Huzzah for Birthday 87!

 Born in 1930, in NYC,

Stephen Joshua Sondheim's

first experience with musical theatre

happened at the age of 9,

when he was taken to see a show called Very Warm For May.

 "The curtain went up and revealed a piano. 

A butler took a duster and brushed it up, tinkling the keys. 

I thought that was thrilling."

With Leonard Bernstein,

after the opening of West Side Story.

(I think Stephen wants that suit!)

 

 With Richard Rodgers in 1965,

working on Do I Hear A Waltz?

Rodgers was evidently difficult to work with,

hiding vodka bottles in the piano,

and dismissing Sondheim's lyrics. 

Sondheim felt obligated to do the project;

Oscar Hammerstein, his friend and mentor, had hoped

he would succeed him as Rodger's partner.

Company...1970.

At the top, a rather posed rehearsal pic

with book writer George Furth,

Dean Jones, Elaine Stritch, Hal Prince, Barbara Barrie,

and choreographer Michael Bennett.

Above, the recording session with

Pamela Myers, readying for her rendition of 

"Another Hundred People".

The show set a record for Tony nominations: 14.

It would win 6, including Best Book, Best Score, Best Direction, 

and Best Musical.

In London,

after the opening of the "Lansbury Edition"

of Gypsy, 1973.
Originally, Elaine Stritch was set to star,
but they couldn't raise enough capital with her name,
but Angela's fame brought in the dough!

From left, Jule Styne, composer,

Angela, Arthur Laurents, book-meister,

and Stephen.

 Opening night of Sweeney, 1979,

with Len Cariou and Angela (again)!

 8 Tony wins for this one...

 Working on Sunday in the Park

with Mandy and Bernadette, 1984.

 A Pulitzer, but no Best Musical Tony...

Jerry Herman's La Cage Aux Folles scooped it.

With Harold Prince,

director/producer of 6 Sondheim's creations,

and winner of 21Tonys

(more than any other person!).

The two parted ways after Merrily We Roll Along,

til 2003 (with Bounce).

Playlist for Sunday, March 19, 2017: Tall Enough To Be Your Mother

This Sunday we get to wallow in Sondheim. It's his 87th birthday this Wednesday, so 'tis the perfect excuse to wallow, and I aim to take full advantage, lemme tell ya. I've invited all the usual suspects to the "party": Elaine and her Stritchy siren, Zero (whose wife actually had to threaten him with bodily harm to get him to do Forum), Angela, Len, Dean, Hermoine, Alexis, Barbara (with a C), Bernadette...the list of Sondheim signature singers (and songs) is de-lightful and de-long. We'll raise our glasses of figurative bubbly, bleat our metaphorical makers of noise, and toast (not toast, but...) this wry musical genius who brought us songs to cry with over our cabernet. Yes, I've played it all before. Yes, I absolutely will again. But maybe each time, the wallowing may bring more insight. And more sophistication. Which I could use, big time.

So while the winter winds continue (March comes in like a lion, sticks around like a lion, overstays it's welcome like a lion...?), let's pretend we're in that Sondheim Turtle Bay townhouse, listening perhaps to the first time he played "Not A Day Goes By" and melt into the divan.

Cheers, Stephen.   

Broadway Baby (Elaine Stritch, Follies)
God, That's Good! (Ken Jennings, Angela Lansbury, Len Cariou, Sweeney    
      Todd)
Finale (The Ballad Of Sweeney Todd)(Company, Sweeney Todd)
The Advantages Of Floating In The Middle Of The Sea (Mako, Company,
      Pacific Overtures)
There Is No Other Way (Yoko Fumoto, Pacific Overtures)
Free (Zero Mostel, Brian Davies, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To
      The Forum)
Impossible (David Burns, Brian Davies, A Funny Thing Happened On The            Way To The Forum)
You Must Meet My Wife (Len Cariou, Glynis Johns, A Little Night Music)
Liaisons (Hermoine Gingold, A Little Night Music)
Sunday In The Park With George (Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters,
      Ensemble, Sunday In The Park With George)
We Do Not Belong Together (Bernadette Peters, Mandy Patinkin, Sunday In
      The Park With George)
We're Gonna Be Alright (David Kernan, Millicent Martin, Do I Hear A Waltz?)
The Story Of Lucy And Jessie (Alexis Smith, Follies)
I Remember That (Clark Thorell, Andrea Burns, Saturday Night)
In Buddy's Eyes (Barbara Cook, Follies)
Poor Baby (Elaine Stritch, Barbara Barrie, Terri Ralston, Merle Louise, Beth
      Howland, Company)
Another Hundred People (Pamela Myers, Company)
Overture (Instrumental, Merrily We Roll Along)
Now You Know (Ann Morrison, Jim Walton, Lonny Price, Merrily We Roll
      Along) 
On The Steps Of The Palace (Kim Crosby, Into The Woods)
Agony (Robert Westenberg, Chuck Wagner, Into The Woods)
Anyone Can Whistle (Tom Wopat, Barbara Cook, Vanessa Williams, Leslie
      Kritzer, Norm Lewis, Erin Mackey, Anyone Can Whistle)
Not A Day Goes By (Bernadette Peters, Merrily We Roll Along)
Losing My Mind (Barbara Cook, Follies)
The Ladies Who Lunch (Elaine Stritch, Elaine Stritch At Liberty)
Side By Side/What Would We Do Without You (Dean Jones, Ensemble,
      Company)

The Rene System

 Rene Auberjonois, born in 1940,

grew up in France, England, and the US,

with painters, writers and nobleman in his family tree

(seems crowded, right?).

During his teen years, 

his family lived in an artist community in Rockland County,

where he rubbed elbows (and flexed acting biceps)

with John Houseman, Helen Hayes and Burgess Meredith.

How could he NOT have become an actor?

Above, Rene as Buddy Fiddler in City Of Angels,

with Randy Graff.

We'll hear "The Buddy System"...

the role brought him a Tony back in 1989.

Initial forays on Broadway

included Coco, with Katherine Hepburn.

The year was 1970,

the hair was long and flowing,

and despite of the fact that Coco flopped in under 2 months,

30-year-old Rene got his first Tony from it.

 1970 was also the year Rene appeared in M*A*S*H,

as Father John Patrick "Dago Red" Mulcahy.

With Faye Dunaway in

The Eyes of Laura Mars, 1978.

 Other "Rene" movies...

McCabe & Mrs. Miller, King Kong, Inspector Gadget,

Batman Forever and more! 

 Guesting on

The Jeffersons (1975-85).

Other TV series that Rene guested on included

The Rockford Files, Hart To Hart, The Outer Limits,

Night Gallery, Frasier, L.A. Law, Grey's Anatomy

and Madam Secretary

(plus 17,000 more)...

...like Benson,

in which Rene played Clayton Endicott III, on right!

 One of the biggest series of Rene's career

was Deep Space Nine

and a long lasting Star Trek connection.

Above, Rene as Odo.

 In Boston Legal, above on left,

with Candice Bergen and a bunch of suits...

in grey of course is William Shatner

(nice Star Trek connection)!

Rene has also done extensive voice acting:

Chef Louis in The Little Mermaid,

several video game characters, and book narrations.

He was GOING to do the recent revival of She Loves Me

on Broadway, but bowed out. 

He would have been super. :)

Rene now lives in California.

More Nuts Than Brazil.

 I think I picked a good week to play 

Crazy!!!

Finally back online after an upstate wind storm,

cyclon-ic in propertions

(and let me tell you, Oz IS a beautiful place!)

and to celebrate,

here's one of my favorite photos of
Imogene Coca.

Below, IC as Mrs. Leticia (REPENT!) Primrose,

in On The Twentieth Century.

Imogene was 70 when she jumped back on Broadway

to play the lunatic "in Drawing Room A".

Music by Cy Coleman, Lyrics Betty Comden and Adolph Green.

 Recognize Dody (Dolores) Goodman?

Me neither!

But even though the dress is wearing HER,

that's Dody...and below, a more recognizable version

in Grease 2 with Eve Arden.

We'll hear Dody singing her showstopper from Shoe String Revue,

"Someone Is Sending Me Flowers",

a Sheldon Harnick/David Baker creation.

 Kenneth Mars

at the recording session for the 1962 revival of

Anything Goes!

Kenneth played Sir Evelyn Oakley in that production

and we'll hear him do "Let's Misbehave"

with Eileen Rodgers.

Below, the other side of Kenneth...

in The Producers with Zero and Gene.

Orson Bean

(born Dallas Frederick Burrows)

got his start in radio,

then Broadway (Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?)

and television game shows (To Tell The Truth).

His father, George Burrows, was one of the founders of the ACLU.

 Orson and Phyllis Newman (his beloved, DRESSED, Martha)

in Subways Are For Sleeping.

Orson received a Tony nomination for this role, 

back in 1961.

 And he's still going strong at the age of 88. :)

Had to include this line up of To Tell The Truth stars:
Bill Cullen, Kitty Carlisle, Bud Collyer, Bess Myerson, Henry Morgan,

Betsy Palmer and Orson.

(How come I knew everyone here except Bud?

Did I grow up with TV or what?)

Playlist For Sunday, March 12, 2017: NUTS!

 It's Musical Insanity Week here on 2 On The Aisle... A mini-salute, shall we say: Hail to the Crazies. The bells-on, tap-dancing, cute kind of Musical Crazy.  A theme brought on (like a bad case of La Grippe) by our present crazy world, which deserves a "Crazy World" toxic cleanse. And we can do that (or possibly defuse it, at least) with Broadway Crazy and Broadway Nut Job, be it a song or a character. Some I haven't included because they really ARE crazy, but I like when a character has something neurotic to inspire/spring from, like a loose screw or a slinky "walking" down the stairs. (Why am I now singing THAT jingle?) 

We'll also be misbehaving and running wild, which seems like a determinant OR an outcome (of Crazy), or sometimes just lifting an eyebrow over a subtle weird lyric or mixed metaphor. Enjoying the wordsmithery of the Davids (Zippel and Yazbek), and pithery of Comden/Green (were they one or two people? As a youth, I thought them 1, like Fredastaire). Imogene, Dody (now THERE'S a ga-ga nickname), Brooks Ashmanskas, Kenneth Mars...they'll all show up with crazy pitches/timbres/timber!

Ah, Broadway Crazy...would that was all we had to deal with. Reaching its peak just after intermission, and all cured (or found charming!) by curtain call. I think I'll revisit THIS asylum soon! :)


 You Could Drive A Person Crazy (Donna McKechnie, Susan Browning, Pamela
          Myers, Company)
Be Like The Blue Bird (Joel Grey, Anything Goes)
It's De Lovely (Colin Donnell, Laura Osnes, Anything Goes)
Blow, Gabriel, Blow (Sutton Foster, Ensemble, Anything Goes)
Let's Misbehave (Eileen Rodgers, Kenneth Mars, Anything Goes)
Why Can't You Behave? (Lisa Kirk, Harold Lang, Kiss Me Kate)
Let's Misbehave (Irving Aaronson and His Commanders)
Let's Misbehave (Brooks Ashmanskas, Helene Yorke, Bullets Over Broadway)
They Go Wild, Simply Wild Over Me (Marin Mazzie, Bullets Over Broadway)
Runnin' Wild (Marilyn Monroe, Some Like It Hot)
Runnin' Wild (Company, Bullets Over Broadway)
Double Talk (Gregg Edelman, City Of Angels)
You Can Always Count On Me (Randy Graff, City Of Angels)
The Buddy System (Rene Auberjonois, City Of Angels)
K-ra-zy For You (Harry Groener, Bruce Adler, Crazy For You)
Crazy 'Bout Ya' Baby (Ensemble, Forever Plaid)
Crazy People (The Boswell Sisters, Big Broadcast of 1932)
I'm Calm (Jack Gilford, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum)
Crazy World (Julie Andrews, Victor/Victoria)
Crazy He Calls Me (Audra McDonald, Lady Day At Emerson's Bar And Grill)
Thanks A Lot, But No Thanks (Dolores Grey, It's Always Fair Weather)
The Queen Of Terre Haute (Peggy Cass, Fifty Million Frenchmen)
Oh, To Be A Movie Star (Barbara Harris, The Apple Tree)
Someone Is Sending Me Flowers (Dody Goodman, Shoe String Revue)
I Just Can't Wait (Orson Bean, Subways Are For Sleeping)
Repent (Imogene Coca, On The Twentieth Century)
All About Ruprecht (John Lithgow, Norbert Leo Butz, Dirty Rotten
      Scoundrels)
Her Is (Megan Lawrence, Peter Benson, The Pajama Game)
Hey There (Kelli O'Hara, Harry Connick Jr., The Pajama Game)
Hernando's Hideaway (Company, The Pajama Game)

Playlist for Sunday, March 4, 2017: There Isn't One!

A Sunday off! Yes, that's right...2 On The Aisle is outta here for one whole week, so what you'll hear at 3pm on March 4th is a pre-recorded surprise! I actually have no idea which 2 On The Aisle Of Old will air, probs something from 2016. But I will be back with bells on come March 10th with a live show.

So help me out with a request! Email me at kim@jazz901.org OR leave a comment here. Always glad to hear from you, and (of course) always "saving you a seat".  :)

Soloists: Some Young, Some Married, ALL Old Fashioned

 This Sunday,

Ethel Merman and Ray Middleton will want an 

"Old Fashioned Wedding"

thanks to Irving Berlin and open carry.

Even the "cowboys" dressed better back then.

 Gotta have some Shirley (age 10)

and "An Old Straw Hat"

from Rebecca Of Sunnybrook Farm,

which also starred Bill Robinson, tap dance genius,

and Randolph Scott 

(Randolph SCOTT?!).

It was the first film Shirley did without her

requisite 56 curls.

 New Faces of 1952:

The poster (top),

 the Hirshfeld (left to right: Paul Lynde, Ronny Graham, 

Alice Ghostley, Robert Clary, Eartha Kitt, 

June Carrol, and Virginia de Luce)...

and the song we'll hear this Sunday,

"Boston Beguine" below

with Alice Ghostley.

 Lotte Lenya and Jack Gilford

in the recording studio

for the original cast recording of Cabaret.

We'll hear "Married".

 Above Cyril Ritchard (a most suave Hook)

and Mary Martin...

and below (just as suave, if not more)

Fred Astaire in You Were Never Lovelier.