Jerry's Girls

Jerry's Girls
Original Cast Recording
Music	Jerry Herman
Lyrics	Jerry Herman
Basis	Revue of Jerry Herman's songs
Productions	1985 Broadway

Jerry's Girls is a musical revue based on the songs of composer/lyricist Jerry Herman.

Production history

Created by Herman and Larry Alford in 1981, the show originated as a modest presentation at Onstage, a nightclub located in the theatre district in midtown-Manhattan (New York City). Writing in The New York Times, John S. Wilson called it "a brilliantly lively and scintillating evening of cabaret."^[1]

After La Cage aux Folles opened to rave reviews two years later, producer Zev Bufman approached the pair and suggested they mount a full-scale, all-star version. On February 28, 1984, the expanded Jerry's Girls premiered at the Royal Poinciana Playhouse in Palm Beach, Florida, with Carol Channing, Andrea McArdle, and Leslie Uggams, backed by an all-female chorus, recreating scenes and songs from Herman's hits, including Hello, Dolly!, Mame, and Mack and Mabel. Jerry's Girls, the show's opening number set to the music of "It's Today" from Mame, enumerated the many actresses who had appeared in Herman productions over the years.^[2] An original cast recording was released by Polydor Records.

After fourteen previews, the Broadway production, directed by Alford and choreographed by Wayne Cilento, opened on December 18, 1985 at the St. James Theatre, where it ran for 141 performances. Uggams was joined by new cast members Dorothy Loudon and Chita Rivera. Frank Rich of The New York Times wrote "The only thing that Jerry's Girls has in common with a bona fide Jerry Herman musical is that it occupies the St. James, the theater where Dolly once promised she'd never go away again... Whatever the point of the all-female cast, one must still wonder why the show's particular female stars were chosen. None of them have been associated with Mr. Herman's musicals. Only one (Miss Uggams) is primarily a singer. All three have strident mannerisms that the director, Larry Alford, takes sadistic glee in calling to our attention."^[3]

Chita Rivera was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical.

Original cast album song list

Act I Jerry's Girls It Takes a Woman/Put On Your Sunday Clothes (from Hello, Dolly!) It Only Takes a Moment (from Hello, Dolly!) Wherever He Ain't (from Mack & Mabel) We Need a Little Christmas (from Mame) I Won't Send Roses (from Mack & Mabel) Tap Your Troubles Away (from Mack & Mabel) Two-a-Day (from Parade, A Musical Revue) Bosom Buddies (from Mame) The Man in the Moon (from Mame) So Long Dearie (from Hello, Dolly!) Take It All Off Two-a-Day (reprise) Shalom (from Milk and Honey) Milk and Honey (from Milk and Honey) Show Tune (from Parade, A Musical Revue) If He Walked Into My Life (from Mame) Hello Dolly! (from Hello, Dolly!)

Act II Entr'acte Just Go to the Movies (from A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine) Movies Were Movies (from Mack & Mabel) Look What Happened to Mabel (from Mack & Mabel) Nelson (from A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine) Just Go to the Movies (reprise) Time Heals Everything (from Mack & Mabel) It's Today (from Mame) Mame ( from Mame) Kiss Her Now (from Dear World) That's How Young I Feel (from Mame) Open A New Window (from Mame) Gooch's Song (from Mame) Before the Parade Passes By (from Hello, Dolly!) I Don't Want To Know (from Dear World) Song On the Sand (from La Cage aux Folles) I Am What I Am (from La Cage aux Folles) The Best of Times (from La Cage aux Folles) Jerry's Turn (Jerry Herman and his Girls)

References

1. ^ Wilson, John S."'Jerry's Girls' review"New York Times, August 20, 1981
2. ^ "'Jerry's Girls' listing guidetomusicaltheatre.com, retrieved April 19, 2010
3. ^ Rich, Frank."Theater Review"New York Times, December 19, 1985

External links

• Jerry's Girls at the Internet Broadway Database