Spettacolo
"Les Miserables" Lyricist and Former Theatre Critic Herbert Kretzmer Turns 90 As World's Longest Running Musical Turns 30
- Born in South Africa , Herbert Kretzmer spent six years off and on in Paris before moving to London in 1954. From 1951 to 1987, he was a reporter, entertainment columnist, feature writer, and theatre critic for the Johannesburg Sunday Express and London's Daily Sketch, Sunday Dispatch, Daily Express (where, as senior drama critic, he covered some 2,500 first nights) and the Daily Mail, serving as the paper's TV critic from 1979 to 1987.
- His feature article for the Daily Mail, "I wrote the lyrics to 'Les Miserables' while working as the Mail's TV critic – and it changed my life" http://www.herbertkretzmer.com/interview.html tells the story of how a full-time critic and part-time song writer was chosen to write the lyrics for the most successful musical the world has ever seen.
- He has encountered, interviewed and profiled some of the twentieth century's legendary theatre, literature, show business and sports personalities, including Rex Harrison , Truman Capote , Walt Disney , Cary Grant , Henry Miller , Billy Wilder , Sugar Ray Robinson , Marcel Marceau , Yul Brynner , Boris Karloff, Marlene Dietrich , J. Paul Getty , John Steinbeck , Duke Ellington , Judy Garland , Groucho Marx, Peter Sellers and even Hitler's favorite filmmaker, Leni Riefenstahl .
- He met Hemingway, ran with the bulls in Pamplona and played poker with John Houston .
- In 2011, he was appointed Officer of the Order of British Empire (OBE) and he was appointed Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government.
- Susan Boyle's stunning performance of Kretzmer's "I Dreamed a Dream" (from "Les Miserables") on " Britain's Got Talent" TV program made her an international sensation.
- "Suddenly," the song he wrote for the blockbuster film version of "Les Miserables" received Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations.
- His other memorable songs include "She" and "Yesterday When I was Young" (both written with Charles Aznavour ) and "Goodness Gracious Me."
In his second career as a lyricist., he wrote the musical "Kristina" with Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus from ABBA, "Marguerite" with "Les Miserables" colleagues Claude-Michael Schonberg and Alain Boublil , and the film, "Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humpe And Find True Happiness?" with Anthony Newley .
- On October 8 , (three days after lyricist Herbert Kretzmer celebrates his 90 birthday), the London production of "Les Miserables" will celebrate the show's 30 birthday. It is currently the longest running musical in the world, having played over 51,000 professional performances before a total audience of 70 million people and earning over three billion dollars .
English, Japanese, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, German, Polish, Swedish, Dutch, Danish, French, Czech, Castilian, Mauritian Creole, Flemish, Finnish, Argentinean Spanish, Portuguese, Estonian, Mexican Spanish and Korean.
Countries include Japan , Israel , Hungary , Iceland , Poland , Sweden , Czech Republic , China , Bermuda , Malta , Argentina , Germany , Australia , Estonia , Korea, South Africa , Belgium , Finland , Serbia, France , Canary Islands, Philippines , Mexico , Dominican Republic , Mauritius , Scotland and Brazil .
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(1,780 items of clothing and 31 wigs).
after "Phantom of the Opera," "Cats," " Chicago " and "The Lion King."
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