No playlist. ON THE BEACH!

On Vacation! Back with live 2 On The Aisles come July 31...picture me on a combed beach. :) 

Playlist For Sunday, July 10, 2022: Another Op'nin, Another PayDay!

 

Does anyone still read blogs? Seems like everyone wants VLOGS, videos, podcasts or Youtube channels...not boring old text, with photos that don't move or sing or scream at you. But I'll keep posting them, just so you Broadway "junkies" can have a pre-show look at a playlist, and see what this dame in dreaming up. 

I'm typing this on the 4th Of July, which seems like a bit of a downer this year. What with Supreme Court "shenanigans" (that's putting it mildly), I find it's pretty ill-timed to celebrate with sparklers, bbqs, and strawberry shortcake. I'd rather wear black and drink heavily, but hey! That's sorta normal for me. :)

In a way, that's why I chose NOT to do a live show this weekend. I wasn't "in the mood" to broadcast another Yankee Doodle Doo 2OTA. Not this year.

 

I WILL, however, muster plenty of passion for this coming Sunday's show: Openings, as in opening numbers! Often over-the-top, knock-your-socks-off, full company numbers that leave you panting. And clapping! Some opening songs,  course, can be low key-ish, and there'll be a sprinkling of those, so we can catch our breath, but you better have a gallon or 7 of O2 at hand and maybe a candy bar (I prefer PayDays) for energy restoration from 3-5pm. All those kick-lines and jazz hands take a toll. 

 

 Meanwhile, enjoy your short work week and/or your patio/fire escape/tar beach, cuz it's SUMMER. January is only a half hour away, and we need to soak this season up NOW. Pour the G&T, eat the guac, and for the gods' sake, let the weeds grow!

 Good Morning, Baltimore (Marissa Jaret Winokur, Hairspray)

Another Op'nin, Another Show (Don Mayo, Ensemble, Kiss Me, Kate)

Rock Island (Paul Reed, Ensemble, The Music Man)

Why Can't The English (Rex Harrison, My Fair Lady)

The Ballad Of Sweeney Todd (Company, Sweeney Todd)

Company (Dean Jones, Ensemble, Company)

Hello! (Andrew Rannells, Josh Gad, The Book Of Mormon)

Wilkommen (Joel Grey, Cabaret)

West Side Story (Instrumental, West Side Story)

All That Jazz (Chita Rivera, Gwen Verdon, Chicago)

Theme From City Of Angels (James Naughton, City Of Angels)

Waiting (Nancy Walker, Do Re Mi)

Wall Street (Tamara Long, Dames At Sea)

Fallin' (Robert Klein, They're Playing Our Song)

Chanson (Jill Martin, The Baker's Wife)

There Will Be Sun (Ensemble, Groundhog Day)

Waiting (Katrina Lenk, Andrew Polk, John Cariani, Etai Bensen, Ensemble, The Band's Visit)

Magic To Do (Patina Miller, Company, Pippin)

Welcome To The Renaissance (Michael James Scott, Ensemble, Something Rotten!)

When You're An Addams (Nathan Lane, Bebe Neuwirth, Ensemble, The Addams Family)

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Company, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee)

Use What You Got (Sam Harris, The Life) 

Prologue/Little Shop Of Horrors (DeQuina Moore, Trisha Jeffrey, Carla Hargrove, Little Shop Of Horrors)

We Dance (Company, Once On This Island)

Blood Done Signed My Name (Ron Taylor, Gretha Boston, It Ain't Nothin' But The Blues)

Circle Of Life (Tsidii Le Loka, Company, The Lion King)

Prologue (Company, Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet)

In Transit (Margo Seibert, Mona Angela, Telly Leung, Company, In Transit)

Alexander Hamilton (Leslie Odom Jr., Lin-Manual Miranda, Company, Hamilton) 

Playlist for Sunday, June 26, 2022: Moon over Strawberry Shortcake

 Okay, so how have I lived for 66,000 years and never heard of a Strawberry Moon until last week? I mean, NOW I finally know what the heck it is! Not like I could scientifically explain it to anybody, but I do know it's a moon that's BIG and CLOSE. There. I think prior to this past week, I just called it a BIG, CLOSE moon. Everything has to be so technical now. STRAWBERRY. Okay, then. 

 

 

                                                              versus

Before I blather on too much, apologies that this past week's edition of 2 On The Aisle refused to upload to MixCloud. So it will not appear "in the vault" on Jazz901.org. Not MixCloud's fault. Probably something from the USB interface back towards the "operator." Ugh and Argh.

So that (blame it on the Strawberry) Technology failed me.

But it's a busy week, filled with a Jazz Festival, a bike ride for charity, visitors, and summer in general, so I'll have to give this blog short shrift. I'm typing it in shorts. And a shrift (I mean shirt). MOONING is the theme: Moonshine, Moonlight, and Moon River. Blue Moons, Harvest Moons, Devil Moons, and Honeymoons...but none with Strawberries. Maybe that one is waiting to be written, and WILL be, now that we all know what it is. Might be a decent lyric, even romantic (if just red), and FAR better than BIG FAT Moon. Hmmmm....

 

The Addams Family mooning versus Breakfast At Tiffany's mooning.

Who wore it better?

 

 

So tune in, will ya? And help the mooning process with your stage presence and (occasionally profound) perspective. Pray for my techno to worko, and you can once again be treated to rewind possibilities. 

 

 Meanwhile, I'm still saving you that seat (maybe even a "boxed" rendition, like the ones above. Can you imagine the sight lines? Don't wear a hat.)(Does anyone still wear...?) Hey, sit down already, John, and see ya on Sunday! :)

 

Old Devil Moon (Ella Logan, Donald Richardson, Finian's Rainbow)

What A Little Moonlight Can Do (Audra McDonald, Lady Day At Emerson's Bar And Grill)

Moonshine Lullaby (Bernadette Peters, Annie Get Your Gun)

Musical Moon, Oh You Wonderful Boy, All Aboard For Broadway (Joel Grey, Betty Ann Grove, Jerry Dodge, Bernadette Peters, George M!)

When You're Driving Through The Moonlight (Julie Andrews, Cinderella)

Moon In My Window (Elizabeth Allen, Carol Bruce, Julienne Marie, Do I Hear A Waltz?) 

The Moon And Me (Kevin Chamberlain, The Addams Family)

Dancing In The Moonlight (Ruth Etting)

It's Only A Paper Moon (Cliff Edwards)

Moon Song (Annette Hanshaw)

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

Ada Daba Honeymoon (Debbie Reynolds, Carleton Carpenter, Two Weeks With Love)

Choo-Choo Honeymoon (Sally Stark, Joseph Sicari, Dames At Sea)

The Honeymoon Is Over (Robert Preston, Mary Martin, I Do! I Do!)

Shine On Harvest Moon (Liza Minnelli)

In Other Words (Fly Me To The Moon)(Kaye Ballard)

Moonlight Serenade (Glenn Miller & His Orchestra)

Moon River (Audra McDonald)

Betsy's Getting Married (Brynne O'Malley, Honeymoon In Vegas)

Airport Song (Tracee Beazer, Gaelen Gilliland, George Merrick, Honeymoon In Vegas)

Higher Love (David Josefsberg, Honeymoon In Vegas)

There's A Rising Moon (For Every Falling Star) (Doris Day, Young At Heart)

Moon River (Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast At Tiffany's)

Stars And The Moon (Sutton Foster, Take Me To The World)

Blue Moon (Ann Hampton-Callaway, Blues In The Night)

The Man In The Moon Is A Lady (Bea Arthur, Mame)

Ridin' On The Moon (Stanley Wayne Mathis, St. Louis Woman)

That's Amore (Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, The Caddy)

Shine On Harvest Moon (Judy Garland)

Moon Dance (Van Morrison)

Playlist For Sunday, June 19, 2022: Tony Glow...and Onward!

So yeah, the Tonys! From the over-the-top musical numbers (did you count the number of shows that opener referenced? Tho IMHO, the BEST opener is still that Neil Patrick Harris one from 2013, "Bigger"...google it!) to La LuPone, to the absence of Angela!?!? Understandable that at the age of 96, AL elected not to participate, but not to do a tribute to her during the prime time section of the show? That was rotten. A Poor Decision on the part of Those Making Decisions. I was disappointed and a bit pissed. I hope she's okay. But more time and honor shouldda been paid to Mame-y. 

It was nice, of course, to get a taste of all the new shows, from SIX to Loop to Paradise to MJ. Like a personally addressed, embossed, embroidered and ecru-flavored invitation: Come Back To Broadway! One huge advert, but that's okay. We don't really need the invite: we DO need the inspiration.

 

This Sunday's meager 2OTA offerings (compared to The TONYS! A one-person kickline rarely impresses.): Birthday salutes to Judy Holliday and George Hearn, audition songs, pride-full songs (not talkin' Lion King here), and silly themes about doors (open, closed, next door, indoors) and of course a couple of DAD songs (yup, it's Father's day. Buy a tie.)! I'm no Neil Patrick Harris, but I keep trying.  

 

Theatre Party Ladies (Jeffrey Haddow, John Driver, Roger Neil, Scrambled Feet)

I Hope I Get It (Company, A Chorus Line)

Makin' The Rounds (Jeffrey Haddow, John Driver, Evelyn Baron, Scrambled Feet)

Audition Sequence (Fred Barton, Ensemble, Forbidden Broadway, Vol. 1)

What's Gonna Happen (Sarah Stiles, Tootsie)

It's A Perfect Relationship (Judy Holliday, Bells Are Ringing)

An Occasional Man (Judy Holliday, Trouble Is A Man)

Is It A Crime? (Judy Holliday, Bells Are Ringing)

Color And Light (Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, Sunday In The Park With George)

Colored Lights (Karen Mason, And The World Goes 'Round)

We See The Light (Kate Reinders, John Cariani, Brooks Ashmanskas, Something Rotten!)

My Daddy Always Taught Us To Share (Ben Vereen, Grind)

Not My Father's Son (Billy Porter, Stark Sands, Kinky Boots)

My Heart Belongs To Daddy (Mary Martin, Leave It To Me!)

The Boy Next Door (Judy Garland, Meet Me In St. Louis)

Doors (Sally Mayes, Richard Muenz, Lynne Wintersteller, Closer Than Ever)

Not The Boy Next Door (Hugh Jackman, The Boy From Oz)

A Little More Mascara (George Hearn, La Cage Aux Folles)

Too Many Mornings (George Hearn, Barbara Cook, Follies)

Good Thing Going (George Hearn, Putting It Together)

Opening Doors (Lonny Price, Jim Walton, Ann Morrison, Jason Alexander, Merrily We Roll Along)

Close Every Door (Ensemble, Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat)

The Great Indoors (Mylinda Hull, The New Yorkers) 

Let's Lock The Door (And Throw Away The Key)(Jay & The Americans)

Someone Is Here (Andrea Marcovicci, Nefertiti)

Something To Point To (Company, Working)

This Is Me (Keala Settle, The Greatest Showman)

Playlist For Sunday, June 12, 2022: Antoinette Perry, pink typewriters, and SUMMER!

Holy Broadway, Batman! I'm LATE with carving this playlist! Because the year has finally kicked into high gear and I am socially swamped. Well, maybe not really swamped, more like ponded. Which is sorta like a swamp if you add more mosquitoes and mud. But hey...SUMMER!

Today was a heady example. The weather cooperated, the wind "played ball", and I got in a nice 75 mile ride to Batavia, home of a swell coffee shop (Coffee Press) which names its various breakfast options after newspapers...The Post (bacon?), The Journal (scrambled?), The Dispatch (avocado?). Plus they have a collection of old typewriters on display, most of which I salivate over and attempt to buy. They keep saying no and make me leave with my chai. Quickly. Oh well.

 

This is the one I drool for. 

Below, look what you can do with a little time and effort! :)

 ANNNNND last night was super, too. The Band's Visit "visited" RBTL and it was a very well done performance. As an extra perk, I got to meet a few of my 2OTA fans who were in attendance. We should have formed a kickline upon exiting, but they were a bit choreographically challenged. I still like them, tho. I mean, I DID save them seats! :)                               

Yup, that's me, evidently needing a haircut.

The touring company did a great job; in fact, the actor who played the "General" was the same one I saw on Broadway...Sasson Gabay.

 

 All to say, this is TONY AWARD Sunday, right? June 12th. Do you have your red carpet outfit steamed and pressed? (Got your tweed pressed? Got your best vest?) Do you have your red carpet vacuumed at least? Do you HAVE a red carpet? Jeez, get with the program! Caviar, pate, prosecco with chilled flutes...gotta get the apps ready and the ambiance just right. (You're ordering pizza? Hmmmm....okay, but next year, try an upgrade, will ya?) 

2OTA will celebrate with:

a.) Tony winners of the past 

b.) Judy Garland huzzahs (her birthday is June 10, 100 years ago!)

c.) Angela Lansbury, who'll get a special life-time achievement Tony award that night (her presence alone will make it worth watching)

and d.) a couple of songs from potential Tony winners. (I'm torn. A Strange Loop? The Girl From The North Country? Good thing I'm not a "betting man.")

And that's enough of my backstage babble. "See you" on Sunday, amigos.

 

I Feel A Song Coming On (Judy Garland)

But Alive (Laura Bacall, Applause)

Man Of La Mancha (Richard Kiley, Irving Jacobson, Man Of La Mancha)

Tradition (Zero Mostel, Company, Fiddler On The Roof)

The Worst Pies In London (Angela Lansbury, Sweeney Todd)

How'd You Like To Spoon With Me? (Angela Lansbury, Til The Clouds Roll By)

I've Got You To Lean On (Angela Lansbury, Anyone Can Whistle)

That's How Young I Feel (Angela Lansbury, Mame)

Each Tomorrow Morning (Angela Lansbury, Dear World)

Dance: Ten; Looks: Three (Pamela Blair, A Chorus Line)

If You Were Gay (Rick Lyon, John Tartaglia, Avenue Q)

Why Are All The Dysquiths Dying? (Ensemble, A Gentleman's Guide To Love And Murder)

Get Happy (Judy Garland, Summer Stock) 

Lose That Long Face (Judy Garland, A Star Is Born) 

After You've Gone (Judy Garland, Judy At Carnegie Hall,)

Seasons Of Love (Company, Rent)

Flying Away (Beth Malone, Sydney Lucas, Emily Skeggs, Fun Home)

The Ladies Who Lunch (Patti LuPone, Company)

Finale (Lin-Manuel Miranda, Company, In The Heights)

The Man That Got Away (Judy Garland, A Star Is Born)  

Do It Again (Judy Garland) 

It Never Was You (Judy Garland)

Almost Like Being In Love/This Can't Be Love (Judy Garland, Judy At Carnegie Hall)

Wait For It (Leslie Odom, Jr., Hamilton)

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

Words Fail (Ben Platt, Dear Evan Hansen)

Way Down Hadestown (Chris Sullivan, Amber Gray, Patrick Page, Hadestown)

Maybe It Starts With Me (Shoshana Bean, Mr. Saturday Night)

A Strange Loop (Jaquel Spivey, Company, A Strange Loop)

Stormy Weather (Judy Garland At Carnegie Hall)

Playlist For Sunday, June 5, 2022: Get ready. The iced tea is prepping!

 Is this really IT?!? Are we SUMMER-ING now? The hurdle of Memorial Day Weekend has been bounded ore, the limbo stick of ughy Spring arched expertly under (Bob Fosse would be proud of those back bends, for sure), and NOW? Now can we have Summer? Well...almost.

This past weekend seemed primed for watermelon, G&Ts, and barbies hotting up on the patio. My daughter spent part of it at a Philly ball game (90 degrees)(jeez, these millennials, and their insouciance!); I spent it biking hither and yon, ore hill and dale (82 degrees), but hey that's in the seasonal range, right? (Actually, I had to look up "dale". I always assumed it was the opposite of HILL, and it is. A rather wide valley, evidently. From the Old English. Think Downton, but when it was a real Abbey.) But after Wednesday, it looks pretty dale-ish temp-wise, like 61? 62? How I am to keep my bike-short tan lines that way? Harrumph.

 

 Well, we can GET READY. As Kaye Ballard did with her prepped pitcher of tea, in The Golden Apple. In fact, we can all practice LAZY, right? With a Lazy Afternoon, a Lazy Moon, Lazy Rivers, and Lazy Bones. Plus we simply must listen to a couple of shows up for Tony Awards (June 12, folks! My money would be on The Girl From The North Country, but I haven't heard more than 1 song from Mr. Saturday Night OR The Strange Loop...where are the frickin' cast recordings???), plus plus plus a Car Corner (Model Ts, Coupes, and Caddies) ANNNND as always, Broadway Surprises, to keep you "On Your Toes".

 

So practice your Lazy with me on Sunday...put me on the patio, next to a pitcher of something icy and tighten those hammock springs. Tis (almost) the Season! :)

Lazy Afternoon (Kaye Ballard, Golden Apple)

Lazy Moon (Ensemble, Goldilocks)

Lazy (Marilyn Monroe, There's No Business Like Show Business)

Up A Lazy River (Nick Cordero, Bullets Over Broadway)

Lazybones (Leon Redbone, On The Track)

I Said "No" (Andrea Marcovicci, If I Were A Bell)

Hamlet (Andrea Marcovicci, If I Were A Bell)

Hamlet (Betty Hutton, Red, Hot, And Blue)

Slow Train/License To Kill (Sheila Atim, Girl From The North Country)

Like A Rolling Stone/I Want You (Shirley Henderson, Girl From The North Country)

Hurricane/All Along The Watchtower/Idiot Wind (Sheila Atim, Girl From The North Country)

Manhattan Serenade (Helen Forrest, Harry James And His Orchestra)

Schroeder (Reva Rose, Skip Hinnant, You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown)

Symphony (Jo Stafford, Paul Weston And His Orchestra)

Keep Away From The Fellow Who Owns An Automobile (Ida Jones)

Henry's Made A Lady Out Of Lizzie (The Harry Reser Band, with Tom Stack on vocals)

Little Deuce Coup (The Beach Boys)

Pink Cadillac (Bruce Springsteen)

Back Stage Babble (Len Cariou, Ensemble, Applause)

The Lonely Goatherd (Julie Andrews, Ensemble, The Sound Of Music) 

Good Morning Starshine (Caissie Levy, Hair)

Ex-Wives (Company, Six)

Heart Of Stone (Abby Mueller, Six)

Get Down (Brittney Mack, Six)

Take Me To The World (Charmian Carr, Evening Primrose)

Being Good (Audra McDonald, Sing Happy)

Why I Am The Way I Am (Laura Benanti, In Constant Search Of The Right Kind Of Attention)

Glitter And Be Gay (Barbara Cook, Candide)

Don't Like Saying Goodbye (Pearl Bailey, House Of Flowers)

Every Time We Say Goodbye (Ball State Cabaret Class Singers, Take Me To The World)

So Long Dearie (Carol Channing, Hello Dolly!)

Goodbye! (Ensemble, The Producers)

 

 

Playlist For Sunday, May 29, 2022: Lusty Monkeys!

Recent Insights:

1.) Monkeypox? Really? I guess the CDC isn't paying any sort of marketing expert to dream up better Plague Names. If I'm gonna drop from this new disease, I think it should have a SERIOUS name. SNL will have a field day.

2.) It has been stated by Other Experts that we no longer have to put 2 spaces after a period when typing sentences.  (See that? Looks weird now, right?)  I had a real battle with myself about this a few years ago; Miss Eldred, my typing teacher of old, had insisted on 2 spaces.  But now...we're evidently FREE of all that? What the...? I think this is just 1 more symbol of the downfall of civilization, right up there with pineapple pizza, intermittent fasting, and decaf.  Next, everyone will forget how to use a semicolon. Wait....;!

3.) How do you really spell spyriah? Spirea, not sharia or syariah or psoriasis...it's those white flowering bushes. I can pronounce it, I can marvel at it in its present state, I just never know how to spell it. Anyway, that along with lilacs are my BIG BLOOMS right now until the next hail/locusts/Auntie Em windstorm comes along to "rain on my parade". Anyway, a gardener (or speller) I ain't. 

 

            

This one. This is the one I can't spell.

 

4.) I've never owned a dishwasher. Is that surprising? Unless you count my children. I let the dishes hang out in my sink til 5pm or so and then personally tackle them, mano a disho. Which all leads me to consider the "Kitchen Sink" edition of 2OTA we have waiting for us this Sunday.

Songs about starting, beginnings, endings (some happy, some sad).  Birthdays (Bea and Rene). Lusty Months. Macks, Mabels, and Mama Mortons. Plus Flora (and Fauna?), a couple of Buddies, Nice-ities, and Tommy on a Seesaw.

Tommy OFF that Seesaw.

 

Confused? Moi, too. But I promise you a happy ending. And not one monkey or double spaces. Just lots of dishes in the Broadway Kitchen Sink. :) 

 

Where Do You Start? (Bea Arthur, Just Between Friends)

You Wonder How These Things Begin (Jerry Orbach, The Fantasticks)

When Will My Life Begin? (Mandy Moore, Tangled)

Let's Begin (Paula Laurence, Alfred Drake, Roberta)

I've Got Beginner's Luck (Robert Fairchild, American In Paris)

Life Begins (At Exactly 8:40 Or Thereabouts)(Graham Rowat, Ensemble, Life Begins At 8:40)

You're A Builder Upper (Christopher Fitzgerald, Jessica Stone, Life Begins At 8:40)

C'est La Vie (Brad Oscar, Christopher Fitzgerald, Faith Prince, Life Begins At 8:40) 

Nice Work If You Can Get It (The Andrews Sister)

Nice She Ain't (Boyd Gaines, Gypsy)

A Very Nice Man (Anna Maria Alberghetti, Carnival)

It's Nicer In Nice (Violetta Farjeon, Ensemble, The Boyfriend)

My Nice Ways (Sally Kellerman, Breakfast At Tiffany's)

A Very Nice Prince (Kim Crosby, Joanna Gleason, Into The Woods)

Someone Nice Like You (Anthony Newley, Anna Quayle, Stop The World - I Want To Get Off)

Nice Work If You Can Get It (Fred Astaire, A Damsel In Distress)

Nice (Tyne Daly, Harriet Harris, It Shoulda Been You)

The Buddy System (Rene Auberjonois, City Of Angels) 

When The Sun Goes Down In The South (Rene Auberjonois, Bob Gunton, Daniel Jenkins, Ron Richardson, Big River)

You're Gonna Hear From Me (Bea Arthur, Just Between Friends)

Bosom Buddies (Bea Arthur, Angela Lansbury, Mame)

The Man In The Moon (Bea Arthur, Just Between Friends)

Not Every Day Of The Week (Bob Dishy, Liza Minnelli, Flora The Red Menace)

Coffee In A Cardboard Cup (Lillian Hayman, Goldye Shaw, 70 Girls 70)

He Did It (Karen Ziemba, Jill Paice, Noah Racey, Jason Danieley, Edward Hibbert, Curtains)

Cell Block Tango (Catherine Zeta-Jones, Ensemble, Chicago)

Camelot (Richard Burton, Camelot)

The Lusty Month Of May (Julie Andrews, Camelot)

C'est Moi (Robert Goulet, Camelot)

Happily Ever After (Craig Lucas, Marry Me A Little)

That's The Beginning Of The End (Elaine Stritch, Stritch)

I Promise You A Happy Ending (Robert Preston, Mack And Mabel)

It's Not How You Start, It's How You Finish (Tommy Tune, Seesaw)