Playlist for Sunday, March 31, 2013

My "new" find this week was discovering "Sweet Smell of Success," produced in 2002, with John Lithgow.  I certainly knew the movie, made in 1957, with Burt Lancaster as JJ Hunsecker and Tony Curtis as Sidney Falco, and loved it, so I was a bit afraid of a musical based on what seems a very un-musical plot.  Some of the music works, like "Welcome to the Night," with 50's energy and orchestration, but some just gets WAY talky and plot driven, and hence loses some of its musicality.  But still cool to discover. Hope you can tune in!

Welcome to the Night (John Lithgow and Ensemble, Sweet Smell of Success)
Heart (Nathaniel Frey and Ensemble, Damn Yankees)
Politics and Poker (Howard DaSilva and Ensemble, Fiorello!)
It's a Perfect Relationship (Judy Holliday, Bells are Ringing)
I'm Just Taking My Time (Sydney Chaplin, Subways are for Sleeping)
Bread (Cast, The Baker's Wife)
Food, Glorious Food (Cast, Oliver!)
Why We Like Spelling (Cast, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee)
Don't Be The Bunny (John Cullum and Cast, Urinetown: The Musical)
What Does He Want of Me (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, The Man of La     Mancha)
There's Gotta Be Something Better Than This (Ensemble, Sweet Charity)
Nightclub Sequence (Ensemble, On the Town)
Wrong Note Rag (Roz Russell, Edie Adams, Wonderful Town)
Kids (Paul Lynde, Kay Medford, Bye Bye Birdie)

Flu: The Musical

Sorry to disappoint, but due to being shot down by the flu monster, I won't be doing 2 on the Aisle this Sunday, March 17th.  Hence the playlist for this Sunday will be postponed to next Sunday.  Thanks for your patience, fellow Broadway-philes!

Playlist for Sunday, March 17, 2013

Ever hear of "Fade Out Fade In?" Not the screenplay directions, the Jule Styne/Comden and Green musical of 1964...it starred Carol Burnett and Jack Cassidy and Tina Louise (yup, Gilligan's Ginger).  Despite getting great reviews, it flopped when Carol got a case of "new television show on the horizon"-itis and tried to walk out, but then they sued her, and that left a bad taste in everybody's play bill, and it fizzled.  There's a couple of goodies, music wise in that show, but I had to dig for 'em, let me tell you. 

There's also some iconic songs mixed into this week's list, from Pal Joey, Guys and Dolls, and Kiss Me Kate, and of course something by Elaine Stritch (can't get enough of her!). 

Hey Big Spender (Female Ensemble, Sweet Charity)
Not for the Life of Me (Sutton Foster, Thoroughly Modern Millie)
Thoroughly Modern Millie (Ensemble, Thoroughly Modern Millie)
Aquarius (Ensemble, Hair)
Madeline (Ensemble, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris)
I Won't Send Roses (Robert Preston, Mack & Mabel)
Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered (Vivienne Segal, Pal Joey)
I Got the Sun in the Morning (Ethel Merman, Annie Get Your Gun)
You're Just in Love (Tyne Daley and Lewis Cleale, Call Me Madam)
Never Never Land (Mary Martin, Peter Pan)
I Can See It (Jerry Orbach, Kenneth Nelson, The Fantasticks)
Tom Dick or Harry (Lisa Kirk, and Male Ensemble, Kiss Me Kate)
Sue Me (Sam Levene, Vivian Blaine, Guys and Dolls)
Call Me Savage (Carol Burnett, Fade Out Fade In)
The Beast in You (Elaine Stritch, Goldilocks)

Playlist for Sunday, March 10, 2013

This week I'm featuring some personal favorites..."She Loves Me," a musical which is based on "Little Shop Around the Corner," featured (in its original Broadway production) Barbara Baxley. She played a sexy/gullible (what a combo!) Illona, and had a wonderful character song, "A Trip to the Library." Along with that, I've added something from "Little Me," a Cy Coleman creation, and then of course an Elaine Stritch masterpiece from "Angel in the Wings."  Hope you can tune in!

Evrybody's Gotta Be Somewhere (James Naughton and Cast, City of Angels)
Marion, the Librarian (Robert Preston, The Music Man)
A Trip to the Library (Barbara Baxley, She Loves Me)
We Make a Beautiful Pair (Donna Theodore, Penelope Milford, Shenandoah)
Why Am I Me? (Chip Ford, Joseph Shapiro, Shenandoah)
Real Live Girl (Cast, Little Me)
Little Tin Box (Howard DaSilva and Cast, Fiorello!)
Hey There (John Raitt, Pajama Game)
I'm Not At All in Love (Janis Paige, Pajama Game)
The Big Doll House (Cast, Hairspray)
Puttin' on the Ritz (Roger Bart, Schuler Hensley, Young Frankenstein)
Civilization (Elaine Stritch, Angel in the Wings)
Queen Lucy (Reva Rose, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown)