You gotta have heart!
Richard Adler, 1921-2012

June 24, 2012

http://www.steynonline.com/5047/hey-there-heart

The composer and lyricist Richard Adler died on Thursday, a few weeks shy of his 91st birthday. To mark his passing, we're re-airing the Song of the Week audio edition first broadcast last year to wish him a happy 90th. In this special program, Mark focuses on a song apiece from two of the biggest Broadway hits of the 1950s, The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees, and includes two exclusive rare live performances: from the Steyn archives, Mark prompts Richard Adler himself to recreate "Hey, There", the big ballad from Adler & Ross' first Broadway score - and then Mark joins Liza Minnelli, the star of Cabaret; Gwen Verdon, the star of Chicago and Sweet Charity; the great Russian ballerina Natalia Makarova; and a host of Broadway's greatest talent, from Kander & Ebb, writers of "New York, New York", to Comden & Green, writers of Singin' In The Rain, from Sheldon Harnick, the lyricist of Fiddler On The Roof, to Hal Prince, the director of Phantom Of The Opera, in a rousing performance of Adler & Ross' great showstopper, "You gotta have Heart".

We'll also hear more music from Richard Adler's long life, performed by Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Elton John, Peggy Lee, Elvis Presley, Sammy Davis Jr, and Allan Sherman - plus three words from Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra, and a famous birthday greeting from Marilyn Monroe. To listen to this special tribute to Richard Adler, click the "play" button just above.

(The picture above shows Richard Adler with his then wife, Sally Ann Howes)