The Best Musicals by Jerry Herman

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Updated December 14, 2017
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Jerry Herman musicals are some of the most endearing theater productions of all time, so this list largely speaks for itself. Herman lent his talents to so many iconic Broadway shows, composing and writing songs that impacted musical theater in every aspect.

Many of the best Jerry Herman musicals and plays have enjoyed multiple revivals. Perhaps the most famous of all musicals by Herman is Hello, Dolly! This blockbuster musical debuted on Broadway in 1964, with Carol Channing starring as matchmaker Dolly Levi.  Some of the most famous actresses of all time later played the role, including Ginger Rogers, Betty Grable, Pearl Bailey, Phyllis Diller, Ethel Merman, and, most recently, Bette Midler in 2017.

It’s hard to name just one top Jerry Herman musical, though. Herman also composed and wrote songs for Mame, La Cage aux Folles, and Milk and Honey. During his decades long career, Herman was nominated for, or won, seven Tony Awards and two Grammy Awards, solidifying his legacy as one of the greatest composers of musical theater.

This list of top Jerry Herman plays is astounding. Be sure to vote for all the best shows!

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  • La Cage aux Folles
    1
    La Cage aux Folles (French pronunciation: ​[la kaʒ o fɔl]) is a musical with a book by Harvey Fierstein and lyrics and music by Jerry Herman. Based on the 1973 French play of the same name by Jean Poiret, it focuses on a gay couple: Georges, the manager of a Saint-Tropez nightclub featuring drag entertainment, and Albin, his romantic partner and star attraction, and the farcical adventures that ensue when Georges's son, Jean-Michel, brings home his fiancée's ultra-conservative parents to meet them. La cage aux folles literally means "the cage of mad women". However, folles is also a slang term for effeminate homosexuals (queens). The original 1983 Broadway production received nine nominations for Tony Awards and won six, including Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book. The success of the musical spawned a West End production and several international runs. The 2004 Broadway revival won the Tony Award for Best Revival, and the 2008 London revival garnered the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival. The 2010 Broadway revival was nominated for eleven Tony Awards, winning the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical. La Cage aux Folles is the first musical which has won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical twice and it has won a Best Musical Tony Award (Best Musical or Best Revival of a Musical) for each of its Broadway productions. The show has garnered five nominations for Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical from its three Broadway productions, twice for portrayers of Georges and three times for portrayers of Albin, winning the award twice (both for actors playing Albin).
  • Hello, Dolly!
    2
    Hello, Dolly! is a musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1955. Hello, Dolly! was first produced on Broadway by David Merrick in 1964, winning a record 10 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, a record held for 35 years. The show album Hello, Dolly! An Original Cast Recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. The album reached number one on the Billboard album chart on June 6, 1964 and was replaced the next week by Louis Armstrong's album "Hello, Dolly!" The show has become one of the most enduring musical theatre hits, enjoying three Broadway revivals and international success. It was also made into a 1969 film that was nominated for seven Academy Awards, and won three.
  • Mame
    3

    Mame

    16 votes
    Mame is a musical with the book by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman. Originally titled My Best Girl, it is based on the 1955 novel Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis and a 1956 Broadway play, by Lawrence and Lee, that starred Rosalind Russell. Set in New York City and spanning the Great Depression and World War II, it focuses on eccentric bohemian Mame Dennis, whose famous motto is "Life is a banquet and most poor sons of bitches are starving to death." Her fabulous life with her wealthy friends is interrupted when the young son of her late brother arrives to live with her. They cope with the Depression in a series of adventures. In 1958, a film titled Auntie Mame, based on the play, was released by Warner Brothers once again starring Rosalind Russell in the title role. Russell was nominated for an Academy Award and won a Golden Globe for her portrayal. The musical opened on Broadway in 1966, starring Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur. The production became a hit and spawned a 1974 film with Lucille Ball in the title role and Arthur reprising her supporting role, as well as a London production, a Broadway revival, and a 40th anniversary revival at the Kennedy Center in 2006.
  • Mack & Mabel
    4
    Mack and Mabel is a musical with a book by Michael Stewart and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman. The plot involves the tumultuous romantic relationship between Hollywood director Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand, who became one of his biggest stars. In a series of flashbacks, Sennett relates the glory days of Keystone Studios from 1911, when he discovered Normand and cast her in dozens of his early "two-reelers", through his creation of Sennett's Bathing Beauties and the Keystone Cops to Mabel's death from tuberculosis in 1930. The original 1974 Broadway production produced by David Merrick starred Robert Preston and Bernadette Peters. It received eight Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical, but did not win any. Surprisingly, there was no nomination for Jerry Herman's score. Although the original production closed after only eight weeks, the songs were praised, and subsequent productions, especially in Britain, have had success.
  • Dear World
    5

    Dear World

    9 votes
    Dear World is a Broadway musical with a book by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman. With its opening, Herman became the first composer-lyricist in history to have three productions running simultaneously on Broadway. It starred Angela Lansbury, who won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical in 1969 for her performance as the Countess Aurelia. Based on Jean Giraudoux's play The Madwoman of Chaillot as adapted by Maurice Valency, it focuses on the Countesses Aurelia, Constance and Gabrielle, who deviously scheme to stop businessmen from drilling for oil in the Parisian neighbourhood of Chaillot. The forces of idealism, love and poetry win over those of greed, materialism and science.
  • Jerry’s Girls
    6

    Jerry’s Girls

    5 votes
    Jerry's Girls is a 1985 theatrical production of the play based on the songs of composer/lyricist Jerry Herman.