Page "Alan Jay Lerner" Paragraph 9

Loewe retired to Palm Springs, California while Lerner went through a series of musicals, some successful, some not, with such composers as André Previn ( Coco ), John Barry ( Lolita, My Love ), Leonard Bernstein ( 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue ), Burton Lane ( Carmelina ) and Charles Strouse ( Dance a Little Closer, based on the film, Idiot's Delight, nicknamed Close A Little Faster by Broadway wags because it closed on opening night ).

Most biographers blame Lerner's professional decline on the lack of a strong director with whom Lerner could collaborate, as Neil Simon did with Mike Nichols or Stephen Sondheim with Harold Prince ( Moss Hart, who had directed My Fair Lady, died shortly after Camelot opened ).

In 1965 Lerner collaborated again with Burton Lane on the musical On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, which was adapted for film in 1970.

At this time, Lerner was hired by film producer Arthur P. Jacobs to write a treatment for an upcoming film project, Doctor Dolittle, but Lerner abrogated his contract after several non-productive months of non-communicative procrastination and was replaced with Leslie Bricusse.

Lerner was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1971.