John Kander
b. 18 March 1927, Kansas City, Missouri, USA. An important composer for the American musical theatre from the early '60s, Kander studied music as a child, continued at college and was determined to make his way in the musical theatre. He had some successes in the early '50s with various lyricists before meeting Fred Ebb in 1962. Ebb (b. 8 April 1932, New York, USA) had already dabbled with lyric writing, and had collaborated with Jerry Hermanon some songs for the short-lived musical FROM A TO Z (1960). Among Kander and Ebb's first efforts were My Coloring Book and I Don't Care Much, both of which were recorded by Barbra Streisand. The new team made their Broadway debut in 1965 with the score for Flora, The Red Menace, which included an eye-catching, Tony Award-winning performance, by Liza Minnelli who would subsequently perform much of their work, and become indelibly associated with them. Although FLORA was unsuccessful, Kander and Ebb were invited to write the score for Cabaret (1966), which starred Joel Grey and Jill Haworth, and won seven Tony Awards including best score. They wrote two additional songs, Money, Money and Mein Herr, for the 1972 film version in which Liza Minnelli gave a sensational performance and won an Oscar. The television special produced by Ebb for Minnelli, LIZA WITH A Z, also won an Emmy award, with a Grammy later going to the recorded highlights album. Ebb's television work continued with the production of OL’ BLUE EYES IS BACK (1972) for Frank Sinatra. Other Broadway shows followed, including The Happy Time, Zorba, 70, Girls, 70, and Chicago, which opened in 1975 and ran for 923 performances. In the same year, the duo wrote some songs for the film Funny Lady, which starred Barbra Streisand, and followed this with music for two Minnelli films, A MATTER OF TIME (1976) and New York, New York (1977). The theme from the latter became an enormous, enduring hit for Frank Sinatra in 1980. Back on Broadway, Kander and Ebb wrote scores for The Act (1977) with Minnelli, Woman Of The Year (1981), which starred Lauren Bacall, and THE RINK (1984), yet another Minnelli vehicle. In 1991 they were inducted into the New York Theatre Hall of Fame, and a revue, AND THE WORLD GOES ‘ROUND, which utilised some 30 of their songs, opened Off Broadway and ran for nearly a year. In 1993 their spectacular musical Kiss Of The Spider Woman, starring Chita Rivera, won several Tony Awards in New York following its transfer from the West End. Apart from their work together, both Kander and Ebb have had successful independent careers. Kander has written music for film soundtracks, including KRAMER VS. KRAMER (1979); Ebb has continued to produce and co-produce numerous television specials, including GYPSY IN MY SOUL (1976) and BARYSHNIKOV ON BROADWAY (1980).