Playlist For February 6th, 2022: Bands, La Chan, and More Musical Geography

Is anyone else a YouTube addict? I confess: I'll watch anything from bike repair and Cotswold Touring to cake frosting techniques and How Not To Die (which is an actual book, a documentary, and maybe soon a sitcom?). My addiction began during the pandemic, where one "channel" led to another, and now I'm subscribed to about 20 Tubers who seem like close buddies. I mean, I comment and "like" and reply, as if these "influencers" give a hoot about what I think, but pretend to. Jethro tells me how to pack my bike for a trek thru Alaska, Madeline shows me her English cottage reno, and Minimal Mom tells me to toss, organize, and find joy in my Swedish-death-cleaned kitchen. And I religiously WATCH this stuff! Especially in this delightfully non-exciting, kill-me-now Winter.

Cozy Cotswold mini version. Transportable?? You might have to mow the roof occasionally.

 

But huzzah, we are thru with January! Only 2 months of Arctic Blasts left, and then April and random bike riding and spring and LIGHT. I get giddy just thinking on it.

Plus something else to look forward to: My daughter will be visiting for a week in early March, so I'm presently twisting arms to get her to guest host...so we can either do a cheesy theme (or 7) on that show, or go head to head on warring Broadway proclivities. But whatever we choose to do, it'll be MUCH FUN, like last time. Rob Linton says she's "hired" for real if she ever decides to move here. (Not gonna happen, easier for me to move THERE.) 

Drinking Coconut Margaritas with the talented progeny!

 

Meanwhile THIS Sunday's playlist! More Musical Geography (from Transylvania to Maui, via Siberia and Toledo), a salute to La Channing (birthday for Carol on January 31), the anniversary of Sweet Charity to celebrate, and a couple of aforementioned cheesy themes. So it's all go here in Broadway Land. 

So jettison that snow shovel, cast off your ear muffs/mukluks/LLBean detractive parka, and get cozy, okay? A bit O'Broadway from 3-5pm to warm your cockles (and other body parts). :)

 

 

Nobody (Corey Cott, Laura Osnes, Ensemble, Bandstand)

Welcome To Transylvania (Fred Applegate, Ensemble, Young Frankenstein)

Siberia (Jules Munshin, Joseph Buloff, Peter Lorre, Silk Stockings)

A Foggy Day (Fred Astaire, Damsel In Distress)

Scotland the Brave (Jason Graae, David Engel, Guy Stroman, Stan Chandler,  Forever Plaid)

Toledo Surprise (Jason and Garth Kravits, Jennifer Smith, Georgia Engel, The Drowsy Chaperone)

Boston Beguine (Alice Ghostley, New Faces Of 1952)

The Streets Of Miami (Allan Sherman, My Son The Folksinger)

Brazil (George Rose, The Grass Harp)

Katie Went To Haiti (June Havoc, Dubarry Was A Lady) 

Gopher Mambo (Yma Sumac)

Guadalajara (Vincente Fernandez)

Donny Novitski (Corey Cott, Bandstand)

You Deserve It (Corey Cott, Laura Osnes, Bandstand)

A Band In New York City (The Company, Bandstand)

The Band Played On (Guy Lomardo and His Royal Canadians)

Alexander's Ragtime Band (Alice Faye, Alexander's Ragtime Band)

Haben Sie Gehort Das Deutsche Band (Brad Oscar, The Producers)

Black Velvet Band (The Dubliners)

I'm A Brass Band (Gwen Verdon, Sweet Charity)

There's Gotta Be Something Better Than This (Helen Gallagher, Thelma Oliver, Gwen Verdon, Sweet Charity)

Big Spender (Ensemble, Sweet Charity)

A Little Girl From Little Rock (Carol Channing, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) 

Calypso Pete (Carol Channing, Show Girl)

Jazz Baby (Carol Channing, Thoroughly Modern Millie)

Before The Parade Passes By (Carol Channing, Company, Hello Dolly!)

Carol Channing Sequence (Susanne Blakeslee, Forbidden Broadway)

There Is Nothing Like A Lox (Allan Sherman, The Lost Song Parodies Of Allan Sherman)

Hawaii/Waiting For You (Raymond J. Lee, Brynn O'Malley, Rob McClure, Honeymoon In Vegas)

Don'cha Like Hawaii (Ensemble, From Here To Eternity)

That Wicky Wacky Hula Hula Honka Wonka Honolulu Hawaiian Honey Of Mine (Mike Craver, KIea Blackhurst, Ensemble, Radio Gals)

Hawaii Five O (Instrumental, Hawaii Five O)

Dave Schmave!

The much anticipated Dave Edition is on the schedule for this coming Sunday, January 30.  I mean, all the Davids have had to wait an extra couple of weeks for Ethel Merman to leave the "stage" (and she was staying for encores a'plenty!), but now FINALLY she's had her cake, eaten it too, and now at long last, the Yazbek and the Wayne and the Hyde Pierces of the Broadway Boards can come out and trod.

See? She had to get in one more photo (taken during her run with Happy Hunting) with Fernando Lamas and Arlene Dahl.

 

So here's a repeat of the DAVE playlist. Hope you can join me, and hey, if you're name is DAVE, gimme a call (or a text) during the show! I can include you in my Dave Shoutouts...

Opening Number (Santino Fontana, Company, Tootsie)

Lovesick (Sherie Rene Scott, Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown)

Lie To Me (Brian Stokes Mitchell, Sherie Rene Scott, Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown)

Model Behavior (Laura Benanti, Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown)

Invisible (Patti LuPone, Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown)

When I'm Not Near The Girl I Love (David Wayne, Finian's Rainbow)

 

Something Sort Of Grandish (David Wayne, Finian's Rainbow)

 

Farewell Amanda (David Wayne, Adam's Rib) 

 

The Life Of The Party (David Wayne, The Happy Time) 

 

A Tough Act To Follow (David Hyde Pierce, Jill Paice, Curtains)

A Penny In My Pocket (David Hyde Pierce, Curtains)

You Won't Succeed On Broadway (David Hyde Pierce, Tim Curry, Spamalot)

Here I Am (Sherie Rene Scott, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) 

The More We Dance (John Lithgow, Sherie Rene Scott, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) 

Dirty Rotten Number (John Lithgow, Norbert Leo Butz, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels)

It Takes A Woman (David Burns, Hello, Dolly!)

Impossible (David Burns, Brian Davies, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum)

Everybody Ought To Have A Maid (David Burns, Zero Mostel, Jack Gilford, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum)

Waiting (Company, The Band's Visit)

The Beat Of Your Heart (Andrew Polk, The Band's Visit)

Omar Sharif (Katrina Lenk, The Band's Visit)

Itzik's Lullaby (John Cariani, The Band's Visit)

Answer Me (Adam Kantor, Company, The Band's Visit)

A Beat Behind (Bernadette Peters, The Goodbye Girl)

One Last Hope (Danny Devito, Hercules)

You're Nothing Without Me (James Naughton, Gregg Edelman, City Of Angels)

I Won't Let You Down (Santino Fontana, Tootsie)

Gone, Gone, Gone (Lillie Cooper, Tootsie)

Unstoppable (Santino Fontana, Lillie Cooper, Ensemble, Tootsie)

 

TRYING again!!! Ethel, please!

 I don't want to jinx it, but THIS Sunday (1/23/22) we will again attempt a Merman Birthday Celebration. Even if I have to ski there. Or sled. Or skate. I'm 100% healthy, I'm bundled, I'm (over) prepped. The cake is thawed, the confetti shredded, so cross your frozen fingers and let's do this. 

And remember, the first half is a musical "tour" of selected states/cities, so if you're not in an Ethel Mood, there's an hour of Non-Mermy stuff. 

Here's the playlist (AGAIN). Geez Louise.

 

 

Freedom (Donna Theodore, Chip Ford, Shenandoah)

New York, New York (Cris Alexander, Adolph Green, John Battles, On The Town)

Chicago, Illinois (Lesley Ann Warren, Victor/Victoria)

Big "D" (Shorty Long, Susan Johnson, The Most Happy Fella)

Shuffle Off To Buffalo (Carole Cook, Joseph Bova, Karen Prunczik, 42nd Street)

I Happen To Like New York (Bobby Short, Live At The Cafe Carlyle)

Sun On My Face (Robert Morse, Tony Roberts, Elaine Joyce, Sugar)

Rhode Island Is Famous For You (Jack Haley, Inside U.S.A.)

I Was Born In Virginia (James Cagney, Jean Cagney, Rosemary DeCamp, Walter Huston, Yankee Doodle Dandy)

I Want To Go Back To Michigan (Judy Garland, Easter Parade)

Maine (Richard Kiley, Diahann Carroll, No Strings)

Come, Oh Come (To Pittsburgh)(Beatrice Lillie, Inside U.S.A.)

Paducah (John Bartis, Shoestring Revue)

Kansas City (Gene Nelson, Oklahoma!)

What A Country! (Ray Bolger, All American)

Another Winter In A Summer Town (Christine Ebersole, Grey Gardens)

Winter's On The Wing (John Cameron Mitchell, The Secret Garden)

Our Winter Love (Bill Purcell)

Winter Song (Leslie Odom, Jr., Simply Christmas) 

Some People (Ethel Merman, Gypsy) 

I Got The Sun In The Morning (Ethel Merman, Annie Get Your Gun)

You're The Top (Ethel Merman, Anything Goes)

Anything Goes (Ethel Merman, Anything Goes)

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

I Got Rhythm (Ethel Merman, Girl Crazy)

Sam And Delilah (Klea Blackhurst, Everything The Traffic Will Allow)

I Said My Pajamas (And Put On My Pray'rs)(Ethel Merman, Ray Bolger)

I Got Lost In His Arms (Ethel Merman, Annie Get Your Gun)

Just A Moment Ago (Ethel Merman, Happy Hunting)

Everything's Coming Up Roses (Ethel Merman, Gypsy)

Eadie Was A Ladie (Ethel Merman, Take A Chance)

 

Rats!

Well, I still have the dregs of Covid, enough to make doing a live 2OTA potentially disastrous. Masking (following those protocols) and coughing (those errant coughs) and pushing the wrong buttons and fogging up my glasses (plus jostling those headphones) was all enough to put me off tomorrow's show.

So Ethel will be tapping her foot, impatiently waiting to celebrate her birthday in the wings. We'll put that "cake" in the freezer, hell! just leave it on the porch... and thaw in a timely fashion for next week, okay? Sorry sorry sorry. I'd much rather being chatting and spinning Broadway for you than sitting on my hands in Siberi...I mean Kendall, "knitting" by the "fire". (Which means scrolling by the radiator.) 

See you next week, even if I have to come by dogsled, and wear a hamster bubble.

Joan Fontaine, Sally Ann Howe, Eva Gabor, Radie Harris, Ethel,

Rosalind Russell, Angela Lansbury, Patrice Munsel, and Nancy Kelly!

How did you do with those IDs? 

I drew a blank with Radie (?)!

Playlist For Sunday, January 16, 2022: Broadway Birthday....and a Magical Musical Tour

So 3 times vaxxed and still I get it? Well, I'm not sure. Yet. 

These days, you get a sore throat, a cough, and need to go to bed at 8:30pm, you no longer think you have a cold. You take a test. You take 2 tests. You believe neither result. You hunker down (waking up at 9am? This chick? Yup, really sleeeeeeping) and wait for the serious 3-5 day test results to come in. So I'm waiting. And sleeping.

That's why I wasn't "on deck" for a live 2OTA yesterday with that "long-anticipated" Dave Edition. Which will need to be postponed til January 23rd. Because January 16th (our next, hopefully LIVE and A-LIVE edition) is Ethel Merman's birthday, and we simple must clear said decks for The Merm. 

 

She's so freaking energetic. I can barely take the garbage out.

Okay, now I know not everybody on the planet loves Ethel. Not everybody would want to actually listen to 2 full hours of this ICON of the musical "firm-ma-mint". So for those folks, we'll delegate Ethel to the 2nd hour only. Hour Number 1 will be a short tour of the USA, with stops in Virginia, Michigan, Rhode Island, and of course Buffalo. So just know that if The Merman Belt sets your teeth on edge, just tune in from 3-4pm and then run like the wind. :) 

 

Dave and his friends will be on board for Jan.23rd.

So I now need to sit on my hands for a couple more days, waiting for my energy and creative drive to return. When I reach for that first cuppa Joe, then I'll know I'm back to the Land of the Living. Meanwhile, Darjeeling....ugh.

 

 

Freedom (Donna Theodore, Chip Ford, Shenandoah)

New York, New York (Cris Alexander, Adolph Green, John Battles, On The Town)

Chicago, Illinois (Lesley Ann Warren, Victor/Victoria)

Big "D" (Shorty Long, Susan Johnson, The Most Happy Fella)

Shuffle Off To Buffalo (Carole Cook, Joseph Bova, Karen Prunczik, 42nd Street)

I Happen To Like New York (Bobby Short, Live At The Cafe Carlyle)

Sun On My Face (Robert Morse, Tony Roberts, Elaine Joyce, Sugar)

Rhode Island Is Famous For You (Jack Haley, Inside U.S.A.)

I Was Born In Virginia (James Cagney, Jean Cagney, Rosemary DeCamp, Walter Huston, Yankee Doodle Dandy)

I Want To Go Back To Michigan (Judy Garland, Easter Parade)

Maine (Richard Kiley, Diahann Carroll, No Strings)

Come, Oh Come (To Pittsburgh)(Beatrice Lillie, Inside U.S.A.)

Paducah (John Bartis, Shoestring Revue)

Kansas City (Gene Nelson, Oklahoma!)

What A Country! (Ray Bolger, All American)

Another Winter In A Summer Town (Christine Ebersole, Grey Gardens)

Winter's On The Wing (John Cameron Mitchell, The Secret Garden)

Our Winter Love (Bill Purcell)

Winter Song (Leslie Odom, Jr., Simply Christmas) 

Some People (Ethel Merman, Gypsy) 

I Got The Sun In The Morning (Ethel Merman, Annie Get Your Gun)

You're The Top (Ethel Merman, Anything Goes)

Anything Goes (Ethel Merman, Anything Goes)

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

I Got Rhythm (Ethel Merman, Girl Crazy)

Sam And Delilah (Klea Blackhurst, Everything The Traffic Will Allow)

I Said My Pajamas (And Put On My Pray'rs)(Ethel Merman, Ray Bolger)

I Got Lost In His Arms (Ethel Merman, Annie Get Your Gun)

Just A Moment Ago (Ethel Merman, Happy Hunting)

Everything's Coming Up Roses (Ethel Merman, Gypsy)

Eadie Was A Ladie (Ethel Merman, Take A Chance)

 

 

 

 

 

Playlist For January 9, 2022: His Friends Call Him Dave

 I used to have a dog named Dave. He was named after a rather cool 8 year old who I tutored in math. Most New Yorkers I came in contact with (during my 33 and 1/3 years there, and no, I didn't time this to match that LP speed) detested nicknames, and all Daves were Davids. But this kid was a Dave, thru and thru, and when I asked him if I could name my German Shepard-mix puppy after him, he said "Sure". Very cool guy.  MY Dave was a super-smart (just as cool) dog, who grew to the size of a long-haired coffee table, loved my children, and put up with life in a small apartment, leashed walks (not wild forest runs) in Union Square, and a very irritating Afghan who lived down the block. 

 

Because Dave was a dog of the non-digital age, I have very few photos of him that I can easily access. HOWEVER, he looked exactly like this guy. 

Only even handsomer. :)

 

So I have a connection with the name Dave. And I have christened this edition of 2 On The Aisle The Dave Edition, even if every Dave on this list might prefer to be called David. Trust me, my informality is based on love. Talented Broadway creators and performers all, I will call you David, but mean Dave. :) 

 

Yazbek

 

Zippel

Wayne

 

Hyde Pierce

 

...and Burns.

 On our list is David Yazbek, composer/lyricist of The Band's Visit, The Full Monty, Tootsie, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and more. David Zippel, pithy pundit who supplied the lyrics for City Of Angels, Hercules, The Women In White, and more. David Wayne, David Hyde Pierce and David Burns...Broadway (and film and TV) actors sublime. So a bevy of Daves.

Meanwhile, we've entered the Gulag season, and our 90 day countdown (from now until April 1st, and its potential of civilized weather) has begun. Please understand, I do not believe in running off to sunnier climes, escaping upstate winters...oh, no. Not me. I believe in sticking it out here on the shores of a Great Lake, and just COMPLAINING about it! That's the way I roll. So expect that. Plus we'll have firewood (Broadway) to mound in the fireplace (Radio, esp. 2OTA!), to keep us toasty (and singing along). 

Now to find my mukluks and balaclava. Ahhhh...to have a coat like Dave's!

Opening Number (Santino Fontana, Company, Tootsie)

Lovesick (Sherie Rene Scott, Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown)

Lie To Me (Brian Stokes Mitchell, Sherie Rene Scott, Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown)

Model Behavior (Laura Benanti, Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown)

Invisible (Patti LuPone, Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown)

When I'm Not Near The Girl I Love (David Wayne, Finian's Rainbow)

 

Something Sort Of Grandish (David Wayne, Finian's Rainbow)

 

Farewell Amanda (David Wayne, Adam's Rib) 

 

The Life Of The Party (David Wayne, The Happy Time) 

 

A Tough Act To Follow (David Hyde Pierce, Jill Paice, Curtains)

A Penny In My Pocket (David Hyde Pierce, Curtains)

You Won't Succeed On Broadway (David Hyde Pierce, Tim Curry, Spamalot)

Here I Am (Sherie Rene Scott, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) 

The More We Dance (John Lithgow, Sherie Rene Scott, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) 

Dirty Rotten Number (John Lithgow, Norbert Leo Butz, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels)

It Takes A Woman (David Burns, Hello, Dolly!)

Impossible (David Burns, Brian Davies, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum)

Everybody Ought To Have A Maid (David Burns, Zero Mostel, Jack Gilford, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum)

Waiting (Company, The Band's Visit)

The Beat Of Your Heart (Andrew Polk, The Band's Visit)

Omar Sharif (Katrina Lenk, The Band's Visit)

Itzik's Lullaby (John Cariani, The Band's Visit)

Answer Me (Adam Kantor, Company, The Band's Visit)

A Beat Behind (Bernadette Peters, The Goodbye Girl)

One Last Hope (Danny Devito, Hercules)

You're Nothing Without Me (James Naughton, Gregg Edelman, City Of Angels)

I Won't Let You Down (Santino Fontana, Tootsie)

Gone, Gone, Gone (Lillie Cooper, Tootsie)

Unstoppable (Santino Fontana, Lillie Cooper, Ensemble, Tootsie)