Sheldon Harnick
Encyclopedia
Sheldon Harnick is an American lyricist
best known for his collaborations with composer
Jerry Bock
on hit musicals such as Fiddler on the Roof
.
Harnick began his career writing words and music to comic songs in musical revues. One of these, "The Merry Minuet", was popularized by the Kingston Trio. It is in the caustic style usually associated with Tom Lehrer
and is sometimes incorrectly attributed to him.
Lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
best known for his collaborations with composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Jerry Bock
Jerry Bock
Jerrold Lewis "Jerry" Bock was an American musical theater composer. He received the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama with Sheldon Harnick for their 1959 musical Fiorello! and the Tony Award for Best Composer and Lyricist for the 1964 musical Fiddler on the Roof with...
on hit musicals such as Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters by Sholem Aleichem...
.
Harnick began his career writing words and music to comic songs in musical revues. One of these, "The Merry Minuet", was popularized by the Kingston Trio. It is in the caustic style usually associated with Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
Thomas Andrew "Tom" Lehrer is an American singer-songwriter, satirist, pianist, mathematician and polymath. He has lectured on mathematics and musical theater...
and is sometimes incorrectly attributed to him.
Stage productions
- New Faces of 1952New Faces of 1952New Faces of 1952 is a musical revue with songs and comedy skits. It ran on Broadway for nearly a year in 1952 and was then made into a motion picture in 1954...
(1952) (music) - Shangri-LaShangri-La (musical)Shangri-La is a musical with a book and lyrics by James Hilton, Jerome Lawrence, and Robert E. Lee and music by Harry Warren.Based on Hilton's classic 1933 novel Lost Horizon, it focuses on Hugh Conway, a veteran member of the British diplomatic service, who stumbles across a utopian lamasery high...
(1956) (music) - The Body BeautifulThe Body BeautifulThe Body Beautiful is a musical with a book by Joseph Stein and Will Glickman, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and music by Jerry Bock.The first collaboration by Harnick and Bock, and the only one to have a contemporary setting, its plot focuses on a wealthy Dartmouth College graduate who aspires to be...
(1958) (Bock) - PortofinoPortofino (musical)Portofino is a musical with a book by Richard Ney, lyrics by Ney and Sheldon Harnick, and music by Louis Bellson and Will Irwin.Set in a piazza in the Italian resort town of Portofino, the convoluted plot involves auto-racing duke Nicky; his Texan rival Kitty; his granddaughter Angela, a practicing...
(1958) (lyrics with Richard NeyRichard NeyRichard Ney was an American actor and investment counselor.He was born in New York City, the son of Erwin Maximillian Ney and Rebie Margaret Flood. He was the grandson of the Rev. Theodore L. Flood, editor of The Chautauquan...
) - Fiorello!Fiorello!Fiorello! is a musical about New York City mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia, a reform Republican who took on Tammany Hall. The book is by Jerome Weidman and George Abbott, drawn substantially from the 1955 volume Life With Fiorello by Ernest Cuneo, with lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and music by Jerry Bock...
(1959) (Bock) (winner of the Pulitzer Prize for DramaPulitzer Prize for DramaThe Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than the calendar year...
) - Music to Ford-i-fy your future (1959) (Bock), an industrial musicalIndustrial musicalAn industrial musical is a musical performed internally for the employees or shareholders of a business, to create a feeling of being part of a team, to entertain, and/or to educate and motivate the management and salespeople to improve sales and profit...
for the Ford Motor CompanyFord Motor CompanyFord Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK... - TenderloinTenderloin (musical)Tenderloin is a musical with a book by George Abbott and Jerome Weidman, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and music by Jerry Bock, their follow-up to the highly successful Pulitzer Prize-winning Fiorello! a year earlier. The musical is based on a 1959 novel by Samuel Hopkins Adams...
(1960) (Bock) - Smiling the Boy Fell Dead (1961) (David Baker)
- She Loves MeShe Loves MeShe Loves Me is a musical with a book by Joe Masteroff, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and music by Jerry Bock.The musical is the fifth adaptation of the play Parfumerie by Hungarian playwright Miklos Laszlo, following the 1940 James Stewart-Margaret Sullavan film The Shop around the Corner and the...
(1963) (Bock) - Fiddler on the RoofFiddler on the RoofFiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters by Sholem Aleichem...
(1964) (Bock) - The Apple TreeThe Apple TreeThe Apple Tree is a series of three musical playlets with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and a book by Bock and Harnick with contributions from Jerome Coopersmith...
(1966) (Bock) - Her First RomanHer First RomanHer First Roman is a musical with music, lyrics, and book by Ervin Drake, based on the 1898 George Bernard Shaw play Caesar and Cleopatra.-Original production:...
(1968) (Bock, brought in to fix show) - The Rothschilds (1970) (Bock)
- Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines (1975) (Jack BeesonJack BeesonJack Beeson was an American composer. He was known particularly for his operas, the best known of which are Lizzie Borden, Hello Out There! and The Sweet Bye and Bye.-Biography:...
) - RexRex (musical)Rex is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and libretto by Sherman Yellen, based on the life of King Henry VIII.-Production history:...
(1976) (Richard RodgersRichard RodgersRichard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
) - The Madwoman of Central Park WestThe Madwoman of Central Park WestThe Madwoman of Central Park West is a semi-autobiographical one-woman musical with a book by Arthur Laurents and Phyllis Newman and songs by various composers and lyricists...
(1979) - The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1979) (Michel LegrandMichel LegrandMichel Jean Legrand is a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and pianist...
) - A Christmas Carol (1982) (Michel LegrandMichel LegrandMichel Jean Legrand is a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and pianist...
) - A Wonderful LifeA Wonderful Life (musical)A Wonderful Life is a musical with a book and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and music by Joe Raposo.Based on the classic Frank Capra film starring James Stewart, the story closely follows the original plot, set in 1945, telling the story of a suicidal man whose guardian angel reveals to him how...
(Joe RaposoJoe RaposoJoseph Guilherme Raposo, OIH was a Portuguese-American composer, songwriter, pianist, television writer and lyricist, best known for his work on the children's television series Sesame Street, for which he wrote the theme song, as well as classic songs such as "Bein' Green" and "C is for Cookie"...
) - Cyrano: The Musical (1993) (contributed English lyrics)
- Coyote Tales (1998) (Henry MolliconeHenry MolliconeHenry Mollicone is an American composer and musical instructor. He currently resides in Saratoga, California.-Career:Mollicone is known for his one-act operas, including Emperor Norton, Starbird, and The Mask of Evil. One of his most popular works is the one-act chamber opera The Face on the...
) - Dragons (2003) (music by himself)
- Fiddler on the RoofFiddler on the RoofFiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters by Sholem Aleichem...
(2004) (contributed lyrics for one new song, "Topsy Turvy") (Jerry BockJerry BockJerrold Lewis "Jerry" Bock was an American musical theater composer. He received the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama with Sheldon Harnick for their 1959 musical Fiorello! and the Tony Award for Best Composer and Lyricist for the 1964 musical Fiddler on the Roof with...
) - The Phantom TollboothThe Phantom TollboothThe Phantom Tollbooth is a children's adventure novel and modern fairy tale published in 1961, written by Norton Juster and illustrated by Jules Feiffer. It tells the story of a bored young boy named Milo who unexpectedly receives a magic tollbooth one afternoon and, having nothing better to do,...
(2007) (lyrics, and co-credited with Norton Juster for the book)
Honors and awards
- In 1960, Harnick, Bock and Jerome WeidmanJerome WeidmanJerome Weidman was an American playwright and novelist. He collaborated with George Abbott on the book for the musical Fiorello! with music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick...
(book) won the Pulitzer Prize in Drama for Fiorello!Fiorello!Fiorello! is a musical about New York City mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia, a reform Republican who took on Tammany Hall. The book is by Jerome Weidman and George Abbott, drawn substantially from the 1955 volume Life With Fiorello by Ernest Cuneo, with lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and music by Jerry Bock... - Sheldon Harnick has won three Antoinette Perry (Tony) Awards. In 1960, he, Bock and Weidman tied with Rodgers and HammersteinRodgers and HammersteinRichard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
for best musical—that year, both Fiorello!Fiorello!Fiorello! is a musical about New York City mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia, a reform Republican who took on Tammany Hall. The book is by Jerome Weidman and George Abbott, drawn substantially from the 1955 volume Life With Fiorello by Ernest Cuneo, with lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and music by Jerry Bock...
and The Sound of MusicThe Sound of MusicThe Sound of Music is a musical by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers...
won. And in 1965, Bock & Harnick's Fiddler on the RoofFiddler on the RoofFiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters by Sholem Aleichem...
won for both Best Musical and Best Composer and Lyricist. - In honor of Harnick's vast influence on American music, on May 19, 1984 he was awarded the prestigious University of Pennsylvania Glee Club Award of Merit. Beginning in 1964, this award "established to bring a declaration of appreciation to an individual each year that has made a significant contribution to the world of music and helped to create a climate in which our talents may find valid expression."
- Sheldon Harnick was honored at the Twenty-Sixth Annual William IngeWilliam IngeWilliam Motter Inge was an American playwright and novelist, whose works typically feature solitary protagonists encumbered with strained sexual relations. In the early 1950s, he had a string of memorable Broadway productions, and one of these, Picnic, earned him a Pulitzer Prize...
Theatre Festival located in Independence, KansasIndependence, KansasIndependence is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 9,483.-Geography:...
, in 2007. - Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock were presented with the 18th Annual York Theatre Company's prestigious Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Theatre in 2009
External links
- Songwriter Hall of Fame biography
- TonyAwards.com Interview with Sheldon Harnick
- William Inge Theater Festival website