R.I.P. Sheldon Harnick

Just got the memo that Broadway lyricist Sheldon Harnick has passed away at the of 99. If only he could have hung on another 10 months — he might have read my centennial post about him!

I had the honor of meeting Harnick a couple of times several years ago at fund-raising events for the Theatre Museum. I wish I’d said or asked a lot of things now, but it never goes that way. Suddenly a famous person is there, you’re in a room full of people, it’s not conducive to deep conversation. I also met Charlotte Rae on the same occasion, not realizing that they had been friends since they were very young. Nor did I learn until afterwards that he had been married to Elaine May!!!

Obviously the songs Harnick cowrote with Jerry Bock for Fiddler on the Roof (1964) were his greatest legacy. Their show about Mayor LaGuardia, Fiorello! (1959) starring Tom Bosley was his second biggest success. Followed by the much re-made She Loves Me (1963). But so many of his other shows sound fascinating and I haven’t yet had the opportunity to explore them. Many were inspired by historical topics. There’s Tenderloin (1960) about the rough NYC neighborhood, The Rothschilds (1970 — red meat for QAnon?), and Rex (1976, about Henry VIII). And there are lots of interesting adaptations of familiar material, such as Pinocchio (1973), Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines (1975), Alice in Wonderland (1975), The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1979), A Christmas Carol (1982), and It’s a Wonderful Life (1986) among others.

We leave you with the wisdom of the man’s own words. A Broadway poet:

Sunrise, sunsetSunrise, sunsetSwiftly fly the yearsOne season following anotherLaden with happiness and tears…