

    
On a different front, the script of
My Fair Lady
was published for the first time, but upon opening it Lerner discovered that the name of the choreographer, Hanya Holm, had been omitted. He wrote to apologize:

    
To Hanya Holm

    
19 December 1956

    
Hanya Darling:

    
I was absolutely devastated when it was brought to my attention that your name had been omitted by the publishers in the published version of the show. Of course, I know, that you know, that it was a typographical oversight and I am moving heaven and earth to try to have it rectified even before the next printing. Aside from your wonderful contribution to the success of the show I was all the more upset because I am so terribly fond of you. Please accept my deepest, deepest apologies.

Devotedly,

Alan

    
The show made the headlines in January 1957 when American Equity announced that Edward Mulhare,
⁵⁶
the Irish actor Lerner had lined up to replace Harrison during the latter’s vacations during his extension, would not be allowed to undertake the role because he was a non-US actor.
⁵⁷
Similarly, the three British actors lined up to star in the National Tour were being obstructed from immigrating, and the New York Department of Labor was forced to intercede.
⁵⁸
The mayor then became involved, and terms between Equity and Levin were only agreed upon a fortnight before Mulhare was due to start.
⁵⁹
The
producer hastily signed him up for three years, first to cover for Harrison during his vacations, then to take over permanently upon Harrison’s departure in December.
⁶⁰

    
By early 1957, Lerner was moving ahead with
Gigi
. He showed his screenplay to Loewe, who unexpectedly caved in and agreed to write the score in early February.
⁶¹
He was charmed by what he read, and with no Broadway project firmly slated for the future, the prospect of writing a handful of songs for
Gigi
was obviously a viable alternative. But although Leslie Caron (Gigi) and Maurice Chevalier (Honoré) were lined up to head the cast, a male co-star was still needed. Lerner had long wanted to write a project for his friend Dirk Bogarde,
⁶²
and he wrote to him to try to persuade him to play Gaston:

    
To Dirk Bogarde

    
February 7th, 1957

    
Dear Dirk,

    
Formal studio letter.

        
Here’s the script. As you’ll see, a couple of song ideas have been indicated but they are by no means definite. Also, as I told you on the phone, there are bound to be changes (not large ones) when Fritz and I start musicalizing it.
⁶³
Gaston will have at least one solo and one number with Uncle Honoré (Chevalier).

        
K and R
⁶⁴
will be in Hollywood the same time as you if you do the picture. I mention it for the sole purpose of influencing you.

        
I hope you like the script but if you don’t I forgive you.

        
More later in my own inimitable profane style.

        
Love to Tony.
⁶⁵

Aye,

Alan

Sadly, he proved to be unavailable for contractual reasons, and it took time to persuade the eventual choice, Louis Jourdan,
⁶⁶
to accept the role, given his lack of previous experience in musicals.
⁶⁷

    
As for the designs, after the success of
My Fair Lady
it was natural that Lerner and Loewe should turn to Cecil Beaton for
Gigi
. Lerner wrote to Arthur Freed, the film’s producer, to ask whether he could approach Beaton about the project. Evidently, Lerner’s enthusiasm for the film largely depended on Beaton’s involvement:

    
Telegram to Arthur Freed

    
FEBRUARY 11, 1957

    
DEAR ARTHUR

    
CECIL BEATON WILL BE ARRIVING IN NEW YORK FROM JAPAN AND CAN BE REACHED AT THE AMBASSADOR HOTEL. PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU WANT FRITZ AND ME TO TALK TO HIM ABOUT THE PICTURE BEFORE YOU DO OR AFTER.

LOVE,

ALAN

A day later Freed wrote back to say he was more than happy to let Lerner handle the matter, and all were relieved when the designer said yes.
⁶⁸

    
March was a busy month for Lerner.
Brigadoon
was to have a short run at City Center from March 27, which meant that Lerner and Loewe would have two shows playing in New York concurrently.
⁶⁹
Then, when Moss Hart fell ill, Lerner had to take over the directorial responsibilities for the National Tour of
My Fair Lady
. Consequently, he had to turn down the offer of a vacation at the house of his friend Marietta Peabody Tree:
⁷⁰

    
To Marietta Tree

    
February 20, 1957

    
Dear Marietta:

    
Forgive the delay in answering your enticing letter, but I just returned from California a few days ago. I use the word “enticing” with full awareness, because nothing could be more so than to be able to visit you and Ronnie in your tropical Shangri-la, and therefore nothing grieves me more than not to be able to do it.

        
Unfortunately, March is my frenetic month this year. The National Company
⁷¹
goes into rehearsal next week, and I have to see it through until the opening on March 18th. Immediately following, I have to go to Paris on business. When you consider that I don’t like Paris and adore the sunny climes, and that I am irritated by the French and always smile at the prospect of seeing you, you can further understand the depth of my grief. However, thank you for thinking of me, and perhaps someday some year you will again have an empty room for me to fill and I will be able to take advantage of it.

        
Do have a wonderful winter, and give Ronnie my warmest. Will we see you in the spring? I hope so.

Fondly and soulfully,

Alan

Lerner’s comments about Paris and the French are patently “niceties” intended to soften the blow of his rejection of Tree’s offer: obviously, the author of
An American in Paris
and
Gigi
loved the city.

    
On March 15, another Lerner premiere took place: the first performance of two new songs, with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Lerner, written for their alma mater, Harvard University. The songs—called “Dedication” and “Lonely Men of Harvard”—were performed at Carnegie Hall by the Harvard University Glee Club and the Harvard University Band in a concert in aid of Harvard College.
⁷²
The same night,
My Fair Lady
celebrated its first anniversary,
⁷³
and two weeks later the nominees for the Tony Awards were announced;
My Fair Lady
led with ten citations.
⁷⁴
These, with other events, are among the topics Lerner discusses in the following two conversational letters from the period.
A long-term friend of Lerner’s, Morys Bruce, Fourth Baron Aberdare (1919–2005), was a Conservative politician and, at the time Lerner wrote this letter, also worked for the BBC. Herman Wouk (b. 1915) is the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of the novel
The Caine Mutiny
(1951), who probably knew Lerner through his early work on writing radio scripts. These letters outline Lerner’s general activities during March and April:

    
To Morys Bruce

    
March 1, 1957

    
Dear Morys:

    
Do forgive me for not answering your first letter, but I was in California and only got back in time for Nancy’s opening.
⁷⁵
They had a miserable opening night audience, who stared at the stage as if they were all under the influence of a heavy narcotic. Considering the play is a comedy, it hardly made for an uproarious evening. The play itself received fair to good notices. Nancy, however, came off wonderfully well, praise Allah. Since the opening night, the regular civilians who go to the theatre have been behaving much more humanly, and I am sure they are in for a long run.

        
While I was in California your second letter arrived about seats for Mrs. Murray. My secretary for some reason thought you were Ben and answered him to your address. It’s all very confusing, but the result of it all is that we have two seats reserved for Mrs. Murray for the night of March 25th and will leave them at the box office in her name. She can pick them up the evening of the performance.

        
As for me, I had a rather dreary time on the Coast and am decidedly pleased to be back in my old haunts. The second company is in rehearsal now, so I’ll be tied up with that until the end of the month.

        
Immediately following, Fritz and I shall be off to London and Paris. We’ve decided to write the score for the film version of
Gigi
. [Maurice] Chevalier is going to be in it, and he’s in Paris. Profiting by the happy experience we had with Rex [Harrison] of trying every song out with him long before production, we’re going to do the same with dear old Maurice. In London, we’ll try to find a replacement for Julie Andrews when she leaves next December.
⁷⁶