Masterworks To Release Legendary Herman Recordings in New Digital Collection

For the first time ever, the legendary recordings of the exuberant, tune-filled musicals of Broadway composer-lyricist Jerry Herman are available in a new digital-only collection from Masterworks Broadway, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the premiere of Herman's ultimate Broadway triumph, 'La Cage aux Folles'.  All nine titles in the Jerry Herman digital collection will be available on all digital service providers, including iTunes and Amazon MP3 stores on Tuesday, August 5. Physical CDs, complete with each album's original cover art and liner notes, are available only through ArkivMusic.

The release of the Jerry Herman collection comes just as two classic Herman songs from 'Hello, Dolly!' -- "Put on Your Sunday Clothes" and "It Only Takes a Moment" -- are reaching a new and broader audience, as key elements in one of the summer's biggest hit films, Walt Disney/Pixar's 'WALL-E'.  "Boy, what a thrill for me," Herman recently told the Associated Press.  "Because I've had so much happiness from 'Hello, Dolly!' through the years, I never expected to have this new layer of excitement."

To highlight the 25th anniversary of the Broadway premiere of 'La Cage aux Folles', Herman has recorded a special reminiscence of how he came to write the show's thrilling anthem "I Am What I Am," which appears in this release as a new bonus track on the original cast recording as a part of the collection.

Featuring the first release in any digital format of the London "Drury Lane" cast recording of 'Hello, Dolly!' starring Mary Martin --
unavailable to fans since the LP era -- the collection also includes the first digital release of the original cast recordings of 'Milk and Honey' and 'The Grand Tour', as well as the historic 1967 recording of 'Hello, Dolly!' with an all-African-American cast led by Pearl Bailey and Cab Calloway, and an orchestral celebration entitled 'Jerry Herman's Broadway', led by Herman's longtime musical collaborator, Don Pippin.

Previously available titles such as the original Broadway cast recordings of 'Hello, Dolly!', 'Mame' and 'Dear World' are also included in the collection, in which all titles include new digital booklets. The 'Dear World' recording has been supplemented with a newly recorded bonus track on which Herman at the piano plays the rarely heard "And I Was Beautiful" from the score.

With the release of the Jerry Herman digital collection, Masterworks Broadway will introduce a podcast series featuring interviews with Herman, Angela Lansbury, Harvey Fierstein and other musical theater superstars telling intimate stories and discussing the creation and enduring appeal of Herman's musicals. The Jerry Herman podcast, as part of the Masterworks Broadway Podcast Theatre will be available at iTunes by searching Masterworks Broadway and on  MasterworksBroadway.com

 The Jerry Herman digital collection includes:

 'Milk and Honey' -- Original  Broadway Cast Recording

Herman's first Broadway musical -- winner of five Tony nominations, including Best Musical and Best Score -- also produced his first
breakout hit song, "Shalom." The show starred opera singers Robert Weede and Mimi Benzell, singer/dancer Tommy Rall ('Seven Brides for Seven Brothers') and the first lady of the Yiddish theater, Molly Picon. Recorded October 15, 1961 in Webster Hall in New York City, the original cast recording was produced by George Avakian and Joe Linhart, with Max Goberman conducting.

'Hello, Dolly!' -- Original Broadway Cast Recording / Broadway Deluxe Collector's Edition

The biggest hit among Jerry Herman's musicals, 'Hello, Dolly!' was the blockbuster of the 1963-64 season, with Carol Channing in the title role and a cast that included David Burns, Eileen Brennan and Charles Nelson Reilly. The show swept the Tony Awards with a record 10 wins (a record that held until 'The Producers' in 2001), including Best Musical and awards to Herman for his music and lyrics, and Channing for her performance.  For a time, it was the longest-running musical in Broadway history. Recorded January 19, 1964 (three days after the show opened) in New York's Webster Hall and produced by Andy Wiswell, the original cast recording of 'Hello, Dolly!' was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. This deluxe collector's edition includes tracks by such subsequent Dollys as Mary Martin, Pearl Bailey and Ethel Merman, and it includes a 2003 interview with Carol Channing.

'Hello, Dolly!' -- Original London Cast Recording

Never before released on CD or in any other digital format, the London "Drury Lane" cast recording of 'Hello, Dolly!' has been unavailable since the LP era, after it was briefly released in the US in 1966. The recording was made on December 5, 1965 in London, produced by Hugh Mendl.  It features Mary Martin in the title role, with Loring Smith and other members of the original London cast, with Alyn Ainsworth conducting.  The London production of 'Hello, Dolly!' ran for 794 performances at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane.

'Hello, Dolly!' -- 1967 Broadway Cast Recording

So successful was 'Hello, Dolly!' on Broadway that producer David Merrick took the bold step in 1967 of recasting the entire production with an African-American cast, led by Pearl Bailey and Cab Calloway. The powerful response inspired a second cast recording of the original production, made on November 17, 1967 in Webster Hall in New York City.  Produced by George R. Marek and Andy Wiswell, the recording captures Bailey and Calloway's infectious performances, and the cast includes Emily Yancy, Jack Crowder, Winston DeWitt Hemsley and Chris Calloway, with Saul Schechtman conducting.

'Mame' -- Original Broadway Cast Recording

Based on Patrick Dennis' 1955 novel 'Auntie Mame' and the hit play and film it inspired, Herman's musical version was the finAl Blockbuster of the 1965-66 Broadway season, making a star of veteran character actress Angela Lansbury and introducing one of Herman's most popular scores, featuring an unforgettable title song and another breakout hit "If He Walked Into My Life." The show immediately picked up eight Tony nominations, winning three, including one for Lansbury as Best Actress in a Musical.  The Grammy Award-winning original cast recording was made May 29, 1966 at New York's legendary 30th Street Studio with Goddard Lieberson producing. In addition to Lansbury, the cast includes Tony winners Beatrice Arthur and Frankie Michaels, as well as Jane Connell, Jerry Lanning, Charles Braswell and Sab Shimono, with Don Pippin conducting.  The digital edition of Mame features bonus tracks including Jerry Herman's demos of the show's famous songs.

'Dear World' -- Original Broadway Cast Recording

A disappointing failure when it finally opened on Broadway, 'Dear World' -- a musical version of Jean Giraudoux's 'The Madwoman of
Chaillot' -- includes one of Herman's most lyrical scores and developed a cult following by way of its original cast recording, made
February 9, 1969 in Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City with Thomas Z. Shepard producing.  'Dear World' features Angela
Lansbury (who won her second Tony for her performance), Jane Connell, Carmen Mathews, Milo O'Shea, Kurt Peterson, Pamela Hall and other members of the original Broadway cast with Don Pippin conducting. When 'Dear World' opened at Broadway's Mark Hellinger Theatre on February 6, 1969, Herman became the only composer-lyricist in history to have three productions running simultaneously on the Great White Way.  This digital release includes a bonus track of Jerry Herman playing "And I Was Beautiful."

'The Grand Tour' -- Original Broadway Cast Recording

Opening on Broadway on February 5, 1979, 'The Grand Tour' marked Herman's return to Broadway after almost a decade away.  It features Joel Grey, Florence Lacey and Ron Holgate in an adaptation of S.N. Behrman's play 'Jacobowsky and the Colonel'.  'The Grand Tour' secured three Tony nominations including one for Best Original Score. The original cast recording was made February 5, 1979 in Webster Hall, with Wally Harper conducting and Herman and Mike Berniker producing,

'La Cage Aux Folles' -- Original Broadway Cast Recording

Herman came back to Broadway one more time in 1983 with another blockbuster in 'La Cage aux Folles', based on the popular French
farce, with what was perhaps his most gratifying success. The original production won five Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Score, and featured George Hearn, Gene Barry, Jay Garner, Merle Louise and John Weiner.  The original cast recording was made on August 4, 1983 in RCA Studio A in New York with Thomas Z. Shepard producing and Don Pippin conducting.  This digital release celebrating the show's 25th anniversary includes a bonus track of Jerry Herman at the piano describing the creation of "I Am What I Am."

'Jerry Herman's Broadway'

In 1992, with Herman producing, Don Pippin led the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra in this orchestral tribute to all of the Herman musicals -- a symphonic portrait of one of the American musical theater's most popular composer-lyricists, arranged and conducted by Pippin, his longtime musical director and right hand.

Born in New York City on July 10, 1931, and raised in nearby Jersey City, Jerry Herman decided to pursue songwriting at age 17 after his mother set up a meeting with 'Guys and Dolls' composer Frank Loesser. Following graduation from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Herman returned to New York City where he wrote and produced his first successful off-Broadway revue 'I Feel Wonderful'.  His music was first heard on Broadway in the 1960 revue 'From A to Z', featuring contributions from Woody Allen and Fred Ebb, among others.

His first full-fledged musical 'Milk and Honey' came to Broadway in 1961, which ran for 543 performances and earned him his first Tony nomination.  His subsequent Broadway resume is mythic, and it includes three legendary successes - 'Hello, Dolly!', 'Mame' and 'La Cage aux Folles'.

Herman has worked on numerous television programs, films and albums in addition to his Broadway credits.  Besides his Tony Awards, Herman has taken home two Grammys: Song of the Year/New Song of the Year in 1964 for 'Hello, Dolly!' and Best Musical Show Album in 1966 for the original cast album of 'Mame'.

For more information, please visit http://www.masterworksbroadway.com/jerryherman/

Photo Credit Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.