DECEMBER 21. 2007 lUStlOUt
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He Is What He Is
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A frank talk with tunesmith Jerry Herman
hink Broadway musical and you’ll proba
bly think of Jerry Herman. Every night,
showstoppers from hts trio of megahits,
Mame, Hello, Dolly! and La Cage aux
Folles, are sung around the world,
including—ironically, since he’s an openly gay
liberal Democrat—at the notoriously nasty 1992
Republican National Convention. His string of
awards and honors include multiple Tonys and
Grammys; now, the 76-year-old is being honored
with a candid, heartfelt documentary that airs New
Year’s Day on OPB. I recently spoke with Herman
by phone.
Floyd Sklaver: I read that you consider yourself
a musical playwright. What do you mean by that?
Jerry Herman: 1 could not sit down right now
and write a gtxxl song, just because you said write
me a new song.... But if you gave me a hook to read
or a play and there was a wonderful character who
had a goal in his or her life...I could write a song
for that character.
FS: Which of your songs best reflects your
life philosophy?
JH: “I’ll Be Here Tomorrow" [from The Grand
Tour]. And that’s because I’ve been HIV-positive
since 1983, and I’m so grateful that 1 was here at
rhe right time to get a cocktail of medication that
1 take every morning and has kept me alive and
really feeling great.
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FS: What motivated you to go public about
your illness?
JH: I want anyone out there who is diagnosed to
know that it is possible, and of course it depends on
503-51
BY FLOYD SKLAVER
thebelgianembassy@yahoo.com
the strain you have and on many things, hut here 1
am—how many years is that—25 years later just feel
ing great and getting reports...with the word “un
detectable” stamped on the report. That’s become my
favorite word. [Singing to the tune of Nat King Cole’s
“Unforgettable"] “Undetectable, that’s how I am.”
FS: You came of age before Stonewall. What
was gay New York like in the late ’50s and ’60s?
JH: I lived in Greenwich Village, so 1 was
surrounded by a gay-themed neighborhood and
friends that I’d stop and chat with on the street. It
was all very comfortable because I was in New
York.... 1 had a lot of wonderful romances, and
then 1 had this very serious relationship that 1 talk
about in the film. When Marty [Finkelstein] died,
I thought that part of my life was over, and then 1
met a man nine years ago from San Diego who was
in Palm Springs and we instantly joined forces.
We’ve had the most wonderful time. He’s 61.
FS: What creative ideas are knocking at your
subconscious today?
JH: To resurrect Dear World, which I think is
more pertinent today than it was when written. It’s
really an extension of the Gore documentary.
[Singing] “Something has wounded you, dear
world.” 1 have a new book...and I’m on a crusade
to get that show done.
FS: When did you find out you were HIV
positive?
JH: My partner at that time came home, he was
diagnosed.... What year was that? I think it was ’83
or '84.... And, of, course it was devastating. I real
ly considered it a death sentence, and I made all my
plans; you think about who to leave this to and all
these terrible things. The first cocktail I was put on
wore out its welcome. It made me sick, and I was
sliding.... By 1990 I was not doing well and I start
ed to look drawn and I really thought that was it.
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FS: If you could remake the movies of Dolly
and Mame, whom would you cast?
JH: The original ladies. I would have used
Carol Channing because she made if her own, and
God knows Angela Lanshury should have been
Marne. I did everything except stand on my head
in Macy’s window naked to make that happen.
Jerry Herman would like to resurrect Dear
World and is working on a new book.
.1
FS: Finally, where does your optimism come
from?
JH: 1 think it comes genetically from my moth
er, who is the most optimistic woman 1 ever knew,
and 1 think it’s something you’re born with. I didn’t
make a decision at one time in my life that my glass
was half full instead of half empty. It’s just always
been that way, and I’m very lucky.
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FS: And how lucky I am, Jerry Herman, to
have spoken with someone so charmingly open
and Out Going.
OPB presents W ords and M usic by J erry
H erman 9.-30p.m. Jan. 1, 2008.
F loyd S klaver wants to know about your event.
E-mail him at floydsldaver@comcast.net.
503 2S9 4644
Thu/SM
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