Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Danny Kaye and Richard Rodgers...1970

Rehearsals for Two by Two, pre-fallout!

Playlist for Sunday, September 1, 2013: September???

If it's September, it must mean it's time to go back to school, and that means the best "back to school" musical ever...Grease.  Followed quickly by Zombie Prom!  A drive-in, a dance, and a couple of "malts," with a lot of tongue-in-cheek Frankie Vallee high notes and pep squad enthusiasm.  Geez, those were the days.

The Speed Test, from Thoroughly Modern Millie, is a real favorite...they stole the melody from a Gilbert & Sullivan patter song, and it's a real ear worm.  I found myself singing it on my run yesterday.  Over and over.  And over.  Sorry, but I've gotta infect you...I mean, play it for you!  Then there's Danny Kaye, from Two by Two, that Richard Rodgers get-on-the-ark-already musical from 1970.  Danny broke his ankle halfway thru the run, and performed in a wheel chair, then on crutches.  Then he went on to ham up his performance.  Rodgers was outraged.  The audience was elated.  It beat the script, hands down!

And I REALLY hope we have time for The Drowsy Chaperone "entry:" I Am Aldolpho!  Breaks me up every time.

Happy trails...and "see you" on Sunday!


Summer Nights (Barry Bostwick, Carol Demas, Grease)
Jonny, Don't Go (Jessica Snow-Wilson, Zombie Prom)
Alone at a Drive-In Movie (Barry Bostwick, Grease)
Bidin' My Time (Ensemble, Crazy for You)
Moonshine Lullaby (Ethel Merman, Annie Get Your Gun)
Menu Song (Debra Monk, Cass Morgan, Pump Boys and Dinettes)
You've Gotta Have a Rudder on the Ark (Danny Kaye, Two by Two)
You and Me (But Mostly Me) (Andrew Rannells, Josh Gad, The Book of Mormon)
The Speed Test (Marc Kudisch, Sutton Foster, Thoroughly Modern Millie)
A Secretary is Not a Toy (Ensemble, How to Succeed)
What the Well Dressed Man is Wearing (Cpl. James Cross, This is the Army)
Dress Big (Nathan Lane, Burke Moses, The Frogs)
Expose (Richard Muenz, Karen Murphey, Zombie Prom)
I am Aldolpho! (Don McKellar, The Drowsy Chaperone)



Thursday, August 22, 2013

From Baker Street, The Musical, 1965

Fritz Weaver as Sherlock, in a heck of smoking jacket, and Peter Sallis as Dr. Watson.  Get a load of that mantel "bling!"

Irene Ryan, in those radio days

After vaudeville, but before Beverly Hillbillies....Irene did radio shows, with Jack Benny and Bob Hope. 

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Playlist for Sunday, August 25, 2013: Back from Vacation

Well, after a week's vacation, I'm back, full of spit and vinegar and MORE BROADWAY. 

Irene Ryan starts 2 on the Aisle off this week, in her tour de force role as Berthe in Pippin, 1972.  Irene had an incredible 50 plus years in the entertainment industry, including that cranky Granny role on The Beverly Hillbillies. Who knew she could sing, and yet who doubted it?  Highlights after that selection include "I'm Coming Out of My Shell," sung by Snail from A Year with Frog and Toad, and "The Passenger's Always Right," from Sail Away, that Noel Coward gem from 1961 that ran amok (and aground) in record breaking time for Broadway.

"Love, You Didn't Do Right by Me," from White Christmas (the musical!) is a little disappointing.  I mean, who can get those Rosemary Clooney/Peggy Lee versions out of your head long enough to appreciate someone ELSE singing it?  The critics had a hard time too, and gave that show the boot.  However, I like the idea of playing White Christmas selections in the middle of August.

Enjoy!

No Time At All (Irene Ryan, Pippin)
Watch My Dust (Robert Hooks, Hallelujah, Baby!)
Sail Away (James Hurst, Sail Away)
Love You Didn't Do Right to Me/How Deep is the Ocean? (Kelly O'Malley,
                                  Stephen Bogardus, White Christmas)
Rita's Tune (Stacey Logan, Sweet Smell of Success)
Old Sayin's (Melvyn Douglas, Shirley Booth, Juno and the Paycock)
It's So Simple (Fritz Weaver, Peter Sallis, Baker Street)
I'm Coming Out of My Shell (Frank Vlastnik, A Year with Frog and Toad)
If I Could've Been (Ensemble, Working)
Big, Blonde and Beautiful (Mary Bond Davis, Harvey Fierstein, et.al., Hairspray)
I Like Em Fat Like That (Ensemble, Five Guys Named Moe)
Lie to Me (Sherie Rene Scott, Brian Stokes-Mitchell, Women on the Verge of a
                                   Nervous Breakdown)
He Did It!  (Ensemble, Curtains)
What Do We Do? We Fly! (Ensemble, Do I Hear a Waltz?)
The Passenger's Always Right (Charles Braswell, Ensemble, Sail Away)



Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Playlist for Sunday, August 11, 2013

More than a couple of my favorites coming up in this Sunday's show...like September Song, sung by Lotte Lenya.  This song was from Knickerbocker Holiday, back in 1938, and was written by Kurt Weill, so I guess if anyone has a right to sing it, Lotte does.  Walter Huston (yup, that grand man of the stage/screen and Pop to Angelica) wanted to spice up his role as Knickerbocker Peter Stuyvesant with an additional solo number, so Kurt wrote him this song.  Hard to imagine Peg Leg Pete being this sentimental!

Way Out West, from Babes at Arms, really speaks to me, as West End Avenue (or its equal) is about as west as I'd ever want to get...And With a Little Bit of Luck, featuring everyone's favorite dustman, Alfred P. Doolittle, aka Stanley Holloway, is another winner.  Hope you can tune in for Broadway at its Best!


Masquerade (Cast, The Phantom of the Opera)
I Feel Pretty (Carol Lawrence, West Side Story)
With a Little Bit of Luck (Stanley Holloway, My Fair Lady)
Everybody Says Don't (Harry Guardino, Anyone Can Whistle)
Two Fairy Tales (Suzanne Henry, Craig Lucas, Marry Me A Little)
Jubilation T. Cornpone (Stubby Kaye, Li'l Abner)
Freedom (Donna Theodore, Chip Ford, Shenandoah)
September Song (Lotte Lenya, Knickerbocker Holiday)
Crazy World (Julie Andrews, Victor/Victoria)
You Mustn't Kick it Around (Harold Lang, Pal Joey)
With You on My Arm (Gene Barry, George Hearn, La Cage Aux Folles)
Way Out West (Judy Kaye, Babes in Arms)
Kansas City (Lee Dixon, Oklahoma)
So Long, Dearie! (Carol Channing, Hello Dolly)




Saturday, August 3, 2013

Friday, August 2, 2013

Ya Got Trouble!

Robert Preston...impressing us with dire catastrophe, in Meredith Wilson's The Music Man