My Talks With Composer Jerry Herman And Whom He Wanted For 'Mame' Revival

Very sad news: Broadway composer Jerry Herman is dead at 88. The composer of “Hello,. Dolly!”, “Mane” , “L:a Cage Aux Faux,” “Dear World,” “Mack and Mabel,” “Milk and Honey,” “The Grand Tour,” and other shows died of pulmonary complications in his Miami home where he had been living with his partner, real estate broker Terry Marler.

He had a special relationship with Goodspeed Musicals where”Dolly,” “Mame,” “Mack and Mabel” and “La Cage Aux Folles” were revived and “with a re-imaged “Dear World” was presented at its Norma TTerris Theatre in Chester.

I interviewed the composer several times over the years. Here are a few of those stories.

From 2000

By FRANK RIZZO

Who does Jerry Herman see as "Mame" in the upcoming TV version of the show (for which he wrote the music), now that Barbra Streisand has said she will not play the role? (She also said she wasn't going to perform in concert anymore, only to return for one more farewell show, but let's take her at her word for now.)

Herman thinks Cher would be cher.

"Cher is interested," says Herman, who says he wasn't automatically convinced when the name first came up. "But I have to say that when I saw her in the film 'Tea With Mussolini,' it made me feel she could really do the role. She had such style, and I thought, 'This is a really fine actress.' Plus, she wears clothes beautifully."

As for the "Mame" sidekick part of Vera Charles, "I will do anything to have Christine Baranski, who was born for the role." And Gooch? "I think Tracy Ullman would be fabulous. So if you had a cast like this, there's no stopping you."