Golden Helmets, Bamboo Trees, Pardees at Sardees, and...where did I put my keys?

It was 1968,

and Burt Bacharach and Hal David

(the lower right pic in the montage above)

created their first and only Broadway musical:
a show based on the movie "The Apartment"...

Promises, Promises.

It starred Jerry Orbach and Jill O'Hara,

had a book by Neil Simon,

and direction/choreography by Michael Bennett.

Jill O'Hara as Fran Kubelik (above)

received a Tony nomination for her performance.

A year before this, she starred in Hair; 

a year after, Jill was part of original cast

of George M!

Michael Bennett's playbill bio,

at the the time of Promises, Promises.

Of course, he would go on to help create

and direct A Chorus Line,

and co-direct (with Hal Prince)

Company and Follies.

Etc., etc., etc. as the King of Siam would say.

 

Jerry Orbach and Edward Winter

with those very important keys!

Some folks would be startled to see 

all of the musical theatre and straight play credits that 

Jerry Orbach had in his resume,

prior to his television roles.

Everything from "The Threepenny Opera" and "Carousel"

to "Annie Get Your Gun" and "Guys And Dolls"

(what a Sky Masterson he must have made!).

From the 2002 revival of Man Of La Mancha, 

we'll hear 2 goodies:

"Dulcinea" and "I Like Him." 

This was a very successful revival,

and despite Richard Kiley's LOOOONG association with the role,

Brian Stokes Mitchell

did a masterful job in filling that "Golden Helmet." 

Above, standing at the right, is 

Ernie Sabella who played Sancho Panza.

Other impressive Don Quixotes:

Raul Julia, Hal Linden, and Robert Goulet.

A close up on that 2002 triumvirate:

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (as Aldonza/Dulcinea), 

Ernie and Brian.

Replacing Mary Elizabeth was Marin Mazzie! 

Lots of Tony noms, but no wins, unfortunately.

Music by Mitch Leigh and Joe Darion.

Margaret O'Brien (age 7) cavorting with

Judy Garland to

"Under The Bamboo Tree",

in Meet Me In St. Louis.

The song is from 1902,
(wow! that may be one of the oldest we've had on 2 On The Aisle)
written by 

Robert Cole and The Johnson Brothers.

Margaret's Hollywood debut occurred when she was just 4 years old,

 in Babes On Broadway,

but her big break came one year later, in Journey For Margaret.

(She even changed her name to Margaret after that;

she was born Angela!)

Miss O'Brien would go on to win a special Juvenile Oscar

 for her performance as Tootie,

in Meet Me In St. Louis, in 1944.

And she's still going strong at the age of 83!

What a West Side quartet!

Chita Rivera (Anita), Ken LeRoy (Bernardo),

Larry Kert (Tony), and Carol Lawrence (Maria),

the original cast of West Side Story.

Below, another fabulous foursome:

Larry, Carol, Lenny B, and Stephen S.

Carol and Larry

at the opening night party at Sardi's.

The musical notoriously lost Best Musical Tony

to The Music Man that year,

but Carol received one, 

as did Jerome Robbins (Choreography)

and Oliver Smith (Set Design).

That Bernstein/Sondheim score wasn't even nominated???