Bye Bye Baby!

I'm off til September 10th!

Recorded 2 On The Aisle til then...

so it's Bye Bye Baby for now.

Above Tommy Noonan and Marilyn,

in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, 1953,

with songs by 

Jule Styne, Leo Robin, Hoagy Carmichael and Harold Adamson.

Like the charms on a bracelet...

 "Bosum Buddies"

even after several years away from their original performance

in Mame.

Bea Arthur and Angela Lansbury,

dripping sequins.

 Rosalind Russell

at a cast party for Wonderful Town.

Let's pretend she's singing "Swing!",

a little known Leonard Bernstein gem from that show.

 Ruth Kobart, as Domina and Jack Gilford, as Hysterium

in rather unflattering "Roman" costumes,

by Tony Walton (yup, Julie Andrew's first husband).

We'll hear Ruth and "That Dirty Old Man".

(She's speaking of her husband, of course.)

 Donald O'Connor, Ethel Merman, George Sanders,

and Vera-Ellen

in the movie version of Call Me Madam.

Ethel sang "The Best Thing For You (Would Be Me)"

in both the Broadway (1950) AND movie version (1953);

she always WAS sure of herself!

The NY Post called The Merm's performance

"indescribably soul-satisfying".

Gene Barry and George Hearn (and a great pair of gams!)

in La Cage Aux Folles.

Up until 2 weeks before opening,

the producing/directing team did not want to keep Gene

in the role of Georges,

yet he would go on to win a Tony nomination.

His co-star ended up taking that award home,

but still...

We'll hear this duo perform

"With You On My Arm".

Heidi Blickenstaff, center...with Brian d'Arcy James

in Something Rotten!,

plus (from left) Kate Reinders,  John Cariani and Brad Oscar.

Ben Brantley of The Times was not amused with this musical:
"This production wallows in the puerile puns, 

giggly double-entendres, lip-smacking bad taste and goofy pastiche numbers often found in college revues."

I guess that's why I liked it! :)

"Right Hand Man"

with Heidi and Brian (and a bit of John) will tickle

our ear drums on Sunday.

...and Snazzy! (Don't forget him!)

 Bandstand 

with music by Richard Oberacker and Robert Taylor,

and starring Laura Osnes (of Grease, South Pacific,

Anything Goes, and Cinderella fame)

and Corey Cott (Newsies, Gigi).

It opened in April of this year (2017),

with Andy Blankenbuehler as director/choreographer.

 It's rousing, for sure.

Some critics gave it a thumbs up;

others, like The NY Times,called it

"undercooked" and "indecisive"...

swing and be-bop, along side post-traumatic effects

of WWII.

The production was also criticized for its lack of 

diversity in the cast,

which is surprising, especially when you look

at Blankenbuehler's earlier work with In The Heights and Hamilton.

 As a cast recording, however,

it rocks!

We'll hear 4 selections from this show,

like "You Deserve It", our opener.

 City Of Angels

proffers some L.A. Sleaze for our Sunday.

Above, the Paper Mill Playhouse production.

Cy Coleman's saxes, David Zippel's wordsmithing...

nice match up! 

 

 The definitive "Jet Set" photo

from Catch Me If You Can, 

with Aaron Tveit, front and center.

A Scott Wittman/Marc Shaiman 60s pastiche,

that didn't pastiche hard enough.

Closed in 5 months.

But it lives on Sunday, on 2 on the Aisle!

 

 The Sweet Smell Of Success (above)

and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (below)

both starred John Lithgow and a sassy-city style.

Success was criticized for being "too sweet",

(not "Dirt"-y enough?)...

Scoundrels' Norbert Leo Butz got high praise for his star turn.

Great line from that show:

"Her people are in oil." "Crude?" "Well, she is a little pushy."

 And then because I need a "fix",

we'll hear from Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway...

hey it's been a year since my last "Hot Dog"!

Vincent Pastore, Nick Cordero, Karen Ziemba, Marin Mazzie, 

Brooks Ashmanskas, Zach Braff and Helene Yorke starred.

It fizzled over the summer of 2014.

But classic songs of the 20s make it fizz again, on the cast album at least!

(Below Helene, with John Borstelmann, Vendor Du Jour)

Playlist for Sunday, August 6, 2017: Brassy. Sassy. Sleazy.

No, they're not the 3 unknown dwarfs of Snow White fame. Though Sleazy sounds like a not too distant cousin of Sneezy. (Disney was actually toying with the following names for those small seven: Jumpy, Deafy, Dizzy, Hickey, Wheezy, Baldy, Gabby, Nifty, Sniffy, Swift, Lazy, Puffy, Stuffy, Tubby, Shorty, and Burpy. He saw the light and I'm glad.) No, it's our 2 on the Aisle theme for the day. My fave Broadway style...blaring horns, sexy saxes, brushes on the snare, smoke rings, little tables circling the dance floor, low lights, martoonis...I mean, martinis.  Broadway's equivalent of that.

Which means the sounds of Cy Coleman, Dirt, Donny Novitski (yup, the new Bandstand musical), Cool, Tiger Rag, even Roz Russell will get in on the act (Lenny's Swing swings!). A few breathers, of course...intermissions with Audra and Jessica and the Callaway Siblings...but then we'll be right back to hyperventilating with Bullets (Over Broadway, not Cheboygan) for a couple of perennial favorites.

And then I'm off. On vaca. For 4 weeks (an uber-long bike trip. I may not survive. Scatter my ashes in the gutter that fronts the Broadhurst.) Yes, you may miss the scintillating hours of LIVE 2 on the Aisle, but canned 2 on the Aisle (from the Broadway pantry) ain't too shabby. Just add water and stir, or mayo and fold, or... shake up a martooni. You Deserve It. 

Happy August.


You Deserve It (Corey Cott, Laura Osnes, Ensemble, Bandstand)
Prologue - Theme From The City Of Angels (James Naughton, Ensemble,
       City Of Angels)
They Just Keep Moving The Line (Megan Hilty, Bombshell)
Jet Set (Aaron Tveit, Company, Catch Me If You Can)
Cool (Michael Callan, Ensemble, West Side Story)
I Understand (Robert Chisholm, On The Town)
Three Dance Episodes (Instrumental, On The Town)
Swing! (Rosalind Russell, Wonderful Town)
Dance At The Gym (Instrumental, West Side Story)
Dirt (Ensemble, The Sweet Smell Of Success)
That Dirty Old Man (Ruth Kobart, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way
       To The Forum)
Dirty Rotten Number (John Lithgow, Norbert Leo Butz, Dirty Rotten  
       Scoundrels)
We Deserve Each Other (Joan McCracken, Bob Fortier, Me and Juliet)
The Best Thing For You (Ethel Merman, Call Me Madam)
Could You Use Me? (Eddie Chappell, Louise Carlyle, Girl Crazy)
Right Hand Man (Heidi Blickenstaff, Something Rotten!)
Donny Novitski (Corey Cott, Bandstand)
Love Will Come And Find Me Again (Laura Osnes, Bandstand)
Nobody (Corey Cott, Laura Osnes, Ensemble, Bandstand)
Bosom Buddies (Angela Lansbury, Bea Arthur, Mame)
Secondary Characters (Susan Blackwell, Heidi Blickenstaff, [title of show])
Friendship (Ann Hampton Callaway, Liz Callaway, Sibling Revelry)
With You On My Arm (Gene Barry, George Hearn, La Cage Aux Folles)
Wonderful You (Audra McDonald, Build A Bridge)
Stars And The Moon (Jessica Molaskey, Songs For A New World)
Baltimore (Audra McDonald, Go Back Home)
Can't Take You Nowhere (Jessica Molaskey, Dave Frishberg,
       At The Algonquin)
Tiger Rag (Nick Cordera, Vincent Pastore, Helene Yorke, Ensemble,
       Bullets Over Broadway)
Tain't A Fit Night Out For Man Or Beast (Gangster Ensemble, Flappers,
       Bullets Over Broadway)
The Hot Dog Song (Helene Yorke, John Borstelmann, Bullets Over Broadway)