- Fred Ebb
Fred Ebb (
April 8 1933 [Ebb’s birth year is a source of mystery. Many sources list 1933 as his birth year, [http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=5654/ 1] , others, such as "Colored Lights", claim 1936. After his death, many said that his actual birth year was 1928 [http://entertainment.msn.com/celebs/celeb.aspx?c=197685 2] .] —September 11 2004 ), was amusical theatre lyricist who had many successful collaborations with composerJohn Kander . TheKander and Ebb team frequently wrote for such performers asLiza Minnelli andChita Rivera .Background
Ebb was born in
Manhattan to aJewish family, and worked during the early 1950s bronzing baby shoes, as a trucker's assistant, and was also employed in a department store credit office and at a hosiery company. In 1955, he graduated fromNew York University with a bachelor’s degree inEnglish Literature , and two years later, he earned his Master’s fromColumbia University . His first professional writing experience was withPhil Springer , and the first song they wrote together (“I Never Loved Him Anyhow”) was sung byCarmen McRae . Another song Ebb wrote with Springer was “Heartbroken” (1953), which was recorded byJudy Garland , the mother of his future protégée, Liza Minnelli. Other Springer-Ebb tunes include "How Little We Know," "Moonlight Gambler" and "Nevertheless I Never Lost the Blues".On his first theatrical writing job he did songs with
Norman Martin for the revue "Put It in Writing", directed byChristopher Hewitt . He also worked with composer Paul Klein in the late 1950s, contributing songs to the Broadway revue "From A to Z ". With Klein, Ebb wrote his first book musical, "Morning Sun ". Originally,Bob Fosse was attached as director. Fosse eventually withdrew from the project, and the show was unsuccessful.Kander and Ebb
Music publisher
Tommy Valando introduced Ebb to Kander in 1962. After a few songs such as "My Coloring Book," Kander and Ebb wrote a stage musical, "Golden Gate", that was never produced. However, the quality of the score convinced producerHarold Prince to hire them for their first professional production, theGeorge Abbott -directed musical "Flora the Red Menace ", based onLester Atwell 's novel "Love is Just Around the Corner ". Although it won star Liza Minnelli aTony Award , the show closed quickly.Their second collaboration, "Cabaret", was considerably more successful, running for nearly three years. Directed by Prince and based on the
John Van Druten play "I Am a Camera " (which, in turn, was based on the writing ofChristopher Isherwood ), the musical starredJill Haworth as Sally Bowles,Lotte Lenya asFraulein Schneider andJoel Grey as the emcee. It won eight of the 11 Tony Awards for which it was nominated, including Best Musical and Best Score. Adapted into a film byBob Fosse , it won numerous Academy Awards, though not Best Picture. It was revived twice, first in 1987 with Grey reprising his role and again in 1998 in a long-running revival, originally starringAlan Cumming as the emcee andNatasha Richardson as Sally Bowles.Their next few works were less successful: "
The Happy Time ", directed byGower Champion and starringRobert Goulet , ran for less than a year. "Zorba", directed by Prince, also ran less than a year, though it was more successful in its 1983 revival; and70, Girls, 70 , which was originally intended as an off-Broadway production, closed after 35 performances.In 1972, he wrote the television special, "
Liza with a Z ". In 1974, Kander, Ebb and Fosse, contributed toLiza (concert) , a concert for Minnelli on Broadway. In 1975, the team wrote the score to "Funny Lady ", the sequel to "Funny Girl". "Chicago" (1975) had mixed reviews but ran for more than two years. StarringChita Rivera ,Jerry Orbach andGwen Verdon in her last Broadway role, it suffered from a cynical attitude, which contrasted with the record-breaking popularity of "A Chorus Line ". Though rumors of a film production directed again by Fosse were heard, the show did not seriously re-surface until 1996, when it was revived as part of the "Encores! " series. A huge hit, the minimalist production transferred to Broadway andas of 2007 is still running after more than 4,000 performances. A film version was eventually produced (in 2002) and won Best Picture at the Academy Awards.Ebb himself wrote the book for
Shirley MacLaine ’s Broadway solo revue in 1976. The following year, Kander and Ebb worked with Minnelli and Martin Scorsese twice: first, in the film "New York, New York", which had them write what is perhaps their best-known song, the title track; and, again in "The Act ", a musical about a fictional nightclub act. It ran for under ten months. After contributing a song toPhyllis Newman ’s one woman musical, the team wrote "Woman of the Year", which starred Lauren Bacall and won the team their second Tony Award for Best Score."The Rink" (1984) teamed Kander and Ebb again with Minnelli and Rivera. The cast also included
Jason Alexander andRob Marshall . Following the closure of the show after six months, Kander and Ebb would not produce new material, save for a song in "Hay Fever " in 1985, for nine years. In 1991, the revue "And The World Goes 'Round " opened off-Broadway, which broughtKaren Ziemba ,Susan Stroman andScott Ellis to the attention of the theatre community. The team’s musical adaptation of "Kiss of the Spider Woman" opened in 1993, starringChita Rivera . Reunited with directorHarold Prince , the show ran for more than two years and won them their third and last Tony Award for best score.The team’s last original work to reach Broadway during Ebb's life opened in 1997. "Steel Pier" brought together Ziemba, Ellis and Stroman and though the show was nominated for 11 Tonys, it won none and closed after two months. It also featured
Kristin Chenoweth . In 1997, Ebb reworked lyrics toRichard Rodgers ' melody for the television production of "Cinderella ". Two decades earlier, Ebb refused the opportunity to write the musical "Rex" with Rodgers.The team also had two works produced outside New York. "Over & Over", an adaptation of the
Thornton Wilder play "The Skin of Our Teeth ", was performed at the Signature Theatre inArlington, Virginia in 1999 and has been revamped for a 2007 staging by theWestport Country Playhouse under the title "All of Us". "The Visit", starring Chita Rivera, was presented by theGoodman Theatre inChicago .Death
Ebb died of a heart attack at his home in
New York City .At the time of his death, Ebb was working on a new musical with Kander, "Curtains": A Backstage Murder Mystery Musical Comedy. The project had already lost its book writer,
Peter Stone , who died in 2001. The show's orchestrator,Michael Gibson , also died while the project was underway. Coincidentally, the show is about a series of deaths during the production of a Broadway musical. [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/27/theater/27gree.html] . Kander continued working on the project with a new librettistRupert Holmes , writing new lyrics when necessary. The musical had its world premiere at theAhmanson Theater inLos Angeles onJuly 25 ,2006 , in a cast featuringDavid Hyde Pierce ,Debra Monk ,Edward Hibbert ,Jill Paice ,Karen Ziemba andJason Danieley , opening to positive reviews. A Broadway transfer began at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre with previews on February 27, 2007 and an opening night on March 22.At its 2007 ceremony, the Drama Desk honored Kander & (the late) Ebb with a special award for "42 years of excellence in advancing the art of the musical theater."
Notes
External links
* [http://www.fredebbfoundation.org/ Fred Ebb Foundation]
* [http://www.nypl.org/research/lpa/mus/pdf/musebb.pdf Fred Ebb's Papers] in the [http://www.nypl.org/musicdiv Music Division] of [http://www.nypl.org/research/lpa/lpa.html The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts]
* [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/16152 "New York Review of Books": Hilton Als' "Girls & Guns" (3/27/03)]
*amg|id=11:hxfrxq9hldje|label=Fred Ebb
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