Lerner & Loewe's Road to Camelot | Playbill Lerner & Loewe's Road to Camelot Lerner & Loewe's Road to Camelot Sep 29, 1996 Romance and magic will be in the spotlight this holiday season, as the Walnut Theatre in Philadelophia presents a sparkling new production of the Broadway musical, Camelot. This classic Lerner and Loewe musical whisks the audience back to the glorious, mystical days of King Arthur, Lady Guenevere and the Knights of the Round Table. Romance and magic will be in the spotlight this holiday season, as the Walnut Theatre in Philadelophia presents a sparkling new production of the Broadway musical, Camelot . This classic Lerner and Loewe musical whisks the audience back to the glorious, mystical days of King Arthur, Lady Guenevere and the Knights of the Round Table. Director Charles Abbott explained his concept for the upcoming production, which runs Nov. 16 through Jan. 5: "I plan to tell a classic story, almost a Shakespearean tale, with a little of Disney World, storybook charm for the magical moments," he said.

"It's a beautiful romance with moments of mysticism!" The veteran director of Walnut holiday shows, including The Wizard of Oz and Mame , said the tale of Arthur, Guenevere and Lancelot is "the stuff of which legends are made." According to Abbott, there are two factors that contribute to Camelot's timeless appeal: Most obvious is Camelot's romantic aspect. The sheer romance of this musical can take your breath away. The characters are in love with each other for all the right reasons, Abbott said. "In the case of Lance and Guenevere, they attempt to deny their love because it is the correct thing to do, but their emotions get in the way." The second, perhaps surprising, aspect of Camelot's appeal is political in nature. "Our judicial system and government have their roots in Arthur's ideals of justice and honor," Abbott said. "We've abandoned the 'eye for an eye' philosophy for honesty and logic." Camelot was the final Broadway collaboration for Alan Jay Lerner (1918-86) and Frederick Loewe (1904-88). Loewe was gaining a reputation as a popular song writer in 1942 when he heard of Lerner's talent for lyrics.

Loewe met Lerner at the Lamb's Club in New York that year and asked if he was interested in working with him. Lerner said yes, and thus began a partnership that would last 18 years. Their first collaboration was The Life of the Party, a musical version of a 1920s comedy. It was slated for a New York engagement but closed during a Detroit try-out. Success eluded them again in 1943, with the failure of the Broadway show What's Up. Undaunted, the two continued to work together. Their off-beat musical comedy The Day Before Spring ran for 176 performances in 1945. This won them a small group of fans who felt Lerner and Loewe were the only serious competition for Rodgers and Hammerstein. In 1947, the romantic fantasy Brigadoon established their reputation, winning the New York Critics Circle Award as Best Musical. Lerner interrupted the partnership in 1948 to pen the book and lyrics for Kurt Weill's Love Life, which enjoyed a 30-week Broadway run. Hollywood filmmakers commissioned him to write the libretto for An American in Paris , the first film musical to win an Oscar.

After contributing to the success of the films Royal Wedding and Brigadoon, Lerner rejoined Loewe in 1951 to write the musical Paint Your Wagon. In 1956, the duo wrote the blockbuster My Fair Lady ; two years later, the film musical Gigi , winner of nine Oscars. And in 1960, they created Camelot, their last triumph, which ran on Broadway for over two years. Tickets for the Walnut's production of Camelot are now on sale. Call (215) 574-3550, ext. 4, 10 AM to 10 PM. daily for tickets. -- By Maria E. Sticco Theatre1100 - Alan Lerner and Frederick Loewe Theatre1100 Alan Lerner and Frederick Loewe Lerner and Loewe are the duo of lyricist and librettist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe, known primarily for the music and lyrics of some of Broadway's most successful musical shows, including My Fair Lady, Camelot, and Brigadoon.

Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, more commonly known as Fritz, met in 1942 at the Lambs Club in New York City where, according to Loewe, he mistakenly took a wrong turn to the men's room and walked past Lerner's table. Having recognized him, he asked if Lerner wrote lyrics and Lerner confirmed Loewe's question. Lerner claimed to be the more dominant one of partnership, which is supported by interviews with their close friends, saying that he would throw out the first two melodies that Loewe would write to any song even if they were both perfect. He said he always knew, with a little pushing, Loewe was capable of greater work. Loewe also worked perfectly with Lerner, who would agonize for weeks over a lyric. Unlike other collaborators Lerner would work with, Loewe was the most understanding of the time Lerner needed for his lyrics and would never pressure him to complete the work. Their dynamic partnership is somewhat of a mystery as it is not clear as to why they would end their collaboration only to begin again (until The Little Prince, their last work together).

After Brigadoon, their first major success, Loewe was heard telling his close friends that, as long as he lived, he would never work with Lerner again. But they did work together again, reaching the pinnacle of their partnership with My Fair Lady. Interestingly, they only got to work on the adaption of Pygmalion (play) (on which My Fair Lady is based) after Noel Coward and Rodgers and Hammerstein had passed it up. Again, for unknown reasons, their partnership grew frazzled as they were knee-deep in work with Camelot. After Camelot, Fritz Loewe retired and swore he would never write another note. Their last collaboration came with the 1974 musical film, The Little Prince, which received mixed reviews but was lauded as one of the team's most cerebral scores. Regardless of their professional relationship, Lerner and Loewe were close friends and remained so until the end of their lives. Their final public appearance was in December 1985, when they received a Kennedy Center Honor, six months before Lerner's death. Lerner said this of Loewe: “There will never be another Fritz. Writing will never again be as much fun.

A collaboration as intense as ours inescapably had to be complex. But I loved him more than I understood or misunderstood him, and I know he loved me more than he understoo d or misunderstood me.” Songwriters Hall of Fame - Frederick Loewe Biography Hal Leonard Biography Frederick Loewe was born in Vienna, Austria on June 10, 1901, and from the beginning was steeped in the Viennese musical style. His father was a popular operetta star, and when The Merry Widow arrived in Berlin, Loewe's father was Berlin's first Danilo. By the age of 15, "Fritz" had composed a hit popular song, "Katrina", and was getting considerable attention as a promising young piano virtuoso. Like the young Kurt Weill, who was one year his senior, Loewe studied in Berlin with the great Italian-German composer and pianist Ferruccio Busoni. He also studied with the pianist-composer Eugen d'Albert and the composer Emil von Rezniek. At this time, his great ambition was to become a famous concert pianist and he traveled to the United States in 1924.

Unfortunately, success did not greet him in America, and in the years that followed he survived by taking a colorful variety of jobs. At one time he was a cowboy, and at another time a prizefighter. Meanwhile, Loewe worked to master the American style in popular music. In 1937, his first try at an American Musical Production opened in St. Louis called Salute to Spring. Then in 1938 he teamed up with lyricist Earle Crooker and in in his first Broadway Production called Great Lady. After several more attempts at a successful musical had failed, he met the Alan Jay Lerner, seventeen years his junior, and from that time, although Loewe worked with only Lerner. Lerner and Loewe first met in 1942 and their first collaborations were failures The Life of the Party (1942) and What's Up? (1943). Their next, The Day Before Spring (1945) did slightly better, and included the song "You Haven't Changed At All". In 1947 they had their first hit, Brigadoon, which included "The Heather On the Hill" and the classic romantic ballad "Almost Like Being In Love".

In 1951 Lerner and Loewe had their second success with Paint Your Wagon, which included such songs as "They Call The Wind Maria", "I Talk to the Trees", and "Wandrin' Star". Then in 1956 the revolutionary Broadway Production, My Fair Lady, premiered on Broadway starring Julie Andrews and Rex Harrington. Loeweï¿½s astonishingly rich score, one of the great masterpieces of the American musical, included the now standard "Why Can't The English?", "Wouldn't It Be Loverly", "With a Little Bit Of Luck", "I'm an Ordinary Man", "Just You Wait", "The Rain in Spain", "I Could Have Danced All Night", "On the Street Where You Live", "You Did It", "Show Me", "Get Me to the Church On Time", "A Hymn to Him" and "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face". The show ran for 2,717 performances in its original Broadway production. My Fair Lady was followed in 1958 with the classic film musical Gigi, which had a superb score including "Thank Heaven For Little Girls" and "I Remember it Well".

The Film Musical won 9 Academy Awards. In their last great collaboration, Lerner and Loewe created the 1960 score for Camelot, which included songs "I Wonder What the King is Doing Tonight", "Camelot", "The Simple Joys Of Maidenhood", "How to Handle a Woman", and "If Ever I Should Leave You". After Camelot, Loewe, now 60 years old, withdrew from composing, although he did return to work together with Lerner one last time on the unsuccessful 1974 film The Little Prince. Loewe's music springs from the European operetta tradition, but he adapted that tradition to appeal to an American audience with complete success. Although each of his classic shows is in a unique style reflecting the period and location of the story, each of them remains un-mistakably the work of Frederick Loewe. Frederick Loewe died in Palm Springs, California on February 14, 1988. "ALMOST LIKE BEING IN LOVE" Lerner & Loewe sheet music and tabs - download and print | Sheet Music Direct More... Fewer...

Lerner & Loewe Sheet Music Lyricist and librettist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe were one of the most successful and celebrated songwriting partnerships of the twentieth century. Alan Jay Lerner had attended the independent Bedales School in Hampshire, England and the Choate School in Connecticut as well as studying at the Julliard School of Music and Harvard University where he first started writing for the theatre. Music was in Frederick Loewe's blood from birth and his professional singer father encouraged his son's ambitions with piano lessons and as a teenager, he made his debut playing with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. Having studied with the composers and pianists Ferruccio Busoni, Eugene d'Albert and Emil von Rezniek Loewe intended to pursue a classical career in the USA but with no suitable openings found himself an itinerant pianist playing in cocktail bars, restaurants and cinemas where he would accompany silent films. Lerner and Loewe first met in 1942 at the Lamb's Club, a New York club popular with theatrical people and the two decided to pool their talents and start writing together.

Their first collaboration was the Detroit production of Life Of The Party that gained them positive critical reviews, as did the subsequent What's Up" (1943) (their first Broadway show) followed by The Day Before Spring (1945). The duo's first major success was 1947's musical fantasy Brigadoon which yielded the wonderful song 'Almost Like Being In Love' and apart from going on to enjoy a run of 685 performances in London's West End in 1949 it also spawned the hugely successful 1954 movie version starring Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse. After such a popular debut, expectation was high and Lerner & Loewe were disappointed with the mixed reviews that greeted 1951's Broadway production of Paint Your Wagon that contained the songs 'I Talk To The Trees', 'They Call The Wind Maria' and '(I Was Born Under A) Wand'rin Star'. Fortunately the West End run enjoyed a warmer reception and the 1969 film version went on to become a huge success, even with the male leads being taken by the popular if unlikely pairing of Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood.

Marvin's totally flat bass notes in the hit surprise single '(I Was Born Under A) Wand'rin Star' have to be heard to be believed. Their next musical proved to be a career highpoint and an enduring classic. My Fair Lady opened on Broadway in 1956 and was full of wonderful exuberant songs including 'Wouldn't It Be Loverly"', 'With A Little Bit Of Luck', 'The Rain In Spain', 'I Could Have Danced All Night, 'Get Me To The Church On Time' and the sentimental ballads 'On The Street Where You Live' and 'I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face'. The show ran for 2,717 performances, won seven Tony Awards while the original cast album, starring Rex Harrison, Julie Andrews and Stanley Holloway spent fifteen weeks at the top of the US charts and was the best selling album of the year. Most of the cast remained on board when the show opened in London and it has been revived several time since. The magnificent 1964 film (starring Harrison and Holloway although Andrews was replaced by Audrey Hepburn) won eight Oscars.

The songwriting team's next success was the 1958 movie Gigi, directed by Vincente Minnelli and starred Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, Louis Jourdan and Hermione Gingold. The movie produced further future classic popular songs in the shape of 'Thank Heaven For Little Girls', 'The Night They Invented Champagne', 'I Remember It Well' and 'Gigi' itself. It went on to better My Fair Lady's award tally by receiving nine Oscars. The duo returned with what would be their last original work for Broadway in 1960 with Camelot, another well received production that boasted a cast of stars including Julie Andrews, Richard Burton, Roddy McDowall and Robert Goulet and contained the outstanding songs 'If Ever I Would Leave You' and 'How To Handle A Woman'. After Camelot, Loewe retired while Lerner collaborated with a number of other composers including André Previn, John Barry, Leonard Bernstein, Burton Lane and Charles Strouse before persuading his old partner to help expand the score and write four new songs for a Broadway version of their movie Gigi in 1973.

The following year they worked together one last time on the gentle fantasy film The Little Prince and despite ending their professional relationship the pair remained good friends. Still an active writer Lerner died from lung cancer at the age of sixty-seven in June 1986 while Loewe passed away less than two years later in February 1988 aged eighty-six. Despite their output being relatively meagre when compared to many other great songwriting teams, the quality of their most successful shows is undisputed. Although the scenarios of those shows varied wildly, at their core they were all simple uplifting love stories and with words and melody Lerner & Loewe were masterful at conveying that most elusive of emotions. To imagine the history of the stage and film musical without the contribution of My Fair Lady, Camelot or Gigi is unthinkable while the greatest of the songs in their catalogue are objects of extraordinary life enriching pleasure of simple lyrics and great melody.

Copyright © 2017 Omnibus Press Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot | CHILDREN OF ARTHUR Posted in King Arthur in Film , King Arthur on Stage , Lancelot , Merlin , Mordred , Morgan le Fay , tagged Adam Grabau , C'est Moi , Camelot National Tour , Fran Drescher , Franco Nero , If Ever I Would Leave You , Julie Andrews , Lerner & Loewe's Camelot , Mark Poppleton , Mary McNulty , Richard Burton , Richard Harris , Robert Goulet , Rozsa Center Houghton Michigan , The Lusty Month of May , Tim Rogan , Vanessa Redgrave on October 22, 2014 | 5 Comments » On Tuesday, October 21, I had the opportunity to see Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot—The National Tour at the Rozsa Center in Houghton, Michigan. Yes, I live 100 miles from Houghton and my night vision isn’t the best, so to get there I had to get a hotel room and spend the night, but Camelot is my all-time favorite musical and movie, and having never seen it performed live, I knew it would be worth the trouble.

First, let me say I’m a Camelot addict. I have seen the movie more times than I can count, and I wouldn’t be exaggerating to say I’ve listened to the movie soundtrack thousands of times—I wore out the record, wore out the cassette tape and CD, and hopefully, won’t wear out my iTunes. I also have played hundreds if not thousands of times the original Broadway Cast recording as well as the 1982 London recording and watched the HBO version from 1982 with Richard Harris. For thirty years, Camelot has been a big part of my life and a major influence on my deciding to study the Arthurian legend and write my own novel series about it. Merlin makes a stunning departure when enchanted by Nimue. (All photos taking from – no photography is allowed during the production.) So my expectations were very high to see this production. I find it a bit hard not to keep comparing it to the film since it’s not a film and you can’t achieve on stage what you can on film nor perfect it in the same way. Given those limitations, I was intrigued by this production.

It was promoted as “Camelot like you’ve never seen it before,” and the ads with the scruffy looking knight made it seem like it would be a modernized, visually stimulating and maybe sexed-up Camelot for a new era. Would this still be President Kennedy’s beloved Camelot? I was relieved to find it was. With a few exceptions, it faithfully followed the original Broadway production, and I’m sure Kennedy, whose administration was named after it because he loved it so much, would have enjoyed last night’s performance. Of course, I have a few criticisms, so I’ll point out what was good, what could have been better, and what made this play stand out from the film. The first thing that grabbed my attention was that the play started with Arthur speaking—no overture! But I think this lack worked to bring about the crisis moment the show opens with of Arthur about to fight Lancelot for Guinevere, thus allowing the flashback.

I admit, with the knights in the scene, it looked a bit flashy and hardcore and I felt a little uncomfortable about where it might be going, but soon the scene went back in time, and the minute King Arthur (Adam Grabau) opened his mouth to start singing “I Wonder What the King Is Doing Tonight,” I was hooked. Guinevere (Mary McNulty) then made her entrance with her wonderful song “Where Are the Simple Joys of Maidenhood” and the show was off to a great start. The magic came to life through the acting and the singing, but the costumes and sets definitely added to that magic. For me, the most impressive costume was Lancelot’s—metallic and shimmering and full of detail, although Guinevere’s costumes were impressive as well, as was Nimue’s. Merlin and Pellinore’s costumes could use a little trimming. Both roles were played by Mark Poppleton, who was convincing and just a tad comical without going too far in each role—but his robe got caught under the backdrop as it came down when he made his entrance and he had to yank it out, and later as Pellinore, his robe caught on the furniture.

That said, because of these characters’ roles, it made it seem almost like these snafus were intended for comical effect. The sets were a bit understated but worked well. I was a bit taken aback by the gigantic metallic structure that doubled for trees and a canopy for the throne room, but it worked well for its purpose, allowing Arthur to fall out of his tree, among other things. The most impressive set was when Nimue enchanted Merlin—a truly beautiful moment of special effects. Almost as impressive was the jousting scene with the wonderful music rarely included on recordings, and of course, the lighting for the song “Guinevere” was dramatic and spectacular. The only place I felt the lighting effects could have been better was for “The Lusty Month of May.” I think a green and blue background would have said May more than the magenta pink coloring, and I would have liked to have seen a Maypole or more flowers. Mary McNulty as Guinevere had a beautiful voice and deserved a set to match the frolicsome fun and just the slightest touch of mischief (eat your heart out, Vanessa Redgrave) she conveyed during this song. Still, both the costume and scene designers deserve kudos for their overall impressive work.

There is really little I can fault in the production, but there are a few things I would have done differently. Lancelot (Tim Rogan) really did a splendid job in his role overall. He was appropriately unlikeable in his quest for purity and goodness, yet believable. He got the audience laughing as he made a grand entrance singing “C’est Moi” while still convincing us of his manly valor. I’m afraid he’s no Franco Nero (but then even Franco Nero wasn’t quite Franco Nero since his voice was dubbed for the film), but I’d rather listen to Tim Rogan sing over Robert Goulet (Goulet was wonderful in other shows, especially The Happy Time, but he never convinced me as Lancelot). I wasn’t quite convinced that Rogan’s Lancelot was French, but better not to try the French accent probably. The miracle scene was quite well done and convincing, as were all Lancelot’s speeches about chivalry, but alas, I wish he hadn’t been so stiff when he sang “If Ever I Would Leave You.” I would have liked to have seen a little movement and emotion on his part.

He honestly looked uncomfortable singing it—a little taking of Guinevere’s hand, holding her, walking about the stage would have brought it to life. I expected a lot here though since the film’s love montage for this song is breathtaking and one of the most beautiful moments in cinematic history in my opinion—and the song ranks as one of my all time three favorite songs (along with “Memory” from Cats and “And This Is My Beloved” from Kismet) and in all other ways, he was a superb Lancelot, but he could use some work in being convincing for this song. All that said, I can definitely see why Guinevere would prefer him to Arthur, as fine as Adam Grabau’s Arthur was throughout the show—worthy to stand beside Richard Burton if not quite Richard Harris. Tim Rogan as Lancelot praising his own virtues. “But where in the world Is there in the world A man so extraordinaire?” A few key differences about this production compared to the film and other productions of it stood out concerning the songs.

Most importantly, the play includes several songs that were dropped from the film: “Fie On Goodness,” “The Seven Deadly Virtues,” “Before I Gaze on You Again,” and the madrigal sung by Lancelot. All of these were included in this new production and were performed well, especially “The Seven Deadly Virtues” sung by a delightfully naughty Mordred (Kasidy Devlin). And “Before I Gaze on You Again” was very convincing and Mary McNulty made me feel the words in a way Julie Andrews never has. Also the jousting music, was a treat to hear. The only disappointment of these songs for me was the lines cut from “Fie On Goodness” regarding Scotland—who wouldn’t want to stroke someone’s bonny…. Two songs, however, from the play and film both were cut in this production—“Take Me to the Fair” and “I Loved You Once in Silence.” And both are such wonderful songs that it’s a shame they were cut. I’m not aware that they have been cut in other productions.

(I know it’s a long show so maybe that was why, but I was prepared to sit there for three wonderful hours, so I was a bit disappointed it only lasted two and a half with these songs cut.)The placement of the songs was also somewhat odd. “If Ever I Would Leave You” is usually at the beginning of the second act, but instead, it was placed where “I Loved You Once in Silence” belongs. I think moving “If Ever I Would Leave You” back where it belongs and keeping this love song would have been preferable. “I Loved You Once in Silence” really adds to the love development which I felt there could have been a bit more of in this production. One song is changed in its placement and lyrics from the play to the film.

“Follow Me” in the play version is sung by Nimue when she enchants Merlin, and it is a beautiful song and a beautiful moment as she leads him “To a cave by a sapphire shore/Where we’ll walk through an emerald door,/And for thousands of breathless evermores my life you shall be.” I love this song, but I also love how it’s sung by the forest creatures in the film production to convince Arthur that “as we were, we can be, follow me.” As for Morgan le Fay’s character, I knew she was cut from the show in the early years after it was first performed in 1960, but in the concert version in 2008, broadcast as part of PBS’ Live from Lincoln Center series, Fran Drescher played the role, so I was hoping Morgan le Fay was making her comeback in the production, but I’ll have to hope to see her in another future performance. Overall, an enjoyable evening. If I had never seen Camelot, I’m sure I would have raved about it.

The crowd gave the performance a standing ovation and everyone enjoyed it, including the woman seated beside me who had seen Robert Goulet in a 1960s production in Detroit. I was also pleased to see so many college students in the audience—of all the great musicals from the mid-twentieth century, Camelot perhaps most deserves to live on for its universal themes and appeal, so I hope future generations will continue to embrace it. The knighting of Lancelot scene. If you’ve never seen Camelot on stage or at all, go. Beyond the sets, singing, costumes, and story, there is a beautiful underlying theme about right and wrong, good and evil, and how we must fight against the darkness because whatever we do does matter in the end. Camelot long ago inspired me to “ask every person if he’s heard the story, and tell it strong and clear if he has not.” Now I’m telling you to go see it. It’s still early in the tour and I’m sure it will just get better with each performance. To find out where Camelot is playing near you, visit ______________________________________________ Tyler Tichelaar, Ph.D.

is the author of King Arthur’s Children: A Study in Fiction and Tradition, The Gothic Wanderer: From Transgression to Redemption, and The Children of Arthur novel series. Visit Tyler at and MHSchool: McGraw-Hill Music Print this Page Alan Jay Lerner (1918-1986) Unlike most of the giants of the musical theater, Alan Jay Lerner was brought up in conditions of wealth and privilege. Born in 1918 and raised in New York City, Lerner was the son of the founder of the Lerner Shops, a chain of women's clothing stores. He received piano tuition at the Juilliard School, and was educated at Choate, Bedales school in England, and at Harvard, where he was a contemporary of Leonard Bernstein in the late thirties. As a student, he wrote sketches and lyrics for two Harvard Hasty Pudding shows, and developed a taste for writing and the theater. After graduating he chose not to go into the family business. Instead, he became a journalist, a radio scriptwriter, and a man-about-town.

In 1942, at Lamb's Club in Manhattan, he met Frederick Loewe (1904-1988). Frederick 'Fritz' Loewe was the Viennese-born son of an operatic tenor, Edmund Loewe. A child prodigy on the piano, Loewe had played with some of the finest orchestras in Europe. At the age of eighteen, he had composed a popular song called "Katerina," which sold 3 million copies in Europe. At the age of 20, he accompanied his father to the United States, but his concert career stalled. He gave piano lessons, played in night clubs, went west to mine for gold, and even tried to become a boxer. His musical, Great Lady, reached Broadway in 1938, but ran for only 20 performances. His luck changed when he met Lerner. Together, Lerner and Loewe adapted a farce called The Patsy into a musical called Life of the Party. It was a minor hit, running for nine weeks in 1942. The following year, they flopped with What's Up?.

In 1945, they collaborated again on the musical comedy The Day Before Spring, which contained the hit song, "I Remember It Well" (later to reappear in Gigi). But it was in 1947 that the team of Lerner and Loewe really made their mark on Broadway. Brigadoon, the tale of two American hunters who discover a magical village, lost in time in the highlands of Scotland, touched a chord with post-war America, and ran for 581 performances. Paint Your Wagon followed in 1951, and in 1956 My Fair Lady began a record run of 2,717 performances. This musical version of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, with its combination of wit, romance, and powerful storytelling, was both an artistic and a financial triumph. The score is a string of pearls: "On the Street Where You Live," "With a Little Bit of Luck", "I Could Have Danced All Night," and "Wouldn't It be Loverly" have all become classics. The Arthurian musical Camelot (1960) was their last major collaboration.

Loewe had suffered a heart attack in 1958 and retired from the theater after the success of Camelot. Many Lerner and Loewe musicals became great films, and the pair collaborated too on original film scores-most notably Gigi, adapted from the novel by Colette. Lerner contributed the story, screenplay, and lyrics for Royal Wedding (1951) and received an Oscar the same year for the story and screenplay of An American in Paris. He also collaborated with the composer Kurt Weill (1900-1950) on the vaudevillian pastiche Love Life (1948), which was an artistic, if not a commercial success. After Loewe's retirement, Lerner collaborated with Burton Lane for On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1965) and Carmelina (1979), with Andrï¿½ Previn on Coco (1969), and with Leonard Bernstein on the presidential pageant, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (1976). Lerner and Loewe - The Solo Piano Stylings of Wendell H. Mills II The Solo Piano Stylings of Wendell H.

Mills II CONTACT Lerner and Loewe Lerner and Loewe were one of America’s greatest musical theater songwriting collaborations, ever. This legendary team consisted of the composer Frederick Loewe (1901-1988) and the librettist and lyricist Alan Jay Lerner (1918-1986). Lerner and Loewe wrote nine musicals together from 1942 to 1974, including what has been called the greatest musical of all, My Fair Lady. The songs of Lerner and Loewe are some of the most popular and financially successful ever written, their five major musicals having been produced both on the stage and in award winning films. Alan Jay Lerner was born into a Manhattan family, attended the Juilliard School of Music, and graduated from Harvard College where he began his career in musical theater. He wrote several of the books and screenplays for his award-winning musicals, and his lyrics were marked by warmth and "civilized urbanity", coupled with the highest order of craftsmanship, oftentimes agonizing for weeks at a time over a single lyric.

He won 3 Oscars and 3 Tony Awards for best book, best screenplay, best song, or best musical score. Fritz, as Frederick Loewe was called most of his life, was born in Berlin, Germany of Viennese parents, had a operetta singer for a father, studied the piano at an early age, and at the age of 16 won the Amsterdam Medal for the best young concert pianist in Europe. In 1923 he and his parents travelled to the United States to perform, and decided to stay. After his father died, Fritz worked several piano jobs, including a German beer garden and Broadway rehearsal pianist, and in 1937 he composed the music for the musical Great Lady. Musically, Fritz Loewe was all about brilliant melodies and brilliant chords. He could change each chord in a measure and make the result sound absolutely breathtaking, and many of his greatest songs would undergo many key changes during their very melodic scores.

The Lerner and Loewe partnership started as described by Lerner in his autobiography The Street Where I Live, "One day late in August of 1942, I was having lunch in the grill [of the Lambs Club in Manhattan] when a short, well built, tightly strung man with a large head and hands and immensely dark circles under his eyes strode to a few feet from my table and stopped short. His destination was the men's room and he had gone the wrong way. He turned to get back on the right road and suddenly saw me. He stared for a moment. I knew who he was. His name was Frederick Loewe, Fritz to the membership, a Viennese-born, ex-concert pianist and a talented, struggling composer. He came to my table and sat down. 'You're Lerner, aren't you?' he asked. I could not deny it. 'You write Lyrics, don't you?' he continued. 'I try,' I replied. 'Well,' he said, 'would you like to write with me?' I immediately said, 'Yes.' And we went to work." The results were electrifying.

As one reviewer wrote, "Loewe's melodious brilliance along with Lerner’s rich lyrics always produce 'a smile on my face'." Lerner and Loewe had a back and forth songwriting collaboration. As he would write the libretto, Lerner would have an idea for a song at an appropriate spot and provide Loewe with a song title. Based only on this title, Loewe would immediately begin composing melodies until he hit upon a tune both agreed with. Only then would Lerner begin his arduous lyric writing process based on the finished Loewe melody. Lerner and Loewe’s nine musicals were ​ Life of the Party (1942) What's Up? (1943) The Day Before Spring (1945) Brigadoon (1947) The Little Prince (1974) Brigadoon was their first big hit which was followed by four major hits in a row, reaching the pinnacle of the best of Musical Theater of all time, and matching the success of Rodgers and Hammerstein in the 1950’s. Their masterpiece, My Fair Lady, was an amazing phenomenon, running for six years straight after it opened in 1956.

It made more money than any other musical to date, and has been called the most successful musical ever produced. My Fair Lady won six Tony awards and the cast album became the best-selling album in the history of Columbia Records, and the best-selling cast album of all time. Furthermore, the film version in 1964 won the Oscar for best picture. As if there could never be an expected letdown, Lerner and Loewe’s next effort, Gigi (1958), made for film, won 9 Academy awards including the Oscar for best song and, like My Fair Lady, the Oscar for best picture. Fritz Loewe retired after Camelot in 1960, returning for one last effort in composing music for The Little Prince (1974), and rewriting songs for a stage version of Gigi. There is actually a CD available with Lerner singing and Loewe playing all of their “Little Prince” compositions – a rare recording of Lerner and Loewe performing together. They remained good friends until their deaths two years apart, Lerner in 1986 and Loewe in 1988.

Film 1960s II: Broadway's Leftovers Sickly Transplants From the 1930s onwards, the major studio's had relied on production teams to develop original movie musicals. Those talented teams were disbanded in the 1950's, so Hollywood now had to rely on Broadway to provide it with musical projects. Not only were the major studios willing to pay unprecedented amounts to buy screen rights to hit stage musicals (Warner Brothers reportedly paid $5 million for the rights to My Fair Lady), they would even invest in new shows to get first refusal on their film rights. However, studio executives were so incapable of judging worthy material that millions were wasted  not a single one of the Broadway musicals that studios invested in ever made it successfully to the big screen. Comme Si, Comme Sa To avoid having big screen adaptations look like filmed stage performances, producers often went overboard. Several stage musicals survived the 1960's Hollywood treatment with varying degrees of fun intact   Bells Are Ringing (1960 - MGM) muffled Judy Holliday ’s stellar performance with a poorly focused production.

Luckily, the score by composer Jule Styne with lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green gave Holliday and co-stars Dean Martin and Eddie Foy Jr. plenty to work with. The last screen musical produced by Arthur Freed , it was well received despite its shortcomings.  The Music Man (1962 - Warner) was over twenty minutes longer than the stage version, but Robert Preston ’s charismatic performance made most of the time fly. Shirley Jones gave the best (and final) musical performance of her screen career. With Meredith Willson 's much-loved score beautifully performed, this film raked in solid profits at the box office, and remains a perennial favorite on television and home video.  My Fair Lady (1964 - Warner) retained Broadway star Rex Harrison and costume designer Cecil Beaton, and added stylish direction George Cukor. It also added Audrey Hepburn, who is so luminous that few have ever minded that her singing voice was dubbed by soprano Marni Nixon. The result is a delightful (if slightly overlong) film that garnered eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The film does reasonable justice Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe 's masterpiece.

At $17 million, it was the costliest film made in the US up to that time, but it grossed over $60 million in its initial release.  The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964 - MGM) turned out well thanks to solid direction by MGM veteran Charles Walters (his final musical) and a career-best performance by Debbie Reynolds . The only follow-up vehicle Hollywood could come up with for this talented star was the entertaining but saccharine semi-musical The Singing Nun (1966).  Sweet Charity (1969 - Universal) marked Bob Fosse 's first directorial assignment on the big screen, adapting his hit stage musical about a dance hall girl looking for love in Manhattan. The result is a gem of a film that is often inexplicably overlooked by scholars and film buffs. Shirley MacLaine dazzled in the title role, with delicious supporting performances by musical stage veterans Chita Rivera and Stubby Kaye . The Best of the Cinematic Bunch Four stage musicals were adapted with such imagination that many viewers felt they actually improved on the originals: 1.

West Side Story (1961 - United Artists) allowed Jerome Robbins to adapt his unforgettable stage choreography for the camera -- until his costly demands for retakes forced the producers to let him go. Producer and co-director Robert Wise did the rest. Rita Moreno received an Academy Award for her knockout performance as Anita, and the film received Best Picture. 2. The Sound of Music (1965 - Fox) kept people coming back time and again, becoming the most profitable film of the 1960's. Like West Side Story this film was produced and directed by Robert Wise, and received the Academy Award for Best Picture. (This musical is covered in detail on previous 1960's page .) 3. Acclaimed director William Wyler used Barbra Streisand 's screen debut as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl (1968 - Columbia) to reshape this stage hit in vibrant cinematic terms. The popular star gave a luminous performance, earning an Academy Award for Best Actress. The "Don't Rain On My Parade" sequence, beginning in a Baltimore train station and ending with Streisand belting her way across New York Harbor on a tugboat, was particularly magical. 4.

The British film version of Oliver! (1969 - Columbia) was superb in every department, but Ron Moody (Fagin) and Jack Wild (The Artful Dodger) were standouts.. Choreographer Onna White staged some of the most believable ensemble dances ever filmed. What was enjoyable on stage became dazzling on screen, and Oliver! richly deserved its Academy Award for Best Picture. Sickly Transplants The smashing success of these films brought a parade of lavish big screen musicals in the late 1960's. But a sudden proliferation of overblown productions soon made it clear that no amount of money could replace cinematic know-how   Half a Sixpence (1967 - British) kept original stage star Tommy Steele as the Edwardian shop assistant who inherits a fortune, but jettisoned almost all of the show's appeal. Oversized orchestrations made the soundtrack painful to listen to.

 Camelot (1967 - Warner) and Paint Your Wagon (1969 - Paramount) were both destroyed by director Joshua Logan , who inexplicably put two melodic scores by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe in the hands of actors who couldn't sing their way out of a shower stall. Lerner provided both films with bungled screenplays, so he shares the blame. Although grimy and grungy, Paint Your Wagon inexplicably cost over $20 million to produce -- more than the lavish My Fair Lady had cost just five years earlier.  Hello Dolly (1969 - Fox) received such a massive production that much of the show’s charm was compromised. Director Gene Kelly and choreographer Michael Kidd managed some good moments, but Barbara Streisand was far too young to play the title role, and occasionally reverted to an uneasy Mae West impersonation. While there is much to enjoy -- most notably Streisand's brief but iconic duet with Louis Armstrong -- this film all too often wastes material that deserved far better treatment. Tens of millions were lost on each of these projects.

They were expensive  and scary  harbingers of what lay ahead in the 1970's.

Question: Which musical was Lerner and Loewe's last major success, in 1960?
Answer: Camelot