Playlist for Sunday, May 5, 2019: Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we try to carve a playlist!

This week: Plethora Of Themes! No, that's not the name of a musical. That's just a lot of themes. I can't seem to stay away from them...all these strange connections in my brain, linking Hair with Hairspray (for not the obvious unwashed reasons!), Amelies with Matildas, Cigarettes & Sunbeams, The Bronxville Darby with the petty pilferers of 70, Girls, 70. Somehow all these inter-weavings make sense to me, but be sure NOT to tell me if it confuses YOU! Just pour yourself an early-in-the-season lemonade (gin-laced?) and flow with it. :)

Speaking of gin (or at least the bathtub created kind), I've recently come across a bevy of songs from the 1920s and 30s, thanks to Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, a Netflix series that I'm currently gulping down. Mildred Bailey goodies, Harry Reser's Jumping Jacks, King Oliver, and an Australian jazz singer (say what?) named Frank Coughlan ("Positively!")...These nuggets are either nicely integrated into each episode of Miss Fisher, or played with the credits, and it makes for a "what the hell is THAT song?" moment. Thanks to the internet and Youtube, one can search 'em out, rinse and repeat the experience. So I'm winding up the Victrola NOW for Sunday's sampling.

Plus that Annie Get Your Gun revival of 1999 (which Ben Brantley dissed, but jeez, Ben!), lots of "Good Morning" salutations (which would be annoying without coffee), Kander mit Ebb, Danny Kaye, and Judy Judy Judy...all 3 of them trying to do "Better!" Looking forward to it!



 There's No Business Like Show Business (Tom Wopat, Company, Annie Get
      Your Gun)
Good Morning Baltimore (Marissa Jaret Winokur, Ensemble, Hairspray)
Good Morning (Debbie Reynolds, Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Singin' In The
      Rain)
Your Good Morning (Lester James, Fia Karin, Parade)
Good Morning, Good Day (Gavin Kreel, Zachary Levi, Michael McGrath,
      Jane Krakowski, Nicholas Barasch, She Loves Me)
Good Morning Starshine (Caissie Levy, The Tribe, Hair)
Rich Is Better (Marlyn Mason, Fran Stevens, Sammy Smith, Mara Worth,
      How Now, Dow Jones)
Better (Lonny Price, Company, A Class Act)
High Is Better Than Low (Mary Martin, George D. Wallace, Jennie)
The Bronxville Darby And Joan (Jon Richards, Paula Bauersmith, Sail Away)
If Only You Had Cared For Me (Frank Thornton, Ursula Smith, Me & My Girl)
I Remember It Well (Howard McGillan, Victoria Clark, Gigi)
Do We? (Lucie Lancaster, Gil Lamb, 70, Girls, 70)
Positively, Absolutely (Does She Love Me?)(Harry Reser And His Six Jumping
      Jacks)
A Cigarette & A Silhouette (Mildred Bailey, Red Norvo And His Orchestra)
You Were Only Passing Time With Me (King Oliver And His Orchestra)
I'm Sailing On A Sunbeam (Frank Coughlan And The Trocadero Orchestra,
      with Des Tooley)
There Must Be Something Better Than Love (Pearl Bailey, Arms And The Girl)
Better Luck Next Time (Judy Garland, Easter Parade)
Isn't This Better? (Karen Mason, Brenda Pressley, Robert Cuccioli, 
      And The World Goes 'Round)
Times Are Hard For Dreamers (Savvy Crawford, Amelie)
Naughty (Adrianna Bertola, Matilda)
Halfway (Savvy Crawford, Philippa Soo, Amelie)
When I Grow Up (Adrianna Bertola, Lauren Ward, Company, Matilda)
Life Could Not Better Be (Danny Kaye, The Court Jester)
You Better Love Me (Tammy Grimes, High Spirits)
Better With A Man (Jefferson Mays, A Gentleman's Guide To Love And Murder)
Who Do You Love, I Hope (Andrew Palermo, Nicole Ruth Snelson, Annie Get
      Your Gun)
My Defenses Are Down (Tom Wopat, Male Ensemble, Annie Get Your Gun)
I Got Lost In His Arms (Bernadette Peters, Annie Get Your Gun)
Anything You Can Do (Bernadette Peters, Tom Wopat, Annie Get Your Gun)
Finale (Company, Annie Get Your Gun)

Georgia Engel: 1948-2019

Born in Washington on July 28, 1948, 

Georgia Bright Engel 

played Ado Annie in her high school's production of "Oklahoma!"

A television writer would describe her voice like

"an angel who'd just sniffed some helium."

 After graduating from ballet school in 1967, 

she earned a theater degree at the University of Hawaii.

In 1969, near the end of Hello Dolly's Broadway run,

Georgia became Minnie Fay, above right,

while Ethel Merman and Russell Nype played the leads.

...but before Dolly and right after all that ballet school,

 she  landed a part in a Milos Forman movie, “Taking Off,” 

whose screenwriters included John Guare. 

Once “Dolly” ended its run in 1970, Georgia ran into John...

“I was walking down the street one day after ‘Dolly’ closed

 to cash my unemployment check for $75, 

when I ran into John and he told me I had to be in his play 

‘The House of Blue Leaves.’ 

I was so thrilled, until I got my first paycheck.

 I was making $74, one dollar less than unemployment.”

In 1972, Georgia joined the cast of The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

It was only going to be one episode,” she told The Toronto Star in 2007, 

“and I was just supposed to have a few lines in a party scene,

 but they kept giving me more and more to do.”

(Above with Betty White, Ted Night, Gavin MacLeod, 

Mary Tyler Moore, and Ed Asner.)

 The role of Georgette would win her 2 Emmy nominations. 

When that sitcom wrapped, she went on to The Betty White Show, 

Goodtime Girls and Jennifer Slept Here.

 All the reunions of the MTM show,

above with Betty, Mary, and Cloris Leachman.

She was also part of "Hot L Baltimore"

with Betty.

...and with Fred Willard in “Everybody Loves Raymond" (2003 to 2005). 

She was nominated for an Emmy for each season.

 In the 1990s she toured with versions of “Nunsense” 

 and in 2003 she joined an all-star 20th-anniversary “Nunsense” 

touring production that also featured 

Kaye Ballard, Mimi Hines, Darlene Love and Lee Meriwether.

 That's Georgia on the top left...you can find the rest! :)

In 2006, Georgia became Mrs. Tottendale

 in the original Broadway cast of The Drowsy Chaperone.

The role required her to aim spit takes at her character’s butler, Underling.

She ended up doing a lot of spitting:

“At first, I was getting more on me than on the other person.

It was just dribbling right down me. 

You have to learn how to direct it. 

It works better as a mist, but sometimes it comes out as Niagara Falls.”

After originating the role on Broadway, she joined the tour and stayed with it
for more than a year.

 A close up on that "Fancy Dress"

and below with the original Underling, 

Edward Hibbert.

 Georgia, center, showing off all that dance training!

That's Sutton Foster on the left.

 In 2016, Georgia joined “Half Time,”
which was all about 60-and-older dancers who perform at half time of professional basketball games (above).

The book was written by the same folks who did "Drowsy"...

Bob Martin and Don McKellar. 

Georgia became a hip-hop dancing kindergarten teacher,

and supposedly killed it!

"I don’t consider myself any great shakes as an actor at all,” 

is what Georgia told the NYTimes back in 2015. 

The airhead roles she was known for seemed to mask 

all the craft and hard work that went into her performances. 

One of the producers of "Raymond" recalled the following scenario,

from an episode called “Pat’s Secret” 

in which her character, Pat MacDougall, was revealed, 

against all expectations, to be a smoker. 

Ms. Engel was no smoker, but she sold the bit.

“The way she handled her lighter was like a Mafia boss."

S'Wonderful, S'Funny Face, S'George, S'Ira

 Yup, just another big hit...

1927's Funny Face,

with "glorious George Gershwin music"

(before le cafe, I read it as Curious George, go figure!).

George and brother Ira wrote

S'Wonderful, He Loves And She Loves,

The Babbitt And The Bromide, and the title song

(among others) for this show,

which was first called Smarty

when it began previews in Philly.

Initial reviews were awful.

Original book writer, Robert Benchley, 

left the production after those first reviews,

  but then the show was tweaked, the name changed, and voila!

A hit by the time it opened on Broadway.

This was evidently the first time 

Fred Astaire (below with sister star, Adele)

danced in a top hat and tails.

 And while we're on the subject,

here's some super shots of

Fred and Adele.

 The plot was pretty thin:

Jimmy Reeves (played by Fred)

is guardian to his 3 sisters, Dora, June, and Frankie

(Adele played Frankie, that's she in the middle above).

An incriminating diary, an aviator (played by Allen Kearns),

a stolen pearl necklace, and a bumbling duo of robbers...

that about sums it up.

It played 244 performances on Broadway.

 The 1957 movie, released by Paramount,

was a whole different kettle of fish;

the plot held no resemblance to the staged version,

and only 4 of the songs were kept.

Along with the likes of "S'Wonderful" and "He Loves And She Loves'',

another constant was Fred,

now 58 years old.

The original title of the film was Wedding Day,

as it was now more based on a play called Wedding Bells

than Funny Face. 

Why am I dizzy?

 Audrey Hepburn was 28 years old,

3 decades younger that her leading man.

Also starring was Dovima,

an American model (below), 

"discovered on the sidewalks of NY",

muse of Richard Avedon, 

and Richard was evidently the inspiration 

for Fred's character in the film.

I'm still dizzy.

 Kay Kendall got to do the great "Think Pink" number,

written by Roger Edens.

Her character was supposedly based on Diana Vreeland

of Harper's Bizarre and Vogue.

 Audrey and Fred

duetted on S'Wonderful in this film,

and Ms. Hepburn used her own voice...

for all the songs she sang in this film.

When My Fair Lady came along,

she was dubbed!

 S'Wonderful was used again in that

Gershwin extravaganza,

An American In Paris (1951)...

and what a triumvirate to sing it!

Gene Kelly, George Guetary, and Oscar Levant.

 We'll also hear Bobby Short's version

from his K-RA-ZY For Gershwin album.

 In 1968, Bobby was hired for a 2-week gig at the Cafe Carlyle.

Those 2 weeks turned into 35 years!

 And then they staged An American In Paris on Broadway!

With choreography by Christopher Wheeldon,

a book by Craig Lucas,

and starring Leanne Cope, Robert Fairchild

(below)...

 Max Von Essen and Brandon Uranowitz.

Along with the lush Brothers Gershwin melodies,

the show featured some incredible dance. 

 It ran for a year and a half,

and received many accolades,

proving our love for Gershwin

is here to stay. :)

Playlist for Sunday, April 28, 2019: I May Be Wrong (But I Think This is S'Wonderful)!

Got thru Easter without 1 peep! Got thru Passover without any horseradish (THAT I missed!!!). Got thru Earth Day because I totally forgot it was Earth Day until it was Earth Night. One big holiday weekend and all I did was dance with my lawn chair and play Broadway (the board game? Like Life, but with mixed reviews, pricey seats, better costumes and the errant standing ovation).

 versus

 So we can do S'Wonderful and S'Marvelous and S'Waitress...I'll stop, but not for long. Cuz this is the Wonderful Edition of 2 on the Aisle. Not an opinion (in my humble fash...), an actual fact. Tons of songs that are indeed Wonderful. Wonderful Town. He's Only Wonderful. A Wonderful Guy. A Wonderful Day. Just Plain Wonderful...will wonders never cease? Yes, long enough to do a mini tribute to Georgia Engel, who passed away just last week. Most know her thru her television work (MTM, Coach, Raymond), but she played Mrs. Tottendale to a tee in The Drowsy Chaperone, so I'll throw a set of that in, in remembrance of a wonderful person and performer.

So lots to look forward to...Georgia, Bernadette, Kelli, Ethel, Cyril, Me & Lenny.
Hope you can tune in on S'Sunday for S'Wonderful. :)


S'Wonderful (Brandon Uranowitz, Robert Fairchild, Max Von Essen,
      An American In Paris)
A Wonderful Day Like Today (Cyril Ritchard, The Roar Of The Greasepaint -
      The Smell Of The Crowd)
A Wonderful Guy (Kelli O'Hara, South Pacific)
They Say It's Wonderful (Bernadette Peters, Tom Wopat, Annie Get Your Gun)
Wonderful (Joel Grey, Idina Menzel, Wicked)
Mr. Wonderful (Peggy Lee, Black Coffee)
S'Wonderful (Fred Astaire, Audrey Hepburn, Funny Face)
Fancy Dress (Georgia Engel, Company, The Drowsy Chaperone)
I Am Aldolpho (Danny Burstein, Beth Leavel, The Drowsy Chaperone)
As We Stumble Along (Beth Leavel, Sutton Foster, The Drowsy Chaperone)
I Remember Love (Georgie Engel, Edward Hibbert, The Drowsy Chaperone)
S'Wonderful (Adele Astaire, Allen Kearns, Funny Face)
It Would Have Been Wonderful (Len Cariou, Laurence Guittard, A Little
      Night Music)
Some Kind Of Wonderful (Jessie Mueller, Jake Epstein, Beautiful)
One Hundred Easy Ways (Rosalind Russell, Wonderful Town)
Ballet At The Village Vortex (Instrumental, Wonderful Town)
Wrong Note Rag (Rosalind Russell, Edie Adams, Wonderful Town)
Ya Got Me (Nancy Walker, On The Town)
Conga! (Rosalind Russell, Ensemble, Wonderful Town)
Me And Lenny (Jay Leonhart, The Jay Leonhart Trio At Birdland)
He's Only Wonderful (Barbara Cook, Jerome Courtland, Flahooley)
I May Be Wrong (But I Think You're Wonderful)(Doris Day)
Nothing Is Too Wonderful To Be True (Sherie Rene Scott, Norbert Leo
      Butz, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels)
One Wonderful Day (Lauren Ward, Christopher Fitzgerald, Ensemble,
      Saturday Night)
S'Wonderful (Bobby Short, Bobby Short Is K-RA-ZY for Gershwin)
What Baking Can Do (Jessie Mueller, Waitress)
I Love You Like A Table (Christopher Fitzgerald, Waitress)
A Soft Place To Land (Jessie Mueller, Keala Settle, Kimiko Glenn, Waitress)
They Say It's Wonderful (Ethel Merman, Ray Middleton, Annie Get Your Gun)
Something Wonderful (Ruthie Ann Miles, The King And I)
Something Wonderful (Company, Forbidden Broadway Strikes Back)
S'Wonderful (Gene Kelly, Georges Guetary, Oscar Levant, An American In Paris)

Easter on Random!

 The Easter Parade circa the early 1900s.

Watch out for the Rotogravure

(with the jaw that bites, the claws that clench)!

 

 Audrey Hepburn, of course, beneath that growth.

 Fast forward to the parade in the 1940s.

 Liz of course, before she tilted toward diamonds and emeralds.

 Mary Tyler Moore,

in the age of Playboy!

 Shirley with a live one? 

And your's truly and my daughter,

circa 2009...

one of our last Easter Parades while living in NYC!