Remember when you were a kid, and you let a week or two actually exist between Thanksgiving and Christmas? You'd made big red circles all over both the Sears and Montgomery Ward catalogues ("Santa...it's all between pages 42 and 57..."), the 5th grade chorus concert was 10 days away, no wrapped packages stockpiling in the closet (you checked!), no fruitcake wafts, no Chipmunk carols on the a.m. radio dial, no tree until they went on sale. So here we are in that same time period, which is supposed to be a lull, a relaxed pause between holidays, and people are like...Did you finish your shopping? All decorated? Cards done? Tree laminated? Color wheel workin'?
Well, no, actually. I am presently avoiding as much of this as possible. And so we PUT THE HELL OFF everything Christmas-y for a week, okay? And we celebrate some December birthdays, the ones that are oft eclipsed...Ira! Adolph! Lew! Noel (how appropriate...I wonder if his mom...nah)! So lots of lovely song lyrics to commemorate, all classic Broadway (oh, and MGM movie classic as well). Some Gershwin Embraceables, some Comden and Green Bells, some Henderson/De Sylva/Brown Cherries and Buttons and Cream. Coward himself sings a bawdy version of "I Went To A Mahvelous Party," and man, I wish I'd BEEN at that party (or knew how to throw one like it. I keep trying.)! Some Fosse to keep us less saccharine. Some Dolores Gray to thank, but no thanks.
So stay strong. Postpone the inevitable by joining me in non-holiday, non-candy-caned, restrained yet fabulous Broadway. Oh, and could I get a refill on this eggnog?
Overture/We Are Gentlemen Of Japan (Ensemble, Hot Mikado)
K-ra-zy For You (Bobby Short, K-ra-zy For Gershwin)
Who Cares? (Bea Arthur, Just Between Friends)
But Not For Me (Mary Martin, Girl Crazy)
Long Ago (And Far Away)(Jo Stafford)
Do What You Do (Bobby Short, K-ra-zy For Gershwin)
My Ship (Maria Freedman, Lady In The Dark)
The Man That Got Away (Judy Garland, A Star Is Born)
Come Up To My Place (Nancy Walker, Cris Alexander, On The Town)
It's A Perfect Relationship (Judy Holliday, Bells Are Ringing)
If (Elaine Stritch, Stritch)
Ambition (Phil Silvers, Do Re Mi)
My Own Morning (Leslie Uggams, Hallelujah, Baby!)
I Just Can't Wait (Orson Bean, Subways Are For Sleeping)
Never Never Land (Mary Martin, Peter Pan)
Three Little Maids (Paulette Ivory, Alison Jiear, Veronica Hart, Hot Mikado)
I Am So Proud (Richard Lloyd King, Ben Richards, Ross Lehman, Hot Mikado)
I've Got A Little List (Ross Lehman, Hot Mikado)
Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries (Jack Hylton and His Orchestra)
You're The Cream In My Coffee (Ruth Etting)
Button Up Your Overcoat (Helen Kane)
Birth Of The Blues (Keely Smith, Louis Prima)
Nowadays (Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chicago)
Bye Bye, Blackbird (Ben Vereen, Ensemble, Fosse)
Rich Man's Frug (Instrumental, Sweet Charity)
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? (Frank Sinatra, Celeste Holm, High Society)
Fit As A Fiddle (Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Singin' In The Rain)
I Guess I'll Have To Change My Plan (Fred Astaire, Jack Buchanan, The Band
Wagon)
Thanks A Lot, But No Thanks (Dolores Gray, It's Always Fair Weather)
I Got Rhythm (Gene Kelly, An American In Paris)
Last Night When We Were Young (Judy Garland, In The Good Old
Summertime)
You Better Love Me (Tammy Grimes, High Spirits)
I Went To A Marvelous Party (Noel Coward, Set To Music)
Later Than Spring (Elaine Stritch, Sail Away)
No comments:
Post a Comment