Playlist for Sunday, October 26, 2014: Rhythm and Rain!

Well, another week of campaigning here on 2 on the Aisle and Jazz 90.1, so I've tried to include some of those real Broadway crowd pleasers!  Like a Hello Dolly opener, a Pal Joey "Act 2" ballad and a Merman finale. Plus a mini WEATHER theme...yup, I never realized that I like so many songs with the word RAIN in the title!  Don't Rain on My Parade...Soon It's Gonna Rain...The Rain in Spain...well, you get the idea.  I mean, if we're stuck with this weather, why not sing in it, right?  (Double entendre there!)

Speaking of that parade (and Ms. Streisand), Jules Styne and his cadre of producing VIPs for Funny Girl first offered the leading role of Fanny Brice to a bevy of musical stars...first Mary Martin, then Anne Bancroft, and finally Eydie Gorme!  None of them wanted it (well, Eydie did, but she insisted that if she was going to play Fanny, her husband, Steve Lawrence, would have to be cast as her ne'er do well hubby, Nick Arnstein.  This "they" could not swallow!)...Jules found Barbra in a Village nightclub, singing in her thrift shop chic (well, it wasn't actually considered "chic" at the time) and brought that important cadre down to MacDougal Street to see Babs/hear Babs/be blown away by Babs...and of course the rest is history. She was 21 years old at the time...

My favorite in this playlist?  Gotta be Rose's Turn, from Gypsy. I should call it "Ethel's Turn." So wish I could have seen her do this one live.  A musical over-the-top break down...only Merman, only Styne, only Sondheim could do it.

Hang on to that umbrella!


Put On Your Sunday Clothes (Carol Channing, Ensemble, Hello Dolly!)
Don't Rain on My Parade (Barbra Streisand, Funny Girl)
The Rain in Spain (Julie Andrews, Rex Harrison, Robert Coote, My Fair Lady)
Soon It's Gonna Rain (Rita Gardner, The Fantasticks)
Look to the Rainbow (Ella Logan, Finian's Rainbow)
No One'll Ever Love You (Elaine Stritch, Don Ameche, Goldilocks)
One of a Kind (Len Cariou, Lauren Bacall, Applause)
The Rhythm of Life (Ensemble, Sweet Charity)
On the Right Track (Ben Vereen, John Rubenstein, Pippin)
You and Me (But Mostly Me) (Andrew Rannells, Josh Gad, The Book of Mormon)
Singin' in the Rain (Gene Kelly, Singin' in the Rain)
There's a Small Hotel (Frank Sinatra, Pal Joey)
If Mamma Was Married (Sandra Church, Lane Bradbury, Gypsy)
Rose's Turn (Ethel Merman, Gypsy)