Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This is without a doubt my favorite composer/lyricist of music. I have every score of Jerrys and I love each and every one. I have read this book 9 times so far, and find him to also be a great writer. Follow him in his own words through his life, he's had quite the life too, being lucky to score Hello Dolly at such a young age. He didn't just get lucky, his music is worthy of the fame of his shows. Mame, La Cage and Dolly are the three most popular, but the scores of Dear World, Grand Tour, Mrs. Santa Clause and especially Mack and Mabel are fantastic.
Jerry is honest with his readers, and talks about his downs as well as the ups. The 1960's, he had 3 hits (Dolly, Mame, Milk and Honey), and in the 1970's, 3 flops in a row, though it was not the scores that defeated these shows but production and management issues. Changes were made before Broadway and Jerry discusses this, but also takes the blame for giving in too much and letting his shows go through changes he didn't feel were right. This was probably his mistake with those shows, not putting his foot down and saying no to the producers and directors.
I really enjoy this book. You'll hear about dinners with Carol Channing, Angela Lansbury, his home on Fire Island and the guests he had there, the terrible months being hospitalized for hepatitis, and also his HIV and he talks about a few of his romances.
I wish the book were updated, because I'd love to hear him talk about the last few years. If you love Broadway, this is a wonderful book written with care and hard to put down.
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