Playlist for Sunday, Nov. 16, 2014: Old Faithfuls, New Discoveries!

 New Discoveries? Yup. Bullets Over Broadway...Woody Allen and his penchant for 1920's and 30's music! Now I did NOT see this show, and with a look at some of the cast, I can see why it closed within months of its opening this spring, but the tunes are great...one reviewer called it "charmless"; another said it was "occasionally funny, but mostly just loud." And one more called the songs "not well integrated into the story."  Well, how could they be? They existed almost a century before the book!  Jeez. All I know is that Woody got to show off his exuberance for his favorite music (which he plays damned well, too), and we can reap the benefits with "The Tiger Rag," "Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You," and "The Hot Dog Song!" 

Other newbies (to 2 on the Aisle, anyway!) are Ben Franklin in Paris, with Robert Preston, Cabin in the Sky (the movie version) with Ethel Waters, Eddie Anderson, and Lena Horne, and finally a few wonderful character songs brought to us by Vivian Blaine ("Pet Me Poppa"), June Havoc ("Abracadabra"), Carol Burnett ("Little Girls"), and Liza!  The Abracadabra entry is from Mexican Hayride, a Cole Porter creation from 1944...pretty horribly reviewed, and one critic went as far as to say that Porter had evidently written himself dry with this one!  But June (Gypsy Rose Lee's sister) was well reviewed in her role as Mexico's premiere female bullfighter.  Huh?  

Ahhhh, Broadway!  :)


Overture/Tiger Rag (Company, Bullets Over Broadway)
Another Op'nin', Another Show (Ensemble, Kiss Me Kate)
Where is the Life that Late I Led? (Alfred Drake, Kiss Me Kate)
Always True to You (Lisa Kirk, Kiss Me Kate)
We Open in Venice (Ensemble, Kiss Me Kate)
We Sail the Seas (Ensemble, Ben Franklin in Paris)
I Invented Myself (Robert Preston, Ben Franklin in Paris)
You're in Paris (Susan Watson, Ben Franklin in Paris)
God Bless the Human Elbow (Robert Preston, Ben Franklin in Paris)
I Hope I Get It (Company, A Chorus Line)
At the Ballet (Kelly Bishop, Kay Cole, Nancy Lane, A Chorus Line)
Sing! (Don Percassi, Renee Baughman, A Chorus Line)
What I Did for Love (Priscilla Lopez, A Chorus Line)
Take Me Back to Manhattan (Eileen Rodgers, Anything Goes)
It's De Lovely (Hal Linden, Barbara Lang, Anything Goes)
The Heaven Hop (Margery Gray, Ensemble, Anything Goes)
Pet Me Poppa (Vivian Blaine, Ensemble, Guys and Dolls)
Abracadabra (June Havoc, Mexican Hayride)
Little Girls (Carol Burnett, Annie)
The Three B's (Liza Minelli, Kay Cole, Renee Winters, Best Foot Forward)
Stay With Me (Scott Waara, Ensemble, City of Angels)
The Tennis Song (James Naughton, Dee Hoty, City of Angels)
You Can Always Count on Me (Randy Graff, City of Angels)
Taking a Chance on Love (Ethel Waters, Cabin in the Sky)
Life is Full O' Consequence (Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Lena Horne, Cabin in the
                                    Sky)
Happiness is Just a Thing Called Joe (Ethel Waters, Cabin in the Sky)
Honey in the Honeycomb (Lena Horne, Cabin in the Sky)
Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You (Nick Cordera, Helene Yorke, Bullets Over Broadway)
'Taint a Fit Night Out for Man or Beast (Ensemble, Bullets Over Broadway)
The Hot Dog Song (Helene Yorke, Bullets Over Broadway)
Finale (Yes, We Have No Bananas) (Company, Bullets Over Broadway)