Playlist for Sunday, July 5, 2015: Do all roads really lead back to Cagney?

Jimmy Cagney....White Heat and then some!  Not just an intense, crime-crazed, gangster pigeon-holed actor, but a singer/dancer who learned to tap on the streets of Yorkville (now the "UPPA" East Side of Manhattan, but then an Irish/Jewish section of low repute), hoofing away on the cellar doors and sidewalk pavements of his youth. When tap was king, and doing it was cool.  Well, he got to show THAT side of his talents in Yankee Doodle Dandy, a film from 1942...with Walter Huston as his dad, and a bevy of stars who popped in for cameos.  From that legendary movie, we'll hear an appropriate theme song for this holiday weekend, and then some.

Ethel Fasten Your Seat Belts Merman makes an appearance, too.  A mini-Merm tribute, with Heat Wave, Rose's Turn from Gypsy, and a little known musical called Happy Hunting?  What were they thinking?  Her co-star for that bagel was Latin Lover Fernando Lamas. The Merm later said that this show was like "a jeep among limosines... if you didn't mind a bumpy ride, it got you there"; at the same time on Broadway ran West Side Story, My Fair Lady and Damn Yankees.  "Hunting" was an old-styled book musical, more suited to the 1940s, whose composer (like that character in Bells are Ringing) was actually a dentist, moonlighting as a songwriter.  Well, from that we get "Mr. Livingston."  I presume.

Along with the usual suspects, we have Urinetown (with Officers Lockstock AND Barrel), Radio Gals, and a whole Dirty Rotten finale, with sleazy saxes and blousy brasses. Those are my favorite. Visions of smoky dance floors, nightclub orchestras, and questionable patrons.  And we're right back to Jimmy. 


Yankee Doodle Dandy (James Cagney, Yankee Doodle Dandy)
Harrigan (James Cagney, Sally Sweetland, Yankee Doodle Dandy)
Mary's A Grand Old Name (James Cagney, Yankee Doodle Dandy)
Mary (Jacqueline Alloway, George M!)
Give My Regards To Broadway (Colin Pritchard and the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra)
A Little Girl From Little Rock (Carol Channing, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes)
It's High Time (Company, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes)
Bye Bye Bady (Jack McCauley, Ensemble, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes)
Mamie Is Mimi (Honi Coles, Cholly Atkins, Anita Alvarez, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes)
Too Much Exposition (Jeff McCarthy, Spencer Kayden, Urinetown)
Urinetown (Ensemble, Urinetown)
Don't Be The Bunny (John Cullum, Spencer Kayden, Urinetown)
Cop Song (Jeff McCarthy, Daniel Marcus, Ensemble, Urinetown)
Give The Little Lady (Elaine Stritch, Ensemble, Goldilocks)
I Can't Be In Love (Don Ameche, Goldilocks)
I Never Know When (Elaine Stritch, Goldilocks)
Anything You Can Do (Ray Middleton, Ethel Merman, Annie Get Your Gun)
Who Do You Love, I Hope? (Robert Lenn, Kathleen Carnes, Annie Get Your Gun)
I Got Lost In His Arms (Ethel Merman, Annie Get Your Gun)
You're Just In Love (Donald O'Connor, Ethel Merman, Call Me Madam)
Mr. Livingston (Ethel Merman, Happy Hunting)
Heat Wave (Ethel Merman, As Thousands Cheer)
Make It Another Old Fashioned, Please (Ethel Merman, Panama Hattie)
Rose's Turn (Ethel Merman, Gypsy)
Sunrise Melody (Eileen Barnett, Ensemble, Radio Gals)
My Ol' Kentucky Rock and Roll Home (Mark Hardwick, Debra Monk, Ensemble,
             Oil City Symphony)
Catfish (Mark Hardwick, Jim Wann, Pump Boys And Dinettes)
Dear Mr. Gershwin (Klea Blackhurst, Radio Gals)
My Ship (Jill Cooper, Lady In The Dark)
September Song (Lotte Lenya, Knickerbocker Holiday)
The Saga Of Jenny (Charlotte Collingwood, Lady In The Dark)
Dirty Rotten Number (John Lithgow, Norbert Leo Butz, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels)
Smash! (Meg Hilty, Bombshell)
Butter Outta Cream (Tom Wopat, Aaron Tveit, Catch Me If You Can)
They Just Keep Moving The Line (Megan Hilty, Bombshell)

A Few "Ladies" From Today's Show...

 Christine Ebersole, as Little Edie

in Grey Gardens..."Around The World."

Christine won both a Tony and a Drama Desk Award

for her spot-on portrayal of Edie Bouvier Beale.

(Does anyone remember Christine on Ryan's Hope?

Or that walk on in Tootsie?)

 Gwen Verdon...as Lola in Damn Yankees.

Yeah, we know.  "Whatever" you want, Lola!

Both Mitzi Gaynor and Zizi Jeanmarie had turned down the role,

and it came down to Gwen, 

who had sung and danced only a secondary role

in Can-Can prior to this 

(tho she HAD done a lot of assistant choreography work).

Bob Fosse met, Bob Fosse agreed!

Jefferson Mays, front and center,

as Lady Hyacinth in A Gentleman's Guide To Love And Murder.

Her big "Abroad" number!

Jefferson plays 8 roles in this musical, 

tho he in no stranger to this sort of thing...

in 2004 he was awarded a Tony, a Drama Desk Award AND an Obie

for his one-person show, I Am My Own Wife,

in which he played 40 roles.

The Moderns...a great soundtrack

 The Moderns is a film by Alan Rudolph,

and it starred Keith Carradine, Geraldine Chaplin,

Genevieve Bujold, Wallace Shawn, and Linda Fiorentino.

It was set in Paris, 1926...the world of expatriate artists.

                           With music by Mark Isham and CharlElie Couture,

the latter of whom plays a piano player/singer named 

The Evidence, in the movie.

Carradine played Nick Hart, an unsuccessful American painter,

who is forced to paint 3 forgeries for gallery owner,

Nathalie de Ville, played by Chaplin.

 The characters of Gertrude Stein, Hemingway, Alice B. Toklas,

and others make appearances...as do their literature and art.

Wallace Shawn (with the lipstick)

plays Oiseau, Carradine's confidante.

Vernon and Misia...Artist and Muse

 Misia Sert (1872 - 1950),

Model, Patron, Mistress, Muse, Cultural Arbiter

of fin de siecle Paris.

She inspired Lautrec, Renoir, Bonnard, Vuillard,

Ravel, Diaghilev.

 Misia on the left...and Toulouse Lautrec's painting of her

for a poster...

 She began as a pianist, in a musical family, 

and supported herself as a teacher and accompanist in the early days.

Here, another Lautrec of Misia at the piano.

 Here as painted by Bonnard...

and below by Renoir.

 A photo by Bonnard...

and below, the album cover

of the Vernon Duke/Barry Singer musical,

with Marin Mazzie as Misia.

 Vladimir Aleksandrovich Dukelsky, aka Vernon Duke,

grew up in Minsk in 1903...and wrote a wide variety of 

ballets, concertos and theatrical music.

He became a great friend of George Gershwin, who encouraged him to 

Americanize his name.

After working in London and Paris, he moved to America

and composed many a wonderful song 

("April In Paris," "Autumn In New York," "I Can't Get Started")

and Broadway shows...his greatest success, "Cabin In The Sky."

An unproduced "French score" was salvaged by his wife, Kay McCracken...

and with Barry Singer as its champion, 

Misia The Musical has seen the light of day.

 

Playlist for Sunday, June 28, 2015: To Boldly Go!

Time for some new musicals!  I can't just play shows from 1956, where the composers, the performers, the dressers and the stage hands are all dead.  I mean, I love those Golden Age of Broadway shows...but really, I have to trade up once in awhile.  So Fun Home! Misia! Grey Gardens! Once!  A different sort of Broadway from the razzmatazz of  Phil Silvers and The Merm and Jerry and Jule...because we need fresh air sometimes.

Sandwiched, wrapped, California-rolled, and panini-ed with that contemporary stuff is Damn Yankees, lots O' Gershwin and The Boy Friend (with flappers and English accents) to soften the blow.  And some esoteric/cult/ever-neurotic Sondheim, so you won't think I've changed personalities completely.  Yes, I'm still here, cloaked like a Romulan in Klingon space, but yet the same old Captain of my own Broadway Enterprise.  Okay, that was cheesey.

Trust me.  It'll be alright. 


Overture/Six Months Out Of Every Year (Shannon Bolin, Ensemble, Damn Yankees)
'S Wonderful (Robert Fairchild, Max Von Essen, Adam Uranowitz, An American In
                 Paris)
Shall We Dance? (Jill Paice, An American In Paris)
I'll Build A Stairway To Paradise (Max Von Essen, Company, An American In Paris)
Painted, Promised Land (Male Ensemble, Misia)
Agreement (Lauren Worsham, Misia)
My Heart And I (Marin Mazzie, Misia)
Dada Je Suis (Charlelie Coutour, The Moderns)
Paris La Nuit (Charlelie Coutour, The Moderns)
Ring Of Keys (Sydney Lucas, Fun Home)
Flying Away (Sydney Lucas, Emily SKeggs, Beth Malone, Fun Home)
Around The World (Christine Ebersole, Grey Gardens)
Gold (Ensemble, Once)
Perfect Young Ladies (Rosemary Ashe, Ensemble, The Boy Friend)
Fancy Forgetting (Drek Waring, Anna Quayle, The Boy Friend)
A Room In Bloomsbury (Simon Green, Jane Wellman, The Boy Friend)
Forget About The Boy (Sutton Foster, Thoroughly Modern Millie)
The Nuttycracker Suite (Instrumental, Thoroughly Modern Millie)
Ah! Sweet Mystery Of Life/I'm Falling In Love With Someone (Marc Kudisch, Angela
                  Christian, Thoroughly Modern Millie)
Saturday Night (David Campbell, Ensemble, Saturday Night)
The Girls Of Summer (Suzanne Henry, Marry Me A Little)
Marry Me A Little (John Barrowman)
Can That Boy Fox Trot? (Suzanne Henry, Marry Me A Little)
So Many People (Lauren Ward, David Campbell, Saturday Night)
Better With A Man (Jefferson Mays, Bryce Pinkham, A Gentleman's Guide To Love
                   and Murder)
Inside Out (Lauren Worsham, Bryce Pinkham, A Gentleman's Guide To Love And
                   Murder)
Lady Hyacinth's Travels (Jefferson Mays, Ensemble, A Gentleman's Guide To Love
                   And Murder)
Whatever Lola Wants (Gwen Verdon, Damn Yankees)
Goodbye Old Girl (Robert Schafer, Ray Walston, Stephen Douglass, Damn Yankees)
Heart (Jean Stapleton, Ensemble, Damn Yankees)

Friendship!

 From the original production of Gypsy,

"Together Wherever We Go,"

with Sandra Church, Ethel Merman, and Jack Klugman.

 1962 saw the revival of Cole Porter's Anything Goes.

This was a shot from the recording of the cast album,

and from that, we'll hear "Friendship" with 

Eileen Rodgers, Hal Linden, and Mickey Deems.

 

 From The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,

we'll hear Olive Ostrovsky (with the pink capris, and played by

Celia Keenan-Bolger)

singing "My Friend, The Dictionary."

 "I only reveal secrets during friendship songs."

Murder For Two, with Jeff Blumenkrantz and Brett Ryback

performing "A Friend Like You."

 Sweeney Todd's "My Friends,"

Len Cariou and his arm, completed.

Robert Preston and Julie Andrews...

"You And Me,"

a perennial favorite from Victor/Victoria.

An American In Paris...Now and Then

Now: An American In Paris...Broadway Style

with direction and choreography by Christopher Wheeldon...

It stars Robert Fairchild and Leanne Cope

as Jerry and Lise.

 Max Von Essen (right) plays Henri, French nightclub star,

and Brando Uranowitz (center) is Adam, the songwriter.

 The staged production includes all the Gershwin songs 

from the movie,

plus other goodies like "Shall We Dance," "The Man I Love,"

"Who Cares?, and "They Can't Take That Away From Me."

With a book by Craig Lucas and sets and costume design by Bob Crowley...

the show won 4 Tonys, but was bounced out of the 

Best Musical award by Fun Home.

Then: It was 1951...and Leslie Caron and Gene Kelly

were making the movie, with director Vincent Minnelli.

The choreography was all Gene.

 Leslie was 20 when Gene "discovered" her in the 

"Ballet des Champs Elysees"

and cast her as Lise.

Cyd Charisse was first hired to star, but had to leave the production

when she found she was pregnant.

"I'll Build A Stairway To Paradise", with Georges Guetary.

The ballet supposedly cost more than $500,000 to create...

today?  Maybe add a another digit!

Best Picture, Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay,

Best Score...but nothing for Gene?  

Brigadoon...lots of wooly pants.

The 1954 MGM musical...with Jimmy Thompson 

(front and center with THOSE PANTS!), 

Gene Kelly (left), and Van Johnson (right).

Plans to film in Scotland, and later Monterey, were shelved

when producer Dore Schary clipped the budget.

It was the MGM back lot for these lads and lasses.

 A pic of the original Broadway production,

done in 1947,

starred Marion Bell and David Brooks.

It was Lerner and Loewe's first hit...

and it featured the choreography of Agnes De Mille,

who incorporated Scottish dance into the routines.

 Alan Lerner, Cyd Charisse, Frederick Loewe and Virginia Bosler

on the movie set...

Brigadoon's filming took place just 2 years before they would 

produce their biggest hit, "My Fair Lady."

 Love this shot of Alan and Frederick at work.

Van, Gene and Elaine Stewart "at the bar."

Van competed against Donald O'Connor and Steve Allen (!)

for the part of Jeff.

Can't imagine anyone but Van in this role now!

Playlist for Sunday, June 21, 2015: Lerner, Loewe, and Friends

This week we celebrate the music of Alan J. Lerner and Frederick Loewe...who had the uncanny ability to turn themselves in one breath into Scottish lads and lasses of a magical town, and Gold Rush-fevered unshaven prospectors who talk to trees the next. And after Miss Doolittle had learned her "Hartford, Hereford and Hampshires", they transported themselves back to Merry Ole England to fie this and fie that in Camelot. (Fie on me for not including My Fair Lady in this week's show, but I play that so much, I thought I'd concentrate on the other L&L creations!)

Then there's the riff I'm doing on Friendship: two sets of strangely related You-and-Me's, Friend Like You, Friend Like Me, Old Friends, Bad Friends, My Friend the _______,  you name it, I'm riffing it.  A few from Forever Plaid, Pump Boys, and then there's that new/old Gershwin musical, An American In Paris, based of course on the movie, but without Gene (so no cool striped boat necks, or rolled up cuffs), no Oscar (no acerbic/morose/depressing asides), and no Leslie (no Leslie). It seems no matter how old that S'Wonderful music is, someone is always resuscitating it.  Don't get me wrong, it's still s'pretty great. :)


 I Got Rhythm (Max Von Essen, Brandon Uranowitz, Robert Fairchild, Ensemble,
                      An American In Paris)
Once In The Highlands/Brigadoon (Ensemble, Brigadoon)
I'll Go Home With Bonnie Jean (Jimmy Thompson, Gene Kelly, Van Johnson,
                      Brigadoon)
Come To Me, Bend To Me (Jimmy Thompson, Brigadoon)
Sixteen Tons/Chain Gang (David Engel, Ensemble, Forever Plaid)
Cry (Stan Chandler, Forever Plaid)
Gotta Be This Or That (Ensemble, Forever Plaid)
I'm On My Way (Ensemble, Paint Your Wagon)
I Talk To The Trees (Tony Bavaar, Olga San Juan, Paint Your Wagon)
The First Thing You Know (Lee Marvin, Paint Your Wagon)
There's A Coach Comin' In (Ensemble, Paint Your Wagon)
Friendship (Eileen Rodgers, Hal Linden, Mickey Deems, Anything Goes)
Bad Companions (Ensemble, Goldilocks)
Together Wherever We Go (Ethel Merman, Sandra Church, Jack Klugman, Gypsy)
Old Friends (Lonny Price, Jim Walton, Ann Morrison, Merrily We Roll Along)
You Got A Friend In Me (Randy Newman, Toy Story)\
You And Me (Robert Preston, Julie Andrews, Victor/Victoria)
My Friend, The Dictionary (Celia Keenan-Bolger, The 25th Annual Putnam County
                      Spelling Bee)
A Friend Like You (Jeff Blumenkrantz, Brett Ryback, Murder For Two)
Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend (Carol Channing, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes)
Friend Like Me (Robin Williams, Aladdin)
My Friends (Len Cariou, Angela Lansbury, Sweeney Todd)
I Wonder What The King Is Doing Tonight (Richard Burton, Camelot)
Before I Gaze At You Again (Julie Andrews, Camelot)
Fie On Goodness (Ensemble, Camelot)
If Ever Would I Leave You (Robert Goulet, Camelot)
Pump Boys (Cast, Pump Boys And Dinettes)
The Night Dolly Parton Was Almost Mine (Mark Hardwick, Pump Boys And Dinettes)
Sister (Debra Monk, Cass Morgan, Pump Boys And Dinettes)
Vacation (Debra Monk, Cass Morgan, Ensemble, Pump Boys And Dinettes)
S'Wonderful (Adam Uranowitz, Max Von Essen, Robert Fairchild, An American In
                        Paris)
Shall We Dance? (Jill Paice, An American In Paris)
I'll Build A Stairway To Paradise (Max Von Essen, Company, An American In Paris)

More of those BIG MEN on the Broadway "Campus"...

 Happy Birthday to Cy Coleman...born on June 14, 1929,

in New York City.

Composer of Sweet Charity, Wild Cat, Little Me,

Barnum, City of Angels...and a ton more.

Love this shot of Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers.

They met while attending Columbia, back in 1919,

and began writing popular songs and musicals...

Today we'll hear from Babes in Arms, On Your Toes, Pal Joey,

and more!

George and Ira Gershwin,

arriving in Hollywood.

But first they were all Broadway!

Oh Kay, Girl Crazy, Of Thee I Sing...

each one crammed with songs that are now 

part of our musical language.

Jule Styne. King.

 Writer of literally hundreds of songs, 

Julius Kerwin Stein was born in London in1905. 

He would go on to collaborate with the best lyricists of the day, 

from Sammy Cahn and Comden and Green to Leo Robin and Stephen Sondheim.

In 1972, Jule would be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

 When he was 8, his family emigrated from England to settle in Chicago,

where Jule was hailed as a piano prodigy.

Like Cy Coleman, he performed with well-known orchestras at a young age,

the Chicago, Detroit and St. Louis Symphony Orchestras,

before he was 10.

 An early lyricist collaborator was Sammy Kahn(on the left)...

with whom he wrote "It's Been A Long, Long Time",

"Five Minutes More", "I've Heard That Song Before"

"I Fall In Love Too Easily", and the Oscar-winning song "Three Coins In A Fountain

(and MANY MORE!).

His songs were championed by Frank Sinatra and, I guess,

Jimmy Durante liked his tunes, as well.

 Broadway show-wise, he collaborated with Kahn,

Comden and Green (above), and many others.

Here, waiting at the recording session for Bells Are Ringing.

 At the recording session for Gypsy.

From the left, Sandra Church, Lane Bradbury, Jule, Arthur Laurents, and 

lyricst partner Stephen Sondheim.

 

Partying with Ethel Merman (love those curls, Ethel!)

and Barbara Hutton.

 Funny Girl, 1964.

Jule partnered with lyricist Bob Merrill

to create Barbra Streisand's tour de force.

1905 - 1994

Before Love Boat, There Was Sail Away!

 Noel Coward's Sail Away premiered on Broadway in 1961,

with subsequent productions in London and Melbourne.

Noel did it all: the music, the lyrics, the book...he directed,

even designed the poster.

That's him and Elaine...on the HMS Coronia, bound for the Mediterranean.

Hijinks ensue!

 Elaine started out in a secondary role...

and an operatic type was chosen as the young ingenue

with the love interest.

But thing weren't working, according to Noel.

He rewrote the thing, giving Elaine all the songs,

AND the romance!

 "Didn't I meet you on a summer cruise?"

The show was Noel's penultimate musical, and had only limited success.

But it was a perfect vehicle for Stritch, 

giving her a chance to do comedy, light character songs,

and a couple fabulous ballads.

What do you think of Noel's design?
Guess it's good he had other talents. 

Playlist for Sunday, June 14, 2015: Where's that hammock???

The Broadway blender, having blended, moves on....We have another week of BIG DEAL composers, cuz some got left out last week.  This over-look-ification was not intentional.  You'd just need an entire 2 weeks to do a dedication to Broadway's Best, right?  So this Sunday:  Jules Styne, Rodgers and Hart, the Gershwin boys, and of course Cy Coleman, who has a birthday on Sunday.  Perfect timing, and a perfect excuse, to showcase a bit of City of Angels, Seesaw, Charity, and a little Little Me. 

And Noel Coward!  What about him? He'll be here with his pre-Love Boat cruising show, Sail Away, starring Ms. Stritch as the American divorcee/cruise director who falls for a "younger passenger." Well, that's what the liner notes say.  Leave it to Elaine to make the most of an opportunity. "Didn't I meet you on a ...summer cruise?"

A soupcon of drinking songs, and I ain't talkin' lemonade (Juno, Pump Boys, Ben Franklin) and a quartet of Lazy tunes (definitely get into the hammock for that set!) will help round out the show...with "I Am Adolpho" from The Drowsy Chaperone as our finale.  Ha-cha!


Come To Me (Elaine Stritch, Ensemble, Sail Away)
Use What You Got (Sam Harris, The Life)
I've Got Your Number (David Gold, Little Me)
Lost And Found (Rachel York, City Of Angels)
You're A Lovable Lunatic (Ken Howard, Seesaw)
I'm A Brass Band (Gwen Verdon, Sweet Charity)
Daarlin' Man (Melvin Douglas, Jack MacGowran, Juno)
God Bless The Human Elbow (Robert Preston, Ensemble, Ben Franklin In Paris)
Drinkin' Shoes (Company, Pump Boys And Dinettes)
Treat Me Rough (Eddie Chappell, Girl Crazy)
Bidin' My Time (Mary Martin, Girl Crazy)
Of Thee I Sing (Larry Kert, Maureen McGovern, Of Thee I Sing)
Someone To Watch Over Me (Dawn Upshaw, Oh Kay!)
It Never Entered My Mind (Shirley Ross, Higher and Higher)
I Wish I Were In Love Again (Jason Graae, Donna Kane, Babes In Arms)
You Took Advantage Of Me (Elaine Stritch, On Your Toes)
Bewitched (Frank Sinatra, Pal Joey)
Dear Old Syracuse (Jack Cassidy, The Boys From Syracuse)
Sail Away (David Holliday, Sail Away)
Something Very Strange (Elaine Stritch, Sail Away)
The Bronxville Darby and Joan (Edith Day, Sydney Arnold, Sail Away)
Why Do The Wrong People Travel? (Elaine Stritch, Sail Away)
Lazy Afternoon (Kaye Ballard, The Golden Apple)
Lazy (Marilyn Monroe, There's No Business Like Show Business)
Lazy Moon (Ensemble, Goldilocks)
Up A Lazy River (Nick Cordero, Bullets Over Broadway)
On My Own (Sidney Chaplin, Bells Are Ringing)
Waiting, Waiting (Nancy Walker, Do Re Mi)
Mr. Goldstone, I Love You (Ethel Merman, Gypsy)
I'm Just Taking My Time (Sidney Chaplin, Subways Are For Sleeping)
Don't Rain On My Parade (Barbra Streisand, Funny Girl)
Toledo Surprise (Jason and Garth Kravits, The Drowsy Chaperone)
Accident Waiting To Happen (Sutton Foster, Troy Britton Johnson, The Drowsy
             Chaperone)
I Am Adolpho (Danny Burstein, Beth Leavel, The Drowsy Chaperone)

And 3 more of today's offerings....

 

 Leon Green as Miles Gloriosus and Zero Mostel as Pseudolos,

in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum.

"Bring Me My Bride!" ...or else, it seems.

 

 Gertrude Lawrence and Yul Brynner, in The King and I.

Rex Harrison was sought to do the lead role,

as he did in the movie "Anna And The King Of Siam,"

but he wasn't available.  

Plus Yul was maybe a little hotter.

 Gotta stop that man!

Robert Morse still believes in himself here in the washroom scene of

How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying.