CY

COLEMAN

Cy Coleman is an unusually gifted pianist, composer, and producer who began as a child prodigy and blossomed into one of the most well-known and well-respected artists of the American musical theatre. He achieved his great success by creating memorable theatre scores that reflected the jazz and pop influences of his early musical training, rather than the traditional theatrical music formula.

“Cy Coleman” was born Seymour Kaufman on June 14, 1929, in New York, where his parents—middle-class emigrants from Russia—were landlords. When one of their tenants was unable to pay the rent, the Kaufman family was given a piano in lieu of payment. At the age of four, Seymour displayed a natural talent on the piano and was given classical lessons free by a local teacher. He played the piano in many local and state competitions: at six, he performed in the Steinway Hall and at seven, in the Carnegie Hall.

PRECOCIOUS TALENT

As a young teenager, Seymour already had a virtuoso’s experience as a musician, and he developed his technique further by studying at the School of Music and Art, and the New York College of Music. After graduating from that college in 1948, he changed from classical to jazz and popular music, and under the name of Cy Coleman started to make a good living as a pianist in Manhattan’s elite supper clubs.

Coleman developed his career as a composer and performer of light jazz. He even opened “Cy Coleman’s Playroom,” a café in Manhattan. Working with lyricist Carolyn Leigh, he wrote a number of pop hits for Frank SINATRA, most notably “Witchcraft” (1957), and the immensely popular “The Best Is Yet to Come” (1959). Coleman also wrote titles for other world-class singers of the 1960s, including another popular hit “Firefly” (1958), sung by Tony BENNETT. Coleman also wrote or co-wrote many songs for Nat King COLE, Mabel Mercer, and Sammy Davis, Jr.

Coleman’s first musical was Wildcat (1960), co-written with Carolyn Leigh. The show starred Lucille Ball, which added to its critical success. He and Leigh also wrote Little Me (1962), a critically acclaimed yet sadly short-lived Broadway show. Perhaps his most famous theatrical work was Sweet Charity, written in 1963 with his new lyricist partner, Dorothy Fields. Since then, Cy Coleman has written many other hit stage shows, notably Seesaw (1973), Barnum (1980), City of Angels (1989), Welcome to the Club (1989), and The Will Rogers Follies (1991). Coleman’s work has appeared in films and on television, and his songs have been recorded by countless popular singers.

In 1990, Coleman won Tony Awards for best musical and best score with City of Angels. According to one critic, City of Angels “both satirised and celebrated the film noir genre and the hard-boiled detective fiction of the 1940s … The smart, swinging, sexy, and funny play,” in which Coleman “used a scat singing quartet reminiscent of the Modernaires as a roving chorus,” reminds one of “listening to [the radio show] Your Hit Parade of 1946, except that the composer’s own Broadway personality remakes the past in his own effervescent, melodic style.”

Coleman’s Broadway success continued with The Will Rogers Follies, which won six Tonys, including best musical and best score, as well as two Grammys. The 1991 season marked the second consecutive year that he won Tony awards in both categories. Coleman heads his own music publishing firm, Notable Music. He also serves on the board of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), and is a member of the U.S. Songwriters’ Hall of Fame.

James Tuverson

SEE ALSO:
FILM MUSIC; MUSICALS; POPULAR MUSIC.

FURTHER READING

Kasha, Al, and Joel Hirschhorn. Notes on Broadway (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987);

Kislan, Richard. The Musical: A Look at the American Musical Theater (New York: Applause Theater Books, 1985).

SUGGESTED LISTENING

Barnum; Broadway Pianorama; Comin’ Home; Cy Coleman; Flower Drum Song; If My Friends Could See Me Now; The Will Rogers Follies.