Born On This Day- March 18th... John Kander

The celebrated songwriting team of Kander & Ebb were working on the musical The Scottsboro Boys when Ebb died in 2004 of a heart attack. The Scottsboro Boys tells the true story of 9 young black men falsely accused of rape in 1931. It opend on Broadway in 2010 to strong reviews & weak box office. Today is the birthday of the musical half of the team- John Kander.



From The Act to Zorba, for 5 decades, composer John Kander & lyricist Fred Ebb have been Broadway's paramount songwriting team, the longest running music/lyrics partnership in Broadway musical history. They've given the world some of the great creations of the American Musical Stage. Their scores have a breathtaking ability to capture the flavor of a specific time & place, with music brimming with audacity & brilliant, droll, penetrating lyrics. The team has taken on serious, challenging subjects: Nazism, abortion, murder, capital punishment, prison torture, greed, corruption, with originality & stunning talent. Kander & Ebb combine razzle dazzle with a political conscience. On John Kander’s award shelf sit Tonys, Oscars, Emmys, Grammys & Songwriters Hall of Fame Awards. They've written for the great musical performers of our day: Lauren Bacall, Joel Grey, Liza, Stephen Rutledge, Gwen Verdon, Frank Sinatra, Robert Goulet, Chita Rivera, & Barbra Streisand.


In 1965, their 1st produced show-Flora, the Red Menace introduced Liza Minnelli to Broadway & a young singer Barbra Streisand had hits with 2 of their songs- My Coloring Book & I Don’t Care Much, & their careers were launched. 22 shows later & they are still at it, even with ½ the team deceased. Here are the John Kander contributions to Musical Theatre:


• A Family Affair (1962) - lyrics by William Goldman
• Flora the Red Menace (1965)
• Cabaret (1966)
• Go Fly a Kite (1966) - music and lyrics also by Walter Marks
• The Happy Time (1968)
• Zorba (1968)
• 70, Girls, 70 (1971)
• Chicago (1976)
• The Act (1978)
• Woman of the Year (1981)
• The Rink (1984)
• & The World Goes 'Round (1991)
• Kiss of the Spider Woman (1992)
• Steel Pier (1997)
• Fosse (1999)
• Over & Over (1999)
• The Visit (2001)
• Curtains (2006) - additional lyrics by Rupert Holmes
• All About Us (2007 revision of Over & Over)
• The Scottsboro Boys (2010)

Chicago remains one of my favorite musicals & in high school, I adored the score to their not so successful- 70, Girls, 70s, including this tune:



In 2006, at 79 years old, John Kander bravely came out of the closet. He said he had waited so long for professional reasons. I agree, because when choosing to go to a Broadway musical, audiences have often been known to bypass shows written by homosexuals.