We Report the Passing of Fantasticks Composer Harvey Schmidt with a Very Personal Pair of Tributes

By Marilyn Lester**** Composer Harvey Schmidt, perhaps best known for his work with lyricist Tom Jones in creating the legendary musical, The Fantasticks, passed away in Texas on February 28, at age 88. Schmidt and Jones met at the University of Texas at Austin, the former studying art and the latter drama. But they soon found themselves creating musical theater. The Fantasticks, their first effort, hit the jackpot, opening Off Broadway at the Sullivan Street Playhouse in May 1960 and closing 42 years later in 2002, making it the longest-running musical in the world. (A 2006 revival ran Off Broadway for eleven years.) The two went on to write Broadway’s 110 in the Shade, I Do! I Do! and Celebration, plus many “small” musicals such as Philemon, Colette Collage, Mirette, Roadside and Grover’s Corners. In 1999 they were inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame at the Gershwin Theatre and into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame in 2012. On December 4, 2017 Schmidt and Jones were presented the 2017 Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre in a star-studded gala to benefit the York Theatre Company. It was a magical evening, and so much more meaningful now as the last time Schmidt and Jones were together.

But it was in a show entitled Thank You for Your Love, devised by Broadway stars Carole Demas and Sarah Rice, that Schmidt and Jones were honored in a most personal, meaningful and loving way. The two are not only long-time friends, but both have had long and enduring ties with Schmidt and Jones. Demas, the original Sandy in Grease, played Luisa in The Fantasticks, as did Rice, the original Johanna in Sweeney Todd. Thank You for Your Love debuted on June 24, 2017 to critical acclaim (it’s had several productions since). With Schmidt beamed in on screen from his home in Texas and Jones on hand to participate in person, the show was a truly special event with a starlit magic of its own. Thank You for Your Love communicated a profoundly authentic, deep level of love for Schmidt and Jones, and that truth resounded in the highly praised success of the show. It’s for this reason that our tribute to Harvey Schmidt could not be complete or ring true without Sarah Rice and Carole Demas. Their beautiful and heartfelt words speak for us all.

Sarah Rice: “Rest in peace, dear, kind, generous of spirit, extraordinarily talented man. I am grateful beyond measure to have known you, worked with you, loved you, and experienced your gorgeous music and artwork that came from your soul, the music of our lives. You always took the time to make those around you feel special and valued. I loved you with no filter, as I think any of us who had the good fortune to come in contact with you also felt. ‘Now cracks a noble heart. May flights of angels speed thee to thy rest.’ I would like to add one more thought: ‘it is a shame,’ to paraphrase Tom, ‘that Harvey isn’t here to hear all these wonderful things being said about him and have a drink at the same time!’”

Carole Demas: “I adored Harvey Schmidt and feel so privileged to have worked with him and known him as a friend for 52 years. He was a dear, generous, loyal, loving man and an extraordinary talent—a listener, always kind and all-embracing in a way that made you feel you belonged, right from the beginning.

After 58 years in this business, I know, as many of us do, that it can be not only beautiful and exciting, but dark, mean and capricious. Not Harvey.

He was, In his often quiet way, full of light, vision and music. Melodies just poured out of him. Sometimes he’d sing in his full-throated Texas way, with such joy and abandon you could feel your inner Texan even if you were born and bred in Brooklyn. He could make you laugh. His music had you dancing, and then it would thrill you to your very core and you’d be in tears. He was always so real. I wonder if he had any idea how powerful he was. Thank God we have his art and his music—gifts to us all.

Sarah and I are so grateful to have been able to create and perform our long dreamed of show while Tom and Harvey were both still with us. And Harvey, who said he no longer draws, drew our logo for us, now more precious than ever. It was deeply satisfying to be able to show them how much we love and honor them and to share our love with appreciative audiences. God bless you, Harvey. We miss you with heavy hearts, but the angels are surely entranced and dancing to your tunes. (And many of the arrangements already include a harp!)”    

RIP Harvey Schmidt, and as your partner and friend, Tom Jones wrote to your exquisite music, “Deep in December, our hearts should remember and follow.”