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Cy Feuer
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Cyrus "Cy" Feuer[1] (born Seymour Arnold Feuerman; January 15, 1911 – May 17, 2006) was an American theatre producer, director, composer, musician, and half of the celebrated producing duo Feuer and Martin. He won three competitive Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, and a Lifetime Achievement Tony Award. He was also nominated for Academy Awards as the producer of Storm Over Bengal and Cabaret.
Key Information
Background
[edit]Born Seymour Arnold Feuerman in Brooklyn, New York,[2] he became a professional trumpeter at the age of fifteen, working at clubs on weekends to help support his family while attending New Utrecht High School. It was there he first met Abe Burrows, who in later years he would hire to write the book for Guys and Dolls.[citation needed]
Career
[edit] | This section needs additional citations for verification. (August 2017) |
Having no interest in mathematics, science, or sports, he dropped out of school and found work as a trumpeter on a political campaign truck.[3] He later studied at the Juilliard School before joining the orchestras at the Roxy Theater and later Radio City Music Hall.[citation needed]
In 1938, he toured the country with Leon Belasco and His Society Orchestra, eventually ending up in Burbank, California. Following a ten-week stint there, the orchestra departed for Minneapolis, but he opted to remain in California.[citation needed]
Feuer found employment at Republic Pictures, serving as musical director, arranger, and/or composer of more than 125 mostly B-movies, many of them serials and westerns, for the next decade, save for a three-year interruption to serve in the military during World War II.[1]
During his Hollywood sojourn, he enjoyed a tumultuous one-year affair with actress Susan Hayward (also from Brooklyn),[4] worked with Jule Styne, Frank Loesser, and Victor Young, among others, received five Academy Award nominations for his film scores, and married a divorcée, Posy Greenberg, a mother of a three-year-old son. The couple later had a son of their own named Jed.[citation needed]
In 1947, having decided he had no real talent for film scoring,[5] Feuer returned to New York City, where he teamed up with Ernest H. Martin, who had been the head of comedy programming at CBS Radio. After an aborted attempt to stage a production based on George Gershwin's An American in Paris,[6] they produced Where's Charley?, the 1949 Frank Loesser adaption of Charley's Aunt. Although it was panned by six of the seven major New York critics, positive word-of-mouth about the show, particularly Ray Bolger's star turn in it, kept it running for three years.[7]
Over the next several decades, Feuer & Martin mounted some of the most notable titles in the Broadway musical canon, including Guys and Dolls and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, both of which won the Tony Award for Best Musical. As of 2007, How to Succeed... is one of only seven musicals to have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Feuer and Martin owned the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre from 1960 to 1965.[8]
Feuer was also a stage director. Among his Broadway directing credits were Little Me and the ill-fated I Remember Mama.[9]
As a film producer, Feuer's most successful venture was his 1972 adaptation of Kander & Ebb's 1966 musical Cabaret. The movie was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and went to win eight Academy Awards, but Feuer lost Best Picture to The Godfather, giving Cabaret the distinction of the most Oscar-honored film to lose the top prize. As the movie's producer, Feuer won a Golden Globe for Best Musical or Comedy. With Martin, he was responsible for the 1985 screen adaptation of A Chorus Line, which proved to be one of their biggest flops.[10]
Feuer served as president, and later chairman, of the League of American Theatres and Producers (now called The Broadway League) from 1989 to 2003.
Personal life and death
[edit]In 1946, Feuer married Posy Greenberg.[1] The couple had a son together, and he became a stepfather to her son from a prior marriage.[1]
Feuer changed his forename from Seymour to Cyrus, but continued to use the nickname "Cy".[1]
Feuer's memoir, I Got The Show Right Here: The Amazing, True Story of How an Obscure Brooklyn Horn Player Became the Last Great Broadway Showman, written with Ken Gross, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2003.[citation needed]
He died from bladder cancer at his home in Manhattan, New York, on May 17, 2006, at the age of 95.[1]
Additional Broadway credits
[edit]- Can-Can (1953)
- The Boy Friend (1954)
- Silk Stockings (1955)
- Whoop-Up (1958)
- Hamlet (1964)
- Skyscraper (1965)
- Walking Happy (1966)
- The Act (1977)
- I Remember Mama (1979)
Awards and nominations
[edit]| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1939 | Academy Award | Best Music, Scoring | Storm Over Bengal | Nominated |
| 1940 | She Married a Cop | Nominated | ||
| 1941 | Best Music, Score | Hit Parade of 1941 | Nominated | |
| 1942 | Best Music, Scoring of a Motion Picture | Ice-Capades | Nominated | |
| Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture | Mercy Island (shared with Walter Scharf) | Nominated | ||
| 1951 | Tony Award | Best Producer of a Musical | Guys and Dolls | Won |
| 1962 | How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying | Won | ||
| 1963 | Little Me | Nominated | ||
| Best Direction of Musical | Nominated | |||
| 1966 | Skyscraper | Nominated | ||
| 1973 | Academy Award | Best Picture | Cabaret | Nominated |
| 2003 | Tony Award | Lifetime Achievement Award | — | Won |
Selected filmography
[edit]- Storm Over Bengal (1938) - nominated for an Academy Award
- Woman Doctor (1939)
- Sabotage (1939)
- Sis Hopkins (1941) (with Susan Hayward, Bob Crosby and the Bobcats band; songs by Frank Loesser and Jule Styne )
- Sons of the Pioneers (1942)
- Man from Cheyenne (1942)
- Cabaret (1972) - nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture
- Piaf (1974)
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f "Cy Feuer, a Producer of 'Guys and Dolls' and Other Broadway Musicals, Is Dead at 95". The New York Times. May 18, 2006. Retrieved August 20, 2017.
- ^ McHugh, Dominic (2017). MacDonald, Laura; Everett, William A. (eds.). The Palgrave Handbook of Musical Theatre Producers. New York: Palgrave Macmillan US. p. 200. ISBN 9781137433084.
- ^ Feuer & Gross 2003, pp. 9–11.
- ^ Feuer & Gross 2003, pp. 38–45, 49.
- ^ Feuer & Gross 2003, pp. 47–49.
- ^ Feuer & Gross 2003, pp. 78–79.
- ^ Feuer & Gross 2003, pp. 105–07.
- ^ Zolotow, Sam (March 10, 1965). "Feuer and Martin Sell Lunt-Fontanne Theater". The New York Times. Retrieved August 20, 2017.
- ^ Cy Feuer at the Internet Broadway Database
- ^ Cy Feuer at IMDb
Sources
[edit]- Feuer, Cy; Gross, Ken (2003). I Got the Show Right Here. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7432-3611-9.
External links
[edit]| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
Cy Feuer
View on Grokipediafrom Grokipedia
Early life
Brooklyn origins and education
Cy Feuer was born Seymour Arnold Feuerman on January 15, 1911, in Brooklyn, New York.[4] He grew up in the borough as the son of Herman Feuerman, who managed a Yiddish theater on Second Avenue on Manhattan's Lower East Side, and Ann Abrams Feuerman, who worked as a saleswoman in a dress shop.[4] His father was described as a vague presence in his childhood and died of cancer when Feuer was 13, leaving the family—including his mother and younger brother Stan—to survive on his mother's earnings of $25 a week or less during the 1920s.[4] Feuer's mother, characterized by forceful ambition, determined that he should learn the trumpet and actively supported his musical development.[4] He attended New Utrecht High School in South Brooklyn, where he was not an especially strong student but played trumpet in the school band.[4][2] Encouraged by his mother, he continued his music studies at the Juilliard School.[4][2][5] He graduated from Juilliard in 1933 after focusing on music there.[6]Musical beginnings and Hollywood career
Early performances as trumpeter
Cy Feuer began his professional music career as a trumpeter in his teenage years, encouraged by his mother who insisted he learn the instrument amid family financial difficulties. [1] While attending New Utrecht High School in Brooklyn, he played trumpet in the school band and took on odd jobs as a musician, often securing work by waiting at the informal musician's exchange at 46th Street and Broadway after school. [7] [1] At age 16, Feuer landed his first professional engagement, performing Sousa marches and Dixieland tunes such as "Alexander's Ragtime Band" from the back of a political campaign truck. [1] He soon secured a position in the pit orchestra of the Roxy Theater on West 50th Street, and later transitioned to the newly opened Radio City Music Hall, where he played trumpet in the orchestra until the mid-1930s. [1] [3] During the mid-1930s, Feuer joined Lionel Belasco's society orchestra, touring with the group to the West Coast. [1] [3] He studied at the Juilliard School concurrently with these early professional experiences. [1] [3] In his 2003 autobiography, Feuer reflected that he had "long since come to the conclusion that I was a second-rate trumpet player," marking the end of his active performing period as he shifted toward music direction roles. [1]Republic Pictures music department
Cy Feuer joined Republic Pictures in 1938 after remaining in California following a tour with Leon Belasco and His Society Orchestra. [8] He initially served as the West Coast representative for Brunswick Records, a company owned by Republic Pictures, before convincing the studio to appoint him as its music director. [1] In this capacity, he headed the music department, working as composer, arranger, and musical director on a large volume of the studio's productions. [9] From 1938 until 1947, with a break for U.S. Army Air Force service during World War II from 1942 to 1945, Feuer oversaw music for numerous Republic Pictures films, accumulating over 125 credits and contributing to the scores of 92 pictures. [8] [9] He collaborated with emerging songwriters and composers including Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn, and especially Frank Loesser, with whom he later formed a significant Broadway partnership. [9] Republic Pictures, known primarily for low-budget B-movies, offered Feuer extensive hands-on experience in film music during this period. [9] [1] Feuer resumed his role briefly after his military discharge before leaving Hollywood in 1947, having grown disenchanted with the demands of film scoring. [8] [1] His tenure at Republic provided foundational expertise in musical direction that informed his later transition to Broadway producing. [9]Academy Award nominations for scoring
Cy Feuer received five Academy Award nominations for his work in film scoring while serving as a composer, arranger, and music director at Republic Pictures in the late 1930s and early 1940s.[10][11][12][13] These nominations recognized his contributions to the musical scores of low-budget but musically ambitious Republic productions, though he did not win any of them. His first nomination came at the 11th Academy Awards in 1939 for Best Music (Scoring) on the 1938 film Storm Over Bengal.[10] The following year, at the 12th Academy Awards in 1940, he was nominated in the same category for She Married a Cop.[11] In 1941, at the 13th Academy Awards, he earned another nomination for Best Music (Scoring) for Hit Parade of 1941.[12] At the 14th Academy Awards in 1942, Feuer received two nominations: one for Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture) for Ice-Capades, and a shared nomination with Walter Scharf for Music (Score of a Dramatic Picture) for Mercy Island.[13] These honors reflected his prolific output in scoring adventure, musical, and dramatic features during his Hollywood tenure before he shifted focus to Broadway producing.Broadway producing career
Partnership with Ernest H. Martin
Cy Feuer and Ernest H. Martin formed a highly successful producing partnership known as Feuer & Martin in the late 1940s. [14] Their collaboration began with the Broadway production of Where's Charley? in 1948, starring Ray Bolger and choreographed by George Balanchine, which marked their first major success. [14] The partnership quickly became one of Broadway's most prominent producing teams, particularly during the 1950s and 1960s, with a string of hit musicals that helped define the era's golden age of book musicals. [14] [15] They achieved four consecutive hit musicals starting with Guys and Dolls in 1950, followed by Can-Can in 1953, The Boy Friend in 1954, and Silk Stockings in 1955. [14] Further successes included How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, which earned the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for its original production, as well as shows such as Whoop-Up, Little Me, Skyscraper, Walking Happy, and The Act in 1977. [14] [15] [5] In addition to their stage work, Feuer and Martin expanded their business interests by acquiring the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in 1960, which they co-owned and managed for a period. [16] Their partnership also extended to film adaptations, including the 1972 movie version of Cabaret and the 1985 film of A Chorus Line. [14] The collaboration endured for decades, producing some of Broadway's most enduring musicals until their joint producing activities wound down in the late 1970s. [15]Major productions as producer
Cy Feuer achieved his greatest Broadway successes as a producer through his long-term partnership with Ernest H. Martin, under the banner of Feuer & Martin, which became a recognized brand for hit musicals in the 1950s and 1960s.[4][17] Their productions often combined strong creative teams with commercial appeal, resulting in several enduring classics.[4] Among their most celebrated works was Guys and Dolls, which opened in 1950 with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and ran for 1,200 performances while winning the Tony Award for Best Musical.[4][3] This was followed by Can-Can in 1953, featuring Cole Porter's score and introducing Gwen Verdon, which enjoyed a run exceeding two years.[4][17] The partnership continued with Silk Stockings in 1955, another Cole Porter musical directed by Feuer himself.[4][3] Feuer & Martin's most decorated production was How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying in 1961, with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Tony Award for Best Musical, and the Tony for Best Producer of a Musical.[17][3] They also produced Little Me in 1962, featuring a book by Neil Simon and direction shared by Feuer and Bob Fosse, which earned Tony nominations for Best Musical and Best Producer of a Musical.[4][3] Later efforts included Skyscraper (1965), Walking Happy (1966), and The Act (1977), the latter starring Liza Minnelli as their final musical collaboration.[3][17] Feuer occasionally produced independently, notably with Where's Charley? in 1948, his first major Broadway credit as producer, and Whoop-Up in 1958, as well as the non-musical play The Goodbye People in 1968.[3] His producing work garnered nine Tony nominations overall, with wins for Guys and Dolls and two for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and he later received a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre in 2003.[17][3]Tony Awards and nominations
Cy Feuer earned significant recognition at the Tony Awards for his work as a Broadway producer and occasional director, particularly through his long-term partnership with Ernest H. Martin. [18] His productions frequently earned nominations, reflecting their commercial and critical impact during Broadway's mid-20th-century golden era. [19] Feuer won three competitive Tony Awards. In 1951, he and Martin received the Tony for Best Producer (Musical) for Guys and Dolls. [20] In 1962, they won two Tonys for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, one for Best Producer of a Musical and one for Best Musical. [18] These successes underscored his skill in bringing hit musicals to the stage. [21] He also received nominations in other categories. Feuer was nominated for Best Direction of a Musical for Little Me in 1963 and for Skyscraper in 1966. [19] Additional producer nominations came from shows like Little Me in 1963. [22] Overall, he accumulated nine Tony nominations during his career. [18] In 2003, Feuer was honored with a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, celebrating his enduring influence on Broadway producing. [3]Broadway directing credits
Productions directed by Feuer
Cy Feuer directed several Broadway musicals during his career, often in collaboration with his producing partner Ernest H. Martin. His directing credits include:- The Boy Friend (opened September 30, 1954)
- Silk Stockings (opened February 24, 1955)
- Whoop-Up (opened December 22, 1958)
- Little Me (opened November 17, 1962, at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre; co-directed with Bob Fosse). The show featured a book by Neil Simon, music by Cy Coleman, and lyrics by Carolyn Leigh, with Sid Caesar starring in multiple roles portraying the fictional hero Noble Eggleston. It received Tony Award nominations including for Best Musical and Best Actor in a Musical for Caesar (with direction nomination for Feuer and Fosse), and ran for 257 performances. )
- Skyscraper (opened November 13, 1965)
- Walking Happy (opened November 26, 1966)
- I Remember Mama (opened May 31, 1979, at the Majestic Theatre; Feuer replaced original director Martin Charnin). The musical starred Liv Ullmann in the title role, with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and book by Thomas Meehan, based on the original play and memoirs by Kathryn Forbes. It received poor reviews and closed on September 2, 1979, after 108 performances (plus 40 previews). ) [3]