Follow section front redirects in Spectrum

Enable NLP source in PCS for load testing

Switch off the News Alerts Survey Widget when we have enough responses

Poll to determine if new LUF updates are available

Allows the winning A/B test variant to be turned on without Spectrum deployment

Show infinite scrolling sections in Assembler MultiView

Show option for NLP article summaries in Action Bar

A general feature flag for Recipe Features that aren't yet released

Feature flag for media team features that aren't yet released

Use new Orca video player for preroll plugin in Spectrum

Show the snow tracker (instead of the heat tracker) on Spectrum

Middle East conflict live updates: Britain urges Hamas to accept ‘very generous’ 40-day Gaza cease-fire deal

Jayden Daniels is latest in Washington’s checkered history of first-round QBs

The Rangers swept the Capitals, and it’s time for the new core to take charge

The Rick Steves guide to life

The sad, stale state of in-flight vegetarian meals

How to train for a marathon on vacation

Ask Amy: Boyfriend’s CPA dad did my taxes wrong for years

Miss Manners: I think kindergarten graduations are ‘ridiculous’

Carolyn Hax: Is checking his phone the best way to prove he isn’t lying anymore?

Trump and allies say Biden pays rent for ‘illegals’ in Michigan. Not true.

Eighty percent of Ukraine-Israel bill will be spent in U.S. or by U.S. military

Facts in the Trump courtroom v. ‘facts’ in the court of public opinion

The new face of flooding

Where seas are rising at alarming speed 

Red carpet looks from the White House correspondents’ dinner

As U.S. rushes to send military aid, Ukrainians applaud lobbying effort

An assassination plot on American soil reveals a darker side of Modi’s India

Scotland leader Humza Yousaf resigns in latest setback for independence 

Election 2024 latest news: Trump, Biden returning to campaign trail this week

Tensions grow between Trump and Lake in Arizona race for Senate 

Is student loan debt an emergency? Take our quiz.

Humans might need to re-engineer the climate

The Fed’s fight against inflation needs to lose the dot plot

Soldiers reunite with their pets from overseas: ‘It meant everything to me’

Chiropractor works on giraffe, is nuzzled: ‘Giraffes are just giant dogs?’

An SUV was in flames on the highway. Strangers saved the driver.  

A TikTok ban could also end short-form video as we’ve come to know it

Meta’s oversight body prepares to lay off workers

An AI blood test purports to diagnose postpartum depression

 Donald Trump Speaks During A Campaign Rally In Green Bay Wisconsin

Jerry Herman, a Tony Award-winning composer whose contributions to the Broadway stage included such enduring classics as “Hello, Dolly!,” “Mame” and “La Cage aux Folles,” among the first major musicals that overtly addressed gay relationships, died Dec. 26 at a hospital in Miami Beach. He was 88.

He had a pulmonary ailment, said his goddaughter Jane Dorian.

Mr. Herman was a prolific composer whose songs — including “We Need a Little Christmas” and “Before the Parade Passes By,” “I Am What I Am” and the title tune of “Hello, Dolly!” — often became celebratory anthems and sometimes pop hits.

An unabashedly old-fashioned musical theater composer in the tradition of Irving Berlin and Rodgers and Hammerstein, Mr. Herman prized what he called “the simple, hummable show tune.”

“I write for a mass audience,” he told <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/03/AR2010120306086.html" title="www.washingtonpost.com">The Washington Post in 2010</a>. “I write for people, for a smiling public.”

His shows were sometimes criticized for not having the intellectual depth or musical complexity of those by his contemporary, Stephen Sondheim. But to Mr. Herman, the whole point of a musical was to offer spiritual uplift, a sweet melody and a soul-cleansing evening of pure entertainment.

“When people think of Jerry Herman, they think of big costumes, glamour, glitz — and he’s got that,” theatrical director Eric Schaeffer told The Post in 2010. “But take that off and there’s a great undercurrent of emotion. . . . He’s been underappreciated. As times change, people say, ‘Oh that’s so out of style and old-fashioned,’ and you’re like, ‘No, that’s great songwriting.’ People aren’t writing those songs anymore.”

Mr. Herman wrote the words and music for 10 Broadway shows during his career and won Tony Awards for his scores of “Hello, Dolly!” in 1964 and “La Cage aux Folles” two decades later. In 2009, he received a Tony for lifetime achievement, followed a year later by the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington.

His rousing, upbeat musicals often featured a bruised but defiantly proud woman in the central role: Dolly Levi, most memorably portrayed by <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/broadway-legend-carol-channing-dies-at-97/2019/01/15/ce500c2c-6615-11e0-a4e1-a72fabc2ddae_story.html">Carol Channing</a>, in “Hello, Dolly!,” which ran on Broadway for almost seven years and has been revived several times since; and the title role in “Mame,” which Angela Lansbury premiered on Broadway in 1966.

Even Mr. Herman admitted that his larger-than-life female characters, with their stunning costumes and showstopping songs, were stand-ins for his mother, Ruth Sachs, a onetime cabaret singer who encouraged her son’s musical career but died before he had a show on Broadway.

“She was glamorous like Mame and witty like Dolly,” Mr. Herman told People magazine in 1986. “On opening nights I stand in the theater and wish she could see my work.”

In 1969, with “Mame,” “Hello, Dolly!” and “Dear World,” Mr. Herman had three plays running simultaneously on Broadway. A 1964 recording of the “Dolly” theme by jazz great <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmfeKUNDDYs">Louis Armstrong </a>became a hit, knocking the Beatles out of the No. 1 spot on the Billboard pop chart. “Mame” included a memorable theme song — “You coax the blues right out of the horn, Mame” — and the cheery “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0i14Yb1QMXY">We Need a Little Christmas</a>,” which has become a standard.

During the 1970s, Mr. Herman continued to turn out musicals, including “Mack and Mabel” (1974) and “The Grand Tour” (1979), but with less success. He retreated for a few years, decorating some of the three dozen houses he owned over the years, before making a triumphant return to Broadway in 1983 with “La Cage aux Folles.”

Based on a French play and movie from the 1970s, Mr. Herman’s musical focused on two middle-aged gay men in a committed relationship. They are raising a son who is about to marry into a conservative family. The action takes place on the French Riviera, where the couple, Georges and Albin, run a nightclub. Albin comes alive when he puts on a wig, gown and makeup for his performances in drag as Zaza.

“The first song that popped out of me was ‘A Little More Mascara,’ ” Mr. Herman said in 1983, “in which you actually see a dowdy, aging, not-terribly-happy man transform himself into this glamorous creature.”

At the end of Act I, Albin sings the anthem “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0Ru_iaxf3Q">I Am What I Am</a>,” which was soon adopted as a stand-up-and-shout celebration of gay pride.

“I did not do ‘La Cage’ to make a political statement,” Mr. Herman told The Post in 2010. “I did it because I thought it was great entertainment.”

The play, which ran on Broadway for four years, won the Tony Award for best musical, beating out Sondheim’s high-concept “Sunday in the Park With George.” “La Cage” arrived during the height of the AIDS epidemic and helped put gay life into the cultural mainstream at a time when many gay men were being stigmatized.

“We went to hell and back in those years, when nobody wanted to talk about anything but AIDS,” Harvey Fierstein, who wrote the dialogue for “La Cage” and has played Albin onstage, told The Post, “but because of ‘La Cage,’ we had a place to focus positive energy and discuss another aspect of being gay.”

In the mid-1980s, Mr. Herman, who was openly gay, was diagnosed as HIV-positive. He lost his partner, Marty Finkelstein, to AIDS in 1989.

“When you’re first diagnosed as HIV-positive, your head spins and you think, I’m going to be next and I haven’t done half the things I wanted to,” he told The Post in 1995. “I honestly panicked.”

He was near death several times, but through experimental medical treatments he regained his health. He went on to present new productions of his work and appeared in theatrical revues, telling stories and playing the piano as singers performed his music.

“My whole reason for being,” he said in 1995, “is to entertain people.”

Gerald Sheldon Herman was born July 10, 1931, in New York City and grew up in Jersey City. His father was a gym teacher. Both parents played musical instruments at home and helped run a summer camp in New York’s Catskill Mountains.

Mr. Herman, who was self-taught on piano, often attended Broadway plays with his parents. After seeing Irving Berlin’s “Annie Get Your Gun” in 1946, he came home and played several of the songs from memory.

“I thought, my God, what a gift this man has given me,” he told NPR in 1994. “And from that moment on, that’s all I wanted to do with my life.”

After receiving encouragement from Broadway composer Frank Loesser, Mr. Herman transferred from the Parsons School of Design in New York to the University of Miami, where he studied theater and wrote for revues. He moved to New York after his graduation in 1953.

He wrote incidental music and appeared in cabarets before his first Broadway musical, “Milk and Honey,” was staged in 1961. He was nominated for a Tony Award for best score.

About a year later, Mr. Herman persuaded producer David Merrick to let him write some sample music for what would become “Hello, Dolly!” Over one weekend, he composed four songs, which he presented to Merrick on Monday morning.

“He stood up behind his desk,” Mr. Herman later recalled, “and he said, ‘Kid, the show is yours!’ ”

In addition to his three blockbuster hits, Mr. Herman had several popular revues, including “Jerry’s Girls” and “An Evening With Jerry Herman,” that played on Broadway and in national tours. He published a memoir, “Showtune,” co-written with Marilyn Stasio, in 1996.

Two of his musicals, “Hello, Dolly!” and “Mame” were made into films, both of which Mr. Herman intensely disliked — the former for its directing, by Gene Kelly, and the latter because he thought Lucille Ball was miscast in the lead role.

Survivors include his partner, Terry Marler, of Miami Beach.

Mr. Herman noted that “Hello, Dolly!” was not an immediate hit with audiences and required some tinkering during out-of-town tryouts. He scrapped a song at the end of Act I and, one night in a hotel room in Detroit, wrote “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w3TmF5Jr4E">Before the Parade Passes By</a>,” which became the emotional centerpiece of the musical. He quoted the lyrics in a 1995 interview with The Post:

I’m gonna go and taste Saturday’s high life.

I’m gonna get some life back into my life.

“I wrote that number for the character of Dolly Levi, who was brave enough to take one last chance in life,” Mr. Herman said. “I liked that about her. I certainly didn’t know I was writing about me at the time. But God knows, I was.”

<email>matt.schudel@washpost.com</email>

Read more <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/">Washington Post obituaries</a>

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/allee-willis-who-co-wrote-earth-wind-and-fires-good-time-hit-september-dies-at-72/2019/12/26/366e840a-274b-11ea-b2ca-2e72667c1741_story.html">Allee Willis, who co-wrote Earth, Wind &amp; Fire’s good-time hit ‘September,’ dies at 72</a>

<a href="https://advance.lexis.com/search/?pdmfid=1519360&amp;crid=22fb2abb-ec5c-4d35-9e84-98c384eb7d73&amp;pdsearchterms=%22Jerry+Herman%22+and+dolly+and+%22la+cage%22+and+atl8(herman)+and+length+%3E+500&amp;pdstartin=hlct%3A1%3A1&amp;pdtypeofsearch=searchboxclick&amp;pdsearchtype=SearchBox&amp;pdqttype=or&amp;pdsf=&amp;pdquerytemplateid=urn%3Aquerytemplate%3Ad074a6e600ffd0fa82394efd01912768~%5EMagazines~%5Etrue~%5EMagazines%7Curn%3Aquerytemplate%3Ace214e19597d211a796b53f10b5cf8df~%5ENewswires~%5Etrue~%5ENewswires%7Curn%3Aquerytemplate%3Ac34415a484d580d7d98a12137e1c3625~%5ETranscripts~%5Etrue~%5ETranscripts%7Curn%3Aquerytemplate%3Acde5edd6a5638c1bd43f1ee9572b5465~%5ENewspapers~%5Efalse~%5ENewspapers&amp;ecomp=by8hkkk&amp;earg=pdsf&amp;prid=3ae3a1e8-98fe-4883-85de-508a7917d15b">Johanna Lindsey, master of historical romance novels, dies at 67</a>

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/abbey-simon-piano-virtuoso-attentive-to-musics-inner-life-dies-at-99/2019/12/22/8c8896fe-24d1-11ea-ad73-2fd294520e97_story.html">Abbey Simon, piano virtuoso attentive to music’s ‘inner life,’ dies at 99</a>

More than 30 regional and national journalism awards.

Muhammad Ali: The Birth of a Legend, Miami, 1961-1964

University of Nebraska,  (A.B., English)

University of Virginia (M.A., English)

Matt Schudel has been an obituary writer at The Washington Post since 2004. He previously worked for publications in Washington, New York, North Carolina and Florida.

Matt Schudel

The Washington Post

Jerry Herman

Search Death Notices

Place a Death Notice

Request a News Obituary

Obituaries

iptc-media/arts_culture_entertainment_and_media/arts_and_entertainment/music/musical_genre

iptc-media/arts_culture_entertainment_and_media/arts_and_entertainment/theatre/music_theatre/musical

iptc-media/arts_culture_entertainment_and_media/arts_and_entertainment/music

iptc-media/arts_culture_entertainment_and_media/arts_and_entertainment/music/musical_genre/jazz_music

iptc-media/arts_culture_entertainment_and_media/culture

iptc-media/arts_culture_entertainment_and_media

iptc-media/arts_culture_entertainment_and_media/arts_and_entertainment/theatre

iptc-media/arts_culture_entertainment_and_media/arts_and_entertainment/theatre/music_theatre

iptc-media/arts_culture_entertainment_and_media/arts_and_entertainment

client-blocklists/Client List: Morgan Stanley KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Amazon KWs - EXCLUDE ALL 

client-blocklists/Client List: Becton Dickinson KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/CLIENT LIST: Nomura KWs 2021 - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Boeing KWs 2021- INCLUDE ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Exxon Mobil  - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/GEICO KWs - INCLUDES ANY_4.26.21

client-blocklists/Client List: T. Rowe Price KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Microsoft KWs 2 - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/T. Rowe Price KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

advertising/B2_Affluent_legacyaux_eqw

advertising/B2_Arts & Entertainment_legacyaux_btb

advertising/B2_Asian Lifestyle Content_legacyaux_im0

advertising/B2_Awards Shows_legacyaux_wib

client-blocklists/HBO KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Ford/Lincoln KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/ExxonMobil 03312021 KWs - INCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Bank of America KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/WaPo: Combined Disaster Keyword List - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Optum KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Navy Federal Credit Union NFCU KWs 2 - EXCLUDES ALL - 12.23.20

advertising/B2_Classical Music Keywords_legacyaux_zev

client-blocklists/Client List: Eli Lily KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Purina KWs - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/Citrix Mindfulness

advertising/B2_Family Matter 2.12.15_legacyaux_lf3

advertising/B2_Family & Parenting_legacyaux_v02

advertising/B2_Health and Beauty_legacyaux_3fv

advertising/Client Keywords: On Running

advertising/Racing and Nascar Enthusiasts

client-blocklists/BP KWs - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/B2_Family_legacyaux_icy

advertising/B2_LGBT & Same Sex Marriage_legacyaux_l3o

advertising/B2_Lifestyle_legacyaux_ipv

advertising/B2_Music_legacyaux_yzu

advertising/B2_Positive News_legacyaux_hlt

advertising/B2_Shopping_legacyaux_sa6

advertising/B2_Society_legacyaux_0cz

advertising/B2_Theater, Dance and Spoken Word_legacyaux_3qg

advertising/B2_TV and Movies_legacyaux_vat

advertising/B2_Women's Beauty_legacyaux_9jv

advertising/B2_Men's Grooming_legacyaux_1ve

advertising/B2_Pop Culture_legacyaux_ei3

client-blocklists/Client List: GEICO KWs

client-blocklists/Client List: KPMG KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Navy Federal Credit Union NFCU KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Siemens KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Cisco KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: AT&T ALT KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Mercedes KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/FX Excludes All Disney

client-blocklists/Client List: Inpixon KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Boeing KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Google KWs - INCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: AT&T KWs 2021 - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Philip Morris KWs - INCLUDES ANY 

client-blocklists/Capital One KWs 2 - INCLUDES ANY - 1.4.21

client-blocklists/Bank of America Merrill Lynch KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Google PG KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Chase KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Office Depot KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: ETrade KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

prism://prism.query/obits-stream&limit=20

The Washington Post Obituaries section has Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia obituaries, appreciations and death notices as well as historical obits and celebrity obituaries.

D.C., Md. & Va.

The Washington Post offers breaking local news, weather and traffic information for the DC, Maryland and Virginia metro areas, plus information about school districts, crime, government, religion, the lottery,restaurant reviews and obituaries.