Alan Jay Lerner: A Lyricist's Letters (57 page)

    
To Burton Lane

    
October 7, 1985

    
Dear Burt,

    
Sorry I have been so long in answering, but I have been over my head with “Gigi” which opened to justifiably “iffy” notices, but to an audience
response that, as far as I’m concerned, is far more than it deserves. It actually opened to a larger advance than “42
^nd
Street,” the audiences adore it, and seats are selling into April. So I suppose I shouldn’t complain. Unfortunately, I have to like it, too, so next week I am going to do a little work on it.

        
I think “Clear Day” for London would require an enormous rewrite and I don’t know if I am up to doing another revival at this moment. Maybe next year, after I get another new show under my belt.

        
As far as Copenhagen is concerned, if they are interested I say let them have it.

        
I was very impressed with Barry and I will put down on paper the opening we talked about. I actually had dinner with Hugh over the weekend.

        
I hope all is well.

Aye,

Alan

    
To Burton Lane

    
October 8, 1985

    
Dear Burt,

    
Fascinating about the “Finn” score.

        
The only song that troubles me is “When You Grow Up You’ll Know,” for which, I think, the lyric is very old-fashioned. Does it have to be included?

        
Other than that, I certainly have no objections, and as far as the financial arrangements are concerned, whatever you agree to is all right with me.

        
Best to you both.

Aye,

Alan

    
December 8 brought the long-awaited Kennedy Center Honors, where Lerner and Loewe were joined by soprano Beverly Sills,
¹⁰⁵
actress Irene Dunne,
comedian Bob Hope,
¹⁰⁶
and choreographer Merce Cunningham
¹⁰⁷
at a White House reception and evening performance for one of the country’s highest honors. Rex Harrison and Louis Jourdan introduced the Lerner and Loewe section, which included “Paint Your Wagon” and “I Talk to the Trees” sung by Robert Goulet and Liz Robertson; Michele Lee
¹⁰⁸
singing “Almost Like Being in Love” from
Brigadoon
; “I Remember It Well” sung by Don Ameche and Maureen Stapleton; Goulet performing “If Ever I Would Leave You,” and Robertson singing “I Could Have Danced All Night.” The segment ended with Anthony Newley and the company joining forces in “With a Little Bit of Luck.”
¹⁰⁹
Obviously, it was a great night for Lerner, and in the following letter he thanks Goulet for his contribution. Reference is also made to a possible Las Vegas production of
Camelot
that Goulet was considering. He had asked for Lerner’s permission to do it, in light of the fact that the book would be considerably edited down:

    
To Robert Goulet

    
January 7th, 1986

    
Dear Bobby,

    
Thanks for your letter. It was wonderful seeing and hearing you in Washington.
¹¹⁰
My God, what a weekend! I only wish Fritz had been there. (If you quote me, no deal on “Camelot.”)

        
As far as Vegas is concerned, I really know nothing about the territory, so I must let you be the judge. On the one hand, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. played “My Fair Lady” in a circumsized version, and on the other, considering the trouble we had getting the final curtain of “Camelot” down before breakfast, I don’t know how it could be condensed. But of much more importance is your own feeling about it. You are the one who would be playing it, and I should think twelve performances would drive anybody bonkers.

        
I don’t know what is happening with Richard Harris but for safety’s sake I had better check his itinerary.

        
Let’s keep in touch.

        
Your wife is adorable. You look smashing. Stay that way.

Faithfully,

Alan

    
But sadly, the emotional high of the Kennedy Center was to mark Lerner’s last major public appearance. Back in London in the New Year, he hoped to start work on a musical based on Gaston Leroux’s
The Phantom of the Opera
to music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It was a logical move for the lyricist. On the one hand, the material provided the opportunity to write a musical based on a classic romantic love story, exactly his sort of fare. On the other, it was natural that Lerner should want to collaborate with by far the most successful composer of musicals of the decade, following on from his collaborations with other giants of the field like Weill, Loewe, Bernstein, Lane, and even Rodgers, even if some of these resulted in projects that were unsuccessful or aborted. Yet Lerner’s smoking habits had finally caught up with him and he was diagnosed with pneumonia, so he agreed to relinquish the lyric writing on
Phantom
to Richard Stilgoe:
¹¹¹

    
To Andrew Lloyd Webber

    
March 20, 1986

    
Dear Andrew,

    
This bloody pneumonia has really done me in. I actually have to go back into hospital today.

        
I really don’t see any way that all my parts will be reassembled on time to do the show and I am desolate. All the more so because I had a whiff of an exciting collaboration.

        
When I am finally, truly well and no longer look like “The Phantom of the Opera,” I will call. If there is still time to do one or possibly two lyrics, perhaps I can throw in a few rhymes.

        
Thank Richard for me for his professional courtesy and understanding and there is no doubt in my mind you are going to have a wonderful hit.

Aye,

Alan

    
In late March, though, it was confirmed that instead of pneumonia, Lerner had contracted lung cancer. The following letter, which is the last of this collection, finds Lerner trying to crack one final joke and remain optimistic even in the face of death. But he clearly knew his chances were poor, and in April, after returning to New York and bring admitted to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, he died on June 14 at the age of 67:

    
To Andrew Lloyd Webber

    
March 31, 1986

    
Dearest Andrew,

    
Who would have thought it? Instead of writing
The Phantom of the Opera
,
¹¹²
I end up looking like him.

        
But, alas, the inescapable fact is I have lung cancer. After fiddling around with pneumonia they finally reached the conclusion that it was the big stuff.

        
I am deeply disconsolate about
The Phantom
and the wonderful opportunity it would have been to write with you. But I will be back! Perhaps not on time to write
The Phantom
, but as far as I am concerned this is a temporary hiccup. I have a 50/50 chance medically and a 50/50 chance spiritually. I shall make it. I have no intention of leaving my beautiful wife, this beautiful life and all of the things I still have to write. As far as I am concerned it is a challenge, and I fear nothing.

        
But I shall be thinking of you, and Sarah [Brightman],
¹¹³
and Richard [Stilgoe], and Cameron [Mackintosh] all the way, and I know you will have the success God knows you deserve. It is a wonderful score and I am heartbroken that I cannot get a crack at it.

        
I will be in touch with you over the summer just to let you know I am up and around and thinking of you, and I hope with all my heart that one day we will have a chance to work together.

        
Blessings always to you and Sarah.

Aye,

Alan

    
Lerner’s premature death cut short his career just as it was on the brink of renewal. Personal happiness had brought a sense of purpose, and intellectually he was ready for new challenges. The potential success of
Phantom
would have replenished his fortune, and perhaps he would have gone on to write other musicals with Lloyd Webber.
My Man Godfrey
might equally have proved a hit, albeit not on the scale of
Phantom
, and the BBC series on musicals would have allowed him to end his career with a survey of the genre that was the focus of his all-consuming passion. Yet even without these, his legacy of great songs, shows, and films speaks for itself. True, his final decade did not bring the critical raves and commercial success of his earlier days. But with a catalogue of musicals including
An American in Paris, Brigadoon, Camelot, Gigi
, and, most especially,
My Fair Lady
, Lerner ensured that America had grown accustomed to his face—not just for “one brief shining moment,” as King Arthur has it in
Camelot
, but forever.

    
1
Andrew Lloyd Webber (1948–) is the British composer of a string of hit musicals including
Jesus Christ Superstar
(1970),
Evita
(1976),
Cats
(1981), and
Sunset Boulevard
(1993).

    
2
Cheryl Kennedy (1947–) had appeared extensively in musicals in the United Kingdom before the
Fair Lady
revival, including
Half a Sixpence
(1963),
Jorrocks
(1967),
First Impressions
(1971), and
Flowers for Algernon
(1979).

    
3
Nancy Ringham’s (1954–) Broadway credits include
The Will Rogers Follies
(replacement cast, 1992) and
Follies
(revival, 2001).

    
4
The events leading up to Kennedy’s replacement are described at length in Patrick Garland’s memoir of Harrison,
The Incomparable Rex
(London, 1998).

    
5
Christine Ebersole (1953–) is an actress and singer, whose extensive career in theater, film, and television included a well-received revival of
Oklahoma!
on Broadway in 1979.

    
6
Michiko Kakutani, “From Ado Annie to Guenevere in a Week,”
New York Times
, June 12, 1980, C15
.

    
7
Frank Rich, “Stage: Burton Stars in Revival of ‘Camelot,’”
New York Times
, July 9, 1980, C15
.

    
8
“Names in the News,”
The Day
, April 4, 1981, 29.

    
9
Alan Jay Lerner, “Once Again, There Is a Longing for Melody,”
New York Times
, October 12, 1980, D1
.

    
10
Frank Rich, “Theater: ‘Brigadoon’ Dances In,”
New York Times
, October 17, 1980, C3
.

    
11
Actor Hugh Paddick (1915–2000) was well known for his appearances on the radio program
Round the Horne
in the 1960s, as well as the original production of
The Boy Friend
(1953). He also appeared as Pickering in the London production of
My Fair Lady
after Robert Coote departed the show.

    
12
Betty Marsden (1919–98) was a British actress, specializing in comic roles on stage and radio.
Michael Billington, “Gigi,”
The Guardian
, November 29, 1980, 13
.

    
13
Charles Strouse (1928–) is well known as the composer of the hit musicals
Bye Bye Birdie
(1960) and
Annie
(1977), though his compositional career has lasted over 50 years and is rich and varied.

    
14
Copperfield
had music, book, and lyrics by Al Kasha and Joel Hirshhorn. It ran 26 previews and 13 regular performances.

    
15
Carol Lawson, “Broadway,”
New York Times
, April 3, 1981, C2
.

    
16
Letter from Terry Pritchard to Robert Lantz, March 27, 1981. Information on this project all comes from letters and documents in the private collection of Liz Robertson.

    
17
Plácido Domingo (1941–) is one of the most important and versatile opera singers of the latter half of the twentieth century. His operatic roles encompass both major and lesser-known works by Verdi, Wagner, Mozart, Puccini, and Donizetti, among others. He has also appeared in films of Verdi’s
La traviata
(1982) and
Otello
(1986).

    
18
Christopher Plummer (1929–) is a film, theater, and television actor. His best-known musical appearance is in the film
The Sound of Music
(1965), and he won a Tony Award for his appearance in the short-lived Broadway show
Cyrano
(1973).

    
19
Mikhail Baryshnikov (1948–) is a dancer, choreographer, and actor, well known for his distinguished career in ballet.

    
20
Michael York (1942–) is a prolific stage and screen actor. His major musical credit is the film version of
Cabaret
(1972), though he has appeared in numerous important non-musical films. In 2006, he played King Arthur in a tour of Lerner’s
Camelot
.

    
21
Kenneth MacMillan (1929–92) was a major figure in British ballet, creating many new works and acting as Artistic Director of the Royal Ballet from 1970 to 1977. In 1993, he created the choreography for a revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s
Carousel
at the Royal National Theatre in London, and won a Tony Award for this piece of work when the production went to Broadway.