Playlist For Sunday, Nov. 3, 2019: Way Down Zombietown

Fresh from a Zombie Flashmob (how often do you get to say that?), I write you to say I am Halloween Tardy! You may have noticed that I didn't play any haunty/ghosty/scarey Broadway last week; I was sort of on a Halloween Strike (and let Otto Bruno do all that "Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead" stuff). But then I had to get my zombie on last weekend, and that made me think about helling it up this Sunday. Just a bit.

Yup, that's me when I lose an earring.

Which means I've discovered Beetlejuice and I don't abhor it. I mean, I'm still working on ALLLL the songs sung by Alex Brightman. His charm may be there in person, on stage, live, but I presently (things COULD change) find his voice grating and his persona, a la Jack Black, lacking the...Jack Black. So I am jumping over HIS solos completely (sorry if you're a fan). I do enjoy Leslie Kritzer, though, and find her tunes pretty listenable. So there's that!

Alex Brightman, Rob McClure, Carrie Butler, Sophia Anne Caruso

Leslie Kritzer, and Adam Dannheiser.

Photo: Mathew Murphy

Plus we'll throw in some HadesTown and The Frogs (well, Dionysus DOES travel to Hell. And Back), and as usual, my cheesey themes. Think Choo Choo. Okay, don't. And Mame. And Little (Ole) Me.

Birthday-wise, I'm THISSS close to ending the celebrations, but extensions are allowed (for me!) and the next 2 weekends and stilled scheduled up the yang! Come to think of it, I guess I should make the entire FALL one big season of mirth. :)

See ya in the Underworld! xo


Way Down Hadestown (Chris Sullivan, Amber Grey, Hadestown)
Helpless (Phillipa Soo, Lin Manuel Miranda, Renee Goldsberry,
      Ensemble, Hamilton)
Guns And Ships (Daveed Diggs, Leslie Odom Jr., Christopher Jackson,
      Hamilton)
History Has Its Eyes On You (Lin Manuel Miranda, Ensemble, Hamilton)
On The River Styx/Ariadne (Roger Bart, Nathan Lane, The Frogs)
All Aboard (John Byner, The Frogs)
Hades (Peter Bartlett, The Frogs)
Baby June And Her Newsboys (Emma Micha, Newsboys, Gypsy)
Neat To Be A Newsboy (John Rushton, Working)
Is That Remarkable? (Brian d'Arcy James, Floyd Collins)
Big News! (Evan Pappas, Parade)
Carrying The Banner (Jeremy Jordan, Andrew Keenan-Bolger,
      Ensemble, Newsies)
16 Feet beneath The Sea/The Radio/Laundry Quintet (Tonya Pinkins,
      Capathia Jenkins, Tracey Nicole, Chapman, Caroline, Or Change)
I Got Four Kids (Chuck Cooper, Tonya Pinkins, Caroline, Or Change)
The Man In The Moon (Bea Arthur, Mame)
Gooch's Song (Jane Connell, Mame)
Mame (Charles Braswell, Ensemble, Mame)
I've Got Your Number (Swen Swenson, Little Me)
Little Me (Virginia Martin, Nancy Andrews, Little Me) 
Real Live Girl, Reprise (The Doughboys, Little Me)
Day-O (Leslie Kritzer, Adam Dannheiser, Ensemble, Beetlejuice)No Reason (Leslie Kritzer, Sophia Anne Caruso, Beetlejuice)
What I Know Now (Leslie Kritzer, Ensemble, Beetlejuice)
Choo-Choo Honeymoon (Sally Stark, Joseph Sicari, Dames At Sea)
Choo Choo Love (Jim Stanek, Ensemble, Kitty's Kisses)
Choo Choo Ch'Boogie (Jerry Dixon, Ensemble, Five Guys Named Moe)
Livin' It Up On Top (Chris Sullivan, Amber Grey, Ensemble, Hadestown)
All I've Ever Known (Nabiyah Be, Damon Daunno, Hadestown)
When The Chips Are Down (Nabiyah Be, Ensemble, Hadestown)
Wait For Me (Chris Sullivan, Damon Daunno, Hadestown)

Sunday Esoterica

 June Havoc was the first to "Zip!" in

the original 1940 production of Rodgers & Hart's

 Pal Joey.

Maybe she learned zipping technique 

first-hand from her big sister,

Gypsy Rose Lee.

Below, June with co-Joey-star, Ludlow Lowell.

Gene Kelly and Vivienne Segal played the leads.

June played Gladys Bumps, the nightclub singer where Joey works.

 In 1950, a studio cast recording of Pal Joey 

was released,

and Jo Hurt sang "Zip"...

just TRY and find a photo of her!

The popularity of the album prompted a 

Broadway revival (1952)

and Elaine Stritch, playing Melba Snyder, reporter at large,

got the song (below).

 Her commutes from Broadway to New Haven and back

(standing in for La Merm, and previewing in Joey simultaneously)

made for a great story in Elaine's one woman show,

Elaine Stritch at Liberty (below).

 In the film version, done in 1957,

the character of Vera Simpson, played by

  Rita Hayworth,

got the song.

Rita's voice was dubbed, however,

by Jo Ann Greer,

a big-band singer (below). 

Jo Ann sang with Lew Brown and Sonny Burke,

and dubbed for Rita, Kim Novak, Esther Williams, and June Allyson,

just to name a few.

 We'll also hear (after all that zipping and unzipping)

Matt Mattox 

with "Very Soft Shoes" from Once Upon A Mattress.

Matt (above as the Jester) was a professionally trained dancer

who wowed us in Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (below).

 Matt also appeared in The Band Wagon,

There's No Business Like Show Business, Til The Clouds Roll By...

and performed on several TV variety shows.

He later formed a dance company in Europe.

 With music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by Truman Capote,

House Of Flowers

starred Pearl Bailey (above with "flowers)

and a young Diahann Carroll,

below with Geoffrey Holder. 

Juanita Hall, Alvin Ailey, and Ray Walston also starred.

We'll hear another "shoe" song:

"Can I Leave Off Wearing My Shoes?"

 And in our Golden-Oldie, Hollowoodie corner,

Shirley Temple (age 10)

and George Murphy hoof it up in

Little Miss Broadway.

This was Shirley's 26th movie? Jeez! 

Playlist for Oct. 27, 2019: A Hunk A Burning Barbecue

I am back and almost functioning! Huzzah! My weekend trip to Memphis provided me with plenty O' Peabody Duck key chains, A. Schwab snarky fridge magnets, and a blanket of BBQ which I am presently wearing to every function. (This must change, unless I want Thanksgiving and Christmas comforters ON TOP of it.) Yes, those Memphians (Memphistians?) know how to ladle out the hot sauce and pull that pork!

 Central BBQ style...

 plus Elvis Pancakes at Automatic Slims!

But back to Broadway I go. And also back to raising money for the Jazz 90.1 coffers! We are smack dab in the middle of our Fall Pledge Drive, with just "this much more" to raise; then we can go back to playing 17 more songs per hour and back to talking about ourselves, not begging from you. That would be nicer for everybody. So while the Broadway spins, click on/call out...to me or whoever is manning (womanning) the phones at the dear old station.

 Nope, our station isn't THIS old school.

(Above pic thanks to Sun Studio!)

To help you "dial" (dial?), we've got those boys from Jersey, a girl from the Show, Sandra Dee, some very soft shoes, and lots of zzzzzip! I'll be on an ice cube and tooth pick diet by Sunday, so expect a hangry Kim, exhorting you to donate. But hopefully all this Broadway will soften my perspective and I'll answer your calls with aplomb.

Listen. Give. Enjoy. :)


Big Girls Don't Cry (John Lloyd Young, Christian Hoff, Daniel Reichard,
      J. Robert Spencer, Jersey Boys)
Those Magic Changes (James Canning, Ensemble, Grease)
Dawn (John Lloyd Young, Christian Hoff, Daniel Reichard, J. Robert
      Spencer, Jersey Boys)
Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee (Adrienne Barbeau, Grease)
Stay/Let's Hang On/Don't You Worry 'Bout Me/Bye, Bye, Baby (John
      Lloyd Young, Christian Hoff, Daniel Reichard, J. Robert Spencer
      Jersey Boys)
Grease Is The Word (Frankie Valli, Grease)
Gauguin's Shoes (Lonny Price, A Class Act)
Very Soft Shoes (Matt Mattox, Once Upon A Mattress)
A Shine On Your Shoes (Fred Astaire, The Band Wagon)
Drinkin' Shoes (Mark Hardwick, Ensemble, Pump Boys And Dinettes)
Can I Leave Off Wearing My Shoes? (Diahann Carroll, House Of Flowers)
Roll Yer Socks Up (Ensemble, New Girl In Town)
Sweet Sixteen (Judy Garland)
Little Miss Broadway (Shirley Temple, George Murphy, Little Miss Broadway)
Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart (Judy Garland, Listen, Darling)
I Wish I Were In Love Again (Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Words And Music)
Switchblade Bess (Carol Channing, Show Girl)
Mambo Java (Ensemble, Show Girl)
You Haven't Lived Til You've Played The Palace (Carol Channing, Show Girl)
The Girl Who Lived In Montparnasse (Jules Munshin, Les Quat' Jeudis,
      Show Girl)
Zip (Jo Hurt, Pal Joey)
Zip (Elaine Stritch, Elaine Stritch At Liberty)
Zip (Jo Ann Greer, Pal Joey)
Good Thing Going (Jim Walton, Lonny Price, Merrily We Roll Along)
Uptown, Downtown (Craig Lucas, Marry Me A Little)
Every Day A Little Death (Patricia Elliot, Victoria Mallory, A Little
      Night Music)
Who's That Woman? (Phyllis Newman, Ensemble, Follies In Concert)
Buddy's Blues (Mandy Patinkin, Follies in Concert)
There's A Broken Heart For Every Light On Broadway (Marin Mazzie,
      Bullets Over Broadway)
I've Found A New Baby (Betsy Wolfe, Zach Braff, Bullets Over Broadway) 
Runnin' Wild (Company, Bullets Over Broadway)

Playlist For Sunday, Oct. 20, 2019: Rinse, Rewind, Repeat

I'm Gone, Gone, Gone...off on another birthday gallivant! This time gallivanting takes me to Memphis, where I will paddle (not pedal, and not peddle!) wheel on the Ol' Miss, sample Gus's finest fried, and dabble in the art of BLUE! Maybe you didn't really believe that I celebrate my natal day for an entire month, but if the cash lasts and I remain mostly vertical, that's what's happenin'!

 This,

 not this.

This is one of those numbered birthdays that really make you feel old as dirt. That Beatles song number. I won't even TYPE it. That's how depressing it is. Hence my attempt at total denial and partying like it's 1964...wait.

So it's a repeat 2 On The Aisle this Sunday, a show from September of this year...the Crazy, Coffee, and Cole edition. Remember PLEASE that we are presently pledge driving this Fiat of a radio station, and while I'm away, you can go online at Jazz901.org to donate. You can't call in, but you can CLICK ON. We need your bucks!

Back live on October 27, so send me a request, whydoncha? I'll still be celebrating (it'll still be October!), wearing a frayed party hat, maybe a little wobbly, but not so pie-eyed or pixilated I can't spin a platter or 30! XOXOX and see ya in my dreams.


Gone, Gone, Gone (Lilli Cooper, Tootsie)
La Cage Aux Folles (George Hearn, Ensemble, La Cage Aux Folles)
Look Over There (Gene Barry, La Cage Aux Folles)
The Best Of Times (Gene Barry, George Hearn, Company, La Cage Aux Folles)
My Crazy Heart (Patti LuPone, Sherie Rene Scott, Women On The Verge Of A
      Nervous Breakdown)
Crazy He Calls Me (Audra McDonald, Lady Day At Emerson's Bar And Grill)
Crazy World (Julie Andrews, Victor/Victoria)
You Could Drive A Person Crazy (Susan Browning, Pamela Myers,
      Donna McKechnie, Company)
Let's Have Another Cup Of Coffee (Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians)
Have Another Espresso (Shel Silverstein, Inside Folk Songs)
40 Cups Of Coffee (Ella Mae Morse)
A Lopsided Bus (Will Chase, Tom Wopat, Stephen Wallem, Pipe Dream)
The Gentleman Is A Dope (Liz Callaway, Allegro)
Come Home (Audra McDonald, Allegro)
Siberia (Henry Lascoe, David Opatoshu, Leon Belasco, Silk Stockings)
Can-Can (Lilo, Ensemble, Can-Can)
Never, Never Be An Artist (Hans Conried, Phil Leeds, Richard Purdy,
      Pat Turner, Can-Can)
I Am In Love (Peter Cookson, Can-Can)
The Queen Of Terre Haute (Peggy Cass, Fifty Million Frenchmen)
Come To The Supermarket (In Old Peking)(Barbra Streisand, Aladdin)
You've Got That Thing (Jason Graae, Fifty Million Frenchmen)
I've Still Got My Health (Ethel Merman, Panama Hattie)
I Happen To Like New York (Bobby Short, The New Yorkers)
You're The Top (Cole Porter, Anything Goes)
After You, Who? (Fred Astaire, The Gay Divorce)
By The Mississinewa (Betty Garrett, Paula Laurence, Something For
      The Boys)
The Tale Of The Oyster (Kay McClelland, Fifty Million Frenchmen)
The Ritz Roll And Rock (Fred Astaire, Silk Stockings)
I Won't Let You Down (Santino Fontana, Tootsie)
This Thing (John Behlmann, Tootsie)
Unstoppable (Santino Fontana, Tootsie)
The Most Important Night Of My Life (Ensemble, Tootsie)

Playlist For Sunday, Oct. 13, 2019: Pledge Drive Sunday!

Puttin' On The...Playlist early this week, because it is Maine-ly time. I get 5 days in some harbor town where the lobsters will be calling my name. It'll be a "real nice clambake" for sure, from Monday to Friday, but rest assured (what other way is there to rest? Unassured?), I'll be back in Ra-cha-cha just in time for Campaign Sunday.

 Maine. Ayuh.

Yes, starting tomorrow (October 7), the Jazz 90.1 pledge drive revs its engines and starts asking for your dough! So come Sunday, the 13th, I'll be on from 12-2pm with Otto (for The Kim and Otto Show)(that sounds better than The Otto and Kim Show, right?), and from 3-5pm with Carol Peterson. You'll be so sick of me by 5pm, you'll send in lots of moola just to shut me up. I have no problem with that. Maybe we could wrap up the whole drive in that one afternoon. (Dream on. This pumpkin spice latte is really working for me.)

 One form of donation.

And as I try to do EVERY campaign Sunday, I haul out the blockbusters, the old favs, the goodies, just to entice you to open your wallets, your trust funds, your treasure chests, AND your hearts, and give. Help us out and we'll try to help YOU out with appropriately peppy/poignant MUSIC in your hour of need.

Off to Maine! Remember it! :)


Puttin' On The Ritz (Roger Bart, Shuler Hensley, Young Frankenstein)
Jet Set (Aaron Tveit, Ensemble, Catch Me If You Can)
Jet Song (Russ Tamblyn,Tony Mordente, Ensemble, West Side Story)
The Worst Pies In London (Angela Lansbury, Sweeney Todd)
Camelot (Richard Burton, Camelot)
I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face (Rex Harrison, My Fair Lady)
Consider Yourself (Davy Jones, Ensemble, Oliver!)
Mr. Monotony (Judy Garland, Easter Parade)
Me And My Girl (Robert Lindsay, Maryann Plunkett, Me And My Girl)
Brush Up Your Shakespeare (Lee Wilkof, Michael Mulheren, Kiss Me Kate)
I Believe In You (Robert Morse, Ensemble, How To Succeed In Business
      Without Really Trying)
I'm The Greatest Star (Barbra Streisand, Funny Girl)
Hernando's Hideaway (Harry Connick Jr., Ensemble, The Pajama Game)
Good Morning Baltimore (Marissa Jaret Winokur, Hairspray)
Old Folks (Gil Lamb, Lilianne Hayman, Hans Conried, Ensemble, 70, Girls, 70)
The Oldest Established (Nathan Lane, Walter Bobbie, J.K. Simmons,
      Guys And Dolls)
It's Today (Angela Lansbury, Mame)
A Soft Place To Land (Jessie Mueller, Waitress)
I Remember (Charmian Carr, Evening Primrose)
When I Grow Up (Adrianna Bertola, Lauren Ward, Matilda)
Some People (Bernadette Peters, Sondheim, Etc.)
Show People (Debra Monk, Ensemble, Curtains)
Something Rotten/Make An Omelette (Bryan d'Arcy James, Brad
      Oscar, Company, Something Rotten)
Prisoners Of Love (Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, The Producers)

Michael McGrath, Broadway Denizen

Spotlight on Michael McGrath,

one of those go-to guys on Broadway, if not a household name! 

Michael is from Worcester, Mass.,

born in 1957.

His Broadway debut was in Forbidden Broadway. 

Above, he holds his Tony for his "work" 

in Nice "Work" If You Can Get It.

Michael can and does!

As Patsy in the original production of 

Spamalot (2005),

and below with Tim Curry as King Arthur.

With Zachary Levi in the 2016 revival of She Loves Me.

It starred Laura Benanti, Zachary, Jane Krakowski,

and Michael (who played Sipos).

In Memphis, Michael got to sport a gold suit

ANNNND originate the role of Mr. Simmons.

Above with the original Memphis cast including 

James Monroe Iglehart (second from the left, who I saw in Hamilton!)

and Derrick Baskin (second from the right, next to Michael,

who has had great success in Ain't Too Proud!).

In Nice Work, with Judy Kaye, 2012.

In Tootsie, Michael plays Stan Fields,

Michael Dorsey's agent.

I believe Michael is still a part of this Broadway production.

Workshopped and performed at 

The Papermill Playhouse in NJ

was a new musical based on The Honeymooners.

Michael played Ralph Kramden and Leslie Kritzer was Alice.

Do I hear Broadway rustlings? :)

Karen Ziemba on "Shuffle"

Karen Ziemba was born on November 12, 1957

 in St. Joseph, Michigan. 

She graduated with a BA in dance from the University of Akron

and joined the Ohio Ballet! 

(Interesting side note: Karen's grandmother was opera singer,

Winifred Heidt,

so perhaps Karen inherited her mezzo-soprano gifts.)

The Times has called Ziemba's voice filled with

" swagger, a grainy brashness and brassy energy."

(Photo: Getty Images)

Tapping in Babes In Arms

in a Tarrytown, NY production,

directed by Ginger Rodgers.

(Photo: karenziemba.com)

A cabaret act 

at Michael Feinstein's 54/Below.

In Bullets Over Broadway, as Eden Brent (2014).

(Photo: Bruce Glikas)

As Rita Racine in Kander and Ebb's,

Steel Pier, 1997.

(Photo: playbill.com)

...and in another Kander and Ebb goodie,

Curtains (2007), in which she played lyricist/performer

Georgia Hendricks.

We'll hear "Georgia" sing "Thataway!" on Sunday.

(Photo: Joan Marcus)

In the Broadway production of White Christmas.
Love the look!
(Photo: Jeremy Daniel)

Replacing Wanda Richert in 

42nd Street

(with Jerry Orbach)

(Photo: Karenziemba. com)

As Roxie Hart with Ernie Sabella

in Chicago.

(Photo: Carol Rosegg)

As Miss Adelaide (Guys and Dolls)

at The Papermill Playhouse.

(Photo: broadwayworld.com)

In A Chorus Line!
In the national tour, Karen played several roles,

and then joined the Broadway cast as Diana Morales.

In a Bye Bye Birdie concert reading,

as Rosie,

with Dolores Roberts.

(Photo: Theatremania.com)

In The Producers, 2001. 

(Photo: Unknown)

Karen is presently 61 years old,

and still active on stage, in movies, and on television.

Playlist For Sunday, October 6, 2019: October Used To Be The 8th Month!!

Finally Fall. Wait! It's summer. Nope, now it's raining (actually raining, not "in my heart").  Listen to that rain on the roof, Betty and Adolph! Hmmm...where's my umbrella, Bernadette? It's here somewhere! All I know is it's my BIRTHDAY MONTH. Feel free to send large packages, bushels of blossoms, and pecks of presents, any time from now until October 31!

I think you can get this at 

Tiffany's.

Just sayin'.

Just kidding. I don't need a thing. :))))

It's also 2 On The Aisle's birthday...we're 8! Hot damn. Yup, come October 24th, I will have been trying my best to push all the right buttons (it sometimes works!) and not stumble over names like Nabiyah Be (Hadestown) and Okieriete Onaodowan (Hamilton) and not freak out when the computer hiccups or the cd player stalls or the mic falls off its stand into my hands. (Yes, all of these have happened.) And I am no longer petrified to say "Welcome to 2 On The Aisle"! That's what 8 years (and 313 live shows) can do for a gal!

So to celebrate a bit of both, this month will have lots of favorites. This Sunday: Cell Blocks, French Quarters, Elaine Stritchy stuff, Dolores and Eartha and Ethel...and GOTTA have Robert Goulet (my god, Robert Goulet!). Saloon hall gals, lonely nights (and Knights!), Mama Morton and Billy Flynn.

There will be cake. There will be trick candles. There will be streamers and noise makers and cute party hats (these you will have to visualize, cuz it's frickin' radio, folks).  But no birthday song. Just Broadway song. Ta Dah!


Cell Block Tango (Catherine Zeta-Jones, Ensemble, Chicago)
Eadie Was A Lady (Ethel Merman, Take A Chance)
Thanks A Lot, But No Thanks (Dolores Gray, It's Always Fair Weather)
Monotonous (Eartha Kitt, New Faces Of 1952)
Thataway (Karen Ziemba, Noah Racey, Curtains)
It's Gettin' Hot In Here (Lauren Molina, Desperate Measures)
The Boys In The Back Room (Marlene Dietrich, Destry Rides Again)
Naughty Baby (Michele Pawk, John Hillner, Crazy For You)
Walking Among My Yesterdays (Robert Goulet, The Happy Time)
Hier Encore (Charles Aznavour)
Yesterday I Love You (Allen Case, Anne Jones, Once Upon A Mattress)
Yesterday, Tomorrow, And Today (Brian Stokes-Mitchell, Women On The
      Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown)
You Brought A New Kind Of Love To Me (Maurice Chevalier)
Les Feuilles Mortes (Yves Montand)
Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup (Django Reinhardt, Jean Sablon)
Si Tu N'Etais Pas La (Frehel, Amelie)
She (Version En Frances)(Charles Aznavour)
All I've Ever Known (Nabiyah Be, Damon Daunno, Hadestown)
No One Is Alone (Bernadette Peters, Sondheim, Etc.)
Alone Together (Judy Garland, Judy At Carnegie Hall)
I'm All Alone (Tim Curry, Michael McGrath, Spamalot)
Live Alone And Like It (John Barrowman, Putting It Together)
Alone At The Drive In Movie (Barry Bostwick, Grease)
You Took Advantage Of Me (Elaine Stritch, On Your Toes)
Easy Street (Elaine Stritch, Stritch)
It Amazes Me (Elaine Stritch)
Razzle Dazzle (Jerry Orbach, Chicago)
Nowadays (Renee Zellweger, Chicago)
When You're Good To Momma (Queen Latifah, Chicago)