More Oldie Goldies!

 Helen Kane, the Boop Boop Ba Doop Girl...

her signature song was "I Wanna Be Loved By You,"

written by Herbert Stothart and Harry Ruby, 1928.

 And she is thought to be the inspiration for Betty Boop!

 Leslie "Hutch" Hutchinson,

an American cabaret star of the 20s and 30s,

had a successful career in London...

and had some scandalous affairs with The Royal Family!

 And he's thought to be the inspiration for

the character of "Jack Ross"

on Downton Abbey.

(But Hutch had a much better voice!)

 Der Bingle, circa 1936,

when he starred in "Pennies from Heaven,"

and sang the title song.

 Bing cavorting with Edith Fellows, his co-star,

on the set of "Pennies."

 The Our Gang gang in a promo shot

...more "Pennies" cavorting!

 Fletcher Henderson, 

from Georgia, was raised on classical music

and was going to be a chemist until...

a job with a music publisher led to SWING!

and finally...his own orchestra,

one of the most commercially successful 

African-American Jazz bands of the 1920s. 

Ruth Etting, America's Sweetheart of Song

 Ruth was born in David City, Nebraska...

and it was actually her costume-designing talents that got her started in theatre.

From there, it was a jump to the chorus line.

Above is from her Broadway debut with 

The Ziegfeld Follies of 1927.

She once admitted she was no actress,

"but I can sell a song."

 After several song hits, like "Shine on Harvest Moon," 

and "Ten Cents a Dance,"

Ruth headed to Hollywood where she starred

in a number of shorts...the above shot is from

Hips Hips Hooray, with Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey.

 From Roman Scandals (1933), 

in which Ruth appeared with Eddie Cantor...

she had only 1 song and 2 lines in the movie,

but her name on the marquee brought in the bucks!

 Ruth with her infamous first husband,

Martin "Moe, the Gimp" Snyder.

After their divorce in 1937 and Ruth's move to California,

Moe followed and shot Ruth's new beau (and accompanist)

Myrl Alderman...

 That sounded like the plot of a great movie,

so, of course, THEY MADE IT!

Love Me or Leave Me (1955),

with James Cagney as Moe, Doris Day as Ruth,

and Cameron Mitchell as Myrl.

(Ruth later said she would have preferred Jane Powell to play her!)

 Ruth went on to marry Myrl, Moe went to jail,

and here's a pic of Myrl and Ruth prepping

for the radio show she did for CBS in the 1930s.

America's Sweetheart of Song,

with over 60 hit recordings,

passed away in 1978.

The notoriety of the shooting and subsequent trials

effectively finished her performing career. 

(Today it would probably help!)

Playlist for Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015: It's Not Just Kick Lines!

 I'm always amazed at the range that Broadway offers...Jerry Herman has you dancing in the streets, with 15 or more choruses building, buiLDING, BUILDING...yet there are the lean, luscious ballads of Jules Styne, the "Very Soft Shoes" sand-dance of Mary Rodgers, the quirky use of "Moonlight Sonata" when Schroeder and Lucy sit down to play.  And it's all Broadway.  Thank goodness, cuz otherwise we'd be constantly out of breath with all those kick lines, Jerry!

So with that in mind...we have spectacular Hello, Dolly!...intimate Fantasticks...that weirdo Avenue Q!  And a bunch more.  My favorite show number this week is from the little Shoe String Revue, 1955, which featured soon-to-be stars like Bea Arthur, Dody Goodman, and Arte Johnson, and music by the likes of Charles Strouse and Sheldon Harnick.  I "found" a gem recently in this show's playlist called "A Million Windows and I", written by Alec Wilder (music) and Norman Gimbel (lyrics)...am I the only one on the planet not to have heard this gorgeous thing before?  The rendition we'll hear on Sunday is with Ann Hampton Calloway, and it is absolutely wonderful.  I'm tellin' ya!

Then it seems we are developing a new "THING" on 2 on the Aisle: an Oldie but Goodie "Corner."  Songs of the 1920s and 30s...and this week's offerings include a Helen Kane classic, "I Want to Be Bad."  Well, we had Eartha wanting to be evil last week, so.....And a Ruth Etting selection, "Dancing in the Moonlight." Yes, before somebody named Sherman Kelly wrote that King Harvest/Van Morrison hit, there was another TOTALLY different "Moonlight," by Walt Donaldson and Gus Kahn...and it's perfect.

See you on Sunday!  


Put On Your Sunday Clothes (Charles Nelson Reilly, Carol Channing, Company,
                          Hello, Dolly!)
Oliver! (Willoughby Goddard, Bruce Prochnik, Ensemble, Oliver!)
Boy For Sale/Where is Love? (Willoughby Goddard, Bruce Prochnik, Oliver!)
I'd Do Anything (Georgia Brown, Michael Goodman, Ensemble, Oliver!)
As Long as He Needs Me (Georgia Brown, Oliver!)
I Can See It (Jerry Orbach, Kenneth Nelson, The Fantasticks)
Much More (Rita Gardner, The Fantasticks)
Plant a Radish (William Larson, Hugh Thomas, The Fantasticks)
They Were You (Kenneth Nelson, Rita Gardner, The Fantasticks)
Book Report (Ensemble, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown)
Schroeder/Moonlight Sonata (Reva Rose, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown)
If You Were Gay (John Tartaglia, Rick Lyon, Avenue Q)
Pandemonium (Company, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee)
Dancing in the Moonlight (Ruth Etting)
All I Do is Dream of You (Leslie Hutch Hutchinson)
Pennies From Heaven (Bing Crosby, Pennies From Heaven)
I'll See You in My Dreams (Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra)
I Want to be Bad (Helen Kane)
Opening for a Princess (Joseph Bova, Company, Once Upon a Mattress)
Sensitivity (Jane White, Allen Case, Once Upon a Mattress)
Very Soft Shoes (Matt Mattox, Once Upon a Mattress)
Happily Ever After (Carol Burnett, Once Upon a Mattress)
If It's Time to Go (Ensemble, Brownstone)
A Million Windows and I (Ann Hampton Calloway, The Shoe String Revue)
Who Are You Now? (Barbara Streisand, Funny Girl)
Go Back Home (Audra McDonald, Go Back Home)
Crazy World (Julie Andrews, Victor/Victoria)
I Put My Hand In (Carol Channing, Ensemble, Hello, Dolly!)
Dancing (Charles Nelson Reilly, Carol Channing, Ensemble, Hello, Dolly!)
It Only Takes a Moment (Charles Nelson Reilly, Eileen Brennan, Hello, Dolly!)
Hello, Dolly! (Carol Channing, Ensemble, Hello, Dolly!)

Shirley B: An Actress Grows in Brooklyn

 I've inundated you before with shots of Shirley,

but couldn't resist a couple more...

above, an early playbill from
By the Beautiful Sea, 1954.

Shirley played Lottie Gibson, a former vaudevillian.

 From 1951, the musical adaptation of 

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

Due to Shirley's popularity, the writers beefed up 

the part of Aunt Cissy, so Shirley could become the lead.

 Juno, Marc Blitzstein's adaptation of

Sean O'Casey's Juno and the Paycock, 1959.

Shirley played Ma.

Only 16 performances for this show...

well, it's a bloody serious musical!

 With her Juno co-star, Melvyn Douglas.

Two Shirleys, in Hot Spell,

a movie from 1958...

it starred Shirley, Shirley MacLaine, and Anthony Quinn.

Never saw it, but it sounds/looks fabulous.

Dames at Sea...well, it started in a pond!

 It all started in 1966, at tiny Caffe Cino, 

a little coffee house in Greenwich Village,

and it was such a hit that the show went from

off off Broadway....to off Broadway!

At that point it went from a cast of 6 to ...

well, a few more! 

 It's You...Bernadette Peters (who was 18 when this show began),

and David Christmas.

 At the cast album recording...1968...

from left, Sally Stark, Tamara Long, and Bernadette.

By the time the show was recorded,

Bernadette was 20 years old,

but when the show opened...18!

Original poster, and the original title:

Goldiggers Afloat!

Monsieur Chevalier...1888 - 1972

 Born in 1888, Maurice Auguste Chevalier was born in Paris,

and worked a number of jobs

(carpenter, electrician, doll painter!),

until he was "discovered" singing (unpaid) at a local cafe.

Dancing partner, Mistinguett...in the Folies Bergere.

They had more than a dancing relationship!

 The Smiling Lieutenant, 1931...

 by this time Maurice was a huge star,

appearing in this musical with Claudette Colbert and Miriam Hopkins.

 With Tania Feodor in Le Petit Cafe, 1931

 Just being gorge...

 Strutting it with Desi and "Little Ricky"

 in the I Love Lucy episode 

"Lucy Goes to Mexico," 1958.

  

 With Audrey Hepburn...

a promo shot for Love in the Afternoon, 1957.

Rudy Vallee: 1901 - 1986

 Herbert Prior Vallee,

born in 1901, in Vermont (though he was raised in Maine).

At his peak, Rudy was mobbed with flappers,

one of the first pop stars!

 Rudy first found success with his band,

The Connecticut Yankees...in which he became (possibly!)

the first "crooner."

 With Edgar Bergen (and Charlie McCarthy),

on one of Rudy's radio shows...

 "The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour."

Whatta title!

 And yes, he did use that megaphone!

 Rudy appeared on three episodes of 

TV's Batman in the 1970s,

as Lord Marmaduke Ffogg,

with Glynis Johns as Lady Penelope Peasoup.

Really! 

“Lord Marmaduke Fogg”

“Lord Marmaduke Fogg”

He co-starred with Robert Morse

in both the movie and staged production of

How to Succeed...

at first Rudy strongly suggested he be allowed to sing

some of his old favorites, avec le megaphone.

The idea was nixed, thankfully!

 

Two icons of different eras,

Elvis meets Rudy.

A promotional shot for the movie

Live a Little, Love a Little, 1968.