Jerry Herman:1931-2019

The Tony-winning composer/lyricist, who wrote Hello, Dolly!, Mame, La Cage aux Folles and other shows, died on Dec. 26 at the age of 88. The following was told to AT managing editor Russell M. Dembin.

I FELL IN LOVE WITH Jerry Herman long before I met him, the way most people fall in love with him: through his music and what it does to you, the joy that it invariably triggers.

I was not a kid who grew up with the theatre or with Carol Channing. We stood in the back of the St. James, and what happened when I watched the show was a combination of ecstasy and joy and religion. I knew that it made me profoundly happy, and I cared so much about the characters, but mainly it was the songs that transported me, and I couldn’t get them out of my head.