BWW Flashback: It's Today! Happy 86th Birthday, Jerry Herman

Today, July 10, 2017, Broadway celebrates 86 years of Jerry Herman- one of the most iconic and beloved composers in the American theatre.

Herman's legendary scores have spawned such standards as "I Am What I Am," "The Best of Times," "Mame," "If He Walked Into My Life," "We Need a Little Christmas," and "Hello, Dolly!" His first Broadway musical, Milk and Honey (1961), ran for 543 performances. He made history in 1964 with Hello, Dolly! (ten Tony Awards® including Best Musical, a Broadway record held for 37 years), which was followed by yet another smash, Mame, in 1966. With Hello, Dolly! and Mame still running, Herman had the rare distinction of having three Broadway shows playing simultaneously when Dear World opened in 1969. In 1974, Mack & Mabel opened (and remains one of his best-loved scores), and was followed by 1979's The Grand Tour. Herman's most recent Broadway show, La Cage aux Folles, became another phenomenon, winning the Tony Award® in 1983 for Best Musical. It was successfully revived in 2004 and 2010, winning the Tony® for Best Revival each time.

Two of Herman's most cherished songs from Hello, Dolly! are the emotional highlight of the Disney-Pixar classic Wall-E,cementing Herman's place in American popular culture. His countless awards and honors include multiple Tony Awards®, Grammy Awards®, Olivier Awards, Drama Desk Awards, the Johnny Mercer Award, the Richard Rodgers Award, the Oscar Hammerstein Award, the Frederick Loewe Award, membership in the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Theatre Hall of Fame, and most recently, The Kennedy Center Honor.

Below, watch as Angela Lansbury, Carol Channing, Chita Rivera, Laura Benanti, Christine Ebersole, Kelli O'Hara, Sutton Foster and more tribute the legend at the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors!