Frank, meet Andrea....Andrea, Frank.

 I have been corrected!

107th Street, the WEST side...

Frank Loesser was a West Side Story man.

AND let's take a finer look at one of my favorite pics of Mr. L:

a.) the upholstery!

b.) the phone...does it have a dial? If not, is this a hotel phone?

Hotels in the 50s had interesting upholstery?

and c.) that thing on his chest...

is it a coaster or an ash tray?

Truth be told, I'm so out of the cigarette culture

that I no longer recognize an ash tray when I see one.

Another trivia nugget from said friend who provided West vs East info:

young Frank was a harmonica champion,

in a city-wide competition (3rd place "finish").

 I have this funny feeling that Frank wasn't nuts about

the casting of Brando as Sky Masterson in the film version of 

Guys And Dolls.

Gene Kelly was first considered for this role,

but MGM refused to "lend" him.

Frank Sinatra wanted the role of Sky, not Nathan,

but he was bounced in favor of Marlon, 

as he had been when they were casting 

On The Water Front.

Relations between the 2 were icy during filming;

Sinatra's nickname for Brando was "Mumbles".

 Frank with is 2nd wife, Jo Sullivan,

and children.

 With first wife, Lynn Garland, above,

a relationship that lasted 21 years.

Lynn was one of the producers of

The Most Happy Fella,

where Frank would meet Jo Sullivan (below) 

who starred as Rosabella,

and later marry her.

 With Danny Kaye,

recording "Hans Christian Andersen",

a film from 1952,

which also starred Farley Granger,

Zizi Jeanmaire, and Peter Walsh.

 Looks like war time, right?

Frank and Frank,

one in uniform with a pipe,

one in beach mode with milk.

Which one's cooler?

 I love Andrea Marcovicci,

the Queen of Cabaret...

having performed for 22 years at the Oak Room 

in the Algonquin Hotel.

I remember her from her appearances on 

The Merv Griffin and Mike Douglas Shows.

She had a recurring role on Hill Street Blues...

and of course that interesting (okay, a flop!) musical of the early 80s,

 Nefertiti.

Her voice reminds me a bit of 

Betty Buckley,

fragile one moment, belty and strong the next.

But the charm is there. 

Andrea recorded her live tribute to Frank Loesser

in the Oak Room in 2004...

it was unfortunately "remodeled"

(as in decimated) in 2012.

It was christened the Oak Room in 1939,

but prior to that it was the Pergola Room,

where the Algonquin Round Table first began to meet.