Well, being at such a distance from the actual street and the very real center of theatrical entertainment (in the world) is a challenge. Upstate NY doesn't much inspire daily hat-and-cane cavorting, or springing into a wing, or bursting into a ballad, now does it? (Exception: Curly, gettin' all hot and bothered by that "beautiful morning") But USUALLY you hear roosters crowing and smell the odoriferous cabbage in the fields, and you don't automatically think footlights and playbills and post-theatre reviews at Sardi's. You sort of think, "man, am I out of touch or WHAT!" What's going on down there? What's edgy and new and opening (and closing, for that matter) on the Great White Way (which will henceforth be referred to as the GWW)? How often must I admit that I HAVE NO CLUE!
This rooster
vs
that Rooster
So I often reach back, really really far back (good for that twisty shoulder stretch, I guess) to past Broadway greatness, or goofiness as the case may be. I grab the Best Ofs, or the flops, or the eccentricities that weren't fully recorded, or foist cheesy themes on you. And that's how I fill in my lack of knowledge of the NEW. I mean I try to keep up (pant pant). Or maybe, in truth, I'm just too lazy to monthly commute (to the GWW! Hah! So much easier!) for a "fix". But that's why you'll hear Inside the U.S.A. (1948) with Beatrice Lillie and not Moulin Rouge (2019) with ???. So Kill Me.
Speaking of Inside U.S.A., interesting story: I found it online, yup...supposedly the real 1948 production with Bea Lillie and Jack Haley. BUT (and isn't there always a BUT) it contained like 9 songs from the score, tho not all done by the original performers, then 5 repeats with OTHER performers, like Perry Como? Like Pearl Bailey? And then 9 more from The Band Wagon, the staged version, (which is great, cuz I had none of that...Fred and ADELE!!) and the movie (which I already had). Very weird. Of course both revues were written by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz, so you could tie them together there, but come on! It's says on the cover, "Inside U.S.A., the new musical revue" (new, get it?) and then in very tiny print at the bottom "plus selections from The Band Wagon"..harrumph.
Be well. Sing Happy. Listen to the rooster. Wake up and smell the crops. The GWW remains (if buried, if diluted) in my blood. :)
Sing Happy (Liza Minnelli, Flora The Red Menace)
Gary, Indiana (Eddie Hodges, The Music Man)
Come, Oh Come To Pittsburgh! (Beatrice Lillie, Inside U.S.A.)
Blue Grass (Pearl Bailey, Inside U.S.A.)
When It's Sweet Pea Time In Georgia (Mike Craver, Ensemble, Radio Gals)
Two Heads (Andrew Durand, Evan Harrington, The Robber Bridegroom)
The Pricklepear Bloom (Leslie Kritzer, The Robber Bridegroom)
Rosamund's Dream (Ahna O'Reilly, Steven Pasquale, The Robber Bridegroom)
Nothin' Up (Ahna O'Reilly, The Robber Bridegroom)
I'm Nobody's Baby (Judy Garland, Andy Hardy Meets Debutante)
Nobody Makes A Pass At Me (Barbra Streisand, Pins And Needles)
Nobody Does It Like Me (Michele Lee, Seesaw)
I Ain't Got Nobody (Ann-Margret)
Sweet Music (Fred Astaire, Adele Astaire, The Band Wagon)
Sweet Music (Nanette Fabray, Oscar Levant, The Band Wagon)
I Love Luisa (Fred Astaire, The Band Wagon)
I Love Luisa (Fred Astaire, Oscar Levant, Nanette Fabray, The Band Wagon)
Nobody (Corey Cott, Laura Osnes, Ensemble, Bandstand)
No Man Left For Me (Dee Hoty, The Will Roger's Follies)
Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out (Leslie Odom, Jr.)
Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens (Ensemble, Five Guys Named Moe)
I'm Nobody's Baby (Ruth Etting)
The Happy Time (Robert Goulet, David Wayne, The Happy Time)
I Want To Be Happy (Jack Gilford, Susan Watson, No, No, Nanette)
Happy To Keep His Dinner Warm (Bonnie Scott, How To Succeed In
Business Without Really Trying)
H-A-P-P-Y / We'll Raise A Glass Together (David Jackson, Danny Strayhorn,
Michael Jeter, Brent Barrett, Grand Hotel)
Make Someone Happy (John Reardon, Do Re Mi)
Glad To Be Unhappy (Kay Coulter, Joshua Shelley, On Your Toes)
I Could Be Happy With You (John Hewar, Julie Andrews, The Boy Friend)
Hip To Be Happy (Ann Hampton-Callaway, Liz Callaway, Blues In The Night)
I Promise You A Happy Ending (Robert Preston, Mack & Mabel)
Sing Happy (Audra McDonald, Sing Happy)
Get Happy (Judy Garland, Summer Stock)
Happy Days Are Here Again (Barbra Streisand)
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