The Letters of Frank Loesser

You know the kind of book that is difficult to put down, and if you can spare the time that very night, you plough on through and finish it? This isn’t one of those, and not just because the hardback edition is a tad too big to comfortably read in bed. If Frank Loesser’s correspondence is difficult to comprehend, it is more often than not because an individual letter is part of a chain. For example, a letter might be a reply to a reply to a reply to an initial letter about, say, one of his shows. As presented in this 631-page volume, quite what Loesser is replying to is seldom clear. Some of the letters begin by referencing other letters, documentation or music scores, but these are invariably unseen by readers of this book.

It is the equivalent, then, of hearing only one side of a telephone conversation. Very well, some of Loesser’s humour was acerbic at times. But what was it that led him to respond in such a way? What was written by the other person that resulted in a curt, dismissive reply? There’s a commitment to present Loesser’s letters, as far as is practicable, in forward chronological order – a notable exception, commendably, is one about what should be done after his death, written several years prior, which appears on the penultimate page.

Not focusing chapters on topics or themes, such as personal correspondence, legal affairs or the support and encouragement he gave to certain other musical theatre composers and lyricists has a significant drawback. As the book progresses, the narrative, such as it is, flits from topic to topic – there’s even a letter about Loesser hiring a ‘general maid’, complete with weekly wage details, in amongst letters about shows and the development of shows.

The editors’ observations and remarks are often brief, letting Loesser’s letters speak for themselves. Occasionally, they are rather unfair to Loesser, in particular with regards to him being apparently wide off the mark in rejecting an idea proposed to him that a musical could be made of the life and times of PT Barnum. Citing the 1980 Broadway musical Barnum and the 2017 motion picture The Greatest Showman is all well and good, but they happened after Loesser’s death in 1969. That there wasn’t a show produced about Barnum written by someone else whilst Loesser was alive surely suggests he was right – at the time.

Images of Loesser’s actual correspondence are rare in the book: the editors note that his handwriting was sometimes illegible, which accounts for some question marks and omissions in the text. For whatever reason readers are not permitted to determine the legibility or otherwise of the letters for themselves. He established Frank Music Corporation and the licensing company Music Theatre International, amongst many other enterprises, though his letters make it more than sufficiently plain that he was happy for his lawyers – and indeed the legal representatives of those he collaborated with – to do what was necessary to ensure all was above board.

I’m not convinced, however, that all of the material contained in the book was strictly necessary to make the point that this was someone who enjoyed paying attention to detail. Indeed, if only the kind of judicious pruning which Loesser himself applied to his musicals were enforced here, it would have made for a shorter and less wordy read. The good thing is that you do not need to know anything at all about Frank Loesser before picking this book up.

Three stars (of five)

Frank Loesser was one of the most versatile and influential figures of the Golden Age of Broadway, most famous for Guys and Dolls. A Pulitzer Prize– and Academy Award–winning composer and lyricist, he was also a successful producer and businessman who maintained a wide and rich correspondence. From Richard Rodgers and Ira Gershwin to Sammy Davis Jr. and Marlon Brando, his milieu included the great creatives of the day. 

Dominic Broomfield-McHugh and Cliff Eisen draw together the best of Loesser’s letters to reveal the mind behind numerous hit musicals and a wealth of perennially popular songs. Clever, funny, and original, the letters shed light on Loesser’s creative process, his cultural Jewishness, and his keen business sense and relationship with the musical profession. 

This correspondence allows us dazzling new access to the world of Broadway at its height―and reveals the scale of Loesser’s influence to this day.

THE LETTERS OF FRANK LOESSER

Published by Yale University Press