You. Me. And Roger.

 Gotta love the look!

Julie Andrews in Victor/Victoria, 1982.

This movie was in the planning stages as early as 1978,

when Director Blake Edwards hoped to pair Julie

with Peter Sellers.

Sellers passed away in 1980, however,

and Robert Preston was cast.

(Below with Dame Julie!)

 "You And Me"

 What a table of talent!
From left, Robert, Julie, James Garner, and Alex Karras. 

The score, by Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse,

was awarded an Academy Award.

Lots of other nominations for all, 

but that was the only Oscar taken home. 

 We'll hear 2 songs from the ill-fated

Two By Two,

a musical that Richard Rodgers (above with star Danny Kaye)

wrote with Martin Sharnin.

This must have been one of the few friendly meetings they had...

from the outset, Danny chose to "improve" 

his dialogue with ad-libs,

and change the tempos of songs.

 Danny was 59 years old when the production opened.

At one point in the run, he injured a foot and had to perform

in a wheelchair, and later on crutches.

Above, Danny with Joan Copeland.

 Checking the forecast,

the old-fashioned way.

Yup, 39 more days!

 A couple of notables I see in this arc-esque line up:

Walter Willison, 2nd from left, who received a Tony nomination,

Madeline Kahn next to him,

in the center, Joan Copeland and Harry Goz...and Danny, 2nd from the right.

I don't know if they got a Costume nomination,

but I sorta think NO!

We'll hear "You" and "I Do Not Know A Day I Did Not Love You."

 We'll hear Jordan Donica who played

Freddy Eynsford-Hill

in the 2018 revival of My Fair Lady,

with "On The Street Where You Live."

Prior to this production,

Jordan has done stints in Hamilton, Phantom Of The Opera,

and lots of TV...

meanwhile he is writing his own musical,

"Bully."

 And while we're at it, a gang of the revival dudes,

from the right, Harry Hadden-Paton who played Professor Higgins, 

Norbert Leo Butz (Alfred P. Doolittle), 

Allan Corduner as Colonel Pickering, 

Jordan (our Freddy), 

and in the back, musical director Ted Sperling.

Despite several Tony nominations,

this revival received only one award,

for Best Costumes. 

Sailors And Their Dates:

Above...Broadway's On The Town,

with the song "Ya Got Me",

the creation of Lenny B, Betty C, and Adolph G.

Below...Hollywood's take on that gathering,

with Roger Eden taking over the musical reins

and creating "(You Can) Count On Me."

Why the first song had to be replaced,

only Roger can tell us!

He evidently didn't care for Bernstein & Co.'s score

and went about replacing much of it.

Thankfully, both casts were incredible,

and frankly I'd listen to almost anything either 

would care to warble! 

Playlist For May 31, 2020: You Mit Me

Incredibly, I seem to be getting used to this new "normal." I mean, as long as I have music and books and Netflix and my cat and good weather and a bike and a G&T now and then, I'm fine. I guess that sounds like A LOT, right?

 I don't have to have 

a cat ON a bike.

Just a cat.

And a bike.

Separately. 

But given all of those things (for which I gotta be grateful as hell), the one thing I really miss is being able to go to a restaurant (a good one, hopefully, but at this point, I'd almost go for fish sticks, soggy onion rings, a juke box and lukewarm beer), sit down and order DUCK or something special, a great wine, and just luxuriate! In the savoring and conversation and relaxation. THAT'S what I miss. I could give a hoot for beaches or concerts...even theatre (which is a wonderful thing, don't get me wrong!), but restaurants are heaven, and having friends to share food and drink with is a marvelous thing. You and Me, sitting, sipping, sampling. That's what I want again.

 Looking forward...

I know it'll happen. Just tapping my foot, twiddling my thumbs, and pretending to do a puzzle in the wings til then.

But meanwhile, it can be You and Me time on the radio, right? From a yen/yearn to a 2 On The Aisle theme, at the snap of an unmanicured finger. Sooooo many Yous, soooo many Mes! I had to filter, winnow, cut (with compassion), weigh, and weed to come up with this playlist. I just know I've left out a favorite or 70, but what's a dame to do with a mere 2 hours of air time? From a Victor/Victoria soft shoe to a Lucy Schmeeler "Ya Got Me" vamp, we can pretend we're in the same room, closer than 6 feet apart, not a mask in sight, and dipping on the dance floor. Tres risque and risk-y, but not ON THE RADIO!

 Lucy and Gabby, a little too close.

So half of this Sunday's show is YOU. Half of Sunday's show is ME. And the remaining half (fractions, anyone?) is You AND Me. Hopefully these pronouns  (and this New Math) will start a trend and we'll be confabulating (and accurately calculating) soon. Over brewskis or margaritas, it matters not. I'll get the pate, you can order a jello mold for all I care. Calling for reservations soon!


You And Me (But Mostly Me)(Andrew Rannells, Josh Gad, The Book Of
       Mormon)
Would You? (Betty Noyes, Jean Hagen, Singin' In The Rain)
You (Danny Kaye, Two By Two)
You're Awful (Frank Sinatra, Betty Garrett, On The Town)
Why Do I Love You? (Barbara Cook, John Raitt, Show Boat)
You're A Dysquith (Jane Carr, Bryce Pinkham, A Gentleman's Guide To
       Love And Murder)
What's In It For You? (Maurice Evans, Ron Husmann, Tenderloin)
You Gotta Get A Gimmick (Leonora Nemetz, Alison Fraser, Marilyn
       Caskey, Gypsy)
When You Meet A Man In Chicago (Sheila Smith, Ensemble, Sugar)
No One'll Ever Love You (Elaine Stritch, Don Ameche, Goldilocks)
K-ra-zy For You (Bobby Short, Bobby Short Is K-RA-ZY For Gershwin)
All I Do Is Dream Of You (Ensemble, Singin' In The Rain)
Always True To You (Amy Spanger, Kiss Me, Kate)
On The Street Where You Live (Jordan Donica, My Fair Lady)
I Do Not Know A Day I Did Not Love You (Tricia O'Neil, Walter Willison,
       Two By Two)
If I Were You (Ray Bolger, Eileen Herlie, All American)
Nice Work If You Can Get It (Fred Astaire,Damsel In Distress)
You're Getting To Be A Habit With Me (Tammy Grimes, 42nd Street)
You And Me (Julie Andrews, Robert Preston, Victor/Victoria)
Just You, Just Me (Judy Garland, Judy At Carnegie Hall)
You Got Me (Nancy Walker, Ensemble, On The Town)
Meet Me In St. Louis (Judy Garland, Lucille Bremer, Joan Carroll,
       Meet Me In St. Louis)
Me And My Girl (Robert Lindsay, Maryann Plunkett, Me And My Girl)
Get Me To The Church On Time (Stanley Holloway, My Fair Lady)
Let Me Sing And I'm Happy (Karen Morrow, White Christmas)
Close Every Door To Me (Ensemble, Joseph And His Amazing Technicolor
       Dream Coat) 
Why Am I Me? (Joseph Shapiro, Chip Ford, Shenandoah)
Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee (Adrianne Barbeau, Grease)
Baby, Talk To Me (Dick Van Dyke, Baby Talk To Me)
Count On Me (Frank Sinatra, Betty Garrett, Ann Miller, Jules Munshin,
       Alice Pearce, On The Town)
Baptize Me (Nikki M. James, Josh Gad, The Book Of Mormon)
Sue Me (Nathan Lane, Faith Prince, Guys And Dolls)
Let Me Be Your Sugar Baby (Ensemble, Sugar Babies)

She can turn the world on with a smile???

Off-Broadway hit, Little Mary Sunshine!

Off-Broadway star (says the blurb below), Eileen Brennan.

It was 1959

and Little Mary ran concurrently with The Fantastiks,

another Off-Broadway smash,

downtown at the Orpheum Theatre, in the East Village.

This was Eileen's first big part in NYC theatre, 

having made the move from California to

Washington, D.C. (Georgetown University)

and finally The Big Apple

(where she studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts).

She would go on to play

Irene Molloy in the original production of 

Hello, Dolly!

And of course do tons of television and movies...

below with her Little Mary replacement,

Marion Mercer.

Bernadette Peters

is "A Beat Behind" 

when she tries to re-enter the world of Broadway Dance...

in The Goodbye Girl.

Based on the Neil Simon movie of the same name

(starring Richard Dreyfus and Neil Simon's dancey wife, 

Marcia Mason),

the transition to Broadway was bumpy.

Still had that Simon book, plus Michael Kidd directing

Martin Short (in his Broadway debut) and some nice songs

by Marvin Hamlisch and David Zippel.

But it closed in about 5 months.

Time Magazine called it "big stars, boffo story, bad judgements."

Martin and Bernadette were both praised,

despite "the hand they were dealt"...

If you have a chance, see the movie.

Richard Dreyfus gets to hunchback his way thru Shakespeare!

I

We're featuring 2 songs by Sutton Foster

this Sunday:

One from The Drowsy Chaperone (above), "Show Off"

and another from Thoroughly Modern Millie (below), 

"Not For The Life Of Me".

Sutton is a 2 Tony Award winner 

for her performances as Millie AND Reno Sweeney

in Anything Goes. 

Had to add a GLAM shot of Sutton (below)...

she just celebrated her 45 birthday! 

Applause wasn't the first Broadway show for

Lauren Bacall!

In 1959, she starred in Goodbye, Charlie,

and then Cactus Flower in 1965.

But now she had to sing,

in Applause and (5 years later) Woman Of The Year.

Musta worked, cuz she garnered Tonys for both!

Bette Davis, star of All About Eve, the basis of the musical,

came backstage after an Applause performance

and told Lauren,

"You're the only one who could have played the part."

In a fun twist of fate, 

Ann Baxter (the film's Eve Harrington)

"replaced" Lauren when she left the production! 

Thanks to a 2 On The Aisle listener,

I'm now VERY AWARE that they did a version for television in 1973, 

with Lauren and Larry Hagman! 

Not available commericially, 

but you can see several clips of it on YouTube.

Above, curtain call with Len Cariou

(who would become Sweeney Todd just 8 years later!)

Sondra Lee and Mary Martin

as Tiger Lily and Peter Pan...

in the first live-for-TV production of Peter Pan in 1955.

It would play live again on NBC in 1956,

with a full color videotaped version following in 1960.

Side note: Sondra Lee would late play Minnie Fay in

the original production of 

Hello, Dolly (1964).

Initially, Carolyn Leigh and Morris "Moose" Charlap

created songs for Peter

when it first set its sights on Broadway in 1954. 

However, previews proved disappointing!

They called for reinforcements 

in the way of more songs,

brought to us by

The Cavalry: Jule Styne, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green,

who wrote "Never Never Land", "Wendy",

"Hook's Waltz", and "Mysterious Lady".

Mary with Cyril Ritchard and Nana (the Nurse Maid).

Both Mary and Cyril won Tonys for their performances.

Nana was snubbed.

Playlist For May 24, 2020: Queen Moi

So once upon a time, another 2 or 3 lives ago (like a cat, I will hopefully have at least 9), a roommate of mine suggested a "game"...well, it was hardly a game. No prizes for winning. No humiliation for losing. What kind of a game is that, I ask you? But, anyway. She said it would involve choosing 2 or 3 songs that she thought would be a good THEME SONG for me and I would do the same for her. (This is not a game at all! Why did she even call it a game? Games used to require colorful boards, dice, spinners, pretend money, large bowls of bad-for-you snacks (fruit? smeh!), and sometimes a Mystery Date! This "game" included none of these. Harrumph.)

  A couple of REAL GAMES! 

She chose for me: Some Karen Carpenter song ("Close To You?" "Top Of The World"?) and that Mary Tyler Moore Show theme song (you know, where she tosses her hat up into the air?). I guess this must have been before I became acerbic and bitter (Life 5), because these songs now set my teeth on edge and send my blood sugar into the ionosphere (which I know is really high, cuz I speak Star Trek re-runs).

No longer me.

(Tho I may be that disaproving dame behind her now.)

I chose for her: Well, I totally forget what I chose for her. One thing hasn't changed, and that is my narcissistic perspective. That game was all about me, and who cared about her theme song? I mean, really. :) Okay, Deb-or-ah, (always pronounced with 3 syllables. Hence, why we never talk anymore), you can have (in hindsight) Linda Ronstadt's "When Will I Be Loved?" cuz I do remember you loved her. See, I'm not the navel-gazer you SAID I was. Jesus, DEBBIE!

 (Photo of Deb-or-ah here. If I effing had one.)

ALLLLL that to say, I'm going to play that "game" again ON AIR. Now that I've come to Life 8, it's time to re-do and re-think the possibilities, this time in a Carpenter-less, Broadway style. So I'm foisting all the facets of MOI on TOI, from Queen Lucy to Queen Bacall, seeking contenders (or should I say, "contendahs?) from Undecided and Uptown to Show Off and Shy...and I'm even throwing in a French corner, cuz if I'm frank, Shirley, I do pretend to be French on my father's mother's cousin's side. From time to time. I think that was Life 7. ALSO, 3 theme songs that my parents held near and dear. Just to be nice.

 Yup, that's my style.

And if you hate all this, you can blame Otto Bruno. He brought it up (like a Hairball On The Cat Bed Of Life) by doing a similarly-based show a few weeks back. And that show brought back all the memories. In fact, I'm sending him my therapy bills for the next couple of sessions.

Enuf. Hey, what's YOUR theme song? Don't send it. I have a navel to watch. 


But Alive (Lauren Bacall, Applause)
Not For The Life Of Me (Sutton Foster, Thoroughly Modern Millie)
Take Back Your Mink (Vivian Blaine, Guys And Dolls)
Nobody (Corey Cott, Laura Osnes, Ensemble, The Band Stand)
The God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me Blues (Gene Nelson, Follies)
Gotta Be This Or That (Guy Stroman, Jason Graae, Ensemble, Forever Plaid)
Who's That Girl? (Lauren Bacall, Applause)
Uptown, Downtown (Craig Lucas, Marry Me A Little)
My Own Morning (Leslie Uggams, Hallelujah, Baby!)
One Step (Loni Ackerman, George S. Andrews, Starting Here, Starting Now)
Never Never Land (Mary Martin, Peter Pan)
The Happy Time (Robert Goulet, The Happy Time)
Times Are Hard For Dreamers (Savvy Crawford, Amelie)
Si Tu N'etais Pas La (Frehel, Amelie)
Le Moulin (Instrumental, Amelie)
Parlez-Moi D'Amour (Lucienne Boyer, The Moderns)
Little Mary Sunshine (Eileen Brennan, Little Mary Sunshine)
Queen Lucy (Reva Rose, Bob Balaban, You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown)
Shy (Carol Burnett, Once Upon A Mattress)
Show Off (Sutton Foster, The Drowsy Chaperone)
Rum And Coca-Cola (The Andrews Sisters)
Chattanooga Choo-Choo (The Glenn Miller Orchestra)
Stardust (Artie Shaw And His Orchestra)
You Took Advantage of Me (Elaine Stritch, Stritch)
I'm Still Here (Elaine Stritch, Elaine Stritch At Liberty)
What's Gonna Happen (Sarah Stiles, Tootsie)
A Beat Behind (Bernadette Peters, Scott Wise, The Goodbye Girl)
Lullaby Of Broadway (Jerry Orbach, Wanda Richert, 42nd Street)

And a 1-ah, and a 2-ah....

When composer/lyricist Edward Kleban died in 1987

(age 48),

he left a bevy of songs and projects 

that had remained unpublished/unproduced in his lifetime.

In his will, he requested they be made into a show,

so Linda Klein (his partner for the last 8 years of his life)

and Lonny Price created A Class Act: A Musical About Musicals,

which spoke to Ed's life, his personality, his projects, and

his neurosis. 

It took the team 6 years to write and workshop the show,

but they did it.

That's the real Ed below, and below that...

...the cast and creatives from

A Class Act,

including on the left (standing)

Randy Graff,

Lonny Price (center, with the Kleban beard!),

and Carolee Carmelo on right (standing) who played a character 

based on Linda Klein.

David Hibbard, front right, played Michael Bennett

(director/choreographer of A Chorus Line),

and, not-pictured-but-part-of-the-cast, Jeff Blumenkrantz

(of Murder For Two, Bright Star, et.al.)

played Marvin Hamlisch.

The original production ran on Broadway for 2 months in 2000.

A quote from Lonny: 

" 'To play Ed, you have to be neurotic and crazy and

 lovable and funny, all at the same time. 

He's not the nicest guy in the world, he's got a lot of edges.''

 We'll hear "One", an interesting version of the 

"One" you're used to!

A concerned Robert Morse

and Arlene Golonka

in Take Me Along, 1959.

Maybe Robert is waiting for that

"Nine O'Clock" date!

Below, the record cover 

touting the great cast, with

Onna White "staging", and music by Robert Merrill.

Liza Minnelli (above center and below)

was just 17 years old when she starred in

Best Foot Forward,

based on a 1943 movie of the same name,

starring Lucille Ball, June Allyson and Nancy Walker.

And THAT was based  

on the original Broadway musical of 1941,

which starred Rosemary Lane, Nancy (in her Broadway debut)

and June.

In 1954, they did a television adaptation...

yet it still wasn't enough!

Come 1963, Liza starred in an Off-Broadway version on this saga,

and won a Theatre World Award! 

 

Christopher Walken also starred

(above with Liza).

All this to say,

we'll hear "The 3 Bs" on Sunday! 

Words and Music: Ralph Blaine and Hugh Martin 

 Nine To Five!

Yup, it started as a 1980 movie, 

with music and lyrics by Dolly Parton...

28 years later, somebody thought it belonged on Broadway. 

It starred (above) Stephanie J. Block, Megan Hilty, Alison Janney,

 and Marc Kudish. 

It lasted on Bway about 6 months; 

London audiences (and critics) were kinder, 

and it stuck around longer across "the pond".

Below, a West End production! 

 Have to add a couple of great quotes here... 

Ben Brantley of the NYTimes

described it as an "overinflated whoopee cushion" 

and felt that the staged version turned its 

"feminist revenge story into an occasion for lewd slapstick." 

It probably wouldn't fly in this #metoo time zone.

I admit to never having seen The Five Pennies, from 1959. 

It was a "bio-pic" of Red Nichols, 

the cornet player/bandleader, with music by Sylvia Fine, and others. 

It starred Danny Kaye, Barbara Bel Geddes, and Harry Guardino. 

Louis Armstrong also had a cameo. 

On Sunday, it'll provide us with the Number 5,

 and a lullaby for that afternoon nap!

Playlist For May 17, 2020: To Whoop Or Not To Whoop...let me count the ways!

By the time this show airs, we (here in Upstate New York) may be cautiously out of quarantine. Note that I did NOT put an exclamation point at the end of that sentence. As much as we all probably want to dash out and whoop it up, we'll have to tread carefully into that Whoopy. In fact, ain't gonna be none of the old Whoopy, as we of the B.C. generation (Before Corona) once knew it. It will be an interestingly new non-whoop-esque world we tip toe back into! (There, an exclamation point. Feel better?) Now I'll stop using Whoop. :)

I may function better with THIS kind of Whoopy.

 So we've been counting the days...how many? No clue. I mean, I WAS counting, and caring, but now? Can I actually count anymore? Can my brain unfreeze and focus, maybe read an article without skimming? Hey, this NYTimes thing is 7 paragraphs long??? What the hell? Better, I should take baby steps, right? Not expect tooooo much of myself. Could I muster the energy to whip up a Nutella Frappaccino? (Probably not. I'd just pair it down to coffee, maybe some turning-as-we-speak milk, and pour it into a half eaten jar of that nutty stuff. Maybe shake AND stir.)

The way mine won't look.

So I thought maybe we'd try some counting...up instead of down...Broadway Style. You know, just to get ourselves focusing on numeration? Like one number after another? Maybe the patron saint of this "By The Numbers Edition" could be The Count. Remember him? Nicely costumed, toothsome, and be-caped Muppet Fellow. He'd keep us in line!

We'll start with 1. Then 2. I believe 3 and 4 used to follow, right? Anyway, if I skip a number, don't get your knickers in a twist. Just know that Broadway didn't see fit to sing about 19. Or 23. In fact, a lot of prime numbers just get skipped. That's not my fault.

Enjoy. And get your mind a'calculatin'! Cuz soon enough, you'll be out (OUT!) at a restaurant and have to reckon out the tip. And read a whole article. And (hopefully) go back to work. And ADULT. We can do this.

If we start with 1.


One/Better (Lonny Price, Company, A Class Act)
One Of A Kind (Len Cariou, Lauren Bacall, Applause)
Johnny One Note (Judy Garland, Words And Music)
One Boy (Susan Watson, Chita Rivera, Bye Bye Birdie)
Just One Step (Jessica Molaskey, Songs For A New World)
Two Lost Souls (Gwen Verdon, Stephen Douglass, Damn Yankees)
Two Heads (Andrew Durand, Evan Harrington, The Robber Bridegroom)
Cocktails For Two (Spike Jones And His City Slickers)
Tea For Two (Susan Watson, Roger Rathburn, No, No, Nanette)
The Three B's (Liza Minnelli, Kay Cole, Renee Winters, Best Foot Forward)
Three Friends (Ensemble, Closer Than Ever)
Four Jews In A Room Bitching (Christian Borle, Andrew Rannells, Brandon
       Uranowitz, Falsettos)
Four Black Dragons (Jae Woo Lee, Mako, Ensemble, Pacific Overtures)
The Five Pennies (Danny Kaye, The Five Pennies)
The Seven Deadly Virtues (Roddy McDowall, Camelot)
Tonight At 8 (Zachary Levi, She Loves Me)
Nine O'Clock (Robert Morse, Take Me Along)
Ten Cents A Dance (Ruth Etting, Simple Simon)
Nine To Five (Allison Janney, Stephanie J. Block, Megan Hilty, Nine To Five)
Dance: Ten; Looks: Three (Pamela Blair, A Chorus Line)
Eleven O'Clock Song (Jane and Betty Kean, Ankles Aweigh)
Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love (Cameron Mason, Baayork Lee,
       A Chorus Line)
Sixteen Going On Seventeen (Lauri Peters, Brian Davies, The Sound
       Of Music)
Sixteen Tons (David Engel, Forever Plaid)
Thirty Miles From The Banks Of The Ohio/Look Who's Here (Santino Fontana,
       Rebecca Naomi Jones, Ensemble, God Bless You Mr. Rosewater)
Fifty Checks (Tom Wopat, Catch Me If You Can)
Forty-Five Minutes From Broadway (Joel Grey, Loni Ackerman, George M!)
Wait Till We're Sixty-Five (William Daniels, Barbara Harris, On A Clear Day
       You Can See Forever))
Seventy-Six Trombones (Robert Preston, The Music Man)
Another Hundred People (Patti LuPone, Don't Monkey With Broadway)
A Million Windows And I (Ann Hampton Calloway, Shoe String Revue)
Twenty Million People (Evan Pappas, Company, My Favorite Year)

Broadway Mommies!

 Mary McCarty, doncha know!

Mary began her musical career at the age of 5,

with the likes of Shirley Temple and Jane Withers

(yup, she was in Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm...her first screen credit).

She was one of those child stars who was able

to continue working in the industry her entire life:

Movies (All That Jazz, The French Line, etc),

Television (Trapper John, M.D., etc.)

and Broadway (Chicago, Miss Liberty, Follies, another etc.!)

 Mary was also quite the dancer,

with "show girl" experience

at L.A. nightclubs like the Mocambo

and The Flamingo in Las Vegas.

 In the original production of Chicago 

(above with Chita Rivera),

she played Matron Mama Morton.

"When You're Good To Mama!"

Grind had the music of Larry Grossman

(Minnie's Boys, Snoopy!!!, and yes, there really are 3 !!!s in that title),

and lyrics by Ellen Fitzhugh.

It lasted only 2 months on Broadway back in 1985,

so don't feel bad if you've never heard of it.

It starred Ben Vereen and Leilani Jones,

the latter winning a Tony for her featured role.

We'll hear "Why, Mama, Why?"

That's kind of what I want to know. 

!!!

 Gotta have a little (or in this case A LOT)

of Gypsy,

the Mother Ship of (s)mothering musicals,

and for that we'll use the 2008 revival,

with Patti LuPone,

Emma Rowley, Sami Gayle...

 ...and (below) as the older versions of 

Louise and June,

Leigh Ann Larkin and Laura Benanti.

"Tomorrow's Mother's Day",

"If Momma Was Married"

and "Rose's Turn"

Charles Nelson Reilly (of the Bronx!)

survived a disasterous circus fire, in Hartford, Connecticut,

back in 1944 (he was 13 at the time)... 167 people were killed.

(As a result, Charles avoided sitting in the audience and 

large crowds in general!)

 His first ambition was to be

an opera singer (on the STAGE, not in the audience!),

but when that didn't happen he turned to acting.

(Interesting side note:
Opera was always a passion, and Charles would guest on

opera-themed radio shows and later direct opera productions.)

 (That's Charles with Julie Harris, below!)

 Off-Broadway started him off,

specifically Nightcap and Parade, two Jerry Herman revues

done in 1957 and 1960, respectively.

Parade starred Charles, Dody Goodman, Fia Karin, 

 and Richard Tone.

We'll hear "Confession To A Park Avenue Mother"

which I didn't understand AT ALL until I moved to Manhattan

and finally "got" the Upper East versus 

Upper West Side feud.

Broadway roles for Charles followed,

including Bye Bye Birdie, How To Succeed, and Hello, Dolly!.

Come the 1960s and 70s, Charles became the king of TV game shows

like What's My Line, The Match Game, and Hollywood Squares,

lots of guesting on variety shows

(the Dean Martin Show, for one),

as well as roles on The Ghost & Mrs. Muir,

The Love Boat, Here's Lucy, and Love, American Style.

I Can Get It For You Wholesale

hit Broadway in 1962,

with music and lyrics by Harold Rome

(Pins And Needles, Destry Rides Again, Fanny).

It starred Elliot Gould, Lillian Roth

(above with that "saggy, baggy" fur coat),

Jack Kruschen and a 19 year old Barbra Streisand

(below, who got a Tony nod out of it!).

When they got a load of Babs talent,

the show's director Arthur Laurents and Rome

beefed up her role...

and Elliot married her!

(Well, for a while.)

 And I have to include a 

short but sweet version of 

"Together Wherever We Go" (yup, from Gypsy, AGAIN!)

sung by Judy Garland and daughter, Liza Minnelli.

They performed that song in 1963,

on Judy's variety show.

Liza was only 17 years old,

and Mom was 41.