Alright, so I recently took one of those irritating quizzes online...you know, like "Which Downton/Seinfeld/Star Trek character are you?" or "What Color/City/Era best defines you?" This one was "Are you an optimist, pessimist or realist?" Now, having lived in Manhattan for many years, with lots of acerbic, jaded friends, and liking Elaine Stritch as much as I do, I assumed I'd test in the PESSIMISTIC range, with a side of Lewis Black-itis thrown in. But...yup, you guessed it. OPTIMIST. Really? Despite years of honing caustic comments to sling over martinis, despite practicing the art of the "jaundiced eye"? Well, I know exactly where I can point my OPTIMISTIC finger...I have Broadway to blame. How can you listen to decades of Jerry Herman, Comden and Green, Sondheim (okay, NOT Sondheim), and Ethel and not end up with that "Come on guys, let's put on a show!" attitude? Huh?
Now I'll shut up and tell you about this week's show....Kismet! Curtains (that means lots of IN YOUR FACE Debra Monk)! Steel Pier (more Debra)! You get the idea...we also have two flops by Rodgers and Hammerstine (doesn't it make you feel good, in some weird way, to know that even these GODS of the musical theatre had flops?). We have Cuban Pete (aka Desi Arnaz) waiting in our Oldie but Goodie wings, along with Rita Hayworth "singing" her signature song in that black satin dress (okay, you'll have to visualize that part!), a little Marlene Dietrich...a little Nell Carter...a little Doris.
Stay warm, stay hydrated, stay OPTIMISTIC!
Honeysuckle Rose (Ken Page, Nell Carter, Ain't Misbehavin')
The Olive Tree (Alfred Drake, Kismet)
Night of My Nights (Richard Kiley, Kismet)
Was I Wazir? (Henry Calvin, Kismet)
What Kind of Man? (Ensemble, Curtains)
I Miss the Music (Jason Danieley, Curtains)
It's a Business (Debra Monk, Curtains)
That's the Way It Happens (Isabel Bigley, Bill Hayes, Me & Juliet)
On a Lopsided Bus (Mike Kellin, G.D. Wallace, Pipe Dream)
It's Me (Joan McCracken, Isabel Bigley, Me & Juliet)
The Man I Used to Be (William Johnson, Pipe Dream)
We Deserve Each Other (Joan McCracken, Bob Fortier)
Gotta Have Me Go With You (Judy Garland, A Star is Born)
Put the Blame on Mame ("Rita Hayworth", Gilda)
You're the Cream in My Coffee (Annette Hanshaw)
Falling in Love Again (Marlene Dietrich, The Blue Angel)
Cuban Pete (Desi Arnaz)
Plant You Now, Dig You Later (Harold Lang, Pal Joey)
Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered (Frank Sinatra, Pal Joey)
Zip ("Rita Hayworth," Pal Joey)
That Terrific Rainbow (Helen Gallagher, Ensemble, Pal Joey)
You're My Thrill (Doris Day, 11 Classic Albums)
I May Be Wrong (But I Think You're Wonderful) (Doris Day, 11 Classic Albums)
Little Girl Blue (Doris Day, Jumbo)
Second Chance (Karen Ziemba, Daniel McDonald, Steel Pier)
Willing to Ride (Karen Ziemba, Steel Pier)
Everybody's Girl (Debra Monk, Steel Pier)
First You Dream (Daniel McDonald, Karen Ziemba, Steel Pier)
I've Got a Feeling I'm Falling (Nell Carter, Ensemble, Ain't Misbehavin')
Lounging at the Waldorf (Ensemble, Ain't Misbehavin')
Fat and Greasy (Ken Page, Andre DeShields, Ain't Misbehavin')
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