Thanks, Seth. I took the citation of Grant being ''the first woman to write both the music and lyrics for a Broadway musical'' from news stories about her. And even Grant believed that, telling American Theatre in her final interview: ''I was the first female to do a score of a Broadway musical.''
But Wikipedia confirms Ann Ronell got there earlier: in 1942 with ''Count Me In,'' a revue with a book by Walter Kerr and Leo Brady. Its cast included Jean Arthur and Gower Champion. It ran for 61 shows and got poor reviews, prompting Sigmund Romberg to write Ronell a letter of consolation.
''Count Me In'' didn't appear to have produced any standards, but Ronell is best remembered for one she wrote in 1932: ''Willow, Weep for Me.'' It's been recorded by Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra and even Chad & Jeremy, who had a top 20 hit with it in 1965.
(And in 1933, Ronell and Frank Churchill co-wrote ''Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?'' for the Disney cartoon of ''Three Little Pigs.'') |
