Bock & Harnick TV Musical "The Canterville Ghost" Gets NYC Screening, Along With "She Loves Me," July 28

By Kenneth Jones
July 28, 2012

Two TV musicals — one of them original — by Tony Award-winning songwriters Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick will be seen July 28 at The Paley Center for Media in Manhattan. Lyricist Harnick will be on hand for a chat about ABC's "The Canterville Ghost" (1966) and a 1978 BBC version of the Broadway property "She Loves Me."

Dubbed by Paley as An Afternoon With Sheldon Harnick, the event runs 2-6 PM. Harnick and composer Bock wrote the Broadway musicals The Body Beautiful, Tenderloin, Fiorello! (Pulitzer Prize), The Apple Tree (around the same time as "The Canterville Ghost"), Fiddler on the Roof and The Rothschilds.

"The Canterville Ghost" is the only musical that Harnick and Bock wrote specifically for television. Bill Rudman, host of Sirius XM Satellite Radio's Broadway Channel program "On the Aisle," will interview Harnick about his work.

This event is held in conjunction with the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF). The Paley Center has partnered with NYMF each season since the festival began in 2004.

Read the recent Playbill Stage to Screens column in which Harnick talks about his TV musicals.

Here's the program at a glance:

Saturday, July 28 at 2 PM
"ABC Stage 67: The Canterville Ghost" (1966)
ABC; 60 minutes; color
"This updated musical version of Oscar Wilde's short story concerns an American ambassador and his family who move into a castle haunted by a ghost, Sir Simon de Canterville (Michael Redgrave). With Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Natalie Schafer, Tippy Walker and Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits as the 'mod' Duke of Cheshire. Bock and Harnick songs include 'Undertow,' 'I Worry,' 'If You Never Try,' 'Vengeance' and 'You're Super.' Directed by Burt Shevelove, who also wrote the book." Directly following the screening, Sheldon Harnick will be interviewed by Bill Rudman about "The Canterville Ghost" and "She Loves Me."

Saturday, July 28 at 4 PM
"She Loves Me" (1978)
BBC; 105 minutes; color
"This much-lauded television adaptation of the Broadway show (with a book by Joe Masteroff, based on the Miklós László play Parfumerie) includes such classic Bock and Harnick songs as 'Ice Cream,' '12 Days to Christmas' and the charming title number. With Robin Ellis, Gemma Craven, Peter Sallis, David Kernan, Diane Langton, Derek Smith, and Nigel Rathbone. Directed by Michael Simpson.'"

After the screening there will be a short Q&A and closing remarks by Sheldon Harnick and Bill Rudman.

Screenings are free with Paley Center admission ($10, $8 seniors and students, $5 children under 14). The Paley Center is at 25 West 52nd St. Visit paleycenter.org or call (212) 621-6800.