Travel, they say, improves the mind...

 Bryan d'Arcy James and Daniel Breaker,

the original Shrek and Donkey, back in 2008.

Shrek ran for just over a year on Broadway,

One of the most expensive musicals of its day (25 mill?).

It got tons of Tony noms, but won only one

(for those costumes)!

 "The Travel Song" 

with the same duo,

now outfitted in those award-winning duds!

 Among a horde of other accomplishments since Shrek,

Daniel Breaker is presently starring in Hamilton

as Aaron Burr!

 (That's who I saw in the role, and he was super!)

 The Frogs

was written by Stephen Sondheim

and produced in 1974

in Yale University's (amphibian-appropriate) pool.

In 2004 it was revived at Lincoln Center

(well, they do have a fountain!),

with Nathan Lane's tweaks.

Above Nathan as Dionysus and Roger Bart as Xanthias,

  traveling companions to the Underworld,

from whence they hope to retrieve George Bernard Shaw,

so he (and Art and Literature)

can save the world. 

Just watch out for the frogs.

 

 The cast huddled about Susan Stroman,

who directed.

Can you pick out John Byner?

Also in the huddle: Roger B,

Nathan, Peter Bartlett, and Burke Moses. 

 See? These are the scary frogs.

 And you can't do a travel "set"

without Elaine Stritch's ode

to the wrong people who do it.

Above, Elaine as Cruise Director Mimi Paragon 

on the boat to Europe

in Sail Away!

 

Had to include this shot of Elaine with 

"passenger" Alice Pearce

who you may recognize as Lucy Schmeeler

(Girl of Mystery)

from On The Town.

 (And Mrs. Kravitz on Bewitched?)

 Elaine with Noel Coward,

the perpetrator of this musical.

Ed Sullivan spotlighting Elaine on 

the Toast of the Town,

during her On Your Toes run in 1954.

 And I had to add a shot of The Perfect Furlough...

ever seen this movie?
Me neither!

Troy Donahue, Les Tremayne, Linda Cristal, Keenan Wynn,

Janet Leigh, Tony Curtis, Elaine and King Donovan, 1958.

Sounds like "On The Town" but in France,

and maybe no Lucy Schmeeler

(unless Elaine was playing that part! :)

Here's to May, Smirnoff, and Saying No!

 Hoops

(the precursors of kites, Frisbees and Jarts)!

They used to be a thing

back in Merry Old, I guess.

Lerner and Loewe's Camelot  swirled onto Broadway

in 1961

with Julie, Richard and Robert.

Julie was nominated for a Tony, 

but it was Richard who walked away with one.

 And not to forget Roddy McDowell as Mordred,

whose days look to be numbered, above. 

 Love this vodka ad,

back in the days when Moss Hart

catered your cast party

and even invited the dog.

Robert's debut on Broadway brought him a Theatre World Award

 

 Joan Roberts (who played Laurey)

and Celeste Holm (Ado Annie)

in the original Oklahoma,

relaxing back stage,

maybe with a Smirnoff or 2.

Below, Celeste with Joseph Buloff and Ralph Riggs.

 Celeste was 26 when she played Ado Annie;

after her success, she'd go on to star in Bloomer Girl,

and then Hollywood reached out an arm! 

 In the movie version,

Gloria Grahame was the Ado Annie dame,

below with Shirley Jones.

Gloria's film career was losing steam when she 

accepted the role,

and audiences had a hard time believing 

that this very successful noir actress
(The Bad And The Beautiful, The Big Heat, A Lonely Place)

could be fresh faced and wholesome.

 She didn't win any points behind the camera either,

alienating her co-stars,

while suffering from a paralyzed upper lip

(the result of plastic surgery).

 Had to include the above shot

from The Greatest Show On Earth, 1952,

and an Edith Head costume for glorious Gloria.

Ms. Grahame (the owner of 4 husbands)

did her own stunts in that movie

as Angel, The Elephant Girl.

Playlist For Sunday, May 6, 2018: Cain't Say No to Spring!

Tra lah! It's May! And I won't ruin the rest of the lyric with Julie's lusty bits. But maybe, just maybe, we have all the snow, hail, and slush behind us now. Well, especially if we refuse to turn around and check. All that we have left to face now is locusts, and when locust season is, I haven't a clue, so let's not worry about the locusts for now, and just get out there and pretend to garden (for the neighbors' sakes) and bike and toss frisbees and jarts (JARTS!) and avoid painting your stairs or the Bilco and ferret about in the shed to find the barbie and make summer plans!

Having typed that, it seems like a lot of stuff to do. I'm feeling seasonal pressure. So much to cram into those 10 or 12 weekends of 72 degrees or higher...but a dash of Broadway, like a dash of bitters, lightens those long lighted days. Did you know Hair just turned 50? Did you know Gavin Creel (Gavin must come from a long line of fish basket-toting folk) was in Hair AND She Loves Me AND Hello Dolly AND Millie? And that Daniel Breaker, who played Donkey in Shrek (The Musical), is presently our new Aaron Burr in Hamilton? (And he's fantastic...those eyes!). AND that a new musical based on The Sting is (maybe) coming to (perhaps)(dare we hope) Broadway, starring (a slightly thicker around the tum-tum) Harry Connick, Jr.? That alone is worth a piece of Mahler! :)

Broadway will waft thru my windows (and my brain) throughout this most socially-chuffed, physically-energizing, overly-priced-probably season.  So fill your (not plastic! no excuse for plastic, I don't even CARE if you have a pool!) glass with something icy, rim that glass with salt (store the rock salt deep in above shed caverns, so you won't get confused), and Let The Sun Shine In!


Aquarius (Sasha Allen, Company, Hair)
The Lusty Month Of May (Julie Andrews, Camelot)
I Wonder What The King Is Doing Tonight (Richard Burton, Camelot)
Then You May Take Me To The Fair (Julie Andrews, Knights Of The
      Round Table, Camelot)
If Ever I Would Leave You (Robert Goulet, Camelot)
Till The Clouds Roll By (Hugh Panaro, Rebecca Luker, Jerome Kern Treasury)
All The Elks And Masons (Christopher Fitzgerald, Jessica Stone,
      Life Begins At 8:40)
She Didn't Say No (Jeanne Lehman, Jerome Kern Treasury)
I Got Life (Gavin Creel, Company, Hair)
Easy To Be Hard (Caissie Levy, Hair)
Let The Sun Shine In (Company, Hair)
I Cain't Say No (Celeste Holm, Oklahoma!)
I Cain't Say No (Gloria Grahame, Oklahoma!)
I Cain't Say No (Patti LuPone, Don't Monkey With Broadway)
Travel Hopefully (Steven Pacey, Malcolm Sinclair, By Jeeves
I Love To Travel (Nathan Lane, Roger Bart, The Frogs)
Travelin' In Louisiana (Female Ensemble, Sugar Babies)
Travel Song (Bryan d'Arcy James, Daniel Breaker, Shrek The Musical)
Why Do The Wrong People Travel? (Elaine Stritch, Sail Away)
Welcome To The Theatre (Lauren Bacall, Applause)
Welcome To Brooklyn (Evan Pappas, Lainie Kazan, Josh Mostel, Tim
      Curry, My Favorite Year)
Welcome To The 60s (Marissa Jaret Winokur, Harvy Fierstein, Hairspray)
Welcome To Transylvania (Ensemble, Young Frankenstein)
Welcome To Kanagawa (Ernest Harada, Ensemble, Pacific Overtures)
Welcome To Nowhere (Katrina Lenk, John Cariani, Ensemble, The Band's
      Visit)
Not For The Life Of Me/Thoroughly Modern Millie (Sutton Foster, Company,
      Thoroughly Modern Millie)
Long As I'm Here With You (Sheryl Lee Ralph, Thoroughly Modern Millie)
The Speed Test (Marc Kudisch, Sutton Foster, Thoroughly Modern Millie)
Welcome To Holiday Inn (Michele Lee, Seesaw)
Welcome To The Renaissance (Michael James Scott, Something Rotten!)
Welcome To The Night (John Lithgow, Bryan d'Arcy James, Company,
      Sweet Smell Of Success)

Found!

 Not a ton of shots from

70, Girls, 70...

but these are from the Masterworks vault,

taken at the cast recording.

Mildred Natwick featured above. 

 Dorothea Freitag and 

Karen Gustafson (the associate music director, on left).

 Hans Conreid who took on David Burn's role

when he became ill. 

(Uncle Tanous??)

Below, Lillian Roth. 

Warming up for Patti!

With Patti LuPone performing Sunday (4/2918)

at Eastman,

a mini-pictorial tribute seems appropriate!

Patti was born in Northport, Long Island in 1949,

She graduated from Juilliard

(the school's first Drama division to graduate, 1972),  

and then continued her acting work with John Houseman

as part of The Acting Company (1972-76).

 Pics from just SOME of her signature musicals,

(tho she's done as many straight plays, 

if not more!):

Above, the ill-fated Baker's Wife (1976),

with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz...

Patti got to play Genevieve

and sing the marvelous "Meadowlark" song.

It never made it to Broadway (well, not yet!).

That was followed by her participation in 

Studs Terkel's Working,

which closed after 24 performances. 

 (Just try and find a photo of THAT original production!)

 Evita, the creation of Andrew Lloyd Webber (below)

and Tim Rice, 1979.

Despite the fact that the production was

stressful for Patti,

she won her first Tony Award for her portrayal of Eva Peron.

 (The second would come for Gypsy, 29 years later.)

 As Reno Sweeney 

in a Lincoln Center Theatre revival of Anything Goes (1987).

 Patti originated the role

 of Norma Desmond 

in the original West End production 

of Sunset Boulevard, 1993,

and was promised that she would open the show

on Broadway, as well.

But Andrew Lloyd Webber fired her, and replaced her with

Glenn Close.

As you'd expect,

Patti discusses this chapter of her life in detail

in MORE than one chapter of her memoir.

 (Pick it up. No holds barred.)

 In the revival of Sweeney Todd, above,

with Michael Cerveris...2005.

Patti played tuba and bells in this production,

and still had time to make

Mrs. Lovett's meat pies!

 Another production from 2005, done regionally:

Anyone Can Whistle,

with Patti as Mayoress Cora Hoover Hooper.

From War Paint, 2017

Patti as Helene Rubenstein, and another Tony nomination...

This production was forced to close 1 month early

when it became clear that Patti required immediate

hip-replacement surgery.

(Hey, I have something in common with Patti LuPone! :)))

Patti as Joanne in a Ravinia Festival production 

of Company...

"The Ladies Who Lunch".

She is set to reprise this role in the 

Fall 2018 West End production.

A Tribute To Tresses!

 Hair! 

Streamin', Flaxen, and Waxin'...

our first theme on Sunday's 2 on the Aisle. 

The original Hair hit Broadway in 1968,

and was NOT an instant success.

Nudity, controversial topics,

and though nominated for Best Musical,

it lost out to 1776.

However, it ran for four years!

Original Off- and On- Broadway cast members included

Diane Keaton, Melba Moore, Ben Vereen,

and Heather MacRae.

Scott Miller wrote in 2001:

"Not only did many of the lyrics not rhyme, 

but many of the songs didn't really have endings,

 just a slowing down and stopping, 

so the audience didn't know when to applaud. ... 

The show rejected every convention of Broadway, 

of traditional theatre in general,
and of the American musical in specific.
And it was brilliant."

 In 2009,

it was revived with Gavin Creel (above) 

and Will Swenson (below, center)

as the leads, Claude and Berger.

It won for Best Revival.

 Below, James Rado and Gerome Ragni, 

who did the book and lyrics,

and Galt McDermot, the man with the music.

James and Gerome conceived of the musical.

They were inspired by "some characters we met in the streets, 

people we knew and our own imaginations. 

We knew this group of kids in the East Village who were dropping out 

and dodging the draft, 

being kicked out of school for growing their hair. 

There was so much excitement in the streets and the parks 

and the hippie areas, 

and we thought if we could transmit this excitement to the stage 

it would be wonderful."

Galt was living another lifestyle entirely

when he was introduced to the pair;

he lived in Staten Island with a wife and kids.

(Note tie. Note white shirt. Note...Hair!)

 A couple more "Hair" entrees:

Above, from the original Grease, we'll hear

Marya Small (at lower right) who played Frenchy,

with "Beauty School Drop Out".

Below, from Hairspray,

Clark Thorell as Corny Collins

and Marissa Jaret Winokur as Tracey

with "(It's) Hairspray!"

 Above, a West End performance of

Hot Mikado...

from which we'll hear 

"Braid The Raven Hair."

I think neither Gilbert NOR Sullivan envisioned a color scheme

like this for their original!

Below, 2 more pics from other "Hot" productions 

hither and thither...

 Included in our tribute to tresses,

Mary Martin lathering her locks

8 times a week for 2 years of a Broadway run

of South Pacific. 

Below, more shampooing about to commence with

Richard and Oscar

doing the honors for 

Mary and her replacements in the show:
Janet Blair and Martha Wright (1954).

 And in another country entirely,

Lena Horne and Ricardo Montalban

in Jamaica, 

a Harold Arlen/Yip Harburg musical from 1957.

The show was written specifically for

Harry Belafonte,

but when he fell ill,

the lead was shifted to Lena.

Super choreography by Jack Cole,

produced by David Merrick,

and it lasted 1.5 years on Broadway.

 Above, Lena with Josephine Premice and Ossie Davis.

Everybody got nominated,

but all came home empty-handed.

Below, a pic from the recording of the cast album.

 We'll hear "Push De Button,"

"Little Biscuit",

and "Cocoanut Sweet."

Playlist For Sunday, April 29, 2018: Pencils Down!

In preparation for our June final, I would like everyone to take a few moments  to review some of the information we will be assessing on the coming exam. This will include everything from last semester, as well as this one, so don't think you're going to get away with stuff JUST from January on! Like geometry, Jazzercise, and old epis of Downton Abbey, Broadway musicals build on that which came before; they effing evolve, revolve and tumble dry, bub, so to know the NEW, you must know the OLD. So sayeth a bunch of very...knowledgeable people.

And don't expect those damn multiple choice cake-y questions! This is gonna be an essay test, baby. You will need to write full sentences, and at least one should include a semi-colon. There just aren't enough semi-colons around these days. PLUS, you will need to connect. You know, like R&H with Guettel, and roller skates with Gene, and Comden with Greene (no, they weren't married, but did they ever have a fling?), Jessica M. with John P., and who was really supposed to star in that little bagel, Jamaica? If you've been taking notes, and listening in class, then you should have no trouble at all with the final. Hands of those who've taken notes. Anybody? ANYBODY???

Me neither. I mean, half this stuff I'm still discovering. Everybody gets an A in my book. If you can stand to listen to my Broadway drivel and the weird shows I put on display, you get extra credit...double if you know my favorite Broadway composer! Or my favorite color. That counts, too. ;;; !


Old Folks (Mildred Natwick, Hans Conried, Lillian Roth, Gil Lamb, Lillian
      Hayman, Goldye Shaw, Lucie Lancaster, 70, Girls, 70)
(It's) Hairpray (Clark Thorell, Hairspray)
Beauty School Dropout (Marya Small, Alan Paul, Grease)
I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out Of My Hair (Mary Martin, South Pacific)
Braid The Raven Hair (Neil Copperthwaite, Hot Mikado)
Hair (Gavin Creel, Will Swenson, Hair)
You're A Builder Upper (Jessica Molaskey, Make Believe)
Stepsister's Lament (Jessica Molaskey, Make Believe)
So Many People (Jessica Molaskey, Make Believe)
Push De Button (Lena Horne, Jamaica)
Little Biscuit (Josephine Premice, Ossie Davis, Jamaica)
Coconut Sweet (Lena Horne, Adelaide hall, Jamaica)
Delishious (Bobby Short, Bobby Short Is K-RA-ZY For Gershwin)
Mad About The Boy (Christine Ebersole, Christine Ebersole Sings Noel
      Coward)
I Like Myself (Seth McFarland, In Full Swing)
The Beauty Is (Kelli O'Hara, The Light In The Piazza)
Let's Walk (Victoria Clark, Michael Berresse, The Light In The Piazza)
American Dancing (Instrumental, The Light In The Piazza)
The Light In The Piazza (Kelli O'Hara, The Light In The Piazza)
I'm An Old Cowhand (Harry Connick, Jr., 25)
Take It From An Old Man (Dakin Mathews, Waitress)
Goodbye, Old Girl (Robert Shafer, Stephen Douglass, Damn Yankees)
The Old Man (Stephan Bogardus, Jeffry Denman, Ensemble, White
      Christmas)
70, Girls, 70 (Mildred Natwick, Ensemble, 70, Girls, 70)
When You Are Old And Gray (Tom Lehrer, Revisited)
Times Are Hard For Dreamers (Savvy Crawford, Amelie)
There's No Place Like Gnome (David Andino, Amelie)
Halfway (Savvy Crawford, Phillipa Soo, Amelie)
Where Do We Go From Here(Phillipa Soo, Adam Chanler-Berat, Amelie)
Meadowlark (Patti LuPone, Don't Monkey With Broadway)
Millworker (Patti LuPone, Don't Monkey With Broadway)
Don't Cry For Me, Argentina (Patti LuPone, Don't Monkey With Broadway)