In Memoriam: Kim Corcoran

I'm deeply saddened to announce that Kim Corcoran died on July 26th, 2024 due to severe injuries sustained in a cycling accident on June 15th. Her final show was broadcast by her colleagues at Jazz 90.1 on July 28th.

This will likely be the final post on Kim's blog, but we (Kim's family) will keep the site available as long as possible. Although this started as a minor companion to her show, it's clear that posting her thoughts here had become important to her over the years. If you'd like to read more about Kim's life, there is an obituary. Jazz 90.1 has also created a memorial page.

In lieu of flowers and other memorial gifts, we've suggested making a donation in memory of Kim to one of the following charities (or to the charity of your choice):

• The Brain Injury Association of America
• The Brain Trauma Foundation
• Doctors Without Borders
• Oxfam America

Thanks to everyone who has read Kim's posts. We hope people will continue to enjoy their wit and moments of touching honesty.

Playlist For Sunday, June 16, 2024: Do the (Tony) Hustle!

Recent Brain Droppings: 

1.) Tis the season of long bike rides. I'm talkin' pushing the (pedal) envelope towards that century mark. BUT every time I get to around 65 miles, all I can think of is "why" ...as in WHY did you plan a gosh darn 86 mile trek to Bim Bom Bay? Of course, then I stop and eat a Pay Day and turn on my soundtrack (50s? 70s? Broadway?) and ...I still think the thoughts, but pant and puff home.

That's me with the 'kerchief! Old Paint is pretty zippy.

2.) During the pandemic, I followed a zillion You-Tubers. Like the ones who show you how to crochet with wire or make vegan cheese or water fast for 40 days. I'm finding I don't need them anymore. Like, what was I thinking? Do I really need to make earrings out of cheese and wire? Well, basically back then I'd watch anything. Jettison. Now.

 

 

 3.) I still have critters in my "roof" ...like bad upstairs neighbors that I had in NYC, only with no attitude, just teeth. Broom handle knocking works for about 30 seconds. I mean, it really sounds like these guys are black-walnut bowling. Bocci at 3am. What the...

4.) Annnnd I'm still doin' the Tony Hustle! 37 more musicals this coming Sunday, though I DID leave one out. I guess true Broadway-philes will notice the omission immediately, but it's a show I knew was not worth ordering a CD of (2 hints: Juke-boxy and centered on dance) and I couldn't find a You-Tube edition that was sound-worthy. Ah well...at least that omission will make room for 1 brand new musical that's favored to win the 2024 award. So there. 

Meanwhile, Jazz 90.1 is in the middle of a short but sweet fund raiser. Trying to meet that June 30th deadline, financial-goal-wise. Our members (like you!) are super generous every pledge drive, but if you can find it in your heart (and in your checking account) to add a couple more pennies to our "coffers", that would be wonderful. 

As always, THANKS and see ya for Part 2 of our Tony Quest (we ride at DAWN! I mean, at 3) on Sunday, and maybe at the Jazz Fest, right? I'll be boothing it. Come see me! 

Masquerade (Ensemble, The Phantom Of The Opera)

Waitin' For The Sun To Shine (Daniel Jenkins, Big River)

Off To The Races (George Rose, The Mystery Of Edwin Drood)

Do You Hear The People Sing? (Michael Maguire, Ensemble, Les Miserables)

Overture: Gotta Dance/Papa, Won't You Dance With Me (Company, Jerome Robbins Broadway

You Gotta Look Out For Yourself (Scott Waara, Ensemble, City Of Angels)

No Man Left For Me (Dee Hoty, Will Rogers' Follies)

Naughty Baby (Jodi Benson, Harry Groener, Crazy For You)

Kiss Of The Spider Woman (Chita Rivera, Kiss Of The Spider Woman)

Loving You (Donna Murphy, Jere Shea, Passion)

The Perfect Year (Patti LuPone, Kevin Anderson, Sunset Boulevard)

Seasons Of Love (Company, Rent)

We'll Meet Tomorrow (Company, Titanic)

They Live In You (Samuel E. Wright, The Lion King)

Dancin' Dan/Me And My Shadow (Ben Vereen, Company, Fosse)

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

Thoroughly Modern Millie (Sutton Foster, Ensemble, Thoroughly Modern Millie)

(It's) Hairspray (Clarke Thorell, Hairspray)

The Avenue Q Theme (Company, Avenue Q)

Whatever Happened To My Part? (Sara Ramirez, Spamalot)

Big Girls Don't Cry (Ensemble, Jersey Boys)

The Song Of Purple Rain (Lauren Pritchard, Spring Awakening)

Champagne (Karen Olivo, Lin Manuel Miranda, In The Heights)

Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher (Santino Fontana, Ensemble, Billy Elliot)

Everybody Wants To Be Black On A Saturday Night (Company, Memphis)

Hello! (Company, The Book Of Mormon)

Say It To Me (Steve Kazee, Once)

Charlie's Soliloquy (Stark Sands, Kinky Boots)

You're A D'ysquith (Jane Carr, Bryce Pinkham, A Gentleman's Guide To Love And Murder)

Ring Of Keys (Sydney Lucas, Fun Home)

The Schuyler Sisters (Leslie Odom Jr., Renee Elise Goldsberry, Philippa Soo, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Hamilton)

Anybody Have A Map (Rachel Bay Jones, Ensemble, Dear Evan Hansen)

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

When The Chips Are Down (Chris Sullivan, Nabiya Be, Hadestown)

Shut Up And Dance With Me (Karen Olivo, Aaron Tveit, Moulon Rouge)

A Strange Loop (Jaquel Spivey, A Strange Loop)

Great Adventure (Victoria Clark, Kimberly Akimbo)

Kaleidoscope (Maleah Joi Moon, Hell's Kitchen)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Playlist For Sunday, June 9, 2024: Tony, Let's Haul It!

Well, this past Saturday (June 1st) I celebrated an anniversary...13 years ago that day, I moved out of NYC. It took 1 U-Haul, driven by my cousin, and 1 SUV (the old large kind) to hold books, plants, clothes, lamps, "art", and a piano. About 150 miles north, the U-Haul stopped hauling, and we sat on a Thruway shoulder waiting for a rescue (4 hours, 88 degrees), which "hauled" the defunct "U" to Colonie, just north-ish of Albany, for a replacement. 

 

Not the actual U-Haul in question, but you get the "picture".

So I stopped being a New Yorker on the 1st, and became an Upstater on the 2nd. I guess the powers-that-be saw it necessary for me to take a longer decompression time, specifically in an Albany Comfort Inn, with Pizza Hut "fuel", to go from City to Country Mouse. Why those powers thought Albany an appropriate decompression venue, and not Skaneateles or the casino at Verona, I'll never know. 

This is me, lounging in my pink feathers about the barn.

 

And just this year, I can now say I've spent half of my life in each location. Half Park Ave., half Green Acres. The pendulum will now swing in the upstate direction, unless I move to Iceland and spend 34 years THERE! 

All this to say, I'm embarrassed by my absence on Broadway. Here it is again, Tony Awards time, and I regret to say I haven't seen 1 of the nominees for Best Musical. (I did see Merrily We Roll Along, but that's a Revival nom. Doesn't count.) Soooo with all that ignorance of the NEW, I've planned a challenge for myself. Let's play alllll of the past Best Musical Tony Winners since the category was launched, starting in 1948 and going all the way to 2023.

 

One of the first Tony Award Ceremonies, held at the Waldorf Astoria

(perhaps that's Carol Haney, at Table 49???),

and (below) the money clip awarded to the male winners,

pre-trophy!

 

That's 77 musicals. This week, 37 (tho my new favorite number is 34). The following, 40? We WILL do this, do not think we can't. I'll just have to shut up and spin. Mostly it'll be in a tight chronological order. Notice I said mostly. That could change.

But tune in and count down...If we can't make it to this year's red carpet, we can reminisce about the old ones. They'll sound just as good, as long as we vacuum. :)

 

We Open In Venice (Alfred Drake, Patricia Morrison, Harold Lang, Harold Lang, Kiss Me Kate)

Bloody Mary (Ensemble, South Pacific)

Guys And Dolls (Stubby Kaye, Johnny Silver, Douglas Deane, Guys And Dolls)

Shall We Dance (Gertrude Lawrence, Yul Brynner, The King And I)

Ohio (Rosalind Russell, Edie Adams, Wonderful Town)

The Olive Tree (Alfred Drake, Kismet)

The Pajama Game (Ensemble, The Pajama Game)

Heart (Jean Stapleton, Ensemble, Damn Yankees)

Get Me To The Church On Time (Stanley Holloway, My Fair Lady)

Till There Was You (Barbara Cook, Robert Preston, The Music Man)

Look Who's In Love (Richard Kiley, Gwen Verdon, Redhead)

Edelweiss (Theodore Bikel, The Sound Of Music)

Gentlemen Jimmy (Eileen Rodgers, Fiorello!)

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

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

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

Miracle Of Miracles (Austin Pendleton, Fiddler On The Roof)

Dulcinea (Richard Kiley, Man Of La Mancha) 

Finale (David Burns, Carol Channing, Company, Hello, Dolly!)

Cabaret (Liza Minnelli, Cabaret)

My Own Morning (Leslie Uggams, Hallelujah, Baby!) 

Welcome To The Theatre (Lauren Bacall, Applause)

The Lees Of Old Virginia (Ron Holgate, 1776)

The Little Things You Do Together (Elaine Stritch, Ensemble, Company)

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

I'd Like To Be A Rose (Raul Julia, Clifton Davis, Two Gentlemen Of Verona)

Man Say (Joe Morton, Ernestine Jackson, Raisin)

Mean Ole Lion (Ted Ross, The Wiz) 

The Joint Is Jumpin' (Ensemble, Ain't Misbehavin') 

Sing! (Don Percassi, Renee Baughman, A Chorus Line)

Tomorrow (Andrea McArdle, Annie)

Wait (Len Cariou, Angela Lansbury, Sweeney Todd)

Only With You (Raul Julia, Nine) 

Getting Out Of Town (Carol Cooke, Joseph Bova, 42nd Street) 

Don't Cry For Me Argentina (Patti LuPone, Evita)

Memory (Betty Buckley, Cats)

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

Playlist For Sunday, June 2, 2024: To bust or not to bust, that's the question!

A rainy Memorial Day, so here I sit inside...kind of content, truth to tell. I snuck (sneaked? sneakered? snacked?) in a quick bike ride early, to avoid the forecasted forecast, but now it's like a free inside day. Am I turning into a rain-loving Otto Bruno? Maybe I'll paint a cabinet, maybe I'll re-binge Ripley...or nap, like a 68,000 year old lady is expected to. Or maybe I'll concoct another 2 On The Aisle playlist.

 

 

But I can't do JUNE. As in Carousel's JUNE. 

Because I never liked Carousel.

Too sappy. If I hear that soliloquy one more time. Clam Bakes. June busting out all over. Mr. Snow. Not for me. Same with most Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals. I sorta put up with 'em. Maybe Bloody Mary. Maybe that Goatherd song (once a year). Maybe Something Good (Elaine Stritch's version, less sap). That's about it. Otherwise, all those cowboys and farmers and nuns and Mitzi washing her hair give me headaches. 

 Tra La. It's June. Let's bust out!

ALTHOUGH June IS busting out, at last. And I guess I should play it? ....Nah.

But there is a birthday that we've gotta celebrate: Marvin Hamlisch's natal day is this week. We can't walk by that one (Gosh, "I hope I get it " THIS TIME!) or dance by it, either. Also Marilyn Monroe's BD is June 3. No, she did not do anything on Broadway, but she did "do" Hollywood, and I think she's underrated as a singer. That's my excuse anyway, and I'm sticking with it! 

 

Marvin and Marilyn...just a pair of Geminis.

 

Plus Chicago. It opened 49 years ago (June 3 is its anniversary) and it's still running (and running and running). I guess he really had it coming. The Razzle and the Dazzle are on loop.

 

So give a listen, if you can, come Sunday...enjoy your free inside (or outside) days as we bust out (or not) into June. (Okay, maybe I'll play it NEXT Sunday. But no promises.) Huzzah!

Lazy (Marilyn Monroe, Donald O'Connor, Mitzi Gaynor, There's No Business Like Show Business)

Razzle Dazzle (Jerry Orbach, Chicago)

Roxie (Gwen Verdon, Chicago)

He Had It Coming/Cell Block Tango (Catherine Zeta-Jones, Ensemble, Chicago)

The Column (John Lithgow, Sweet Smell Of Success)

One Track Mind (John Noseworthy, Sweet Smell Of Success)

Welcome To The Night (John Lithgow, Ensemble, Sweet Smell Of Success)

Sunshine, Lollipops, and Roses (Lesley Gore)

The Travelin' Life (Liza Minnelli, Liza! Liza!)

Life Is What You Make It (Johnny Mathis)

A Private Man (Marvin Hamlisch)

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

Fallin' (Robert Klein, They're Playing Our Song)

They're Playing My Song (Company, They're Playing Our Song)

Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen (Company, A Chorus Line)

I Can Do That (Wayne Cilento, A Chorus Line)

I Hope I Get It (Company, A Chorus Line)

After You Get What You Want (Marilyn Monroe, There's No Business Like Show Business)

River Of No Return (Marilyn Monroe, River Of No Return)

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

Good News, Bad News (Martin Short, Bernadette Peters, Tammy Minoff, The Goodbye Girl)

What A Guy (Bernadette Peters, The Goodbye Girl)

Too Good To Be Bad (Bernadette Peters, Carol Woods, Susann Fletcher, The Goodbye Girl)

Dreamers (Sarah Brightman, Jean Seberg)

Nobody Does It Better (Carly Simon, The Spy Who Loved Me)

The Way We Were (Barbra Streisand, The Way We Were)

You'd Be Surprised (Marilyn Monroe)

Heat Wave (Marilyn Monroe, There's No Business Like Show Business)

Bye Bye Baby (Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes)

Playlist For Sunday, May 26, 2024: Bibbidees!

Random thoughts: 

1.) George Clooney is coming to Broadway. Sutton's coming BACK to Broadway. Plus 1,700 shows have opened in the last 2 months, just in time to be celebrated (or ignored) by the Tonys. My head is spinning with all the Broadway that I haven't seen or heard. UGH. I can't keep up. I'll definitely watch the Tony ceremonies, but it'll all be NEW to me. 

 

Can you imagine the swarm for tickets?

And the swarm at the stage door?

Ms. Foster will be taking on the mantle

   (and the moat's seaweed)

of Princess Fred, come Spring '25.

2.) It's NOT too darn hot. It's waaaaay too early to start complaining about the heat and the bugs and the weeds. It's embarrassing! After all those months spent complaining about cold? Can't do it. (But it IS rather warm. Like really. I really hate it. Geez.)

3.) I quit the band. Some of you may remember my blithely joining up with the community band out here. Somebody threw me an alto sax and said "You can do it!" and I believed them? I never caught the practice bug, never taught my embouchure to behave, and just basically sucked. So a Quitter am I! UGH. Easier to talk music than make it. (I did learn the Poirot theme song, however. That's something.)

 

4.) All those heroes and villains from last Sunday's 2 On The Aisle has metamorphosed into a Fairy Tale Theme! A Once Upon a Time/Happily Ever After collection, including Shrek, Cinderella, Into The Woods, Mattress...I'll try not to play too many saccharine love songs and Bibbidee Bobbidees, but some WILL appear. Apologies if your teeth start to ache (or your nose starts to grow). What price Broadway, huh?

 

And hey, send me a request or 7! Or toss me theme! I get desperate sometimes, out here sweating in the heat, without a sax, missing the Clooney, and trying to create more wacky 2 On The Aisles for y'all. See ya Sunday. :)

 

 

Once Upon A Time (Maureen McGovern)

Story Of My Life (John Tartaglia, Ensemble, Shrek The Musical)

I Think I Got You Beat (Sutton Foster, Brian d'Arcy James, Shrek The Musical)

What's Up, Duloc? (Christopher Sieber, Ensemble, Shrek The Musical)

The Prince Is Giving A Ball (Ensemble, Cinderella)

Stepsisters' Lament (Brandy Zarle, Jen Bechter, Cinderella)

In My Own Little Corner (Lea Salonga, Cinderella)

A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes (Ilene Woods, Cinderella)

Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo (Ensemble, Cinderella)

So This Is Love (Ilene Woods, Mike Douglas, Cinderella)

An Opening For A Princess (Company, Once Upon A Mattress)

Happily Ever After (Carol Burnett, Once Upon A Mattress)

Very Soft Shoes (Matt Mattox, Once Upon A Mattress)

Happily Ever After (Craig Lucas, Marry Me A Little)

Pleasant Little Kingdom (Stephen Sondheim, Sondheim Sings, Vol. 1)

Two Fairy Tales (Craig Lucas, Suzanne Henry, Marry Me A Little)

I've Got No Strings (Dickie Jones, Pinocchio)

Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (Walter Catlett, Pinocchio)

Who's Been Sitting In My Chair (Elaine Stritch, Goldilocks)

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

Gaston (Richard White, Jesse Corti, Beauty And The Beast)

On The Steps Of The Palace (Kim Crosby, Into The Woods)

Ever After (Tom Aldredge, Company, Into The Woods)

No One Is Alone (Kim Crosby, Chip Zien, Ensemble, Into The Woods)

Some Day My Prince Will Come (Adriana Caselotti, Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs)

I Built A Fairy Palace In The Sky (Ursula Connors, Chu Chin Chow)

The Queen Of Terre Haute (Peggy Cass, Fifty Million Frenchmen)

Queen Lucy (Reva Rose, Bob Balaban, You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown)

Where In The World Is My Prince? (Faith Prince, Miss Spectacular) 

Friend Like Me (Robin Williams, Aladdin) 

Part Of That World (Jodi Benson, Little Mermaid)

I've Got A Dream (Brad Garrett, Jeffrey Tambour, Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, Tangled)

Once Upon A Dream (Mary Costa, Bill Shirley, Sleeping Beauty)

Once Upon A Dream (Christiane Noll, Jekyll & Hyde)

Once Upon A Time (Ray Bolger, All American)

Playlist For Sunday, May 19, 2024: Devil May Care!

Okay, I'll admit it. I slept thru the Northern Lights. On the first night (Friday? the 10th?), I totally forgot and went to bed at 10. The second night, I remembered and went to be bed at 9:30. I do have an excuse: Both mornings I had gotten up at 4:30am, so sans a Nap Time, I was comatose by twilight. But now I regret it. All "those photos up on the wall" (Company), this time the wall of FaceBook, and I have nary a one. Ah well...at least I got some beauty sleep, as all around me will no doubt appreciate. (Hah!) 

Yep, missed it!

 

But another week, another theme, right? And this one was simply HANDED to me, from current events (the OTHER less celestial current events)! Bad guys. Villains. Evil Doers. Staring out (or sleeping mid-witness?) from allllll of my screens this week. Fortunately for us, most real life villains don't jump up and sing and dance (cuz they'd for sure be off key and fail miserably at slap ball changes). So I DEFINITELY prefer Broadway Bad Guys. They can hoof. :)

 

That's the theme, Broadway Villains annnnnd Broadway Heroes. Can't have one without the other. Can't have baloney without whipped cream, or so sayeth Moe. And that's easy, too. Plenty of musical champions and their nemesisssses (nemisi?) on the Great White Way. 

 

Mr. Applegate, brought to you by Ray Walston.

 

Bob Holiday as The Man Of Steel!

 

Clive Revill, possibly recording his version of Fagin.

Brian d'Arcy James as good guy Shrek 

(oh, and that's Daniel Breaker as Donkey...who I saw as Aaron Burr in Hamilton!)

 

 

So Superman, Shrek, Mr. Applegate, Ursula, a White Knight, Mordred...that's who's scheduled to appear. Exhortations to Be Good, Do Good, rescue the planet or change the world, along with temptations and poison cake and musical MEANess! The gamut (which I once heard pronounced ga-MUTT. Whatever). 

Take a break from Real Life Bad Un's and enjoy the Villains that can modulate, sing a sneer, and pirouette a threat. And take heart with those Heroes (I need a hero!) lifting us up (wind beneath my wings? Ugh. No.). It'll be fun...on Broadway. 

 

I Wanna Be Bad (Annette Hanshaw)

Captain Hook's Waltz (Cyril Ritchard, Peter Pan)

Poor Unfortunate Souls (Sherie Rene Scott, The Little Mermaid)

Witches' Brew (Leslie Uggams, Ensemble, Hallelujah, Baby!)

I'm A Bad, Bad Man (Ray Middleton, Annie Get Your Gun)

Bad Companions (Nathaniel Frey, Margaret Hamilton, Ensemble, Goldilocks)

Bad (John Behlmann, Shucked)

Reviewing The Situation (Clive Revill, Oliver!)

They Don't Know (Harriet Harris, Thoroughly Modern Millie)

You Can Get Away With Anything (Michael Crawford, The Woman In White)

The Seven Deadly Virtues (Roddy McDowell, Camelot)

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

Revenge (Michael O'Sullivan, It's A Bird...It's A Plane...It's Superman)

Dentist! (Douglas Sills, Little Shop Of Horrors)

Think Vulgar (David Ross, Emil Wolk, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)

Be Prepared (Jon Vickery, Lion King)

Hello, Little Girl (Robert Westenberg, Into The Woods)

Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf  (Barbra Streisand)

Zero To Hero (LaChanze, Lillias White, Ensemble, Hercules)

Man Of La Mancha (Richard Kiley, Man Of La Mancha)

My White Knight (Barbara Cook, The Music Man)

It's Superman (Patricia Marand, It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's Superman)

Doing Good (Bob Holiday, It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's Superman)

Being Good (Leslie Uggams, Hallelujah, Baby!)

Be Good Or Be Gone (Cass Morgan, Pump Boys And Dinettes)

Something Good (Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, The Sound Of Music)

Fie On Goodness (Ensemble, Camelot)

Heroes (Janet Dacal, Ensemble, Wonderland)

Who I'd Be (Brian d'Arcy James, Sutton Foster, Shrek)

Be The Hero (Norbert Leo Butz, Company, Big Fish)

There Won't Be Trumpets (Bernadette Peters, Anyone Can Whistle)

Once In A Lifetime (Anthony Newley, Stop The World I Want To Get Off)

One Person (Angela Lansbury, Company, Dear World)

 

 

 

Playlist For Sunday, May 12, 2024: Send A Dozen Gardenias

I lost my mom in 1995. That's 29 years ago. I can't really believe it's been that long. It's not hard to remember her face. Plenty of photos, of course, to help keep her image in mind...from high school age Gerry, to college (cavorting on a dorm roof?), to the mom I remember (she's always 40 years old in my memory banks, wearing a special black number, her hair bee-hived up...and a big rhinestone broach that I gave her for Christmas). She was 70 when she died. That sort of gives me the shivers, because I'm almost that now. 

 

 

Plus I'm living in her house. I've made a lot of changes, kept only a few items of her's, otherwise it'd be like living WITH her. But her recipe notes linger in the old cookbooks, her silverware in the drawer, her teapot, an evening bag...they're here. How long does DNA live? Cuz that's gotta coat a lot of surfaces, despite the errant Bon Amie and Pledge dustings I deign to do.

Keuka girls will be girls!

(That's Gerry on the left.)

Waxing a bit SAD here, and I shouldn't. You'll stop reading! But my guess is you all have similar connections to your moms, and it's bitter/sweet/sad/happy to think about them now.

 

Julie and a "game" lost to time? And it looks like such fun! :)

 

Sooooo ON A LIGHTER NOTE: We'll celebrate Moms AND May (it's a lusty month!), along with a couple favorite shows of mine (hey, I'm a mother, too!), like Life Begins At 8:40, The Drowsy Chaperone, and Me & My Girl. Plus a few comic "interludes". Gotta have comic interludes. 

 Beth Leavel feeling "Drowsy" and 

Robert Lindsay jumping about that lamp post,

in Me & My Girl.

What a cast! Du Barry starred Red Skelton, Virginia O'Brien,

Gene Kelly...we'll hear Salome (new to me!).

 

So tune in if you have a moment, between enjoying some SPRING and honoring that MOM. "Send a dozen gardenias."

 

 

The Lusty Month Of May (Julie Andrews, Camelot)

Mother's Day (Sami Gayle, Emma Rowley, Gyspy)

Motherhood (Carol Channing, Eileen Brennan, Sondra Lee, Hello, Dolly!)

You Remind Me Of My Mother (James Cagney, Yankee Doodle Dandy)

My Mother Would Love You (Ethel Merman, Panama Hattie)

You're A Builder Upper (Christopher Fitzgerald, Jessica Stone, Life Begins At 8:40)

Spring Fever (Kate Baldwin, Life Begins At 8:40)

Quartet Erotica (Brad Oscar, Christopher Fitzgerald, Philip Chaffin, Graham Rowat, Life Begins At 8:40)

If Momma Was Married (Tracy Venner, Crista Moore, Gypsy)

A Mother Doesn't Matter Anymore (Tyne Daly, Bye Bye Birdie)

Mother's Day (Sherie Rene Scott, Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown)

Camelot (Richard Burton, Camelot)

The Simple Joys Of Maidenhood (Julie Andrews, Camelot)

C'est Moi (Robert Goulet, Camelot)

As We Stumble Along (Beth Leavel, The Drowsy Chaperone)

I Am Aldolpho (Danny Burstein, Beth Leavel, The Drowsy Chaperone)

Toledo Surprise (Jason and Garth Kravitz, Company, The Drowsy Chaperone)

Can't Stop Talkin' About Him (Audra McDonald)

Another Song About Paris (Dave Frishberg)

Hiding In Plain Sight (Jessica Molaskey, John Pizzarelli, A Kiss To Build A Dream On)

I'm Hip (Blossom Dearie, Blossom Time At Ronnie Scott's)

Peas In A Pod (Christine Ebersole, Erin Davie, Grey Gardens)

My Best Girl (Frankie Michaels, Angela Lansbury, Mame)

Mama, A Rainbow (Daniel Fortas, Shelley Winters, Minnie's Boys)

Momma Look Sharp (Scott Jarvis, William Duell, B.J. Slater, 1776)

Salome (Virginia O'Brien, Du Barry Was A Lady)

Salomee (Ensemble, Hazel Flagg)

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

Me And My Girl (Robert Lindsay, Maryann Plunkett, Me And My Girl)

Once You Lose Your Heart (Maryann Plunkett, Me And My Girl)

Leaning On A Lamp Post (Robert Lindsay, Me And My Girl)

Rose's Turn (Ethel Merman, Gypsy) 

 

Playlist For Sunday, May 5, 2024: Star Stuff and Moon Matter

Do you get your tarot reading every morning? I have this one person I follow on YouTube who reads tarot cards from an astrological "bent" on a daily basis. Towers here, 5 of cups there...specifically for Libras or Capricorns or the Aries in your life.  For May, for instance, I have Stability on top of Stability. My house is not made of sticks or straw, I am told; it's reinforced steel. Who knew? A 200 year old cobblestone? Hey, she's saying "You got ground" this month. Yet...she flips another card and sees that it's a time to rest and recharge...and then a STAR card! (Okay, I'll take a frickin' nap and be a STAR!)...yadda yadda yadda. Do I believe all this star "dust"? Do I trust a handful of medieval Swords and Queens and Hanging Men? Yes! And No. 

 

 

But I do enjoy these "seers'" positivity. They can take the Death Card and swivel it, swerve it, and twerk it, to mean Hope and Opportunity and the death of bad crap. THAT I like! Plus she talks nice and calm. Brings down my cortisol levels. My BP. My shoulders come down from their home in my ears. Sort of like a Joe Pera smoothy.

 

Don't know Joe Pera? 

Check out his sleepy-time vids (YouTube, et.al.)

Hence, the kernel of a theme/idea grew in my pre-frontal, and the result is this week's edition: Stars And The Moon. I don't know of any musical that features tarot cards, so that idea had to be jettisoned. (A fortune teller "machine" does appear in Big, but I don't think she had a solo.) But there are plenty, nay a plethora, of star-studded songs and moon melodies...one from Hair, another from Mame, Funny Girl, Goldilocks, plus errant ballads from Doris and Audra and Babs and Bernadette.

A little Starshine here,

a little Moonlight there...

And a little Angela (and Bea) as the "lady" in the Mame Moon!

Star Tars, The Man In The Moon, Lady Day, Jiminy Cricket...we're all made out of Star Dust, right? So even if it's no longer the Age Of Aquarius (I'll say), we can still float out there for a while, fly to the moon, and wish on a star. :) See ya "Sun"day!

 

Stars And The Moon (Sutton Foster, Take Me To The World)

The Man In The Moon Is A Lady (Bea Arthur, Angela Lansbury, Mame)

Lazy Moon (Ensemble, Sail Away)

Once In A Blue Moon (John McMartin, Elmarie Wendel, Little Mary Sunshine)

Ridin' On The Moon (Stanley Wayne Mathis, St. Louis Woman)

What A Little Moonlight Can Do (Audra McDonald, Lady Day At Emerson's Bar And Grill)

Fly Me To The Moon (Max Von Essen, Call Me Old Fashioned)

Moon In My Window (Elizabeth Allen, Carol Bruce, Julienne Marie, Do I Hear A Waltz?)

Good Morning Starshine (Cassie Levy, Hair)

Bright Star (A.J. Shively, Bright Star)

We're All Made Of Stars (Aiden Demme, Ensemble, Finding Neverland)

I See Stars (Erika Henningsen, Mean Girls)

Dancing In The Moonlight (Ruth Etting)

It's Only A Paper Moon (Cliff Edwards)

Moon Song (Annette Hanshaw)

Oh, To Be A Movie Star (Barbara Harris, The Apple Tree)

Poor Little Hollywood Star (Virginia Martin, Little Me)

Star! (Julie Andrews, Star!)

I'm The Greatest Star (Barbra Streisand, Funny Girl)

Star Tar (Bernadette Peters, Dames At Sea)

Swinging On A Star (Bing Crosby)

I'll Buy You A Star (Johnny Johnston, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn)

You Are My Lucky Star (Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Singin' In The Rain)

Many Moons Ago (Harry Snow, Once Upon A Mattress)

When You're Driving Through The Moonlight (Julie Andrews, Alice Ghostley, Kaye Ballard, Ilka Chase, Cinderella)

There's A Rising Moon (Doris Day, Young At Heart)

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

Blue Moon (Ann Hampton Calloway, Blues In The Night)

Moon River (Audra McDonald)

The Greatest Star (Patti LuPone, Daniel Benzali, Sunset Boulevard)

Friendly Star (Judy Garland, Summer Stock)

When You Wish Upon A Star (Cliff Edwards, Pinocchio) 

When You Get Lost Between The Moon And New York City (Chris Cross, Arthur) 

Playlist For Sunday, April 28, 2024: Only Venn I'm On The Street (where you live)!

As a handful of you may know, I used to be a math tutor. This was long ago and far away, on another planet about 450 miles away. I did it for about 25 years, and given the number of private schools and well-heeled parents (think Mama Rose, aiming Louise at Harvard instead of The Palace), I was able to support a family of four on what that employment provided. 

Growing up, I wasn't such a confident math student...not the one whose hand would immediately pop up with  "47! The answer is 47!" Nope. I might well have had "47" in my mind and on paper, but I had no firm belief in "47" and would NEVER want to embarrass myself if "47" was wrong. That made me a perfect math tutor, actually. Especially with girls. Been there, embarrassed by that...so I propped up those gals' confidence levels, boosted that 13 year old's math-ego, and in general had a swell time doing it.

And I still feel a bit math-y now, even though I retired from it all when I left NYC. Hence my love of all things Venn. :)

 

 

 

I also like diagrams. And charts.

For the best view, click on. Zoom in.

 

I think I need to invent a few Venns of my own. Like a Sondheim vs Schwartz take. I mean they share first names, birthdays, and timely successes...and don't share ME liking both of them. Etc. I can visualize it now...

All that to say, there are no Sondheims or Schwartzes or MATH in this edition. In fact it's all about Streets. Boulevards. Roads. One Highway. And no expressways. Streets of Dreams, Roads to Hell, Avenues of Fifth, Park, and Q: Yes, another wacky (if desperate) theme. Plus birthday salutes to Sheldon (Harnick) and Carol (Burnett). (She'll be 92? Huzzah!)

But tune in...and heads up for a new Broadway Venn (or 7). Guess I've got some charting to do!

Every Street's A Boulevard In Old New York (Jack Whiting, Hazel Flagg)

Wall Street (Tamara Long, Dames At Sea)

Christopher Street (Warren Galjour, Ensemble, Wonderful Town)

Henry Street (Ensemble, Funny Girl)

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

Street Of Dreams (Peggy Lee, Dream Street)

Easy Street (Elaine Stritch, Stritch)

Easy Street (Dorothy Loudon, Robert Fitch, Barbara Erwin, Annie)

It's Good To Be Back Home (Carol Burnett, Fade Out - Fade In)

Little Girls (Carol Burnett, Annie)

Shy (Carol Burnett, Once Upon A Mattress)

Fifth Avenue (Shirley Temple, Young People)

Confession To A Park Avenue Mother (Charles Nelson Reilly, Parade)

Grant Avenue (Pat Suzuki, Flower Drum Song)

So Long, 174th Street (Robert Morse, So Long, 174th Street)

Don't Forget About 127th Street (Sammy Davis, Jr., Johnny Brown, Golden Boy)

The Streets Of Miami (Allan Sherman, My Son The Folk Singer)

The Avenue Q Theme (Company, Avenue Q)

If You Were Gay (John Tartaglia, Rick Lyon, Avenue Q)

There's A Fine, Fine Line (Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Avenue Q)

Walking Happy (Louise Troy, Norman Wisdom, Walking Happy)

Let's Take An Old Fashioned Walk (Eddie Albert, Allyn McLerie, Miss Liberty

Elegance (Charles Nelson Reilly, Eileen Brennan, Jerry Dodge, Sondra Lee, Hello, Dolly!)

Let's Take A Walk Around The Park (Ella Fitzgerald)

To Life (Zero Mostel, Michael Granger, Fiddler On The Roof)

Ice Cream (Barbara Cook, She Loves Me)

Little Tin Box (Howard DaSilva, Ensemble, Fiorello!)

Highway 57 (Jim Wann, Ensemble, Pump Boys And Dinettes)

Ease On Down The Road (Stephanie Mills, The Wiz)

Road To Hell II (Chris Sullivan, Hadestown)

42nd Street (Wanda Richert, Company, 42nd Street)

Playlist for Sunday, April 21, 2024: Save the Oomph!

I've always loved the opening number of Paint Your Wagon. "Where am I going? I don't know...When will I get there? I ain't certain...All I know is I am on my way." Doesn't that just say it all? We're all careening about, like bumper cars, not a straight line in our progress to be seen, but in this song, those dopey miners seem to feel pretty positive about it. "I'm on my way." Confidence, in the face of Confusion. It'll work out. I'll still get to "the gold".

Clint, Jean, and Lee...this is their hopeful (bathed) look.

Maybe that's why I love Julian Marsh in 42nd Street..."you're going out a youngster, but you're gonna come back a star!" And Ethel/Mamma Rose (the definitive stage mom/monster) with "Everything's Comin' Up Roses". Okay, so you're playing Paducah (on a pole) this week, but next week??? The Palace. Why not?

 

"And you say Allentown?"

Jerry Orbach and Karen Ziemba in 42nd Street

 

 

Mamma Rose sees roses in Sandra Church's future.

I guess Broadway is the ultimate paint on your wagon. Emblazoned in red, hope and passions running high. It's all gonna work out. Stand by and watch. That's the hook. Just wait and watch what happens!

As you can tell, I'm waxing a tad philosophic because it's Jazz90.1's pledge drive, and we have to "make the donuts" (and enough donuts) to last another 6 months. Some folks don't believe we'd fade out and off the airways without a financial injection twice a year, but we would. You are our only support! No big brothers with nasty cigars out there, holding us up. So if you want more Broadway Oomph in your life on a weekly basis (or jazzy drives to work, or bluesy all-nighters, or big band memories to swing with in your kitchen), show us some love. Jump on Jazz901.org...and throw us some moola. 

We only need enough to keep the wagon painted (and hopes high). :) 

 

Lullaby Of Broadway (Jerry Orbach, Wanda Richert, Company, 42nd Street)

Bells Are Ringing (Ensemble, Bells Are Ringing)

On My Own (Syd Chaplin, Bells Are Ringing)

I'm Going Back (Judy Holliday, Bells Are Ringing)

Watch What Happens (Kara Lindsay, Newsies)

Carrying The Banner (The Newsboys, Newsies)

Consider Yourself (Bruce Prochnik, Davy Jones, Ensemble, Oliver!)

As Long As He Needs Me (Georgia Brown, Oliver!)

You've Got To Pick A Pocket Or Two (Clive Revill, Ensemble, Oliver!)

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

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

Wandrin' Star (Lee Marvin, Ensemble, Paint Your Wagon)

The Yodel Blues (They Talk A Different Language)(Mary Hatcher, Kenny Delmar, Texas, Lil' Darlin')

By The Mississinewah (Ethel Merman, Paula Lawrence, Something For The Boys)

Way Out West (Judy Kaye, Babes In Arms) 

Back On Top (Patti LuPone, War Paint)

Fire And Ice (Eric Liberman, Ensemble, War Paint)

Pink (Christine Ebersole, War Paint)

I Got Rhythm (Ethel Merman, Girl Crazy)

Eadie Was A Lady (Ethel Merman, Girl Crazy)

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

Deep Beneath The City/Not There Yet (Company, In Transit)

Saturday Night Obsession (Erin Mackey, In Transit)

A Little Friendly Advice (Moya Angela, In Transit)

Shuffle Off To Buffalo (Carol Cooke, Joseph Bova, 42nd Street)

A Quarter To Nine (Tammy Grimes, Wanda Richert, 42nd Street)

We're In The Money (Karen Pruczik, Jeri Kansas, Ginny King, Ensemble, 42nd Street)

Playlist For Sunday, April 14, 2024: Spend a little dime on ...Jazz90.1!

So how was it for YOU? 

In my neck of the woods: Clouds, mosquitos, not half the people invasion that was predicted...and then dark, followed by darker dark. I had no idea how DARK it was going to get, until the street lights popped on and the bugs came out (and one goose seemed horribly confused, by the sound of it), but now I understand why those pagan dudes cowered, freaked out, and/or sacrificed to the gods. Impressive event. So even with typical upstate weather, I say Huzzahs to the Cosmo and...Encore! 

 

Meanwhile, our SPRING PLEDGE DRIVE rolls on. Last Sunday I had help with co-host Mary Ziarniak fielding calls (and ringing bells). THIS Sunday I'll be on my own, playing Broadway Blockbusters that love making an appearance this time of the year. Dollys, Seymours, Mormons, Lost Boys, and Charity. And all of them hoping that you'll be a charitable "Big Spender" and donate. See what I did there? Of course you did. 

 

 

 

Old-timey radio shots...our studio is edgy and buzzin' in comparison

(I do love the blue accents, tho. They go with my hair.)

 Below...a ship-to-shore radio on show at the Sun Studio in Memphis.

When in Memphis, eat ribs and fried chicken and get thee to the 

Sun and Staxx!

 

Now this is more like it!

Not fancy, but practical...just enough buttons (on the console, not me)!

 

And of course to help grease the GIVING gears, we offer oodles of Thank You Gifts. To see all of those goodies, plus the levels of giving, "pay" our website a visit. Want a mug? We got mugs. Want a fleece jacket to sport about town? We got fleece jackets. Want to give monthly? We got monthly options. What's not to like? :)

And please don't take "Mr. Rochester" for granted. He's got a Jazz Fest, an RPO, an Eastman, a Geva...and a Jazz Radio Station. Support your music of choice, whatever the genre, and keep them AND US alive and playing.

 

Hello, Dolly! (Carol Channing, Ensemble, Hello, Dolly!) 

Friendship (Sutton Foster, Joel Grey, Anything Goes)

Friend (David Garrison, Company, Snoopy The Musical)

Old Friends (Lindsay Mendez, Merrily We Roll Along)

Skid Row (Downtown) (Company, Little Shop Of Horrors)

Da-Doo (Hunter Foster, Little Shop Of Horrors)

Suddenly Seymour (Kerry Butler, Hunter Foster, Little Shop Of Horrors)

Two By Two (Andrew Rannells, Josh Gad, Company, The Book Of Mormon)

I Am Here For You (Andrew Rannells, Josh Gad, Company, The Book Of Mormon) 

Morning In New York (Instrumental, New York, New York)

A Major Chord (Colton Ryan, Clyde Alves, New York, New York)

A Quiet Thing (Colton Ryan, New York, New York)

If My Friends Could See Me Now (Gwen Verdon, Sweet Charity)

Rich Man's Frug (Instrumental, Sweet Charity)

The Rhythm Of Life (Arnold Soboloff, Ensemble, Sweet Charity)

Big Spender (Helen Gallagher, Thelma Oliver, Ensemble, Sweet Charity)

Out Of Your Head (Bobby Thornton, Ariana DeBose, A Bronx Tale)

Lady In The Long Black Dress (Joey Treacy Egan, Caesar Samayoa, Demond Green, Sister Act)

Still Hurting (Sherie Rene Scott, The Last Five Years)

Someone To Fall Back On (Jason Robert Brown, Wearing Someone Else's Clothes) 

What Kind Of Man (Debra Monk, Edward Hibbert, Jill Paice, Ensemble, Curtains)

Thataway! (Karen Ziemba, Ensemble, Curtains)

I've Gotta Crow (Mary Martin, Peter Pan)

Never Never Land (Mary Martin, Peter Pan)

So Long Dearie (Carol Channing, Hello, Dolly!) 

Put On Your Sunday Clothes (Charles Nelson Reilly, Carol Channing, Company, Hello, Dolly!)