Cy Coleman

Cy Coleman registered only modest influence within jazz circles, yet his primary significance rests on his achievements as a composer and guiding presence in musical theater. A recital at Steinway Hall occurred when he was six, and by seventeen he was performing regularly in Manhattan supper clubs. While enrolled at the New York College of Music, he assembled a trio in 1948. Two of his compositions became hit singles for Frank Sinatra during the 1950s—“Try to Change Me Now” and “Witchcraft”—bringing him wider notice. He also wrote “Firefly” for Tony Bennett in 1958. The 1960 musical Wildcat, created with lyricist Carolyn Leigh, starred Lucille Ball. Subsequent Broadway successes followed with Little Me, Sweet Charity, and Seesaw. Additional stage triumphs came later, among them Barnum. Several of his songs appeared in motion pictures and received interpretations by Barbra Streisand along with numerous other vocalists. Coleman continued to make occasional albums under his own name. In 1977 Mark Murphy released an LP devoted entirely to Coleman’s material.