Caroline Sherman is a Renaissance woman.
As a member of Staples High School’s Class of 1983 — where she starred on the swimming, basketball and softball teams, played in the orchestra and sang in the choir — the native Westporter spent her senior spring interning for Congressman Sam Gejdenson in Washington.
At Colgate University she swam, played rugby and ice hockey, and served as editor of the student newspaper.
Caroline Sherman
While getting her MBA at Northwestern’s Kellogg School, she started a singing group (and invented a game called “Zoomball”).
She’s an avid collector of friends, and a builder of, what she likes to call “captured communities.”
So her latest accomplishment may not surprise you. Caroline has written and produced “Empire the Musical.”
Opening off-Broadway on July 11 (previews start July 1), it celebrates the construction of the Empire State Building from different perspectives, including the Mohawk “skywalkers.” Click here for more information.
Before this theatrical foray, Caroline had careers in mergers and acquisitions at Goldman Sachs, and product management at Richardson-Vicks and Procter & Gamble.
She assisted a Sports Illustrated photographer at the 1984 Olympics, taught skiing at Steamboat, and wrote for a sitcom in Los Angeles (while simultaneously earning her helicopter pilot’s license.
Caroline has biked across the US with her 2 brothers, ridden the 192-mile Pan-Mass Challenge to raise money for cancer more than 10 times, is a certified Scuba Diver, and has written and produced 3 short films featured in festivals.
Caroline Sherman (left) after a 2,000-mile bike ride, with friend and “Empire” co-producer Lynne Walder.
Her partner in the “Empire” project is Bob Hull. They have written lyrics and music together for over 25 years.
Caroline credits her Westport education — including teachers like Pat Beasley at Bedford Elementary School, and George Weigle, John Hanulik and Gerry Kuroghlian at Staples — as well as professors at Colgate and Kellogg, and (especially) her parents Ruth and Larry Sherman, for nurturing her wide-ranging interests and unstoppable drive.
Caroline Sherman (standing, rear) at a recent Westport Country Playhouse reading with her writing partner Bob Hull, sister Suzanne Sherman Propp, longtime friend Camille Addario and mother Ruth Sherman.
Her sister, the also spectacularly talented and accomplished Suzanne Sherman Propp, told “06880” about Caroline’s many careers, and latest venture.
“Hers is an inspiring story about a person who knows we’re only on this earth for a short time, and it’s our responsibility to squeeze every bit of juice out of this potentially fruitful life,” Suzanne says.
Hear, hear! Congratulations to Caroline Sherman, our “06880” Unsung Hero of the Week.
(Unsung Hero is a weekly “06880” feature. To nominate a hero, email 06880blog@gmail.com. To support our work, please click here. Thank you!)