Alan Jay Lerner: A Lyricist's Letters (23 page)

    
22
This may be a reference to the movie
Gigi
, whose script Lerner was considering writing without necessarily creating the songs (see following pages).

    
23
Leading New York lawyers: Harriet Pilpel, Irving Cohen, H. William Fitelson, and Benjamin Aslan.

    
24
Sam Zolotow, “‘Lovers’ Puts Off Arrival by a Day,”
New York Times
, April 27, 1956, 24
.

    
25
Enid Bagnold’s play
The Chalk Garden
had just premiered in London, in a production directed by John Gielgud and starring Edith Evans and Peggy Ashcroft.

    
26
Actress Kay Kendall (1927–59) was to become Rex Harrison’s wife the following year. They were happily married until her tragically early death from leukemia. She is perhaps best remembered for her appearances in the films
Genevieve
(1953) and
Les Girls
(1958).

    
27
Theater and movie set and costume designer Tony Walton (b. 1934) was the first husband of Julie Andrews from 1959 to 1967. He was costume designer and visual consultant for Andrews’s first movie,
Mary Poppins
(1964), and won the Oscar for
All That Jazz
(1980).

    
28
For a critical perspective on Andrews’s screen image, see
Peter Kemp, “How Do You Solve a ‘Problem’ Like Maria von Poppins?” in
Musicals and Beyond
, ed. Bill Marshall and Robynn Stilwell (Exeter: Intellect, 2000), 55–61
.

    
29
Probably a comical development of “alter cocker,” an affectionate Yiddish phrase meaning “old fart” that Lerner uses fairly regularly.

    
30
Philip Adler was general manager of the show; his son Jerry was the stage manager.

    
31
Irving Cohen, one of Lerner’s attorneys.

    
32
Lerner proved to be wrong about this, as the film rights were much later bought by Jack Warner for a record $5 million.

    
33
Jerome Whyte (?–1974), a production supervisor on numerous Richard Rodgers shows.

    
34
A play with music, by Moss Hart, that debuted in 1943.

    
35
Lowal, Lerner and Loewe’s company.

    
36
Edwin Knill (?–1997) was an experienced General Manager with Broadway credits including
The Day before Spring
(1945) and
Kiss Me, Kate
(1948).

    
37
A reference to the estate of George Bernard Shaw. Lerner was keen to avoid losing too much of the money from
My Fair Lady
to the Shaw estate because of their rights to
Pygmalion
.

    
38
Vic Damone (b. 1928), a popular singer whose recording of “On the Street Where You Live” reached #4 on the US charts and #1 on the UK charts.

    
39
American singer and actress Rosemary Clooney (1928–2002), who released singles of “I Could Have Danced All Night” (#49 in the United States) and “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Your Face” (#70).

    
40
Mitch Miller (1911–2010) was the head of Artists and Repertoire at Columbia Records.

    
41
The Male Animal
(1940) was a Broadway play by James Thurber and Elliott Nugent that Lerner had evidently considered for a musical treatment.

    
42
Presumably Loewe’s girlfriend.

    
43
Frank Loesser’s
The Most Happy Fella
, which had just opened on Broadway.

    
44
The leading New York critics: John Chapman, Brooks Atkinson, and Walter Kerr.

    
45
For information on the early genesis of the musical
Gigi
, see Fordin,
MGM’s Greatest Musicals
, 453–457.

    
46
David Selznick (1902–65) was the producer of the Oscar-winning films
Gone With the Wind
(1939) and
Rebecca
(1940).

    
47
State Fair
(1945) was the only project Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote directly for the big screen. At 100 minutes in length it was a comparatively short musical, and required only six songs. Lerner makes the comparison to emphasize that the project might not involve as much work as a stage show.

    
48
Maurice Chevalier (1888–1972) was a beloved singer and actor who appeared in numerous musical films and was a great favorite of Lerner’s. He went on to play Honoré Lachailles in the film
Gigi
.

    
49
Edwin Lester (1895–1990) was a hugely successful producer, director, and impresario. He founded the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera in 1938 and later played host to the stage premiere of the musical
Gigi
there in 1973. His other successes included
Kismet
(1953) and
Peter Pan
(1954).

    
50
Lerner,
Street
, 143.

    
51
Lerner writes: “I desperately wanted to do it with Fritz, but Fritz had always refused to involve himself with a motion picture. Nothing but the theatre was of any interest to him.” Lerner,
Street
, 143. See Fordin,
MGM’s Greatest Musicals
, 455–457, for information on Loewe’s promise to read the script.

    
52
Oscar Godbout, “‘The Ninth Wave’ bought for Film,”
New York Times
, July 12, 1956, 15.

    
53
Hepburn had played
Gigi
in the 1951 Broadway production of the play. Fordin,
MGM’s Greatest Musicals
, 457.

    
54
Louis Calta, “Lowe [
sic
] and Lerner Asked to Write Musical Score for ‘Greenwillow,’”
New York Times
, October 6, 1956
. Loesser’s
Greenwillow
opened on Broadway on March 8, 1960, and ran for 97 performances.

    
55
Sam Zolotow, “‘Mister Roberts’ Returns Tonight,”
New York Times
, December 5, 1956, 49
.

    
56
Edward Mulhare (1923–97) was an Irish actor with many stage and screen credits, though Higgins was his signature role.

    
57
Sam Zolotow, “‘Fair Lady’ Role Barred to Alien,”
New York Times
, January 11, 1957, 17
.

    
58
Sam Zolotow, “City to Mediate ‘Fair Lady’ Issue,”
New York Times
, January 15, 1957, 24
.

    
59
Arthur Gelb, “Kheel Will Rule on Stage Dispute,”
New York Times
, January 16, 1957, 35
.

    
60
Sam Zolotow, “‘Tunnel of Love’ Arrives Tonight,”
New York Times
, February 13, 1957, 40
.

    
61
Thomas M. Pryor, “‘Fair Lady’ Team to Join in Movie,”
New York Times
, February 13, 1957, 39
.

    
62
Actor Dirk Bogarde (1921–99) was well known for his appearances for the Rank film company, though he later appeared in productions for other studios, such as Visconti’s
Death in Venice
(1971).

    
63
They had not yet started, showing that Loewe had only just agreed to participate.

    
64
Probably a reference to Rex Harrison and his wife Kay Kendall, with whom he was good friends.

    
65
Anthony Forwood (1915–88) was an actor, as well as Bogarde’s manager and partner.

    
66
Louis Jourdan (1921–) is a French movie actor who had been known for his appearances in films such as
The Paradine Case
(1947) and
Three Coins in the Fountain
(1954) before
Gigi
, his first musical picture.

    
67
Fordin,
MGM’s Greatest Musicals
, 463.

    
68
Telegram from Freed to Lerner, February 12, 1957, Arthur Freed Collection, USC.

    
69
Lewis Funke, “News and Gossip of the Rialto,”
New York Times
, March 10, 1957, X1
.

    
70
Marietta Peabody Tree (1917–91) went on to represent the United States on the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (appointed by Lerner’s school friend, President John F. Kennedy) from 1961 to 1964. Her husband, Ronald Tree (1897– 1976) was a British journalist and Conservative M.P.

    
71
The National Tour of
My Fair Lady
.

    
72
H.C.S., “Harvard Unveils 2 New Songs Here,”
New York Times
, March 16, 1957, 14
.

    
73
Milton Z. Esterow, “First Birthday for ‘Lady,’”
New York Times
, March 10, 1957, X3
.

    
74
“Nominees Listed for Stage ‘Tonys,’”
New York Times
, March 26, 1957, 36.

    
75
Nancy Olson had just opened on Broadway in the Theatre Guild production
The Tunnel of Love
.

    
76
A reference to Andrews’s departure from the role of Eliza in
My Fair Lady
.

    
77
Bruce’s wife.

    
78
Betty Sarah Wouk (1920–2011) was Herman’s wife and literary agent.

    
79
Rex Stout (1886–1975) was an American crime novelist.

    
80
Russel Crouse (1893–1966) was co-librettist (with Howard Lindsay) of
Anything Goes
(1934),
Call Me Madam
(1950), and
The Sound of Music
(1959).

    
81
The revival of
Brigadoon
ran from April 9 to May 5.

    
82
Lerner,
Street
, 142.

    
83
A reference to Frederick Loewe, whose usual nickname was Fritz.

    
84
Note from Chevalier to Lerner, May 31, 1957. Copy in a private collection.

    
85
Fordin,
MGM’s Greatest Musicals
, 489.

    
86
Cecelia Ager, “Where Do They Go from ‘My Fair Lady?’”
New York Times
, November 17, 1957, SM22
.

    
87
Ager, “Where Do They Go from ‘My Fair Lady?’”

    
88
Jo Mielziner (1901–76) was the scenic and lighting designer of the original Broadway productions of
South Pacific, Carousel, A Streetcar Named Desire
, and
Death of a Salesman
, among others.

    
89
Elmer Rice (1892–1967) was an American playwright, known for his plays
The Adding Machine
(1923) and
Street Scene
(1929).

    
90
“The Alan Lerners Separate,”
New York Times
, October 16, 1957, 40.

    
91
Sam Zolotow, “John Kerr to Act in Phoenix Drama,”
New York Times
, August 30, 1957, 11
.

    
92
Lewis Funke, “News and Gossip of the Realto,”
New York Times
, October 13, 1957, 121
.

    
93
Thomas M. Pryor, “Mayer Will Film Broadway Show,”
New York Times
, June 7, 1957, 19
.

    
94
Billy Wilder (1906–2002) was one of the most prolific and respected movie directors of the twentieth century, with credits including
Sunset Boulevard
(1950) and
Some Like It Hot
(1959). Wilder would later make a film inspired by the Holmes stories,
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
(1970).

    
95
Sam Zolotow, “June Havoc Gets ‘One Foot in Door,’”
New York Times
, September 5, 1957, 32
. In 1965, Marian Grudeff and Raymond Jessel presented their own musical version of Sherlock Holmes, called
Baker Street
.

    
96
Dawn Levin, Herman’s wife.

    
97
For details on the reshooting, see Fordin,
MGM’s Greatest Musicals
, 490–491, and Lerner,
Street
, 174–179.

    
98
The Ed Sullivan Show was an American variety television program that ran from 1948 to 1971.

    
99
Brooks Atkinson (1894–1984) was the chief drama critic of the
New York Times
and one of the most respected theater journalists of Broadway’s golden age.

    
100
Lerner probably means Atkinson’s collection of essays about their alma mater, Harvard University:
College in a Yard: Minutes by Thirty-One Harvard Men
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1957).

    
101
Letter from Atkinson to Lerner, February 18, 1958.

    
102
Zena Dare (1887–1975) was a beloved English actress who ended her career in the role of Mrs. Higgins.

    
103
Australian tenor Leonard Weir (dates unknown) played the role of Freddy for five years in the London production.

    
104
Cyril Ornadel (1924–2011) was a British conductor and composer, known for conducting a number of major American musicals in their West End transfers in this period, as well as for writing the musical
Pickwick
(1963).