The Sherman family have been writing songs for three generations.
Robert and Richard Sherman are the most successful songwriting partnership in the history of Hollywood, composing more movie musical songs and acclaimed film scores than any other writing team.
From the Oscar-winning Chim Chim Cher-ee to Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and Feed the Birds in Mary Poppins to the unforgettable Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which earned them their third of nine Oscar nominations, their songs have entertained the world for more than 60 years.
Now their prolific output is celebrated in the critically acclaimed cabaret, A Spoonful of Sherman, which sold out all its perfomances at St James Theatre in January and now returns to the venue for a week-long run of nine performances from Tuesday 15 – Tuesday 22 April.
A Spoonful of Sherman again features top West End singers Greg Castiglioni (Titanic, Southwark Playhouse), Stuart Matthew Price (Parade, Donmar Warehouse), Charlotte Wakefield (The Sound of Music, Regent’s Park) and Emma Williams (the original West End Truly Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), and Robert’s son Robbie – himself a writer of musicals (Bumblescratch) – will also be performing and narrating.* Songs featured will span 90 incredible years of Sherman family history by including music from the Sherman Brothers’ father, Tin Pan Alley songwriter Al Sherman.
The recent Tom Hanks/Emma Thompson film Saving Mr Banks, about Walt Disney’s epic battle to turn the much-loved book Mary Poppins into a film, sparked renewed interest in the story of the Sherman Brothers and their long association with the Disney studio, for whom they composed Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, and The Aristocats. They also wrote what is perhaps their best-known song, It’s A Small World (After All) for the 1964 New York World’s Fair and it has featured as a boat ride around the nations of the world at Disney theme parks ever since. In 2003, four Sherman Brothers’ musicals ranked in the Top 10 Favourite Children’s Films of All Time in a British nationwide poll reported by the BBC. The film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was adapted into a West End musical in 2002 and running three-and-a-half-years, became the longest running show ever at the London Palladium. It was
nominated for the Best Musical Olivier Award. A stage adaptation of Mary Poppins followed in 2005 in London and on Broadway, where it was nominated for seven Tonys.
2014 saw the posthumous publication of Robert B. Sherman’s autobiographical book, Moose: Chapters From My Life.
* Robert J Sherman will not be appearing on Tuesday 15 or Friday 18 April.
St James Studio
12 Palace Street
London
SW1E 5JA
Tuesday 15 – Tuesday 22 April
Tuesday 15 April at 7.45
Wedesday 16 April at 7.45pm
Thursday 17 April at 3.00pm
Thursday 17 April at 7.45pm
Friday 18 April at 7.45pm (Good Friday)
Saturday 19 April at 3.00pm
Saturday 19 April at 7.45pm
Monday 21 April at 7.45pm (Easter Monday)
Tuesday 22 April at 7.45pm
Press night: Thursday 17 April at 7.45pm
Tickets:
£12.50 – £25.00
(family concessions available for matinees)
Box office: 0844 264 2140
* Robert J Sherman will not be appearing on Tuesday 15 or Friday 18 April
