Richard Skipper Celebrates Jerry Herman 7/16/2022

For Video Edition, Please Click and Subscribe Here: https://youtu.be/ON5-ZwANCSA

Gerald Sheldon Herman was an American composer and lyricist, known for his work in Broadway theatre. One of the most commercially successful Broadway songwriters of his time, Herman was the composer and lyricist for a number of hit musicals, starting in the 1960s, that were characterized by an upbeat and optimistic outlook and what Herman called "the simple, hummable showtune". His shows include Hello, Dolly! (1964), at one time the longest-running musical in Broadway history, which also produced the hit title song for Louis Armstrong; Mame (1966), a vehicle for Angela Lansbury; and La Cage aux Folles (1984), the first hit Broadway musical about a gay couple. #richardskipper #composer #theatre Joining Richard are Jane Dorian, Harlan Boll, and Ann Kittredge. “You have a natural family and you have chosen a family,” Jane Dorian said. “We were a chosen family.” Dorian, a Los Angeles based realtor, is the goddaughter of Jerry Herman.

The goddaughter connection dates to the late 1940’s when her mother, Carol, and Herman attended the University of Miami at the same time. “They were both 17 and were the two thinnest students on campus. It was the first day of school and they sort of circled each other on the quad, but nothing happened until that night when the new students got together. Jerry sat down at the piano and started playing. My mother sat next to him, the two started singing and making music.   Ann Kittredge is a lifelong performing artist. This episode was also sponsored by Ann Kittredge.