Christopher Edward Adler (17 January 1954 – 30 November 1984) was an American

lyricist A lyricist is a writer who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income derives ...

and theatre director. His best-known works as a lyricist were the musical ''

Jean Seberg Jean Dorothy Seberg (; ; November 13, 1938August 30, 1979) was an American actress. She is considered an icon of the French New Wave as a result of her performance in Jean-Luc Godard's 1960 film ''Breathless''. Seberg appeared in 34 films in ...

'' and the show ''Shirley MacLaine on Broadway''.

Life and career

Adler was born in New York City, the son of composer and lyricist

Richard Adler Richard Adler (August 3, 1921 – June 21, 2012) was an American lyricist, writer, composer and producer of several Broadway shows. He is best known for his work with Jerry Ross (composer), Jerry Ross on the musicals ''The Pajama Game'' (1954) a ...

and his first wife Marion Hart. After their divorce in 1958, Marion took Christopher and his elder brother Andrew to live with her in London. When she died in the early 1960s, they returned to New York to live with their father and his second wife,

Sally Ann Howes Sally Ann Howes (20 July 1930 – 19 December 2021) was an English actress and singer. Her career on screen, stage and television spanned six decades. She is best known for the role of Truly Scrumptious in the 1968 musical film ''Chitty Chitt ...

. Howes became their adoptive mother and remained close to Christopher throughout his life even after she and his father divorced in 1966. Adler graduated from

Millbrook School Millbrook School is a private, coeducational preparatory boarding school located in Stanford, New York, United States. History Millbrook School was founded in 1931 by Edward Pulling. Pulling was a graduate of both Princeton University ...

in 1970 and then studied for a year at

Lawrenceville School The Lawrenceville School is a Private school, private, coeducational College-preparatory school, preparatory school for boarding and day students located in the Local government in New Jersey, unincorporated community of Lawrenceville, New Jers ...

before attending his father's alma mater

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

. He graduated with honors in 1975 and during his time there directed 17 plays at the university's theatre.Fein, Esther B. (2 December 1984)
"Christopher Adler, 30, Dies; Lyricist for MacLaine Show"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. Retrieved 10 June 2016. He began his career in New York City with

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

productions. In 1974 he directed

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A List of Nobel laureates in Literature, Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramat ...

's ''

Old Times ''Old Times'' is a play by Harold Pinter. It was first performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Aldwych Theatre in London on 1 June 1971. It starred Colin Blakely, Dorothy Tutin, and Vivien Merchant, and was directed by Peter Hall. ...

'' at Lolly's Theater Club, and in 1977 wrote and directed ''White Piano'', performed at

Playwrights Horizons Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit American Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work. ...

. ''White Piano'' was an adaptation of a 1974 account of Storyville, the

red-light district A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex industry, sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are found. In most cases, red-light district ...

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. His first Broadway project was ''Herman van Veen: All of Him'', a one-man show by the Dutch entertainer

Herman van Veen Hermannus Jantinus van Veen (born 14 March 1945) is a Dutch stage performer, actor, author, singer-songwriter and musician. He worked with accompanists Laurens van Rooyen and Erik van der Wurff, both of whom were pianists and composers. In ...

for which Adler wrote the English lyrics. It opened at the Ambassador Theatre in December 1982.Dietz, Dan (2016)
''The Complete Book of 1980s Broadway Musicals''
pp. 158–159; 208–209. Rowman & Littlefield. His next project as a lyricist was the musical ''Jean Seberg'' with composer

Marvin Hamlisch Marvin Frederick Hamlisch (June 2, 1944 – August 6, 2012) was an American composer and conductor. He is one of a handful of people to win Emmy Awards, Emmy, Grammy Awards, Grammy, Academy Awards, Oscar, and Tony Awards, Tony awards, a feat ...

. Based on the life of

, the book by Julian Barry was in turn based on an original idea by Adler. ''Jean Seberg'' opened at the

Olivier Theatre The National Theatre (NT), officially the Royal National Theatre and sometimes referred to in international contexts as the National Theatre of Great Britain, is a performing arts venue and associated theatre company located in London, England, ...

in London on 1 December 1983 and ran for 60 performances.Suskin, Steven (2010)
''Show Tunes: The Songs, Shows, and Careers of Broadway's Major Composers''
pp. 353–354. Oxford University Press. He collaborated again with Hamlisch for

Shirley MacLaine Shirley MacLaine (born Shirley MacLean Beaty; April 24, 1934) is an American actress and author. With a career spanning over 70 years, she has received List of awards and nominations received by Shirley MacLaine, numerous accolades, including a ...

's revue ''Shirley MacLaine on Broadway'' which played in Las Vegas before opening at the

Gershwin Theatre The Gershwin Theatre (originally the Uris Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 222 West 51st Street, on the second floor of the Paramount Plaza office building, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 19 ...

in New York on 19 April 1984 for a one-month run. Later that year MacLaine took the show to the

Wilshire Theater The Saban Theatre ( ) is a historic theatre in Beverly Hills, California, formerly known as the Fox Wilshire Theater. It is an Art Deco structure at the southeast corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Hamilton Drive designed by architect S. Charles ...

in Los Angeles. Adler died of AIDS-related cancer in November 1984 at the age of 30. Working from his bed at the

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a cancer treatment and research institution in Manhattan in New York City. MSKCC is one of 72 National Cancer Institute– designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers. Its main campus is ...

, he completed the book and lyrics for ''Gideon Starr'', a musical about a modern-day messiah. His father and brother Andrew each read a stanza from this final work at his memorial service in the Shubert Theatre.Adler, Richard (1990). ''You gotta have heart: An autobiography'', pp. 186; 235–236; 311. D.I. Fine.

References

External links

*
Photograph
of Christopher Adler and

Liberace Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer and actor. He was born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish Americans, Polish origin and enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, ...

at Shirley MacLaine's 50th Birthday party in New York City, April 23, 1984. (

Getty Images Getty Images Holdings, Inc. (stylized as gettyimages) is a visual media company and supplier of stock images, editorial photography, video, and music for business and consumers, with a library of over 477 million assets. It targets three mark ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Adler, Christopher 1954 births 1984 deaths Songwriters from New York (state) AIDS-related deaths in New York (state) 20th-century American songwriters