Cy Coleman | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Coleman in 1996 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Seymour Kaufman (1929-06-14)June 14, 1929 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | November 18, 2004(2004-11-18) (aged 75) New York City, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, songwriter, pianist |
Cy Coleman (bornSeymour Kaufman; June 14, 1929 – November 18, 2004) was an American composer, songwriter, andjazz pianist.[1]
Coleman was born Seymour Kaufman in New York City, toEastern European Jewish parents, and was raised inthe Bronx.[1] His mother, Ida (née Prizent) was an apartment landlady and his father was a brickmason.[2] He was achild prodigy who gave piano recitals at venues such asSteinway Hall,Town Hall, andCarnegie Hall between the ages of six and nine.[3] Before beginning his fabledBroadway career, he led the Cy Coleman Trio, which made many recordings and was a much-in-demand club attraction.
Despite the earlyclassical andjazz success, Coleman decided to build a career inpopular music.[1] His first collaborator was Joseph Allen McCarthy, but his most successful early partnership, albeit a turbulent one,[4] was withCarolyn Leigh. The pair wrote many pop hits, including "Witchcraft" and "The Best Is Yet to Come".[1] One of his instrumentals, "Playboy's Theme," became the signature music of the regular syndicated late night TV showPlayboy After Dark in the 1960s. This included specials presented by the editor/publisherHugh M. Hefner ofPlayboy magazine, and remains synonymous with the Chicago magazine and its creator, Hefner.
Coleman's career as aBroadway composer began when he and Leigh collaborated onWildcat (1960),[1] which marked the Broadway debut of movie/television comedienneLucille Ball. The score included the hit tune "Hey, Look Me Over".[1] When Ball became ill, she left the show, and it closed. Next for the two wasLittle Me, with a book byNeil Simon based onthe novel of the same name byPatrick Dennis. The show introduced "Real Live Girl" and "I've Got Your Number," which became popular standards.[1]
In 1964, Coleman metDorothy Fields at a party, and when he asked if she would like to collaborate with him, she is reported to have answered: "Thank God somebody asked."[5] Fields was revitalized by working with the much younger Coleman, and by the contemporary nature of their first project, which wasSweet Charity, again with a book by Simon, starringGwen Verdon, and introducing the songs "If My Friends Could See Me Now", "I'm a Brass Band", "Big Spender" and "The Rhythm of Life".[1] The show was a major success and Coleman found working with Fields much easier than with Leigh. The partnership was to work on two more shows – an aborted project aboutEleanor Roosevelt, andSeesaw which reached Broadway in 1973 after a troubled out-of-town tour.[1] Despite mixed reviews, the show enjoyed a healthy run. The partnership was cut short by Fields' death in 1974.
Coleman remained prolific in the late 1970s. He collaborated onI Love My Wife (1977) withMichael Stewart,On the Twentieth Century (1978) withBetty Comden andAdolph Green, andHome Again, Home Again with Barbara Fried, although the latter never reached Broadway.[1] Also in 1970, he produced the single "Lying Here" (Mercury 73150)[6] for the Rock operaSensations, and took a full-page (back cover) advert inBillboard magazine to promote his upcoming star vocalist Steve Leeds.
In 1980, Coleman served as producer and composer for the circus-themedBarnum, which co-starredJim Dale andGlenn Close.[1] Later in the decade, he collaborated onWelcome to the Club (1988) withA. E. Hotchner, andCity of Angels (1989) withDavid Zippel.[1] In the latter, inspired by the hard-boiled detectivefilm noir of the 1930s and 1940s, he returned to his jazz roots, and the show was a huge critical and commercial success. The 1990s brought more new Coleman musicals to Broadway:The Will Rogers Follies (1991), again with Comden and Green,The Life (1997), a gritty look at pimps, prostitutes, and assorted other lowlife in the big city, with Ira Gasman, and a revised production ofLittle Me.
Coleman's film scores includeFather Goose,The Art of Love,Garbo Talks,Power, andFamily Business.[7] In addition, he wrote memorable television specials forShirley MacLaine,If My Friends Could See Me Now andGypsy in My Soul.[8] Coleman has been the only composer to win consecutive Tony awards for Best Score at the same time that the corresponding musicals won for Best Musical:City of Angels andThe Will Rogers Follies (althoughStephen Sondheim actually won three consecutive Tony Awards for Best Score forCompany,Follies, andA Little Night Music,Follies did not win for Best Musical). Coleman was on theASCAP Board of Directors for many years and also served as their Vice Chairman Writer.[9]
One final musical with a Coleman score played in Los Angeles at theMark Taper Forum between December 2003 and January 2004, under the titleLike Jazz, as a Broadway tryout. InvestorTransamerica Capital went forward with plans to mount a Broadway production renamedIn the Pocket.[10] Dirk Decloedt andMaurice Hines were announced as director and choreographer with an anticipated opening in Spring 2006 but it never opened.[11]
Coleman studied at New York'sThe High School of Music & Art and theNew York College of Music, graduating in 1948.[12]
On November 18, 2004, Coleman attended the Broadway opening ofMichael Frayn's playDemocracy, and went to the premiere party afterward.[3] However, he soon fell ill, and was taken toNew York Hospital, where he died later that evening at the age of 75; his death was attributed to a heart condition, variously said to be a heart attack[3] or heart failure.[13] He was survived by his wife, Shelby Coleman (née Brown) and their adopted daughter.[14]
| Year | Title | Role | Music | Lyrics | Book | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Wildcat | Music | Cy Coleman | Carolyn Leigh | N. Richard Nash | |
| 1962 | Little Me | Neil Simon | ||||
| 1966 | Sweet Charity | Dorothy Fields | ||||
| 1973 | Seesaw | Michael Bennett | ||||
| 1977 | I Love My Wife | Michael Stewart | ||||
| 1978 | On the Twentieth Century | Betty Comden &Adolph Green | ||||
| 1979 | Home Again, Home Again | Barbara Fried | Russell Baker | [15] | ||
| 1980 | Barnum | Music & producer | Michael Stewart | Mark Bramble | [1] | |
| 1989 | Welcome to the Club | Music & lyrics | Cy Coleman &A. E. Hotchner | A. E. Hotchner | ||
| City of Angels | Music | David Zippel | Larry Gelbart | |||
| 1990 | The Life | Ira Gasman | David Newman, Ira Gasman & Cy Coleman | |||
| 1991 | The Will Rogers Follies | Betty Comden & Adolph Green | Peter Stone | |||
| 2003 | Like Jazz/In the Pocket | Alan and Marilyn Bergman | Larry Gelbart | [11] | ||
He also won threeEmmy Awards[16] and twoGrammy Awards, and anAcademy Award nomination.
Among his many honors and awards, Coleman was elected to theSongwriter's Hall of Fame (1981), and was the recipient of the Songwriter's Hall of FameJohnny Mercer Award (1995)[17] and theASCAP Foundation Richard Rodgers Award for lifetime achievement in Americanmusical theatre.[8] He was elected to theAmerican Theatre Hall of Fame[18][19] and received an Honorary Doctorate fromHofstra University in 2000.[20]
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