Composer and lyricist Richard Adler died on Thursday at the age of 90.
Along with Jerry Ross (who died young), he wrote two of the greatest American musicals not by Rodgers and Hammerstein, namely “Pajama Game” and “Damn Yankees.”
Here’s one of my favorite numbers from “Pajama Game” — “There Once Was a Man.” For you kids out there, that’s Doris Day and John Raitt singing it. Pay attention to the words and choreography — a fine expression of the violent love these characters feel for each other — and dig the big band accompaniment.
Classical Life 
Wonderful selection. Adler and Ross were just terrific and perfectly times to bring a modern mid-50s feel to their shows. When going through the 50s as a wee kid, I was glad to be freed by the Sixties, but now I see that, at its best, the culture of the 50s had a very good mix of modern sensibility and classic discipline. We miss that now.