Playlist For November 6, 2022: Angie Day!

My tribute to Angela Lansbury is long overdue. I could have smushed a hurried version into the line-up during our fall pledge drive. Or tossed the Halloween playlist out entirely. But I didn't. I'm sort of plan-ful and deliberate and non-spon-taneous when it comes to producing a 2 On The Aisle, hence the tardiness. But I wanted to do it right, and give Dame Angie full focus. Shoveling her shows into fundraising or "scarey Broadway" (with the exception of some Sweeney!) wouldn't have worked for me. 

 

So NOW. Now we bring on the Mame and the Mama Rose. The Bedknobs,  Balloons, Beauties and Beasts. The Nellie Lovett (who knew she had a first name?). All the goodies. Comedic, coy, grandiose, gut-wrenching...all Angela. 

First "professional gig": At the Samovar Club in Montreal, age 16, doing an act with her mom.

First movie: Gaslight, age 19. (Nominated for an Academy Award) Second movie, National Velvet. Third, The Picture of Dorian Gray. 

Strangest "mom" role?: The Manchurian Candidate. She was only 3 years older than Laurence Harvey, who played her "son". (Nominated for an Academy Award)...but don't forget Blue Hawaii (playing Elvis Presley's mom). That's pretty strange too. Insert Angela quote here: Hollywood only wanted her to play "bitches on wheels and people's mothers."

First Tony: Mame, 1966....(Second Tony, Dear World. Third, Gypsy. Fourth, Sweeney. Fifth, Blithe Spirit. Sixth, Lifetime Achievement. I'll stop now.) 

  

Number of Emmy Nominations for "Murder, She Wrote": 18. No Wins. NONE!?!?!

 

Number of Times I Saw Her Onstage: About 8. 7 of these in Sweeney. The 8th, in Blithe Spirit, with Christine Ebersole and Rupert Everett. She was 83 when she took on that Broadway production, supposedly wearing an ear piece to help her with cues and lines. Whatever. She was marvelous...

Otherwise, you've probably read all the obits and read of her triumphs/also-rans/family life, so I won't bore you with words. I'll wait til Sunday and overwhelm you with songs, how's that? Two hours of Angela awaits!

 

Open A New Window (Angela Lansbury, Mame)

The Worst Pies In London (Angela Lansbury, Sweeney Todd) 

Wait (Angela Lansbury, Len Cariou, Sweeney Todd)

By The Sea (Angela Lansbury, Len Cariou, Sweeney Todd)

Goodbye, Little Yellow Bird (Angela Lansbury, The Picture Of Dorian Grey)

How'd You Like To Spoon With Me? (Angela Lansbury, Til The Clouds Roll By)

A Step In The Right Direction (Angela Lansbury, Bedknobs And Broomsticks)

That's How Young I Feel (Angela Lansbury, Mame)

Bosom Buddies (Angela Lansbury, Mame)

Me And My Town (Angela Lansbury, Anyone Can Whistle)

I've Got You To Lean On (Angela Lansbury, Anyone Can Whistle)

Beauty And The Beast (Angela Lansbury, Beauty And The Beast)

Age Of Not Believing (Angela Lansbury, Bedknobs And Broomsticks)

Be Our Guest (Jerry Orbach, Angela Lansbury, Beauty And The Beast)

Some People (Angela Lansbury, Gypsy)

Mr. Goldstone, I Love You (Angela Lansbury, Gypsy)

Together, Wherever We Go (Angela Lansbury, Barrie Ingham, Zan Charisse, Gypsy)

It's Today (Angela Lansbury, Mame)

A Little Priest (Angela Lansbury, Len Cariou, Sweeney Todd)

Parlor Songs (Roland Rusinek, Angela Lansbury, Ken Jennings, Sweeney Todd)

You'll Never Get Away From Me (Angela Lansbury, Barrie Ingham, Gypsy)

If He Walked Into My Life (Angela Lansbury, Mame) 

Nowhere To Go But Up (Angela Lansbury, Ben Whishaw, Company, Mary Poppins Returns)

Rose's Turn (Angela Lansbury, Gypsy)

We Need A Little Christmas (Angela Lansbury, Mame)

Liasons (Angela Lansbury, A Little Night Music)

Each Tomorrow Morning(Angela Lansbury, Dear World)

Finale (Angela Lansbury, Company, Mame)

 

 

Playlist For October 30, 2022: Broadway Treats (no tricks!)...The Halloween Edition!

 So...over the weekend I went to 2 Halloween parties. And my costume for both was Zombie Old Lady Robot from the Future. I think that's what I called it, because it seems you have to label the costume for it to be something other than just "dressing up". Goodwill came in very handy for the silver-sequined, mini jump suit base. The rest (circular saw earrings, drippy necklace, fake blood) is of course always "on hand", as is the jacket I bought for $15.00 from Urban Outfitters about 20 years ago, marked down from $45.00 when no one bought it (Whatta THEY know!?). The last few years I've either been Norma Desmond (Sunset Boulevard, avec turban, negligee, and cigarette holder) or just a plain Zombie. So this was sort of like combining the 2. It went over quite well at both events, though I must admit that my audiences were imbibing briskly, or maybe I just put a spell on 'em. 

I think I ate off my black lipstick.

And what the hell is that thing looming behind me?

And it's not even Halloween yet. I have a chance to make more Zombie Robot appearances, but perhaps I should just leave 'em wanting more. :) 

Oh, and not to forget LAST WEEK, when I traveled to NYC for my 39th birthday: It was swell, it was great...had the whole world on a plate, tho I realize (in my dotage) that the pace...man! I think I walked 5 miles my first day (Delta's JFK terminal is 4 miles long by itself). And you have to stay awake. It's not like sleep walking to Wegmans. You gotta bump through crowds, choose the right subway platform, leave an hour early, good luck finding a seat, and read the damn reviews. Be woke (both ways)! The food was superb, the cocktails sublime, the shows super, the hotel expensive, and rendezvousing with Child #2 heart-warming.

Polish breakfast

Tequila cocktail!

Chocolate cheesecake (that's raspberry drips, not fake blood)

Drunk Shakespeare (they skewered Macbeth)

and A Strange Loop (from the nose-bleeds).

But I digress: It's the Halloween Edition this Sunday and I have never done a Halloween Edition before. Does Broadway have enough "Halloween" songs? Like actually scary or just tacky? Maybe Tacky/Scary should be our subtitle. Case in point: Zombie Prom. Old Black Magic. Witches (both Wicked, East AND West). A Phantom or 2. A Hyde. And a large man-eating plant. 

 

 One from Column A (Beetlejuice)

and Two from Column B (Zombie Prom)

Broadway shivers. Bumps in the night. Candy corn (definitely CORN). Boo. Etc. Slay you Sunday!

 

I Put A Spell On You (Bette Midler, Hocus Pocus)

Skid Row (Downtown) (Hunter Foster, Kerry Butler, Ensemble, Little Shop Of Horrors)

Dentist! (Orin Scrivello, Little Shop Of Horrors)

Feed Me (Hunter Foster, Michael Leon Wooley, Little Shop Of Horrors)

Bewitched, Bothered, And Bewildered (JoAnn Greer, Pal Joey)

Witches' Brew (Leslie Uggams, Marilyn Cooper, Barbara Sharma, Hallelujah, Baby!)

Those Were The Good Old Days (Ray Walston, Damn Yankees)

I Want To Be Evil (Eartha Kitt, That Bad Eartha)

Popular (Kristin Chenowith, Wicked)

I'm Not That Girl (Idina Menzel, Wicked) 

Wonderful (Joel Grey, Idina Menzel, Wicked)

That Old Black Magic (Jerry Lewis, The Nutty Professor)

That Old Black Magic (Louis Prima, Keely Smith)

That Old Black Magic (Spike Jones And His City Slickers)

Morticia (Nathan Lane, The Addams Family)

The Moon And Me (Kevin Chamberlain, The Addams Family)

When You're An Addams (Nathan Lane, Ensemble, The Addams Family)

The Woman's Dead (Debra Monk, Edward Hibbert, Ensemble, Curtains)

Why Are All The D'ysquiths Dying? (Jefferson Mays, A Gentleman's Guide To Love And Murder)

The Man Is Dead (Sasha (played by the orchestra conductor of the moment!, Curtains)

Not While I'm Around (Ken Jennings, Angela Lansbury, Sweeney Town)

Jonny Don't Go (Jessica Snow-Wilson, Zombie Prom)

Zombie Prom (Karen Murphy, Richard Muenz, Zombie Prom)

What I Know Now (Leslie Kritzer, Beetlejuice)

Facade (Ensemble, Jekyll & Hyde)

The Music Of The Night (Michael Crawford, Phantom Of The Opera)

Masquerade (Ensemble, Phantom Of The Opera)

Welcome To Transylvania (Villager Ensemble, Young Frankenstein)

Roll In The Hay (Sutton Foster, Roger Bart, Young Frankenstein)

Transylvania Mania (Roger Bart, Christopher Fitzgerald, Sutton Foster, Young Frankenstein)

Puttin' On The Ritz (Roger Bart, Shuler Hensley, Young Frankenstein)

 

Playlist For October 16, 2022: 2 Toasts...and a KA-Ching!

Hey y'all! (Y'all?? Where the heck did that come from?) Guess I'm just Debbie-Reynolds-Excited because it's October, the very best month of the year, if you don't count December. (I'm not gonna count it.) Especially THIS October because not only do I get to be another year older (39. Again. I'm holding at 39.), but it's also my 10th year of 2 On The Aisle. That's right, I started my on-air "career" on October 21, 2012, here at Jazz90.1. The show was only 1 hour long at that point, 1 hour being totally enough time to terrify and palpitate me (and probably my audience). After the first 3 shows, I was ready to throw in the towel, fraught (love that word fraught. Reminds me of Bud Fraught-ley.) with anxiety and "I'll never be good enough" blues. BUT I prevailed, and although there's still room for improvement, I'm still here (as Stephen and Elaine would say/sing), pushing buttons, monitoring volumes, deep breathing, and tongue-tying my way thru (now) 2 hours of Broadway every week. And I still love it. 

 

Me, when I'm not radio-ing.

Yup, I'm a 3rd grader.

So we're celebrating. A Birthday, an Anniversary, annnnnd a Pledge Drive! Thanks to folks like you, Jazz 90.1 gets to play whatever it wants (to its multifaceted content), unshackled from mega corporations that dictate, and commercial contracts that demand. What a station! Can you imagine 30 plus volunteers coming together to produce such a thing? (Well, I can. I managed the Kendall Lawn Chair Ladies for 8 seasons. Herding cats and all that.) Anyway, it's like the Virgin Birth. Almost 50 years of broadcasting, thanks to miracles like volunteers and listeners like YOU!

Another one of me, non-DJ-ing.

The result of herding Lawn Chair Ladies. Don't rain on my parade.

 

If you appreciate all that we do (from food drives to cruises to concerts to 24 hour entertainment), let us know with a donation. $5.00, $500.00, $12.50, $29.95...it all counts, it all matters, and when it all gets added up, it equals another year of jazz, blues, standards, fusion, computer talk, and Broadway. We'll be swell, we'll be great, gonna have the whole world on our plate. With You. :)  

                        

 

 

 

Overture (Instrumental, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum)

I Love Betsy (Rob McClure, Honeymoon In Vegas)

Shiksa Goddess (Norbert Leo Butz, The Last Five Years)

I Could Be In Love With Someone Like You (Jason Robert Brown, Wearing Someone Else's Clothes)

Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen (Cameron Mason, Baayork Lee, Ensemble, A Chorus Line)

Dance: Ten; Looks: Three (Pamela Blair, A Chorus Line)

One (Company, A Chorus Line)

Let Me Be Your Sugar Baby (Ensemble, Sugar Babies)

Sugar (Tony Roberts, Robert Morse, Sugar)

Sugartime (The McGuire Sisters)

Don't Laugh (Victoria Clark, Sondheim: The Birthday Concert)

You Could Drive A Person Crazy (Donna McKechnie, Pamela Myers, Susan Browning, Company)

Losing My Mind (Barbara Cook, Follies)

No Time At All (Irene Ryan, Pippin)

Old Folks (Mildred Natwick, Gil Lamb, Ensemble, 70, Girls, 70)

A Band In New York City (Corey Cott, Laura Osnes, Ensemble, Bandstand)

Do You Miss New York (Dave Frishberg, At The Algonquin)

When You're Far Away From New York Town (Jack DeLon, Jennie)

My Attorney Bernie (Jessica Molaskey, At The Algonquin)

The Boy From... (Linda Lavin, The Mad Show)

That Old Black Magic (Marilyn Monroe, Don Murray, Bus Stop)

A Bowler Hat (Isao Sato, Pacific Overtures)

Johanna (Victor Garber, Sweeney)

Send In The Clowns (Glynis Johns, A Little Night Music)

Free (Zero Mostel, Brian Davies, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum)

Bring Me My Bride (Ron Holgate, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum)

I'm Calm (Jack Gilford, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum)

Lovely (Zero Mostel, Jack Gilford, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum)

 

 

 

Playlist For October 9, 2022: Pledge a Go Go!

Four new words I've recently learned that I believe will be very useful: 

Psychrophilic. Thriving in low temperatures. This is a hallmark of all who enjoy winter sports. Example: "I am not psychrophilic, so no, I won't luge with you today."

 

Fantod. A state of irritability and tension. Example: "I am fantod, and fantod is us."

Podsnappery. Refusing to acknowledge unpleasant facts. Example: "Broadway musicals often provide me with podsnappery, and then some, pal!"

Epicharikaky. Joy found in the misery of others. Example: "I can't really pronounce epicharikaky, but it sounds like schadenfreude to me." 

 

 

As you can imagine, usage opportunities abound! I need to write these on my bathroom mirror and practice while I shave in the mornings. :) Not sure if I'll actually say them on air (that last one will not flow easily off my lips, ever), but I'll give them the old college try. 

MEANWHILE...

Pledge Drive Time! Yup, when those leaves start falling, you know we'll come begging for Jazz 90.1 support. I'll try to make all that fund raising talk upbeat, podsnappy, and exude not one iota of fantod! But remember that this station could go POOF (like those memorable flops... The Golden Apple, Big, Spiderman, and Merrily We Roll Along) if our coffers go empty. 

 

Ginger has the right idea.

 

So the playlist has EVERYTHING! Quite literally! Plus Time (Jazz 90.1 has been circling the Sun for 49 years) and Life (cuz we're still alive). You can call in your donation, you can do it online, you can mail in a check...lots of ways to give us dough, and of course when you do, thank you gifts a go go will be sailing back your way. And come 2023, you can be a Jubilarian (okay, I snuck in another new word, but you can GUESS that meaning, right?) and help us celebrate a healthy 50 years!

 

Everything's Coming Up Roses (Patti LuPone, Gypsy)

Everything Old Is New Again (Hugh Jackman, The Boy From Oz)

Everything Stops For Tea (Jack Buchanan)

Just Leave Everything To Me (Barbra Streisand, Hello Dolly!)

Money Isn't Everything (Ensemble, Allegro)

Time Heals Everything (Bernadette Peters, Mack & Mabel)

Everything Changes (Jessie Mueller, Waitress)

Just In Time (Judy Garland, A Musical Anthology)

Maybe This Time (Liza Minnelli, Cabaret)

Once Upon A Time (Ray Bolger, Eileen Herlie, All American)

It Was A Good Time (Liza Minnelli, A Musical Anthology)

Bidin' My Time (Mary Martin, Girl Crazy)

Some Other Time (Betty Comden, Nancy Walker, Ensemble, On The Town)

The Best Of Times Is Now (George Hearn, Company, La Cage Aux Folles)

To Life (Zero Mostel, Fiddler On The Roof)

A Lot Of Livin' To Do (Dick Gautier, Bye Bye, Birdie)

On The Street Where You Live (Jordan Donica, My Fair Lady)

Where Is The Life That Late I Lived? (Brian Stokes Mitchell, Kiss Me Kate)

Real Live Girl (Sid Caesar, Little Me)

If He Walked Into My Life (Angela Lansbury, Mame)

What A Life (Richard Kind, Fiddler On The Roof)

The House We Live In (Christine Ebersole, Grey Gardens)

It's Great To Be Alive (Jo Stafford, Johnny Mercer)

You Haven't Lived Until You've Played The Palace (Carol Channing, Show Girl)

Mr. Livingstone (Ethel Merman, Happy Hunting) 

Live A Little (Tony Roberts, Marlyn Mason, How Now, Dow Jones)

All Of My Life (Phil Silvers, Do Re Mi)

Being Alive (Dean Jones, Company)