Sherry’s Cherries: Where or When

I have always said that one of the first people I hug when I cross over will be Lorenz Hart. Larry had so much talent. He was so gifted, but all he saw were his flaws. He left the world some of the most beautiful music, which I will play for you on this show. When Larry died at a young age, his partner Richard Rodgers would ultimately work with the immortal Oscar Hammerstein. Together Rodgers and Hammerstein created The Sound of Music, South Pacific, Oklahoma and more.

On my next Sherry’s Cherries, I will play for you some of my all-time favorite pieces of music and I do mean all time favorites. I have been a music collector since childhood. When I was nine years old, I searched for the nonexistent (at that time) copy of Allan Jone’s Donkey Serenade, a song from the 1930s.

On this show besides Rodgers and Hart and Hammerstein, you will hear from Frank Loesser, Johnny Mercer, and even Claude Debussy. I will also feature the wonderful Stephen Sondheim.

Oscar Hammerstein was Stephen Sondheim’s mentor. Incredibly talented, Stephen really wanted to write the words and music for shows. He wanted to be both composer and lyricist, but at the start of his career he was offered the lyricist’s role for Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story. Stephen was hesitant because he wanted to do words and music, but Oscar said take it. He did and it was a major success. Then he was offered the lyricist’s role in Jule Styne’s Gypsy. Again, Stephen was hesitant because he had a dream, but Oscar said, “take it”, and it was another major hit! Sondheim finally got his dream to do the words and music for his shows like Sunday in the Park with George, Into The Woods, and others. 

Talent will rise, like the cream.

On this show you will hear songs like Cole Porter’s Down In The Depths of The Ninetieth Floor. Cole also wrote words and music, and he came from money. Cole led a charmed life until a devastating accident left him with a permanent leg injury. His Down In The Depths of The Ninetieth Floor is a powerful song and Lisa Stanfield’s version of it is perfect. Also perfect is K.D. Lang’s So In Love. 

I hope you enjoy these songs. As usual the show might start a minute or two late, but it will open with Larry Hart’s Where or When and it will close with his With A Song In My Heart. 

With a song in My heart,

Sherry

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