The Imperial Theater. Michael Grace's production of John Murray Anderson's Almanac premiered there in 1953.

Michael Paul Grace ll (August 6, 1917– April 1, 1995)^[1] was the producer of the Broadway shows King of Friday's Men (1951)^[2] and John Murray Anderson's Almanac (1953).^[3]

He was the lyricist and composer of some of the music for the Almanac show and was the author/co-author of a variety of copyrighted music in the recording industry.^[4]

He later became an oil and gas producer as well as becoming involved in mining industry applications of oil and gas technology by means of what is called solutions mining. He made philanthropic donations to create several professorships at Notre Dame University.

Early life

Michael P. Grace II was born on August 6, 1917. His father was Joseph P. Grace, the former chairman of W. R. Grace and Company,^[5] and his siblings were Janet Maureen Grace, Charles M. Grace and J. Peter Grace, who was also the former chairman of W. R. Grace and Company.^[6] His grandfather was William Russell Grace, the first Roman Catholic mayor of New York City and the founder of W. R. Grace and Company. His great uncle was industrialist and chairman of the board of the directors of W. R. Grace, Michael P. Grace.

He attended Harvard University, University of Notre Dame, and Fordham School of Law.^[7]

Theatre and music career

Sean McClory was in Grace's production of King of Friday's Men as Rory Commons. Seen here with Nan Leslie in the television show The Californians (1957-1959)

John Murray Anderson's Almanac

Mike Grace's production of John Murray Anderson's Almanac was conceived and staged by John Murray Anderson, seen here in an image from approximately 1918.

He then produced with Stanley Gilky and Harry Rigby the Broadway production of the musical revue John Murray Anderson's Almanac, which opened on December 10, 1953, and continued until June 26, 1954. The show ran for 229 performances.^[10]

John Murray Anderson's Almanac was a music and comedy revue and consisted of casts members Billy De Wolfe, Orson Bean, Tina Louise, Hermione Gingold, Harry Belafonte, Polly Bergen, Carleton Carpenter, and Monique van Mooren. The show was conceived and staged by John Murray Anderson, and Henry Sullivan was one of the composers. Both had worked together in Murray Anderson's Almanac (1929)^[11] as well as on part of the soundtrack for The Greatest Show on Earth (1952).^[12]

Michael P. Grace II, along with being one of the producers, wrote some of the music and lyrics for the show as well.^[13] Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, who wrote most of the music and lyrics, started their careers in Broadway theatre with this show, going on to write songs for The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees over the course of the next two years (1954–1955).^[14][15] Singer and actress Hermione Gingold, originally from England, started her Broadway career as well with this show. She and fellow cast member Billy de Wolfe would go on to win the 1954 Donaldson Award for Male and Female Debut in a Musical. In the same award ceremony, Harry Belafonte won Best Supporting Actor in a Musical.^[16]

Hermione Gingold, seen here in publicity image for I've Got a Secret, began her career on Broadway as well as in US cinema with Mike Grace's production John Murray Anderson's Almanac.

Examples of music talent management:

Before John Murray Anderson's Almanac (1953)	After the 1953 Show
John Murray Anderson & Henry Sullivan had written part of the soundtrack for The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)	Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, who had written a majority of the music, would go on to write music for The Pajama Game (1954) and Damn Yankees (1955).

Billie Holiday starred in the Jazz Under the Stars concert. Image from 1947

Concert producer

In 1957, Grace and Chris F. Anderson presented Jazz Under the Stars at the Wollman Memorial Theatre in New York City's Central Park. It was produced by Grace in association with Monte Kay and Pete Kameron. Kay and Kameron would later go on to create FM Records. The show starred Billie Holiday, the Jerry Mulligan Quartet, Dinah Washington, Buddy Rich, Stan Getz, and Jo Jones. Commentary was provided by Al "Jazzbo" Collins and Sean Shepherd.^[17]

Composer and lyricist

Grace, along with having created some of the music and lyrics to his Broadway production, had written a variety of copyrighted songs for the recording industry as well. He wrote/co-wrote the music for Teeny, Weeny Martini (1953) and Cradled in the Arms of Love (1953) with Sammy Gallup and Helmy Kresa.^[18][19] He and John Rox, a fellow lyricist and composer from the Almanac show, wrote Let a Little Time Go By (1954).^[20] He also did musical collaborations with Clay Boland and Alfonso D'Artega. (Please See Discography Below).

Personal life

Michael Grace and Corinne Bissette were married at the Sacred Heart Chapel on the University of Notre Dame campus in 1954. Notre Dame was Mike Grace's alma mater.

While his Almanac musical was on stage on Broadway, Michael Grace married Corinne Bissette, an actress and graduate from the Women's College at the University of North Carolina. The wedding was held at Michael Grace's alma mater, the University of Notre Dame at the university's chapel of the Sacred Heart. The wedding took place on April 26, 1954. At the time of the wedding, he was president of Fatima Charities in New York City.^[7]

Discography

NOTES:

†- Carl Tucker would later go on to write additional music in Grace's production on John Murray Anderson's Almanac^[59]

††-Alfonso D'Artega & William D. Van Ness had written a screenplay for a science fiction musical fantasy in 1953.^[60]

†††-John Rox and Mike Grace were both composers and lyricists in John Murray Anderson's Almanac.

Oil industry

In 1965, he started a new career as an oil and gas producer. He operated wells mostly in New Mexico and was based in Carlsbad, New Mexico.^[61] In 1975, he took a case all the way to the New Mexico Supreme Court concerning the proration of natural gas production in the South-Carlsbad Morrow Gas Pool in Eddy County.^[62] In the 1970s, he was able to lease acreage from Santa Fe Pacific Railroad in attempt to produce uranium ore from a depth of 3,000 to 5,000 feet with a process called solution mining.^[63]

Philanthropy

Billie Holiday at the Club Bali (1948).

According to the NPR (National Public Radio) article about Billie Holiday, Billie Full Of Grace: How Billie Holiday Learned to Sing at the House of the Good Shepherd, Grace, a fellow Catholic, stepped up to pay for her funeral in 1959.^[68]

He provided the charitable contributions for the Michael P. Grace Chair in Medieval Studies at the University of Notre Dame in the US. The professorship is a part of scholarly work in medieval research.

A good example of the professorship's success was its encouragement for the writing of the book Aquinas on Human Action: A Theory of Practice^[69] by Ralph McInerny, Michael P. Grace Professor of medieval studies in the department of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame.

His charitable contribution also created a professorship and assistant professorship in economics at the university.^[70]

References