Video: FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, SHE LOVES ME Lyricist Sheldon Harnick Celebrated At Star-Studded Memorial

An array of Broadway luminaries, including Danny Burstein, Robert Cuccioli, Jason Danieley, Harvey Fierstein, Rob Fisher, Jessica Hecht, Judy Kuhn, Nancy Opel, David Rockwell, Alan Schmuckler, Elena Shaddow, Alexandra Silber, Emily Skinner, Deborah Grace Winer, Sherman Yellen, and Karen Ziemba gathered at the Music Box Theater this week to pay tribute to the iconic lyricist Sheldon Harnick. See highlights from the star-studded memorial below!

Later that night, the Committee of Theatre Owners dimmed the lights of all 41 Broadway theaters in New York for one minute at exactly 6:45pm in Harnick’s honor. 

One of our nation’s and world’s most beloved treasures, Sheldon Harnick passed away at 99 years old on June 23,2023. During his iconic career working on Broadway and spanning more than seventy years, Sheldon wrote many of Broadway’s greatest critically-acclaimed and timeless hit shows. 

His prodigious work earned him numerous awards, including a Pulitzer Prize, 4 Tony’s and a Grammy. Sheldon, together with his longtime collaborator Jerry Bock, created some of the most important and influential pieces of theater in the world including but not limited to; Fiorello! (1959): Pulitzer Prize, Tony Award; Tenderloin (1960); She Loves Me (1963): Grammy Award; Fiddler on the Roof" (1964) Tony Award; The Apple Tree (1966) and The Rothschilds (1970). Other collaborations include A Christmas Carol with Michel Legrand (1981); Rex with Richard Rodgers (1976); A Wonderful Life with Joe Raposo (1986) and The Phantom Tollbooth with Arnold Black (1995). For Dragons and Malpractice Makes Perfect, he provided book lyrics and music, He has written songs for the films The Heartbreak Kid (1972) and Blame It On Rio (1984) both with music by Cy Coleman; and Aaron's Magic Village (1995) with Michel Legrand.

Harnick is survived by his wife of 58 years, Margery Gray, his two children Beth Dorn and Matthew Harnick and four grandchildren.