Summer 2004 - BMI.com

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In Memoriam Charles D. Kelman, 1930-2004 by Jane Smulyan Charlie Kelman, who had a twinkle in his eye and mischief in his smile, always told a story on himself. A music lover by nature, he had a dream: to play jazz saxophone professionally. When he was 17, however, his father asked him to assess his abilities honestly, and Charlie conceded he was no match for the pros. Quoth Kelman senior, “You’ll be a doctor.” Charlie was, and the medical profession— and all of us who benefit from the creativity that resides in the best physicians—have much to be grateful for. Charlie was an ophthalmologist. As corny as it is to say that he was a “man of vision,” it happens to be true. What if, he wondered, it were possible to remove a cataract not after painful, painstaking surgery and a 10-day stay in the hospital, but by means of a tiny incision administered on an out-patient basis (Calculated) trial and a good deal of (discouraging) error finally led a persistent and certain Charlie to the solution. Ophthalmic surgery was revolutionized instantly and forever. So, too, was surgery for brain tumors, pediatric spinal cord, gall bladder and lumpectomy—among others. There is probably no one reading this who doesn’t know somebody whose surgical treatment hasn’t been made easier—less invasive, less traumatic—by virtue of Charlie’s stunning innovation. That’s vision. The professional accolades bestowed on Charlie began arriving in the 1960s—when he first devised the technique of phacoemulsification—and, quite simply, never stopped. Of some fifty honors and awards, here are some highlights (note to theatre-types: think “Pulitzer,” “Oscar,” “Tony”…): 1970 – American Academy of Achievement Award 1985 – First Innovators Award in Ophthalmology 1989 – The Binkhorst Medal 1990 – The Ridley Medal 1992 – Inventor of the Year and The National Medal of Technology 2003 – Laureate of the American Academy of Ophthalmology 2004 – Induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame Oh, yeah, and in the early 1990s he was accepted into the BMI/Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. The same tenacity 22
Charles Kelman and vision that were the hallmarks of Charlie’s professional life fuelled his creative life. Charlie had fulfilled the dream his father had for him and now he wanted to pursue the dream he’d put aside in late adolescence. Indeed, along the way he had found time for some (very impressive) gigs as a jazz saxophonist, including appearances on The Tonight Show (with Johnny Carson), Letterman and Oprah, and in concert with Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie— and this is the (very) short list! But the dream had grown. Now Charlie wanted to write a musical. So, like all his BMI colleagues, Charlie (the guy whose patented surgical procedure is performed on some 1.5 million people annually) wrote a “Blanche” song and he wrote a musical scene for Willy Loman and he wrote a ten-minute musical as well. And once again, (calculated) trial and a good deal of (discouraging) error led to some highly encouraging results. Charlie could write a tune and turn a phrase with the best of ’em. Under the aegis of—and not infrequently with the direct collaboration of—former Workshop Coordinator (and trusted friend) Skip Kennon, Charlie finished writing The Right Pair of Shoes, which was developed in the Workshop and had several staged readings. Charlie knew how to listen to the room and never failed to rewrite when a song missed the mark. He had an ear for character and could be funny and touching in the same breath. And (like all of us) he especially loved the sound of a “hit” in the Workshop. He “hit” many times. Charlie got bit hard by the theatre bug, and in the process of developing his own work, became a producer of others’—notably Kennon’s Time and Again, and the recent Broadway productions of The Triumph of Love and The Sound of Music. (In the 1980s, he’d been a producer of the Can-Can revival.) He not only loved the Workshop and the many friends he made there, he had an abiding confidence in the work of his colleagues there as well—so much so that he generously donated the funds that ensured one of the annual showcases. But then it was second nature to Charlie to do what he could to nurture the work of developing talent. He’d long ago established a scholarship at Tufts, 23
Page 1 and 2: Vol. 5, No. 23 Summer, 2004 AVENUE
Page 3 and 4: Works In Production THE BOURGEOIS G
Page 5 and 6: LOVE, MOM A short musical film, scr
Page 7 and 8: JUNIE B. JONES by alumnus writers M
Page 9 and 10: Kitt and Green recently performed s
Page 11 and 12: Baldwin, David Bondrow, Michael Bri
Page 13 and 14: MICHAEL OGBORN presented an evening
Page 15 and 16: The Rules We Live By by Bobby Lopez
Page 17 and 18: eview it. That way, you can just si
Page 19 and 20: the new co-bookwriter asked for ful
Page 21: the project for which, in 2000, the
Page 25 and 26: Enter the Messenger by Kate Hancock
Page 27 and 28: [We didn’t take time to write the
Page 29 and 30: NON-WRITING GIGS THE HOFSTRA UNIVER
Page 31: e influential What will be popular

Summer 2004 - BMI.com

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