Rats!

Well, I still have the dregs of Covid, enough to make doing a live 2OTA potentially disastrous. Masking (following those protocols) and coughing (those errant coughs) and pushing the wrong buttons and fogging up my glasses (plus jostling those headphones) was all enough to put me off tomorrow's show.

So Ethel will be tapping her foot, impatiently waiting to celebrate her birthday in the wings. We'll put that "cake" in the freezer, hell! just leave it on the porch... and thaw in a timely fashion for next week, okay? Sorry sorry sorry. I'd much rather being chatting and spinning Broadway for you than sitting on my hands in Siberi...I mean Kendall, "knitting" by the "fire". (Which means scrolling by the radiator.) 

See you next week, even if I have to come by dogsled, and wear a hamster bubble.

Joan Fontaine, Sally Ann Howe, Eva Gabor, Radie Harris, Ethel,

Rosalind Russell, Angela Lansbury, Patrice Munsel, and Nancy Kelly!

How did you do with those IDs? 

I drew a blank with Radie (?)!

Playlist For Sunday, January 16, 2022: Broadway Birthday....and a Magical Musical Tour

So 3 times vaxxed and still I get it? Well, I'm not sure. Yet. 

These days, you get a sore throat, a cough, and need to go to bed at 8:30pm, you no longer think you have a cold. You take a test. You take 2 tests. You believe neither result. You hunker down (waking up at 9am? This chick? Yup, really sleeeeeeping) and wait for the serious 3-5 day test results to come in. So I'm waiting. And sleeping.

That's why I wasn't "on deck" for a live 2OTA yesterday with that "long-anticipated" Dave Edition. Which will need to be postponed til January 23rd. Because January 16th (our next, hopefully LIVE and A-LIVE edition) is Ethel Merman's birthday, and we simple must clear said decks for The Merm. 

 

She's so freaking energetic. I can barely take the garbage out.

Okay, now I know not everybody on the planet loves Ethel. Not everybody would want to actually listen to 2 full hours of this ICON of the musical "firm-ma-mint". So for those folks, we'll delegate Ethel to the 2nd hour only. Hour Number 1 will be a short tour of the USA, with stops in Virginia, Michigan, Rhode Island, and of course Buffalo. So just know that if The Merman Belt sets your teeth on edge, just tune in from 3-4pm and then run like the wind. :) 

 

Dave and his friends will be on board for Jan.23rd.

So I now need to sit on my hands for a couple more days, waiting for my energy and creative drive to return. When I reach for that first cuppa Joe, then I'll know I'm back to the Land of the Living. Meanwhile, Darjeeling....ugh.

 

 

Freedom (Donna Theodore, Chip Ford, Shenandoah)

New York, New York (Cris Alexander, Adolph Green, John Battles, On The Town)

Chicago, Illinois (Lesley Ann Warren, Victor/Victoria)

Big "D" (Shorty Long, Susan Johnson, The Most Happy Fella)

Shuffle Off To Buffalo (Carole Cook, Joseph Bova, Karen Prunczik, 42nd Street)

I Happen To Like New York (Bobby Short, Live At The Cafe Carlyle)

Sun On My Face (Robert Morse, Tony Roberts, Elaine Joyce, Sugar)

Rhode Island Is Famous For You (Jack Haley, Inside U.S.A.)

I Was Born In Virginia (James Cagney, Jean Cagney, Rosemary DeCamp, Walter Huston, Yankee Doodle Dandy)

I Want To Go Back To Michigan (Judy Garland, Easter Parade)

Maine (Richard Kiley, Diahann Carroll, No Strings)

Come, Oh Come (To Pittsburgh)(Beatrice Lillie, Inside U.S.A.)

Paducah (John Bartis, Shoestring Revue)

Kansas City (Gene Nelson, Oklahoma!)

What A Country! (Ray Bolger, All American)

Another Winter In A Summer Town (Christine Ebersole, Grey Gardens)

Winter's On The Wing (John Cameron Mitchell, The Secret Garden)

Our Winter Love (Bill Purcell)

Winter Song (Leslie Odom, Jr., Simply Christmas) 

Some People (Ethel Merman, Gypsy) 

I Got The Sun In The Morning (Ethel Merman, Annie Get Your Gun)

You're The Top (Ethel Merman, Anything Goes)

Anything Goes (Ethel Merman, Anything Goes)

Make It Another Old Fashioned (Ethel Merman, Panama Hattie)

I Got Rhythm (Ethel Merman, Girl Crazy)

Sam And Delilah (Klea Blackhurst, Everything The Traffic Will Allow)

I Said My Pajamas (And Put On My Pray'rs)(Ethel Merman, Ray Bolger)

I Got Lost In His Arms (Ethel Merman, Annie Get Your Gun)

Just A Moment Ago (Ethel Merman, Happy Hunting)

Everything's Coming Up Roses (Ethel Merman, Gypsy)

Eadie Was A Ladie (Ethel Merman, Take A Chance)

 

 

 

 

 

Playlist For January 9, 2022: His Friends Call Him Dave

 I used to have a dog named Dave. He was named after a rather cool 8 year old who I tutored in math. Most New Yorkers I came in contact with (during my 33 and 1/3 years there, and no, I didn't time this to match that LP speed) detested nicknames, and all Daves were Davids. But this kid was a Dave, thru and thru, and when I asked him if I could name my German Shepard-mix puppy after him, he said "Sure". Very cool guy.  MY Dave was a super-smart (just as cool) dog, who grew to the size of a long-haired coffee table, loved my children, and put up with life in a small apartment, leashed walks (not wild forest runs) in Union Square, and a very irritating Afghan who lived down the block. 

 

Because Dave was a dog of the non-digital age, I have very few photos of him that I can easily access. HOWEVER, he looked exactly like this guy. 

Only even handsomer. :)

 

So I have a connection with the name Dave. And I have christened this edition of 2 On The Aisle The Dave Edition, even if every Dave on this list might prefer to be called David. Trust me, my informality is based on love. Talented Broadway creators and performers all, I will call you David, but mean Dave. :) 

 

Yazbek

 

Zippel

Wayne

 

Hyde Pierce

 

...and Burns.

 On our list is David Yazbek, composer/lyricist of The Band's Visit, The Full Monty, Tootsie, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and more. David Zippel, pithy pundit who supplied the lyrics for City Of Angels, Hercules, The Women In White, and more. David Wayne, David Hyde Pierce and David Burns...Broadway (and film and TV) actors sublime. So a bevy of Daves.

Meanwhile, we've entered the Gulag season, and our 90 day countdown (from now until April 1st, and its potential of civilized weather) has begun. Please understand, I do not believe in running off to sunnier climes, escaping upstate winters...oh, no. Not me. I believe in sticking it out here on the shores of a Great Lake, and just COMPLAINING about it! That's the way I roll. So expect that. Plus we'll have firewood (Broadway) to mound in the fireplace (Radio, esp. 2OTA!), to keep us toasty (and singing along). 

Now to find my mukluks and balaclava. Ahhhh...to have a coat like Dave's!

Opening Number (Santino Fontana, Company, Tootsie)

Lovesick (Sherie Rene Scott, Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown)

Lie To Me (Brian Stokes Mitchell, Sherie Rene Scott, Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown)

Model Behavior (Laura Benanti, Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown)

Invisible (Patti LuPone, Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown)

When I'm Not Near The Girl I Love (David Wayne, Finian's Rainbow)

 

Something Sort Of Grandish (David Wayne, Finian's Rainbow)

 

Farewell Amanda (David Wayne, Adam's Rib) 

 

The Life Of The Party (David Wayne, The Happy Time) 

 

A Tough Act To Follow (David Hyde Pierce, Jill Paice, Curtains)

A Penny In My Pocket (David Hyde Pierce, Curtains)

You Won't Succeed On Broadway (David Hyde Pierce, Tim Curry, Spamalot)

Here I Am (Sherie Rene Scott, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) 

The More We Dance (John Lithgow, Sherie Rene Scott, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) 

Dirty Rotten Number (John Lithgow, Norbert Leo Butz, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels)

It Takes A Woman (David Burns, Hello, Dolly!)

Impossible (David Burns, Brian Davies, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum)

Everybody Ought To Have A Maid (David Burns, Zero Mostel, Jack Gilford, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum)

Waiting (Company, The Band's Visit)

The Beat Of Your Heart (Andrew Polk, The Band's Visit)

Omar Sharif (Katrina Lenk, The Band's Visit)

Itzik's Lullaby (John Cariani, The Band's Visit)

Answer Me (Adam Kantor, Company, The Band's Visit)

A Beat Behind (Bernadette Peters, The Goodbye Girl)

One Last Hope (Danny Devito, Hercules)

You're Nothing Without Me (James Naughton, Gregg Edelman, City Of Angels)

I Won't Let You Down (Santino Fontana, Tootsie)

Gone, Gone, Gone (Lillie Cooper, Tootsie)

Unstoppable (Santino Fontana, Lillie Cooper, Ensemble, Tootsie)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Playlist For January 2, 2022: And some poor suckers are starving to death!

Alive out there? Surviving the holidays? Some Broadway shows didn't, so if you're vertical, breathing, and pain-free...Huzzah! Frankly, I'm exhausted from all the COVID conversations I had over the last 2 weeks/2 years(!); it always seems to be the star of every show. (I used to be the star. Well, partly.) Now it's all focused on You Know Who. 

 

Harold Lloyd, not just a silent movie star, but a Christmas Tree Nut

who kept this splendiferous version up all year. 

 So it was another quiet non-event around here. I had to eat that fruitcake all by myself. Well, it wasn't going to eat itself, nor was that eggnog going to disappear without me trying my best. (I checked my arteries at the door.)  BUT a couple more slurps and I may just have to say "Uncle". (Now where did THAT saying come from?)(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Say_Uncle)

 

Supposedly, if you leave this thing til March,

you can use it as a doorstop. 

Meanwhile, we gots to LIVE...and live high. So that's our theme this Sunday: It's the "I Got Life Edition", featuring (of course) Hair, Fiddler, Oliver, Show Boat, Bye Bye Birdie...stuff from all over the Broadway Map, from Anetevka to Natchez! Plus a good share of tunes from Hadestown, our usual cast of divas, and pithy/possibly informative chat from me. 

And ANOTHER meanwhile...have a Happy New Year, and crossed fingers for better health, travel, socializing, and a good dose of HOPE in 2022. Live High! 

 

Life Is (Lorraine Serabian, Zorba)

To Life (Zero Mostel, Ensemble, Fiddler On The Roof)

Life Is So Peculiar (Ensemble, Five Guys Named Moe)

Half As Big As Life (Jerry Orbach, Promises, Promises)

Life With Harold (Emily Skinner, The Full Monty)

The Glamorous Life (Audra McDonald)

Life Upon The Wicked Stage (Louise Parker, Show Boat)

This Is The Life (Billy Daniels, Sammy Davis Jr., Golden Boy)

Once In A Lifetime (Anthony Newley, Stop The World I Want To Get Off)

Not For The Life Of Me (Sutton Foster, Thoroughly Modern Millie)

It's A Fine Life (Georgia Brown, Ensemble, Oliver!)

A New Life (Linda Eder, Jekyll & Hyde)

A Lot Of Living To Do (Dick Gautier, Bye Bye Birdie)

Larger Than Life (Evan Pappas, My Favorite Year)

Where Is The Life That Late I Led? (Brian Stokes Mitchell, Kiss Me Kate)

I Got Life (Gavin Creel, Hair)

Circle Of Life (Tsidii Le Loka, Ensemble, Lion King)

Road To Hell (Chris Sullivan, Company, Hadestown)

Wait For me (Chris Sullivan, Damon Duanno, Hadestown)

Promises (Nabiyah Be, Damon Duanno, Hadestown)

Road To Hell II (Chris Sullivan, Hadestown)

Waiting For Life (La Chanze, Once On This Island)

No Life (Dana Ivey, Charles Kimbrough, Sunday In The Park With George)

The Colors Of My Life (Jim Dale, Barnum)

There's A Lull In My Life (Elaine Stritch, Stritch)

Another Life (Betty Buckley, Story Songs)

Another Life (Kelli O'Hara, The Bridges Of Madison County)

In My Own Lifetime (Hal Linden, The Rothschilds)

Story Of My Life (John Tartaglia, Ensemble, Shrek The Musical)

The Rhythm Of Life (Arnold Soboloff, Ensemble, Sweet Charity)

Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life (Tim Curry, Michael McGrath, Spamalot)

 

Playlist For Dec. 26th, 2021: Gritty. Cheese. Turkish. A Delight!

Back from Philly. Man, I love city energy! Didn't realize how much I missed Grit. (And Gritty! Who is now also a tree ornament. :)) I really think I'm meant to retire to a metropolis. No car, no driving in snow, no pesky suicidal varmints running into your vehicle, no car insurance (do I hate cars?)...and plenty of cheesesteaks (probably cheese CAKES, as well). Actually, Pat's and Geno's should sell cakes along with their "steaks", am I right? I'd buy 'em! 

 

Three blocks from my daughter's digs...Pat's!

And below, the reason I went to P-town:

My daughter's graduation (okay, YES, from Clown School).

 

Broadway's had a challenging couple of weeks, starting-then-stopping performances, agog with break-through Covid cases. Hamilton closed til post Xmas...Doubtfire's been off and on (mostly "off" if you've read the reviews), and Company's crazed with myriad mishaps, including food poisoning, broken fingers and falling glass? Stay home and listen to radio, whydoncha? It's (probably) safer!

Meanwhile, I'm typing this BEFORE Christmas, but of course you'll be hearing this playlist AFTER, so I'm bidding a fond adieu to all that Xmas Music. It works for awhile, but like treacle tarts and Turkish Delight, it can melt your molars (or tear off your caps, pick one) after too many "doses." So this Sunday, it'll be ONWARD to new days, new windows, trying to remember (did I actually CLOSE that new window?), "Walking" (yup, gotta get in those 10 million steps in 2022, right?), and a Champagne Chaser. Sort of a multi-themed show, just because that's my brain on Cheesesteaks.

Straight from that "wardrobe": Turkish Delight.

Looks harmless enough, right? Don't be fooled.

 So let this be my Happy New Year to all you Broadway-philes out there. May we stay vertical (and let the stats go horizontal), and thin-ISH, and moving. Keep a mouthful of teeth (for steaks and cakes), and positive (in the GOOD way). XO 

There's A New Day Coming (Karen Ziemba, Brooks Ashmanskas, Ensemble, Bullets Over Broadway)

Everything Old Is New Again (Max Von Essen, Call Me Old Fashioned)

It's A New World (Judy Garland, A Star Is Born)

Open A New Window (Angela Lansbury, Mame)

My New Celebrity Is You (Jessica Molaskey, Dave Frishberg, At The Algonquin)

Let's Start The New Year Right (Bing Crosby, Holiday Inn)

The Perfect Year (Patti LuPone, Kevin Anderson, Sunset Boulevard)

What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? (Harry Connick, Jr., When My Heart Finds Christmas)

Walking Happy (Norman Wisdom, Louise Troy, Company, Walking Happy)

(Walking) Among My Yesterdays (Robert Goulet, The Happy Time)

Love Walked In (Bobby Short, Bobby Short Is K-RA-ZY For Gershwin) 

I Don't Want To Walk Without You (Elaine Stritch, Stritch)

When I Go Out Walking With My Baby (John Davidson, Kathryn Crosby, State Fair)

Cakewalk Your Lady (Joseph Webster, Ensemble, The Coffee Club Orchestra, St. Louis Woman)

The Lambeth Walk (Robert Lindsay, Emma Thompson, Me And My Girl)

Double Talk Walk (Instrumental, City Of Angels)

Walk Like A Man (John Lloyd Young, Ensemble, Jersey Boys)

Walking In The Rain (Anika larsen, Jarrod Spector, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical)

You Walk With Me (Jason Danieley, Romain Fruge, The Full Monty)

If He Walked Into My Life (Angela Lansbury, Mame)

Try To Remember (Jerry Orbach, The Fantastiks)

I Remember It Well (Maurice Chevalier, Hermoine Gingold, Gigi)

I Remember That (Clarke Thorell, Andrea Burns, Saturday Night)

Fancy Forgetting (Ruth Altman, Eric Berry, Paul McGrane And His Bearcats Orchestra, The Boy Friend)

Something To Remember You By (Leo Reisman's Orchestra, Vocals By Frank Luther)

I Don't Remember You (Robert Goulet, The Happy Time)

It's Today (Angela Lansbury, Mame)

The Night They Invented Champagne (Karin Wolfe, Daniel Massey, Maria Karnilova, Gigi)

Drinkin' Shoes (Jim Wann, Mark Hardwick, Debra Monk, Cass Morgan, John Schimmel, John Foley, Pump Boys And Dinettes)

Champagne (Lin-Manuel Miranda, Karen Olivo, In The Heights)

The Last Night Of The Year (Tom Wopat, Consider It Swung)

Playlist for Dec. 19, 2021: Broadway (and Hollywood) Christmas (and Hanukkah)!

Annnnnnd ....I'm off! Jetting away from the Hinterlands of Upstate New York to Urban Concrete, for a few days of Family Momentous Eventing. So this Sunday's Holiday Edition will be of the pre-recorded nature.

But pre-recorded fah-la-la-ing can be just as much fun, right? Here's hoping you don't miss me one drop! Enjoy a nog, wrap up cozy, and flick on that color wheel (remember those?) aimed at your silver aluminum tree...and sing along.

Just save me a piece of figurative "fruit cake", cuz I'll be back on December 26th for an early New Year's Eve-ish take on 2 On The Aisle. And we can toast (hopefully) "The Perfect Year"....:))))) 

 

Playlist For December 12, 2021: Naked Bagels

I don't need 50 mph gusts to tell me which way the wind is blowing, okay? I'm sitting here on a Monday night and it's howling us into 2022, as fast as its huffs and puffs can get us there. A speed bump for Christmas, maybe, and then we're out of another (very) wacky year. Or are we...?

And talk about wacky! I just read an awful story in the NYTimes: There is (you better sit down for this!) a Cream Cheese Shortage. Quel horror, right? All the schmearers in NYC are now facing a deli-dairy supply chain fiasco! No veggie, no strawberry, no olive, no PLAIN? 

 

“This is bad. This is very bad,” said Pedro Aguilar, a manager at the Pick-a-Bagel chain, which has several Manhattan locations. On Friday afternoon, Mr. Aguilar said he had only enough cream cheese to last until Monday."

 Until Monday??? This makes me glad that I'm "far away from New York Town", so I don't have to personally witness empty cases and naked bagels. Man. Next thing you know, no chocolate cheesecake at John's, no pastrami, no tongue??

To read the whole gory story (I can't without crying into my loxs): https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/04/nyregion/cream-cheese-shortage-nyc-bagels.html

However, and on a much lighter/low fat note: We've almost made it to the 2 On The Aisle Holiday Edition, which will happen on December 19th! So there remains one more Sunday playlist to come up with. And for that we'll return to our Composer/Lyricist Series. Does that sound dull? Does that sound hum and drum? I assure you it won't be, because we'll get to hummmm along with Frank (that's Loesser, and maybe even More-sir) and Arthur and Howard (that's the Schwartz and the Dietz team, n'est pas?), which'll (as in Walter Winch'll) mean Tinhorns, Band Wagons, Minks to hollanderize, Ashmolean Societies to march to, and Shirley Booth. Who knew Shirl could sing (who knew Marlon could either)(He couldda been a con-tenor? Hah!)? And if she actually couldn't, who cares? She was (mostly) adorable. 

 

Shirley Booth in The Matchmaker, the precursor to Jerry Herman's Mame...

...and above, a younger Shirley contemplating the lack of cream cheese at Esse.

So trust me, Broadway Christmas is coming. Just wait a week. Sit on your hands or twiddle your thumbs (neither of which will be schmeared with the CC you yearn for), and let's enjoy some classic composers, til then!

 

Fugue For Tinhorns (Frank Loesser, Milton DeLugg, Sue Bennett, An Evening With Frank Loesser)

Fugue For Tinhorns (Walter Bobbie, J.K. Simmons, Timothy Shew, Guys And Dolls)

Take Back Your Mink (Faith Prince, Ensemble, Guys And Dolls)

Sue Me (Faith Prince, Nathan Lane, Guys And Dolls)

Sit Down You're Rockin' The Boat (Stubby Kaye, Ensemble, Guys And Dolls)

The Boys In The Backroom (Marlene Dietrich, Destry Rides Again)

They're Either Too Young Or Too Old (Bette Davis, Thank Your Lucky Stars)

Heart And Soul (Jason Graae, Stan Chandler, Ensemble, Forever Plaid)

Traveling Light (Frank Loesser, An Evening With Frank Loesser)

Wonderful Copenhagen (Danny Kaye, Hans Christian Andersen)

The New Ashmolean Marching Society And Student Conservatory Band (Ensemble, Where's Charley?)

The Company Way (Robert Morse, Sammy Smith, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying)

Rosemary (Robert Morse, Bonnie Scott, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying)

Brotherhood Of Man (Robert Morse, Claudette Sutherland, Sammy Smith, Company, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying) 

The Most Happy Fella (Robert Weede, Company, The Most Happy Fella)

Standing On The Corner (Shorty Long,The Most Happy Fella)

How Beautiful The Days (Jo Sullivan, Robert Weede, The Most Happy Fella)

Sposalizio (Arthur Rubin, Rico Froelich, John Henson, The Most Happy Fella)

When You're Far Away From New York Town (Jack DeLon, Jennie)

Before I Kiss The World Goodbye (Mary Martin, Jennie)

Is That My Prince? (Shirley Booth, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn)

Make The Man Love Me (Marcia Van Dyke, Johnny Johnston, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn)

I'd Rather Wake Up By Myself (Shirley Booth, By The Beautiful Sea)

By Myself (Renee Zellweger, Judy)

Hang Up (Mae Barnes, By The Beautiful Sea)

Growing Pains (Jessica Molaskey, Make Believe)

Dancing In The Dark (Victor Young and his Orchestra, vocals Scrappy Lambert)

Paree (Beatrice Lillie, At Home Abroad)

Alone Together (Judy Garland, Judy At Carnegie Hall)

The Triplets (Fred Astaire, Nanette Fabray, Jack Buchanan, The Band Wagon)

I Love Luisa (Fred Astaire, Oscar Levant, Nanette Fabray, The Band Wagon)

I Guess I'll Have To Change My Plan (Fred Astaire, Jack Buchanan, The Band Wagon)

Louisiana Hayride (Nanette Fabray, The Band Wagon)

A Shine On Your Shoes (Fred Astaire, The Band Wagon)