Jerry is Jerry Herman (1931- 2019) who was one of the leading composers and lyricists of the American musical theatre. He won many awards and honours and is famed for such Broadway successes as Hello, Dolly! (starring Carol Channing), Mame (starring Angela Lansbury) and La Cage aux Folles. The latter was excellently revived at the Menier Chocolate Factory with Douglas Hodge.
Hermann wrote shows which were performed by big stars: Ethel Merman, Mary Martin, Ginger Rogers, Martha Raye, Betty Grable, Pearl Bailey, Dorothy Lamour, Eve Arden, Alice Faye, Yvonne de Carlo, Bernadette Peters.
Jerry’s Girls is not a musical. It’s not a revue. It’s a cabaret, a collection of songs from his shows, which also include Mack & Mabel, Milk and Honey and Dear World.
Last year, Old Friends paid a wonderful tribute to Stephen Sondhheim with a starry cast and big production numbers. Jerry’s Girls celebrates Jerry Herman’s legacy more modestly with just three singers and no chorus of dancers. Cassidy Janson, Jessica Martin and Julie Yammanee are directed by Hannah Chissick and choregraphed by Matt Cole.
The songs, separated from the musicals they were written for, do not have the same theatrical impact. One song after another doesn’t really work. There’s no drama, no excitement; it all feels much of the same. A number of songs actually need a big choreographed Broadway production number and some exciting choreography; and without it they are much diminished.
I am looking forward to seeing Imelda Staunton in Hello, Dolly!, which is opening at the London Palladium in July.
To learn more about Robert Tanitch and his reviews, click here to go to his website. 
