NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE ).- Everyone described Jerry Herman as an optimist. And certainly the Broadway songwriter, who died Thursday at 88, had reason to look on the bright side: “Hello, Dolly!,” “Mame” and “La Cage aux Folles,” to name his biggest hits, each ran for more than 1,500 performances, the last winning the best musical Tony Award three times (twice for its revivals.)

But asked to recall Herman on Friday, many of his collaborators pointed to a fierce, almost parental protectiveness toward his shows. So when they failed, he took it personally.

That explains why, amid remembrances of “Dolly” and other triumphs, the status of “Mack & Mabel” — a 1974 Broadway flop about the silent film stars Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand — loomed large.

City Center’s Encores! has scheduled a production for February, so this famed near miss will get another shot. Until then, collaborators on the various productions of that show, and many others, share their remembrances. Here is a selection, edited for length and clarity, as well as responses on social media.

‘His Tuneful Optimism’
“Jerry brought this exuberance to life. He was always on the edge of a giggle — a nasty giggle. It was being in on an inside joke with him. Did he have doubting moments? Sure. But he was almost always a delight.” — HARVEY FIERSTEIN collaborated with Herman on “La Cage aux Folles,” which opened in 1983 and won the Tony Award for Best Musical.

“I will always remember his big, beautiful smile. There was a kindness and a joy in it, and I feel like that smile is in every gorgeous melody he has written.” — GAVIN CREEL won the Tony playing Cornelius Hackl in the 2017 revival of “Hello, Dolly!”

‘The Songs Stand Alone’
“‘Before the Parade Passes By’ is like a pep talk to yourself — Dolly decides to come back full throttle to the world of the living. The lesson for me in doing the show — and I owe him a debt of appreciation — was that joy is a choice. It’s not something you wait to happen to you. You choose it, and you work really hard to sustain that commitment.” — BETTY BUCKLEY played Dolly Levi in the 2018-19 national tour of “Hello, Dolly!”

“His lyrics spoke to all of us inclusively. His timeless music will bring joy forever. In ‘Jerry’s Girls’ on Broadway, I was honored to perform numbers from so many wonderful shows — my favorites being ‘The Best of Times,’ which I sang with Dorothy Loudon and Leslie Uggams, and ‘Bosom Buddies’ with Leslie Uggams. And I cherish performing ‘I Don’t Want To Know’ from ‘Dear World’ for Jerry at the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors.” — CHITA RIVERA is a Tony-winning actress.

“The songs stand alone. They translate without knowing anything about the show. He wrote from his heart. And that’s why his music will always be with us.” — LEE ROY REAMS co-starred and directed “An Evening with Jerry Herman” on Broadway.

“His songs were very deep. And one that I got to sing in ‘The Grand Tour’ — ‘I’ll Be Here Tomorrow,’ was amazing. The show was about the Holocaust and that may be why it wasn’t popular. As time went on, musicals were able to take on more serious topics. He was a believer in the best of everything, and a crazy optimist. And that touched all of his music: ‘I’ll be here tomorrow/Alive and well and thriving/ I’ll be here tomorrow/ It’s simply called surviving.’” — JOEL GREY portrayed S.L. Jacobowsky in the 1979 Broadway musical “The Grand Tour.”

“He saw me do ‘Torch Song’ off-Broadway. Jerry went home and wrote ‘A Little More Mascara’ as the opening of ‘La Cage,’ but sort of based on ‘Torch Song.’ That was his jumping-off point. It ended up being the second song in the show.” — FIERSTEIN

The One that Got Away
“All his shows he called his children, and ‘Mack & Mabel’ was his favorite. He thought it was his best work.” — JON WILNER produced “An Evening with Jerry Herman” on Broadway and “Mack & Mabel” in London.

“He was extremely sentimental about his work, and you could often see a tear running down his face as he watched. He knew that the score was as good as anything he wrote. I remember him being so over the moon to see it get a big Broadway-style production again.” — HOWARD McGILLIN played Mack Sennett in “Mack & Mabel” in Leicester and London.

“When Tommy Tune and David Cryer and I starred in Jerry’s hoped-for reincarnation of his masterful ‘Mack & Mabel,’ we did a run-through just before opening out of town. This is when you do the entire show in a real theater free for the Broadway community, but without sets, lights or costumes — just a few props and a piano player. My favorite memory was of Jerry onstage at an upright piano, sitting atop two telephone books, playing the entire score for us. That’s the kinda mensch he was.” — LUCIE ARNAZ is a stage and television actress.

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