Cy Coleman Biography

has written scores that have distinguished Broadway musicals for three decades. The 1991 season marked the second consecutive year that this award-winning composer/arranger has won Tonys in both categories. In 1990 Cy won Tonys for Best Musical and Best Score for City of Angels. This hit musical also garnered a total of six Tonys. His first complete Broadway musical score was Wildcat, which starred Lucille Ball and introduced one of Cy’s most popular songs — "Hey, Look Me Over." Two seasons later, in 1962, came Little Me, which won Cy the first of his seven Tony nominations and introduced the songs "I’ve Got Your Number" and "Real Live Girl." His next musical was the smash hit Sweet Charity, which resurrected The Palace Theatre and included the showstopping numbers "Big Spender" and "If My Friends Could See Me Now." In 1986, Charity returned to Broadway, winning new acclaim for Cy’s score and earning four Tony Awards, including Best Reproduction of a Play/Musical. Coleman’s career began at a very tender age: he performed on the piano in Steinway, Town, and Carnegie halls between the ages of 6 and 9. He played many a club in New York in the 1950s and before writing for the musical theatre, composed pop standards that include "Witchcraft" and "The Best Is Yet to Come," among others. He has won three Emmys for writing Shirley MacLaine’s TV specials "If They Could See Me Now" and "Gypsy in My Soul," and has scored the films Father Goose, Power, Garbo Talks, and Sweet Charity, for which he also won an Oscar nomination. Mr. Coleman has been honored with 13 Grammy nominations, a star-studded tribute at Avery Fisher Hall, and the Irvin Feld Humanitarian Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews. He serves on the Board of Directors of ASCAP and is the president of Notable Music Co. He is currently represented on Broadway by The Life.