Carol Hall

Carol Hall's first recorded song was a lullaby called “Jenny Rebecca,” initially recorded by Mabel Mercer and then by Barbra Streisand. Subsequently, her songs were performed by Tony Bennett, Barbara Cook, Chita Rivera, Reba McIntyre, Cyndi Lauper, RuPaul, Steven Lutvak, Frederica von Stade, Kermit the Frog and Big Bird, among others. Her CD, Hallways: The Songs of Carol Hall, is available on Amazon.com.

One of the few theatre people to write both music and lyrics in the theatre, her classic musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas earned two Drama Desk Awards, entertained Broadway audiences for almost five years and became a popular film starring Dolly Parton. Dolly’s recording of “Hard Candy Christmas” from that score won an ASCAP Most Performed Country Song Award, and the film generated an Oscar nomination for Charles Durning, singing “The Sidestep” as the slippery Governor of Texas.

A particular joy of Carol’s has been writing for children. She was a major contributor to Marlo Thomas’ groundbreaking Free to Be... You and Me (“It’s All Right To Cry”) and to Sesame Street. Other musicals include Good Sports, To Whom it May Concern (off-Broadway), A… My Name is Alice (off-Broadway) and lyrics for A Christmas Memory (off-Broadway), based on Truman Capote’s short story. Her first non-musical work, The Days are As Grass, consists of eight short plays and is available through Concord Theatricals.

Carol was a Lifetime Member of the Dramatists Guild Council and, for 25 years, Vice-President of the Dramatists Guild Foundation. Carol was born in Abilene, Texas and raised in Dallas. It is no wonder that her writing has often concerned itself with the common human journey and not telling lies.