julie i sure did we all should know julie stein

and i and i he was a wonderful guy and he he was i can't say he was a friend but he was a terrific acquaintance and we had lots of conversations and one of them was i asked him i said why is it that all the composers on broadway are jewish and he said it's because the music east is eastern european in its roots if you listen to tchaikovsky shastakovich or any of the classical composers that are russian or hungary or or polish um The music is very, very melodic.

And from that music, you can pull out melodies.

And that's since most of the Jews of the early 20th century were either born in Eastern Europe or their parents were born in Eastern Europe.

So they learned that.

And in every Jewish house, there was always a piano or a violin.

It was one or the other.

I want to hear

Oh,

yeah.

Right one side of me.

I had a little cubicle with a piano.

Everybody did.

And on the left side of me was Carole King, who was then Carole Klein.

She was my age.

And they

Can you tell me a little bit about how that came about?

Well, it's actually screwy because it started off with a co-writer that I work with.

At that point, I was writing the music and the lyrics, but I wasn't writing the book.

Okay.

And I didn't have a name for this show.

All I know that it was about Adam and Eve.

But it wasn't Adam and Eve.

I

So what has it been like for you developing the work and putting your life on the stage?

Well, I've been writing for most of my life.

In fact, when I was about 17, I worked at the Brill Building and writing music for Don Kirshner.

who was the producer at the time, and I had my own cubicle.

On the right-hand cubicle was Carole King, who was then called Carole Klein.

She wasn't Carole King yet.

And the other side of me was Neil Sedaka.

Well, Al, tell me, what or who inspires you? What playwrights, composers, or shows have inspired you in the past or just some of your favorites?