"Sherry!" Soundtrack Lyrics

“Sherry! The Broadway Musical (World Premiere Cast Recording)” – Album Guide to Tracks and Key Scenes

Overview

What happens when a “lost” Broadway score resurfaces with an all-star cast and a second chance? Sherry! — the musical spin on The Man Who Came to Dinner — answers with bright, brassy period sparkle and character songs that gossip, scheme, and swoon. The 2004 World Premiere Cast Recording doesn’t just preserve a curiosity; it makes the case for a smart, sly, mid-century Broadway sound you can actually live with.

Book & lyrics by James Lipton, music by Laurence Rosenthal: the album leans into word-drunk patter, sly waltzes, and ballroom-floor bounce. Sheridan Whiteside’s ego gets its own show curtain; Maggie’s ballads glow like desk-lamp midnight; the interlopers — Lorraine, Banjo, Beverly — each leave glitter or chaos in their wake.

Arrival → adaptation → rebellion → collapse. Act I introduces the Mesalia, Ohio household, then detonates it with Whiteside’s radio-celebrity hurricane; Act II rebuilds the room with trickery and hearts-on-sleeves. Style map: patter & foxtrot — social spin; big band-tinted showtunes — glitter vs. grit; torchy ballads — private reckoning; reprise games — the same plan, sharper teeth.

How It Was Made

After the 1967 Broadway run, the orchestrations vanished and the show became myth. Decades later, producer Robert Sher located the full score at the Library of Congress; Lipton corralled friends to record it, and Angel/EMI released the finished 2-CD set on Feb 24, 2004 (according to Playbill and New York Theatre Guide). The starry lineup includes Nathan Lane (Whiteside), Bernadette Peters (Maggie), Carol Burnett (Lorraine), Tom Wopat (Bert), Tommy Tune (Beverly), and Mike Myers (Banjo), with featured turns from Lillias White, Keith David, Siobhan Fallon, and others.

The album plays like a deluxe studio revival: full overture, cut numbers restored, and crisp studio balances favoring Lipton’s wordplay. It’s both preservation and reinterpretation — a “what if” original-cast album made forty years late.

Tracks & Scenes

“Why Does the Whole Damn World Adore Me?” — Whiteside
Where it plays: Early Act I, as Sheridan Whiteside commandeers the Stanley home — aides scramble, the town gawks, and he drinks in the attention.
Why it matters: Character thesis in three minutes: ego as engine; rhythm as put-down.

“In the Very Next Moment” — Company
Where it plays: The household coffeepot boils — deliveries, telegrams, and celebrity drop-ins churn the set like a turntable.
Why it matters: A shop-window ensemble that sets the farce’s metronome.

“Maybe It’s Time for Me” — Maggie
Where it plays: Maggie sizes up her life in Whiteside’s shadow and considers choosing herself for once.
Why it matters: A clean, contemplative ballad; Peters shapes vowels like decisions.

“How Can You Kiss Those Good Times Goodbye?” — Whiteside & Maggie
Where it plays: The boss manipulates, the secretary resists — a pas de deux of guilt-trips and deflection.
Why it matters: Comedy with claws; the counterpoint tells on both of them.

“With This Ring” — Maggie, Bert, Whiteside, Dr. Bradley
Where it plays: Romance tries to bloom while Whiteside plots to strangle it in the cradle.
Why it matters: A confection with spikes; Lane’s asides needle the sugar.

“Sherry!” — Lorraine & Whiteside
Where it plays: Broadway diva Lorraine sashays in, purrs the title tune, and aims for Bert like a heat-seeking missile.
Why it matters: The show’s calling card — Burnett chews the rhyme scheme and grins.

“Alas, Lorraine / Au Revoir” — Beverly, Whiteside, Maggie
Where it plays: Enter Beverly Carlton, Noël-ish bon vivant; exit everyone’s patience.
Why it matters: Airy pastiche that still moves the chess pieces.

“I Always Stay at the Ritz” — Beverly & Porters
Where it plays: A travelogue brag turns into a toe-tapper with luggage cart choreography (in your mind’s eye).
Why it matters: Delicious style exercise that fleshes out a cameo into a moment.

“Putty in Your Hands” — Lorraine, Bert & Mesalia Barflies
Where it plays: Lorraine works a local bar like it’s a Broadway opening night; poor Bert.
Why it matters: A vampy groove that makes seduction into sport.

“Imagine That” — Maggie & Whiteside
Where it plays: A bittersweet negotiation — career dreams vs. loyalty — with Whiteside half-conceding, half-scheming.
Why it matters: The album’s heart — two first-rate actors singing subtext.

“The Preen Beguine” — Banjo, Miss Preen, Whiteside
Where it plays: Banjo crashes in with Harpo-chaos; poor Miss Preen becomes the bit.
Why it matters: Novelty number that justifies its grin.

“Marry the Girl Myself” — Whiteside, Banjo, Maggie
Where it plays: As plans unravel, threats turn musical; friendship masquerades as menace.
Why it matters: Comic brinkmanship with a drum kit.

“Harriet Sedley” — Whiteside, Banjo, Mr. Stanley
Where it plays: A deus-ex-blackmail gag musicalized — proof that farce can sing if you keep it moving.
Why it matters: Plot mechanics meet patter: satisfying click.

“Whiteside’s Prayer (Finale)” — Ensemble
Where it plays: The hurricane exits; the living room exhales; the show bows out with a wink.
Why it matters: Reprise architecture that lands on gratitude and relief.

Notes & Trivia

• The 1967 Broadway production ran a short engagement and never got an original cast album — this 2004 set is the first full recording.
• Producer Robert Sher is credited with finding the “lost” materials in the Library of Congress and jump-starting the project.
• Marilyn Maye recorded the title song “Sherry!” as a 1967 single — a pre-show pop footprint later folded back into the album’s lore.
• Angel Records issued the recording as an enhanced 2-CD set, including video material about the album’s making.

Music–Story Links

When Lorraine purrs “Sherry!,” it’s more than a title — it’s a chess move that flips Maggie’s endgame. “With This Ring” lets two romances share a single melody while Whiteside weaponizes the rests. And each reprise — “Au Revoir,” “Putty in Your Hands” — functions like a legal brief: same themes, fresh evidence. By the finale, “Whiteside’s Prayer” restores holiday grace without letting the old scoundrel off the hook.

Reception & Quotes

Contemporary coverage applauded the recording’s “sumptuous” scale and the star casting that finally gave the score a fair hearing. As Playbill’s column put it, this was the “first-ever recording” of the musical; TheaterMania asked — with affection — if the project itself was a good idea, which is precisely the conversation a rescued score deserves. The LA Times noted the rediscovery context plainly: copies of the score were presumed lost for decades.

“Star-packed, first-ever recording… the lost score finally heard.” Playbill, On the Record

“A sumptuous recording… but was making a musical of the play a good idea?” TheaterMania

“Copies of the score were presumed lost for decades.” Los Angeles Times

Availability: Angel Records (EMI) 2-CD set released Feb 24, 2004; widely available on digital platforms as Sherry! The Broadway Musical.

Interesting Facts

• Carol Burnett’s album take on the title song sits alongside a fan-favorite alternative recorded by Christine Baranski in other contexts.
• The enhanced CD includes video segments tied to Bravo’s Profiles: Sherry! and Inside the Actors Studio clips.
• Lane previously played Whiteside (non-musical) onstage — useful DNA for this recording’s acid timing.
• Some numbers restored here didn’t survive earlier tryouts — a time-capsule view of mid-’60s Broadway craftsmanship.
• The project revived interest in Rosenthal’s theatre work beyond his acclaimed film/TV scores.

Technical Info

• Title: Sherry! The Broadway Musical (World Premiere Cast Recording)
• Year: 2004 (studio cast release)
• Type: Studio cast / world-premiere recording (musical)
• Music: Laurence Rosenthal
• Book & Lyrics: James Lipton
• Based on: The Man Who Came to Dinner by George S. Kaufman & Moss Hart
• Label: Angel Records (EMI)
• Principal performers: Nathan Lane (Whiteside), Bernadette Peters (Maggie), Carol Burnett (Lorraine), Tom Wopat (Bert), Tommy Tune (Beverly), Mike Myers (Banjo), with Lillias White, Keith David, Siobhan Fallon, and others.
• Selected notable numbers: “Why Does the Whole Damn World Adore Me?,” “Maybe It’s Time for Me,” “With This Ring,” “Sherry!,” “Putty in Your Hands,” “Imagine That,” “Preen Beguine,” “Marry the Girl Myself,” “Harriet Sedley,” “Whiteside’s Prayer.”
• Release context: Score rediscovered after decades; first complete recording issued 2004.

Questions & Answers

Is the 2004 album an “original cast recording”?

No — it’s a world-premiere studio cast album made decades after the 1967 Broadway run.

Who wrote the score?

Music by Laurence Rosenthal; book and lyrics by James Lipton.

Why is this album a big deal to collectors?

Because the show never got an album in 1967; the 2004 set finally captured the full score.

Who sings the title song on the album?

Carol Burnett as Lorraine Sheldon — a deliciously showy entrance number.

Where can I hear it today?

On major streaming services under Sherry! The Broadway Musical (Angel/EMI, 2004).

Canonical Entities & Relations

Sources: Playbill (On the Record); TheaterMania; New York Theatre Guide; Wikipedia (musical & song entries); Discogs; IBDB; LA Times; Spotify/Angel Records listings.

November, 27th 2025