Cy Coleman (June 14, 1929 - November 18, 2004) was an American
composer,
songwriter, and
jazz pianist.
Life and career
He was born
Seymour Kaufman on June 14, 1929, in
New York City to
Eastern European Jewish parents, and was raised in the
Bronx. His mother, Ida (née Prizent) was an apartment landlady and his father was a brickmason. He was a
child prodigy who gave piano recitals at Steinway Hall,
Town Hall, and
Carnegie Hall between the ages of six and nine. Before beginning his fabled Broadway career, he led the Cy Coleman Trio, which made many recordings and was a much-in-demand club attraction.
Despite the early classical and jazz success, he decided to build a career in popular music. His first collaborator was Joseph Allen McCarthy (together they wrote a song called The Riviera), but his most successful early partnership, albeit a turbulent one, was with Carolyn Leigh. The pair wrote many pop hits, including Witchcraft and The Best Is Yet To Come.
One of his instrumentals, "Playboy's Theme," became the signature music of the regular TV shows and specials presented by Playboy, and remains synonymous with the magazine and its creator, Hugh Hefner.
Coleman's career as a Broadway composer began when he and Leigh collaborated on Wildcat (1960), which marked the Broadway debut of comedienne Lucille Ball. The score included the hit tune "Hey Look Me Over" (which was later adapted into one of LSU's school songs, "Hey, Fightin' Tigers"). When Ball became ill she left the show, and it closed. Next for the two was Little Me, with a book by Neil Simon based on the novel by Patrick Dennis (Auntie Mame). The show introduced Real Live Girl and I've Got Your Number, which became popular standards.
In 1964, Coleman met Dorothy 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". Fields was revitalised by working with the much younger Coleman, and by the contemporary nature of their first project, which was Sweet Charity, again with a book by Simon, starring Gwen Verdon, and introducing the songs If My Friends Could See Me Now, I'm a Brass Band and Hey, Big Spender. 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 about Eleanor Roosevelt, and Seesaw which reached Broadway in 1973 after a troubled out-of-town tour. 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 on I Love My Wife (1977) with Michael Stewart, On The Twentieth Century (1978) with Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and Home Again, Home Again with Barbara Fried, although the latter never reached Broadway.
In 1980, Coleman served as producer and composer for the circus-themed Barnum, which co-starred Jim Dale and Glenn Close. Later in the decade, he collaborated on Welcome to the Club (1988) with A.E. Hotchner, and City of Angels (1989) with David Zippel. In the latter, inspired by the hard-boiled detective film noir of the 1930s and '40s, 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 of Little Me.
Coleman's film scores include Father Goose (the standard Pass Me By), The Art of Love, Garbo Talks, Power, and Family Business. In addition, he wrote Shirley MacLaine's memorable television specials, If My Friends Could See Me Now and Gypsy in My Soul.
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 and Will Rogers' Follies.
Coleman was on the ASCAP Board of Directors for many years and also served as their Vice Chairman Writer.
Death
He died of
cardiac arrest on November 18, 2004 at the age of 75. He is survived by his wife, Shelby Coleman and their adopted daughter, Lily Cye Coleman (born in 2000). To the very end, he was part of the Broadway scene - just prior to passing away, he had attended the premiere of
Michael Frayn's new play
Democracy. and two
Grammy Awards.
;Honors
Among his many honors and awards, he was elected to the Songwriter's Hall of Fame (1981), and was the recipient of the Songwriter's Hall of Fame Johnny Mercer Award (1995) and the ASCAP Foundation Richard Rodgers Award for lifetime achievement in American musical theatre. and received an Honorary Doctorate from Hofstra University in 2000.
References
External links
Cy Coleman musicals at the Guide to Musical Theatre
Category:American jazz pianists
Category:American musical theatre composers
Category:American Theatre Hall of Fame inductees
Category:Drama Desk Award winners
Category:Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts alumni
Category:Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees
Category:1929 births
Category:2004 deaths
Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction
Category:Grammy Award winners
Category:Jubilee Records artists
Category:Jewish American composers and songwriters
Category:People from New York City
