Playlist For Oct. 3, 2021: The Good, The Better...and the 3rd one!

Well, Epi 1 (the pilot?) was so successful last week, we're now contracted to do the entire series! Hopefully, ratings will continue "off the charts" and syndication/re-runs will keep me in filthy lucre for years to come. 2OTA will become synonymous with Star Trek or I Love Lucy, for longevity and money making potential. Maybe I'll even get a museum in Jamestown. Or a space station. Or a PREQUEL!!! :)

Nah, I'm not this funny.

A girl can always dream, right? Meanwhile, Epi 2 is on the horizon, with Irving, Richard (now paired with Oscar), and Lerner mit Loewe under the microscope this time 'round. The following Sunday (October 10) begins our (drummmmm rolllllll) Fall Pledge Drive, so we'll take that day off from the series just to put the focus on Raising Dough, to persuade/coax/coerce/beg of you to add your filthy lucre to our coffers. But otherwise, I'll jump right back on the Songwriter Bandwagon after that!

 

Very serious composer/lyricists. If this is an audition, I pity the poor soul on stage.

 

Which reminds me: I'll be one half (some would say the better half...some wouldn't) of the Otto and Kim show that first pledge drive-y Sunday, from noon to 2pm. He will no doubt wear a mask AND a visor, I'll wear the entire wind-screen, but we'll still safely exhortcha to Give Give Give in a jocular, endearing way. I really don't know why Rob (manager par excellence) doesn't give the two of us the morning drive-time slot. We are frickin' hilarious, even raising dough! Even if Otto doesn't drink coffee (weirdo), and even if my laugh is a little annoying. We could reenact scenes from old TV shows (Barney Miller? The Mary Tyler Moore Show? I've got a hat!), and take turns being Doctor Johnny Fever (WKRP in Cincinnati, remember?), who tended to "over-medicate". 

 

 

Enough falderall. See ya Sunday. I'll bring the "medicated" Pumpkin Spice Latte. With a double shot.

 

There's No Business Like Show Business (Tom Wopat, Company, Annie, Get Your Gun)

I'm On My Way (Company, Paint Your Wagon)

They Call The Wind Maria (Rufus Smith, Paint Your Wagon)

Brigadoon (Ensemble, Brigadoon)

Almost Like Being In Love (Gene Kelly, Brigadoon)

Camelot (Richard Burton, Camelot)

She Is Not Thinking Of Me (Daniel Massey, Gigi)

If Ever I Would Leave You (Robert Goulet, Camelot)

I Remember It Well (Alfred Drake, Maria Karnilova, Gigi)

The Rain In Spain (Lauren Ambrose, Harry Hadden-Paton, My Fair Lady)

Ascot Gavotte (Ensemble, My Fair Lady)

I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face (Harry Hadden-Paton, My Fair Lady)

Anything You Can Do (Bernadette Peters, Tom Wopat, Annie, Get Your Gun)

The Hostess With The Mostes' On The Ball (Ethel Merman, Call Me Madam)

After You Get What You Want (You Don't Want It) (Marilyn Monroe)

Sisters (Rosemary Clooney, Trudy Stevens, White Christmas)

Steppin' Out With My Baby (Fred Astaire, Easter Parade)

Let's Have Another Cup Of Coffee (Judy Kuhn, Howard McGillin, Kevin Chamberlain, As Thousands Cheer)

How About Me? (Judy Holliday, Trouble Is A Man)

Vaudeville Medley (Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Easter Parade)

The Surrey With The Fringe On Top (Alfred Drake, Oklahoma)

In My Own Little Corner (Julie Andrews, Cinderella) 

Shall We Dance? (Kellie O'Hara, Ken Watanabe, The King And I)

Bali Hai (Juanita Hall, South Pacific)

There Is Nothin' Like A Dame (Ensemble, South Pacific)

The Man I Used To Be (Will Chase, Pipe Dream)

All Er Nuthin' (Gene Nelson, Gloria Graham, Oklahoma)

The Sound Of Music (Mary Martin, The Sound Of Music)

You'll Never Walk Alone (Renee Fleming, Carousel)

Something Good (Elaine Stritch, Elaine Stritch At Liberty)

Some Enchanted Evening (Ezio Pinza, South Pacific)

Playlist For Sunday, September 26, 2021: You can schmear HERE!

 

Well, if I want to see Hugh and Sutton in The Music Man, I think I've jumped on that Wells Fargo Wagon too late! Earliest ticket I can grab now is well past Groundhog Day. (The actual day, not the show.) And Six? Or Doubtfire? I doubt it. However, I realize I'm not in that much of a rush to "do" NYC just yet. Part of me is terrified that some of the places I loved and frequented every visit may well be gone. And that's just depressing. Little Poland? John's Italian Restaurant? Little mom and pops that had trouble thriving even during the best of times? Plus having to jump on a packed plane makes me sort of ...shudder. Hmmmm...

 

Visions of Steve Martin and John Candy, cozy on a plane/train/automobile.

Which is a real pain, because who wouldn't want to spend a birthday or 7 back on Broadway? 

 

Little Poland (across from my old apartment on 2nd Ave.)

and an interior shot of John's Restaurant, around the corner

(SOMEBODY had to have been shot here).

 Instead I've planned a Skaneateles road trip come mid-October, for antiquing and round-the-lake bike riding. Only thing to decide is do I bike clockwise OR counter-clockwise aroung that B Team Finger Lake ? Since it's in THIS hemisphere, I guess I should go with counter, but then I've always been a bit of counter-tarian. :)

One thing hasn't changed: Classic Broadway. And I thought it might be nifty to do a "series!" (Hey if Jeff Harris can do it, "Let's Do It!") A composer/lyricist series of the Greats (later we'll do the Not-So-Greats, I promise). Three at a time, so no one gets to hog the spotlight for long, and this week it's Cole, Richard and Larry, and George and Ira. If you need last names, it's evident that you really aren't listening to me. Harrumph. Well, a silent harrumph. I still like you.

 

 

 

Even tho I do play these ICONS on almost every 2OTA, I'll gang 'em up and chat a bit about their beginnings or their eccentricities (which is always more fun), and next week I'll pick ANOTHER 3, but I'm not telling who YET. So hope you enjoy. No need to bus, train, or plane to those big expensive Bway theatres right now; just pull out your radio (or ask Alexa to), whirl up an egg cream (or schmear up a bagel), pull the lever on that Lazy Boy, and let 2OTA rip. We can definitely "Take Manhattan" soon enough!

Anything Goes (Sutton Foster, Anything Goes)

It's De-Lovely (Hal Linden, Barbara Lang, Anything Goes)

Make It Another Old Fashioned (Ethel Merman, Panama Hattie)

Take Me Back to Manhattan (Eileen Rodgers, Anything Goes)

I Love Paris (Frank Sinatra, Maurice Chevalier, Can-Can)

After You, Who? (Fred Astaire, Gay Divorce)

Let's Misbehave (Helene York, Brooks Ashmanskas, Bullets Over Broadway)

Tom, Dick or Harry (Lisa Kirk, Harold Lang, Ensemble, Kiss Me, Kate)

Too Darn Hot (Stanley Wayne Mathis, Ensemble, Kiss Me, Kate)

Johnny One Note (Judy Garland, Babes In Arms)

My Funny Valentine (Trudy Stevens, Pal Joey)

You Took Advantage Of Me (Elaine Stritch, On Your Toes)

Ev'rything I've Got Belongs To You (Bob Dishy, Jacqueline Alloway, By Jupiter)

There's A Small Hotel (Bobby Van, Kay Coulter, On Your Toes)

This Can't Be Love (Jack Cassidy, Portia Nelson, The Boys From Syracuse)

Ten Cents A Dance (Doris Day, Love Me Or Leave Me)

Zip (Vivienne Segal, Pal Joey)

That Terrific Rainbow (Chorus Girls, Pal Joey)

Manhattan (Lee Wiley)

Bewitched, Bothered, And Bewildered (Marin Mazzie)

Isn't It Romantic (Michael Feinstein, Romance On Film, Romance On Broadway)

S'Wonderful (Gene Kelly, Georges Guittary, Oscar Levant, An American In Paris)

Funny Face (Fred Astaire, Funny Face)

They Can't Take That Away From Me (Robert Fairchild, Max Von Essen, Brandon Uranowitz, An American In Paris)

Embraceable You (Harry Groener, Jodi Benson, Crazy For You)

Do It Again (Marilyn Monroe)

Sam And Delilah (Louise Carlyle, Girl Crazy)

K-RA-ZY For You (Bobby Short, I'm K-RA-ZY For Gershwin)

Dear Mr. Gershwin (Klea Blackhurst, Radio Gals)

I Got Rhythm (Robert Fairchild, Brandon Uranowitz, Max Von Essen, An American In Paris)

 

 

Playlist For Sunday, September 19, 2021: Biking Binary on Broadway

Visualize: 

A beautiful, crisp, corn-flower-blue-skied  Saturday morning. About 200 bikers (the silent pedaling kinds, tho I did notice a couple of batteries!). Lycra. Blinky lights. Bagels. Gatorade. A bit of a mist lingering on Keuka Lake hills. A slow start, and off.

Well, THIS wasn't the ride I did. But one can dream.

 Yeah, I've been trying a few group rides. Me, the slow and solo rider, who stops to take pics of barns and to munch on dates (and date pits...yup, broke a tooth on one of those last month), in a group ride? Suffice it to type, I get passed A LOT. If I hear "on your left" one more time (and I heard it dozens of times last Saturday), I'll go mad. So I'm not a swifty. But if one can manage the somewhat demoralizing emotions that go with being left behind, rides like this DO make you go faster and dig deeper than you would on your own. And then there's the free lunch at the end, and your group waiting for you (well, I didn't NOTICE any impatient foot tapping), and the good feelings when you swing into the finish, still strong and breathing and smiling at the cheering volunteers. Huzzah!

Fire pit AND fountain. This is not my patio. Mine is humble.

 

Hopefully, there'll be a few more long rides filling up the fall, but the biggies are now over. I can sit on my patio and luxuriate in one more season biked and in the record books.

Hell, no! Let's plan for next year! :)

Meanwhile, another week, another 2OTA theme, right? This is kind of a BINARY Broadway edition...Boys and Girls, Men and Women, a gaggle of Gentleman, and one damn Guy. Classic musical yens (The Boy Next Door), vendettas (I Hate Men), lovey-dovey ballads (The Girl That I Marry), declarations (Les Girls), and denials (Forget About The Boy!)...it's a Broadway Way Back Machine.

Patricia Morison. Seething.

 

So let's have fun with it, take it in context, which means put on your old-timey specs for non-now musicals. Sit on your "patio", dream of a warm, colorful fall, and listen in on Sunday. :)

Boys And Girls Like You And Me (Judy Garland, Meet Me In St. Louis)

Les Girls (Gene Kelly, Mitzi Gaynor, Kay Kendall, Taina Elg, Les Girls)

Beautiful Girl (Jimmy Thompson, Singin' In The Rain)

Hundreds Of Girls (Robert Preston, Mack And Mabel)

I Hate Men (Patricia Morison, Kiss Me Kate)

Men (Loni Ackerman, So Long, 174th Street)

Why? 'Cause I'm A Guy (Jordan Leeds, Robert Roznowski, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change)

Pretty Women (Len Cariou, Edmund Lyndeck, Sweeney Todd)

You Are Women (Sydney Chaplin, Barbra Streisand, Funny Girl)

In Praise Of Women (Laurence Guittard, A Little Night Music)

Real Live Girl (Sid Caesar, Little Me)

My Best Girl (Frankie Michaels, Mame)

The Girl That I Marry (Ray Middleton, Annie Get Your Gun)

The Boy Next Door (Judy Garland, Meet Me In St. Louis)

One Boy (Susan Watson, Bye, Bye Birdie)

Golden Boy (Paula Wayne, Golden Boy)

Forget About The Boy (Sutton Foster, Thoroughly Modern Millie)

One Of The Boys (Lauren Bacall, Woman Of The Year)

Mama, I'm A Big Girl Now (Marissa Jaret Winokur, Harvey Fierstein, Hairspray)

Big Girls Don't Cry (The Four Seasons)

She's My Girl (Tom Lehrer, The Remains Of Tom Lehrer)

Everybody's Girl (Debra Monk, Steel Pier)

A Girl Worth Fighting For (Harvey Fierstein, Jerry Tondo, Gedde Watanabe, Ming Na Wen, Mulan)

A Quiet Girl (George Gaynes, Wonderful Town)

Have I Got A Girl For You (Dean Jones, Charles Braswell, Charles Kimbrough, George Coe, Company) 

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Carol Channing, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) 

Gentleman Jimmy (Eileen Rodgers, Fiorello!)

Most Gentlemen Don't Like Love (Scarlett Strallen, The New Yorkers) 

We Are Gentlemen Of Japan (Ensemble, Hot Mikado)

Walk Like A Man (John Lloyd Young, Ensemble, Jersey Boys)

Little Girls (Dorothy Loudon, Annie)

All I Need Is The Girl (Paul Wallace, Gypsy)

Me And My Girl (Robert Lindsay, Emma Thompson, Me And My Girl)

 

 

 

 

Playlist For September 12, 2021: Always You. Never Me. Let's Call The Whole Thing Off.

Oy! Summer, I miss you already! Well, that is I miss my summer work hours, with afternoons OFF.  Plus I have a ton of summer dresses I haven't even WORN yet. Summer cocktails I've yet to concoct. Summer sunrises at 5:35am I can bike in. And Summer sunsets, late and long, if buggy and muggy. Otherwise...I can happily fall into Fall.

It's also my birthday season, so...presents. And cake. :) Plus I have a lot of autumnal outfits (matching purses), so...this season ain't so bad.

Not to be-LABOR the point, but last Sunday's Labor Day Edition was a fun one, with all the "workin' it out" songs (I know, you were too bbq-busy to listen in, that's OKAY, I know you still like me), so I'm launching us into another theme-y show: Never and Always! (Or does Always and Never sound better?). I really wanted to do a Sometimes/Always/Never theme, but there seems to be a dearth of Sometime Songs. A plethora of nevers, a passel of always, but sometimes? Nada. Broadway (with the exception of Sondheim) seems less than ambivalent. It's either "You'll Never Get Away From Me" or "You Can Always Count On Me". Or both, with added emphasis ("Always A Bridesmaid, Never A Bride")(thank you, God!)...classic Broadway is rarely wishy-washy, if you don't take into account Stephen's "Sorry - Grateful" attitudes, and this century's push-me-pull-you hair yanking ballads.

 

This takes me back to a wedding I was in, in 1977. We had to make our own "peasant" dresses. I burned mine 3 days later.

 

So the usual suspects will be showing up, nevering and alwaysing (a Bob Fosse dance step? Or is that more Tommy Tune?) into our hearts, and hopefully clad in beautiful fall fashions. With matching purses, of course. :)

 

Never Never Land (Mary Martin, Peter Pan)

I'll Never Be Jealous Again (Michael McKean, Roz Ryan, The Pajama Game)

You'll Never Get Away From Me (Ethel Merman, Jack Klugman, Gypsy)

You Never Had It So Good (Donna McKechnie, The Fair Tones, State Fair)

I'll Never Fall In Love Again (Jerry Orbach, Jill O'Hara, Promises, Promises)

Never Gonna Dance (Fred Astaire, Swing Time)

Never Again/Sail Away (Christine Ebersole, Christine Ebersole Sings Noel Coward)

Never Will I Marry (Judy Garland)

You're Never Fully Dressed (Donald Craig, The Boylan Sisters, Annie)

I'll Never Have To Dream Again (Connie Boswell)

It Never Entered My Mind (Shirley Ross, Higher And Higher)

I'll Never Stop Loving You (Doris Day, Love Me Or Leave Me)

He'll Never Know (Mark Linn-Baker, Jay Goede, A Year With Frog And Toad)

There Never Was A Baby Like My Baby (Dolores Grey, Two On the Aisle)

Never (Madeline Kahn, Georg Coe, Dean Dittman, On The Twentieth Century)

It Never Was You (Judy Garland)

I Never Know When (Elaine Stritch, Goldilocks)

I Never Do Anything Twice (Millicent Martin, Side By Side By Sondheim)

Always True To You (Lisa Kirk, Harold Lang, Kiss Me Kate)

The Passenger's Always Right (Charles Braswell, Sail Away)

The Customer's Always Right (Charles Braswell, Sail Away)

I Always Stay At The Ritz (Tommy Tune, Sherry!)

You Can Always Count On Me (Randy Graff, City Of Angels)

What I've Always Wanted (Patricia Marand, It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's Superman)

Always, Always You (Kaye Ballard, James Mitchell, Carnival)

You Always Hurt The One You Love (Spike Jones and His City Slickers)

I'm Always Chasing Rainbows (Debbie Reynolds, Irene)

Always A Bridesmaid (Melissa Weil, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change)

Always (Judy Garland)

Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life (Company, Spamalot)

David Kolowitz, The Actor!

I wanted to post these photos before yesterday's show, but time got away from me, apologies! So Long, 174th Street opened on April 27th, 1976, played 16 performances and POOF! Gone! 

So many GOOD people were part of its creation.  As Clive Barnes wrote in his NYTimes review, "The people involved are talented enough...So what went wrong? How did Enter Laughing end up leaving us yawning?" Enter Laughing was the Carl Reiner novel it was based on, ANNND it starred Robert Morse, Loni Ackerman, and George S. Irving. What the heck did go wrong?
Composer/Lyricist Stan Daniels, evidently! He was a producer of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and had also written TV show theme songs. Guess that wasn't enough to create a successful Broadway musical. 

As Clive added, "[Stan] should stay where he is well off...when the music and lyrics do not work for a musical, the musical does not work."

Above, Robert and Loni...

and below, Robert doing the "David Kolowitz, The Actor" number with his fantasy fan base (which included Eleanor Roosevelt and the Pope)!

You can probably guess the plot. Young factory assistant has a dream of becoming an actor. He lands a part with a theatre troupe, imagines stardom, romantic dinners with starlets, penthouse apartments...well, he imagines A LOT! His parents and girlfriend want him to forget all those acting dreams, settle down, and be a druggist. Hmmmm...But despite a lousy opening night, which has David forgetting his lines and bumping into furniture, his parents and girl friend show up and finally understand his ambitions.

Happy ending. 

"Bolero On Rye" with (I believe) Robert, Arthur Rubin, and Patti Karr.

Frankly, none of the photos I could find are well labeled as far as the actors go!

 

The only song to transcend the show was "The Butler's Song" with George S. Irving doing the honors. 

A cast recording was done in 1981, five years after the production, with Kaye Ballard singing the Mrs. Kolowitz songs, like "My Son, The Druggist".

It was fearlessly revived (and renamed "Enter Laughing") at the York Theatre in 2008 and again in 2019.

Playlist For Sept. 5, 2021: Workin' It Out!

Done and dusted (well, I actually need to dust)! Biking trips completed (as of 2pm today), til I dream up another one. So back am I, to all the chores I left behind, to assuaging my peevish cat for leaving him, and to concocting new Broadway At Its Best playlists, all for you!

BUT what just happened? We've turned the corner (hopefully with our blinkers on) into FALL. Time for pumpkin spice and sweaters and warmer masks? I did have pumpkin spice lattes (and a latta it) on my last trip, and today feels like sweatta weatha, but you know September! Inconsistency, thy name is...September, okay? We'll no doubt have some last sticky/icky days again (and again), before true autumnal temps settle in, but meanwhile, hand me down that can O' pumpkin! (Paint Your Wagon, folks?)

 

BUT it's FOR SURE Labor Day weekend, so what else could this Sunday mean but The Labor Day Edition, in which we'll appropriately "work it out" with Broadway and salute it with labor-intensive tunes from Working (natch!), 9 To 5, How To Succeed, Waitress, Pump Boys...all those nose-to-the-grindstone shows. So put on your apron or your 3-piece suit and get to laborin'.

Meanwhile, I'm trading in the hammock for an afghan, and that margarita for red wine. And (for the moment) my bike shoes...for those detractive bedroom slippers. :) See ya on Sunday!

Slippers WITH red wine! :)

 

9 To 5 (Allison Janney, Stephanie J. Block, Megan Hilty, Ensemble, 9 To 5)

All The Live Long Day (Company, Working)

Neat To Be A Newsboy (John Rushton, Working)

Millwork (Patti LuPone, Don't Monkey With Broadway)

Nice Work If You Can Get It (Fred Astaire, Damsel In Distress)

It Needs Work (Kay McClelland, City Of Angels)

Workin' It Out (Robert Klein, Lucie Arnaz, They're Playin' Our Song)

It Isn't Working (Roderick Cook, Daren Kelly, Grace Keagy, Woman Of The Year)

Been A Long Day (Claudette Sutherland, Robert Morse, Bonnie Scott, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying)

I Believe In You (Robert Morse, Bonnie Scott, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying)

A Secretary Is Not A Toy (Ensemble, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying)

Finaletto Act One (Bonnie Scott, Robert Morse, Charles Nelson Reilly, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying)

Nice Work If You Can Get It (The Andrews Sisters)

Whistle While You Work (Adriana Caselotti, Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs)

The Work Song (Jimmy MacDonald and Chorus, Cinderella)

Seven-And-A-Half Cents (Company, The Pajama Game)

Working My Way Back To You (John Lloyd Young, Ensemble, Jersey Boys)

Around Here (Allison Janney, Megan Hilty, Stephanie J. Block, 9 To 5)

The Speed Test (Sutton Foster, Marc Kudisch, Thoroughly Modern Millie)

Coffee, Black (Daniel H. Jenkins, Jon Cypher, Clent Bowers, Jan Neuberger, Big)

David Kolowitz, The Actor (Robert Morse, So Long, 174th Street)

Bolero On Rye (Patti Karr, Robert Morse, Arthur Rubin, So Long, 174th Street)

My Son, The Druggist (Kaye Ballard, So Long, 174th Street)

Hot Cha Cha (Stan Daniels, So Long, 174th Street)

Opening Up (Jessie Mueller, Kimiko Glenn, Keala Settle, Waitress)

Ooh! My Feet! (Susan Johnson, The Most Happy Fella)

Sixteen Tons (David Engel, Ensemble, Forever Plaid)

Serve Yourself (Mark Hardwick, Pump Boys And Dinettes)

If I Could've Been (Company, Working)

Something To Point To (Company, Working)

Heigh-Ho (Ensemble, Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs)