Joe Darion

Joe Darion (1917-2001) worked in every field in which words are put to music, from popular songs to works for the concert stage. His opera based on Don Marquis' immortal characters Archy and Mehitabel was turned into the Broadway musical Shinbone Alley, for which Mr. Darion supplied the book and lyrics. Popular songs for which he has supplied the lyrics, including “Ricochet,” “Changing Partners” and “Midnight Rain,” have sold in the tens of millions. One of the most popular has been “The Impossible Dream,” the hit song from Man of La Mancha, which won Darion the 1965-66 Tony Award for the best lyrics of the Broadway season. He also supplied the lyrics for the Broadway musical Illya Darling, adapted from the film Never On Sunday. Among Mr. Darion's more serious works, written with Ezra Laderman, are the oratorio operas Galileo and And David Wept, the cantatas A Handful of Souls and The Questions of Abraham, and the mass A Mass for Cain. In addition to the Tony, he received the Drama Critics Circle Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Gabriel Award, The Ohio State Award and the International Broadcasting Award.