Sherry!

Sherry!
2004 Studio Recording
Music	Laurence Rosenthal
Lyrics	James Lipton
Book	James Lipton
Basis	George S. Kaufman-Moss Hart play The Man Who Came to Dinner
Productions	1967 Broadway

Sherry! is a musical with a book and lyrics by James Lipton and music by Laurence Rosenthal. The musical is based on the George S. Kaufman-Moss Hart play The Man Who Came to Dinner.

In 1967, following a short run on Broadway, and poor reviews, the score of this musical was apparently lost - being rediscovered at the Library of Congress more than thirty years later. A studio recording based on the rediscovered score was released in 2004.

George Sanders originally was signed to play Whiteside, but when his wife, actress Benita Hume, became terminally ill with cancer, he withdrew from the project. Choreographer Ron Field was replaced by Joe Layton during the Philadelphia try-out. He took over directing as well, according to Lipton, although Morton DaCosta retained credit in the program.

The production opened on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre on March 28, 1967, where it ran for 72 performances and fourteen previews. The cast included Clive Revill as Whiteside, Elizabeth Allen as Maggie, Jon Cypher as Bert, Dolores Gray as Lorraine, Eddie Lawrence as Banjo, Byron Webster as Beverly, and Cliff Hall as Dr. Bradley.

Sherry! took a gambit quite typical for musicals based on straight plays by "opening up" the story: that is, by adding scenes in locations not featured onstage in the original play. In order to "open up" The Man Who Came to Dinner (which takes place entirely in the Stanleys' living room) it was necessary to maintain the premise that Sheridan Whiteside uses a wheelchair. Therefore, the second-act climax of Sherry! moved the action to a nearby skating rink, with several characters on roller skates and Whiteside perambulating in his wheelchair.