West End impresario Sir Cameron Mackintosh has remembered US song satirist Tom Lehrer as “wry, generous and utterly original” following his death aged 97.
Lehrer died at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, according to reports.
In his work he satirised marriage, politics, racism and the Cold War, and his songs included Poisoning Pigeons In The Park, The Old Dope Peddler, Be Prepared and The Vatican Rag, which took aim at the Roman Catholic Church.
Sir Cameron said in a tribute that Lehrer “was a very special kind of genius – a master of language, mathematics and contagious melody whose wickedly witty intellect defined an era of musical satire and influenced everyone else that followed him”.
He said: “At the piano he was a maestro of devilish charm and exquisite timing, able to make a song about drug addiction, The Old Dope Peddler, sound like a lullaby.
“But in real life he had no ambition to be a performer and was actually quite modest and shy – writing these outrageous songs for the delight of his friends and peers.”
Lehrer began his working life in academia and science, before being drafted into the US Army in 1955.
He used his military experience to write the songs The Wild West Is Where I Want To Be and It Makes A Fellow Proud To Be A Soldier.
The tribute continued: “Eventually, he was persuaded to appear in concerts around the world, but he only did so so that he could travel – at someone else’s expense.
“By the early 1960s, he was not only bored with touring but also writing, using the excuse that, ‘political satire had become obsolete when Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize’.
“Tom wanted to go back to his ‘day-job’, teaching mathematics and running classes on The History Of Musical Theatre on the side.
“I had grown up in the mid-50s listening to recordings of his wonderful songs, and shortly after I had produced my first international hit Side By Side by Sondheim in the mid-70s, I suddenly got the idea that Tom’s material might also work as a stage revue.
“When we met, he was disarmingly grateful for me wanting to, ‘exhume and repackage’ his ‘meagre oeuvre and foist it on a previously unsuspecting audience’, as long as I was to send him some sums of money from time to time – that was the nearest we ever got to a contract.
“That was Tom – wry, generous and utterly original.
“It was the start of what Tom calls ‘a perfect blendship’ that lasted over 50 years, and I am profoundly grateful that I had the privilege of getting to know such an extraordinary man so well.”
Lehrer was born in New York City, and his involvement with music began when he was sent to piano lessons by his mother during his childhood.
In the early 1960s he worked as the in-house songwriter for the US edition of satirical TV show That Was The Week That Was, and in 2012, some 60 years after its initial recording, his song The Old Dope Peddler was sampled by rapper 2 Chainz on his debut album Based On A T.R.U. Story.
Sir Cameron continued: “Tom’s legacy is timeless, his humour still terrifyingly relevant and I like to think he’s getting ready to stage The Vatican Rag behind the Pearly Gates. Standing room only, of course.”
Theatre owner Sir Cameron has produced three of the world’s longest-running musicals – Les Miserables, The Phantom Of The Opera, and Cats.
He owns venues including London’s Sondheim, Noel Coward and Prince Edward theatres.
