Recently, the theater scene in Los Angeles has produced three shows highlighting composers – the unsung heroes of music. Corky Hale’s “I Only Have Eyes For You” about the life story of lyricist Al Dubin and composers Harry Warren and Jimmy McHugh preceded an elaborate production of “42nd St.” at The Pantages, with music by Warren and lyrics by Dubin. Now “Beautiful,” the story of composer Carole King, lights up The Pantages marquee.

Lee Newman sits at the piano given to McHugh by George Gershwin. (photo by Karen Villalpando)

We know so many of the songs featured in these shows, and hum along to them or sing them in the car. Yet the stories about the writers behind the music are not as well-known. In fact, the behind the scenes story of Jimmy McHugh is one made for a Hollywood screenplay.

I had the pleasure of learning about the prolific composer straight from an expert – his grandson, Lee Newman.

“It was the 1920s and Jimmy, my grandfather, was playing the Cotton Club in Harlem with huge hits like ‘When My Sugar Walks Down the Street,” Newman mused.

McHugh was a successful composer until the stock market crash of 1929. He lost everything, Newman said.

Then, one day while walking down Riverside Drive in New York City, McHugh bumped into George Gershwin ­– the two were friends. McHugh was broke and Gershwin inquired if there was anything he could do to help. McHugh said, “If I only had a piano, then I could write some songs.” So Gershwin gave him a piano.

The first song he wrote on the upright was “I’m in the Mood for Love.” He then wrote “On the Sunny Side of the Street,” and the rest, said Newman, is history.

The green painted piano and original chair sit in the world headquarters of Jimmy McHugh Music on Sunset Boulevard at the border of West Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Newman has been running the day-to-day operations for 15 years. The office is filled with archives and memorabilia – McHugh saved everything, Newman quipped.

Jimmy McHugh

News clippings, original sheet music, photos with stars like Shirley Temple, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra and more line the shelves. Bound tomes of his sheet music are only outnumbered by thousands of CDs.

Newman regaled me with stories about his grandfather, like the origin of “I Can’t Give You Anything but Love, Baby.” As McHugh and his longtime lyricist Dorothy Fields walked down Fifth Avenue, they spotted a young couple looking through the window of Tiffany Jewelers, marveling at the sparkling diamond rings. The young man turned to his girlfriend and said “I wish I could afford you that, but I can’t give you anything but my love.” And the song was born.

Many famous singers have recorded that song over the decades, and according to Newman, McHugh’s favorite version was by Judy Garland. Most renditions are jazzy and upbeat, however Garland slowed the tune down and sang it like a ballad, her voice filled with deep emotion. Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett recorded the song in 2014 for their album, “Cheek to Cheek.” They also recorded “I Won’t Dance,” another catchy McHugh-Fields collaboration.

Many of McHugh’s songs are part of the Great American Songbook and have been performed by artists from the heyday of Hollywood to contemporary artists of today. The list of performers runs the gamut – Sinatra, Garland, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Barbra Streisand, Smokey Robinson and Bob Dylan, to name a few. In the peak of her success, Carmen Miranda became synonymous with McHugh’s “South American Way.”

Jimmy McHugh and Shirley Temple. (photos courtesy of Jimmy McHugh Music)

More recently stars like Diana Krall, Rod Stewart, Queen Latifah, Gaga and Bennet and Esperanza Spaulding lent their voices to McHugh’s music. Spaulding recently performed McHugh’s “On the Sunny Side of the Street” at the White House for President Obama. McHugh’s music shined again when the Broadway production and the 2014 film “Jersey Boys” featured his hits “I’m in the Mood for Love” and “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, Baby.”

Newman’s role in the operation is to give permission for artists to use McHugh’s songs, a role in which he relishes. Keeping his grandfather’s music “alive and well” adds to the family’s legacy. Young people want to perform his songs and are doing so all over the country – all over the world, Newman said.

If there is one message that Newman hopes resonates, it is the staying power of his grandfather’s music. Music is the most powerful medium in the world, he said. Music speaks to everyone and can be played anywhere, anytime. Although McHugh passed away in 1969, his music lives because current artists continue to introduce it to new generations. Newman hopes the music lives forever.

Learning more about the life and prolific body of work of Jimmy McHugh reminds me to look beyond the Broadway performers and the famous voices singing the songs and appreciate the composers and lyricists who created such timeless words and melodies.

Back at the “world headquarters of Jimmy McHugh Music,” as Newman puts it, a bust of McHugh sits on top of the green upright piano. It is the bald head of McHugh donning a pair of black rimmed glasses. He has a friendly smile and you can picture him sitting at that piano churning out hits. I think he still sits on the sunny side of the street.