A Spoonful of Sherman, a cabaret celebrating the work of the late, great Hollywood songwriter Robert B Sherman (and of course his brother Richard) – the most successful songwriting partnership in the history of Hollywood – sold out all its perfomances at London’s St James Theatre in January. Now the show returns to the venue for a week-long run of nine performances from 15–22 April (press night is 17 April).
Robert and Richard Sherman composed more movie musical songs and acclaimed film scores than any other writing team. A Spoonful of Sherman throws the spotlight on three generations of Sherman songwriting over a period of 90 years (including the work of the Sherman brothers’ father, Tin Pan Alley songwriter Al Sherman) and features the late composer’s son Robert J Sherman performing and narrating. In the cast are Greg Castiglioni (Titanic, Southwark Playhouse), Stuart Matthew Price (Parade, Donmar Warehouse), Charlotte Wakefield (The Sound of Music, Regent’s Park) and Emma Williams (the original West End Truly Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang). A Spoonful of Sherman’s musical director and arranger is Colin Billing.
From the Oscar-winning ‘Chim Chim Cher-ee’ to ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’ and ‘Feed the Birds’ in Mary Poppins to the unforgettable ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’, which earned them their third of nine Oscar nominations, the Sherman brothers’ songs have entertained the world for more than 60 years.
The recent Tom Hanks/Emma Thompson film Saving Mr Banks, about Walt Disney’s epic battle to turn the much-loved book Mary Poppins into a film, sparked renewed interest in the story of the Sherman brothers and their long association with the Disney studio, for whom they composed Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, and The Aristocats. They also wrote what is perhaps their best-known song, ‘It’s A Small World (After All)’ for the 1964 New York World’s Fair and it has featured as a boat ride around the nations of the world at Disney theme parks ever since.
In 2003, four Sherman Brothers musicals ranked in the Top 10 Favourite Children’s Films of All Time in a British nationwide poll reported by the BBC. The film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was adapted into a West End musical in 2002 and ran for three-and-a-half-years, becoming the longest-running show ever at the London Palladium. A stage adaptation of Mary Poppins followed in 2005 in London and on Broadway, where it was nominated for seven Tonys.
This year saw the posthumous publication of Robert B Sherman’s autobiographical book, Moose: Chapters From My Life.
A Spoonful of Sherman is presented by Musicworld (UK) Ltd and The Entertainment Business in association with St James’ Productions.
*Robert J Sherman will not be appearing on Tuesday 15 or Friday 18 April.
Readers may also be interested in:
A Spoonful of Sherman – St James Studio Theatre – Review
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