How to Suceed in Business without Really Trying film on DVD

Okay, is Robert Morse meant to be viewed from a distance? I can imagine him being charming when he's on the stage, but in the film he seems more than a little ridiculous in the film version of How to Suceed in Business without Really Trying. Maybe that's part of the point, but I find the mugging that Mr. Morse does much of the time to be very annoying. It doesn't seem to add anything to one's understanding of the character, except maybe that's he's in on the joke.

This may be my least favorite Frank Loesser show. The music doesn't ever really sing, for me. The concept is funny, and by poking fun a corporate America, I can see why this show has continued to have a life, but from a strickly musical standpoint, it's no Guys and Dolls. I do like two songs--"Company Man" and the final "Brotherhood of Man." Of course, lots of songs from the stage version are cut in the film version, so I need to get the cast album and compare.

Rudy Vallee repises his role of JB Biggley from the stage version. The role of Biggley's nephew was played on stage by Charles Nelson Reilly, here it is played by Anthony Teague. Michele Lee is very likable as Rosemary, although her story-line (apart from ending up with the guy at the end) isn't developed very much. Ruth Kobart also is from the stage version where she was Miss Jones, Biggley's secretary. Ms. Kobart adds a lot vocally as the one women in "The Brotherhood of Man". It's a great full-throated soprano descant over the men's chorus.

Ooh, I just looked up the cast of the 1995 revival that Matthew Broderick starred in. Megan Mullally was Rosemary, Lilias White was Ms. Jones, and Jeff Blumenkrantz (with whom I did summer stock in 1984) was Biggley's nephew. I'll look for that cast album.

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser
Book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, Willie Gilbert

Produced on Broadway in 1961, film released in 1967
Cast: Robert Morse, Michele Lee, Rudy Vallee, Ruth Kobart, Arthur Teague

Lucky Stiff Off-Broadway Cast album

Weekend at Bernie's meets musical comedy in Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens' Lucky Stiff. No one is quite what or who they seem to be in this show that is not really a Who done it? but rather at They did What?

This is the first appearance of the song-wrting team of Flaherty and Ahrens in my Year, and I will need to make a point of finding other examples of their work, which includes Seussical, Ragtime, and Once on this Island. Lucky Stiff was their first effort together and, according the brief history of the show presented in the CD booklet, it premiered at Playwrights Horizons in 1988. This recording came out in 1994, though, and seems to be a studio recording made with an amalgam of casts, some from the original 1988 version.

The music is uniformly good. My only beef with the score is that perhaps much of it sounds the same. Since it is mostly upbeat, however, that's an easy sin to forgive. Two songs in particularly struck me and deserve some life outside the show: "Speaking French" is a faux-cabaret number which spoofs the language and the people; "Times like This" has particularly hilarious lyrics and is a nice dog alternative for listeners (like me) who are tired of characters singing about their cats.

The cast on this recording includes some notable performers who have continued to have significant musical theater careers, mostly Jason Graae and Judy Blazer. None in the cast seems a dud, though. Judy Blazer and Mr. Graae both appeared previously in my Year (both in a studio recording of Jerome Kern's Sitting Pretty), and they each seem enjoyable, versatile performers.

Lucky Stiff
Music by Stephen Flaherty
Lyrics and book by Lynn Ahrens
Opened in 1988
Studio cast recording made in 1994
Cast: Judy Blazer, Jason Graae, Debbie Shapiro Gravitte, Paul Kandel, Evan Pappas, Mary Testa

Chicago film

Seeing this film (I saw it originally at the multiplex) puts me in a mind to contemplate what makes a musical theater performer. What does make an actor capable of carrying off a musical? Certainly, the traditional three "threats" are important--singing, dancing, acting--but I think there is also some other, ineffable talents needed. Magneticism may be the fourth "threat". That's mostly what I see missing in the film of Chicago.

Catherine Zeta Jones seems to have magnetism on display in spades in this film. In fact, she may have scaled her performance for the stage, and could be selling the whole thing a little too much for film. Renee Zellweger and Richard Gere don't embarrass themselves in their performances, but sometimes they lack a bit of whatever it is that makes us unable to take our eyes off a magnetic musical performer. Queen Latifah also seems just shy of really nailing the performance as well, although having seen her in Hairspray, I think she's learning.

The extras on the DVD of this film include interviews with people involved in the original and subsequent Broadway incarnations of this show. Jerry Orbach is included along with Chita Rivera (who also has a bit role in the film).

Chicago

Music by John Kander
Lyrics and book by Fred Ebb
Film released in 2003

Based on the show from 1975

Cast: Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta Jones, Richard Gere, John C. Reilly, Queen Latifah,

Cats London production filmed for the tele

Don your leg warmers and shred your bath mat, because it's now and forever. It's Cats.

I believe this filmed version of the show was created with a mixed cast from several world productions and some notable returning actors who originated roles--most notably Elaine Paige. Having grown up listening to the Broadway cast album, with Betty Buckley as Grizabella, it was nice to hear Ms. Paige sing the iconic "Memory". It's interesting to think that Ms. Paige is singing this song that she first introduced 17 years earlier--she sounds vocally strong.

This may be the only time TS Eliot appears as one of the labels in my entries, unless there is a musical setting of "The Wasteland" that I've yet to discover. The poems that form the basis of the libretto for this show are delightful and full of whimsy. The irony is that while the poems are about cats on the surface, Eliot was actually commenting on the social structures of early 20th Century England--the structures of PEOPLE! But social commentary doesn't make for a good musical spectacular, so let's make them all cats.

I actually like much of the music from this show, and regretted any time the production values of this taping got in the way of watching and listening to the performers. There are several poorly edited moments in this DVD and some of the effects added to the taping that wouldn't have happened in a live stage performance which took away from my enjoyment of the show, rather than adding to it.

I received this DVD through Netflix and I think I'll hold on to it over the Thanksgiving holiday. Apparently my niece and nephews love singing along with the recording of Cats, but have not seen the production. I feel I should introduce them to the treacle before I show them the treats.

Cats
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics by TS Eliot
The DVD says it was released in 1998.
Cast: Elaine Paige, John Mills, Ken Page, Rosemarie Ford, Michael Gruber, John Partridge and a lot of other furry folks

Disney's Beauty and the Beast Original Broadway Cast Recording

I think there is a special kind of alchemy that happens between certain composers and lyricists. When the pairing really clicks, the composer writes better music than s/he would otherwise, and the lyricist's words reach a higher level. I believe that Alan Menken and Howard Ashman were that type of songwriting team, and the Broadway incarnation of Beauty and the Beast helps me make my case.

As most know, this project started as an animated film for Disney with songs by Menken and Ashman released in 1991. In 1994, when the film was expanded to be a Broadway show, additional music was needed. But Howard Ashman had died in the intervening years, so Menken paired up with Tim Rice to add eight songs to the score. Well, no insult intended to Mr. Rice, but the songs he and Mr. Menken wrote don't hold a Lumiere to the original songs by Menken and Mr. Ashman. There is one new song from the stage version that I do love--"If I Can't Love Her". This is a beautiful ballad.

I also think there are some gay references in Mr. Ashman's lyrics. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but 17 years ago to have a crowd with torches (in the Mob's Song) sing "We don't like what we don't understand, in fact it makes us scared" certainly could refer to reactions to the gay community. I also think that Gaston is given some gay lyrics: "Every last inch of me is covered in hair" (was Ashman a Bear?) and "I use antlers in all of my decorating" (decorating, why is Gaston decorating anything?). And the whole Lefou worship of Gaston is questionable.

I've chosen to picture Gary Beach, the original Lumiere, for today's entry. I have a beef with Mr. Beach's performance, at least as it is represented on the cast album. It feels way over the top. Actually, it feels like he's auditioning for his role in The Producers. I miss Jerry Orbach, who voiced Lumiere in the animated film. God rest the song and dance man's soul.

Disney's Beauty and the Beast
Music by Alan Menken
Lyrics by Howard Ashman and Time Rice
Book by Linda Woolverton
Original Broadway show opening in 1994 based on the 1991 animated film
Cast: Susan Egan, Terrance Mann, Tom Bosley, Kenny Raskin, Burke Moses, Heath Lamberts, Gary Beach, Beth Fowler

Hello, Dolly! film on DVD

There is a bit of lore in my family. Before my parents were parents, they would occassionally go to downtown Detroit to see a Broadway touring show. In late 1963 they went down to the Fisher Theatre to see a new show before it opened on Broadway. They left the theater after the performance liking the show very much but thinking the woman who played the lead was very odd and would never have any kind of career. That woman was Carol Channing and that show was Hello, Dolly! So, I come from a line of opinionated people who are often wrong.

That said, I really dislike the film version of this very likable show. While I am usually the last person to blame an actor, I really do think this film is mostly badly cast. The men in particular are not much fun to listen to when they are singing. Yes, even Michael Crawford who will go on to have a much lauded career. I think the songs don't suit his singing voice. And Walter Matthau. Don't get me started.

But, this is a great show for the chorus, with many lively group numbers. And with Gene Kelly as the director of this film, you know that dance will play an important part. That's good to see. And the outdoor locations are spectacular--clearly no expense was sparred in recreating 19th Century New York and Yonkers.

Hello, Dolly!
Music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman
Book by Michael Stewart
1969 film directed by Gene Kelly
Cast: Barbra Streisand, Walter Matthau, Michael Crawford, Tommy Tune, Marianne McAndrew, Joyce Ames, Danny Lockin, Louis Armstrong, EJ Peaker

As Thousands Cheer World Premiere Cast Recording

There must be a large and relatively untapped gusher of songs from revues from the early 20th Century. Sure not every song or sketch will have lasted the test of time, but there must be enough to fill many shows like Irving Berlin's As Thousands Cheer.

This is a reconstructed revue that opened in 1933. Created as a kind of "living newspaper," Mr. Berlin's music comments on and dramatizes newspaper headlines of the day. Interspersed are sketches by Moss Hart (although only one of them appears as a track on this recording, made in 1998 when the score was revived). According to the liner notes with the CD, the 1933 production had a cast of 50 with full orchestra. The 1998 production has a cast of six and an orchestra of two, piano and bass. Really, not much more is needed, for to have lines of chorus girls would seem ridiculous by current standards.

So it's another show where the songs and the cast are front and center, and fortunately all are accomplished. Mr. Berlin's songs have much verve and sing-ability and range from touching, to haunting, to funny. All six in the cast are good singers and give lively performances of the 14 songs and one sketch on this recording. The vocal standouts for me are Howard McGillin (whom I've just heard in Kiss of the Spider Woman) and Judy Kuhn, who is new to my Year. Both display true legato singing reaching into their upper registers.

I had heard two of the songs from this revue before: "Easter Parade", and "Heat Wave". Both are standards today. The song about lynching, "Suppertime" seemed familiar, but I may be confusing it with "Strange Fruit" which deals with the same ugly topic. In the original 1933 production, Ethel Waters (whom I've just seen in Cabin in the Sky) introduced "Suppertime." In this recording, Paula Newsome does some nice dramatic singing.

The song "Debts" is a funny (and still timely) song about government spending. There are songs about the pervasivness of the press, the weather, the comics, a Dear Abby-type column, and the social register--all still part of our newspapers today, even if we read them online. Perhaps its time for this revue to have new life.

As Thousands Cheer
Music and lyrics by Irving Berlin
Sketches by Moss Hart
Revival of original 1933 score in 1998
Cast: BD Wong, Howard McGillin, Judy Kuhn, Paula Newsome, Mary Beth Peil, Kevin Chamberlain

Hey, Love the songs of Mary Rodgers on CD

In many ways, I love cabaret even more than musical theater. The emphasis is usually on the song and the singer which leads to much more successful results often, while in a full-blown musical the sets and costumes and story can lead to the show just being fully blown. So I was happy to discover the album of Hey Love the songs of Mary Rodgers in the bin at the library. I was doubly happy to discover that Faith Prince leads the cast of three, since I've recently enjoyed her in Guys & Dolls and A Catered Affair.

Cabaret works best for me when it has a very catch-all theme that lets in a lot, but makes you look at it from a certain perspective and Hey Love fits that mold. Loosely following the struggles of one woman and two men to pair up, either with one other or with someone else, the show uses Rodgers' songs from Once Upon a Mattress, The Mad Show, Hot Spot, The Lady or the Tiger, and songs from unproduced ventures. I knew the songs from Mattress, but all the other songs are new to me--and they are uniformly delightful.

The songs from Hot Spot were written for Judy Holliday, and it is in that vein that Ms. Prince thrives here, showcasing both lyric singing and comic timing. Ms. Prince's two leading men (who vy for her hand and heart) are Mark Waldrop and Jason Workman. Both have pleasant voices that can get into the upper range of some of these songs. The booklet with the CD doesn't identify who is singing at what time, so I can't really differentiate between them.

The number of lyricists Ms. Rodgers has used runs a long gamut. Stephen Sondheim was a long-time friend of the Rodgers family, so it is no surprise that he has been a frequent partner with Ms. Rodgers. His lyrics to "The Boy from..." are particularly hysterical. The song Sondheim co-wrote with Rodgers "Once I had a Friend" is a beautiful gay-friendly ballad. I was also taken with the setting of Shakespeare's "O Mistress Mine."

Richard Malty, Jr. is credited with the creation and original direction of this show, along with writing some new lyrics in several places. Mr. Waldrop is credited with having written some of the lyrics to these songs, as well as directing this incarnation of the show. I believe this was the third production of the show, so I don't know if it was created for some specific performer, or merely as a showcase for the songs. Regardless, I'm glad to have have it brighten my Year.

Hey, Love the songs of Mary Rodgers
Music by Mary Rodgers
Lyrics by Marshall Barer, Martin Charnin, Richard Maltby, Jr., William Shakespeare, Stephen Sondheim, MArk Waldrop
Cast Album recorded in 1997
Cast: Faith Prince, Mark Waldrop, Jason Workman

Kiss of the Spider Woman 1994 cast on CD

I thought at first this was the cast album from a revival, but it seems this was a replacement cast to the original run of Kiss of the Spider Woman. Hearing the strength of the cast, I can understand why they were recorded.

This is another show and another cast that really hits their marks with very little to argue against from the efforts of either songwriters Kander and Ebb or the three leads--Vanessa Williams, Howard McGillin, and Brian (soon to add the Stokes) Mitchell.

I knew Ms. Williams could sing, she has a big recording career, but I didn't realize how well she could morph her musical styles. Aurora calls for singing in many patische numbers and well as songs that directly address Molina. She handles them all with aplomb. If perhaps she doesn't quite capture speaking English with a Spanish accent, I'm sure many of her "Ugly Betty" cast mates could help her now.

I have spoken before how Mr. Mitchell represents what I love best about true Broadway Baritone singing. Valentin is required to sing some rangy music, and Mr. Mitchell handles it well, although is not often allowed to reach into the full breadth of his resonance with much of the singing. Mr. McGillin is a new name to me (although I have another cast album with him waiting for my Thinking). He has a very lithe and likable tenor voice, which he seems to be able to color in appropriate shades when needed. The emotional roller-coaster that Molina experiences in the show needs someone who won't approach each song with the same voice, and Mr. McGillin complies.

Some of the songs deserve a life outside the show, I think. And for the cabaret act I'm building in my head, I think I'll add Molina's final "At the Movies" to my show about songs about the movies. My cabaret audience won't need to know that the character has just been shot in the head.

Kiss of the Spider Woman

Music by John Kander

Lyrics by Fredd Ebb
1994 Broadway replacement cast
Cast: Vanessa Williams, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Howard McGillin

Pippin stage production on DVD

I have a long and sorted history with this show. I may have gone to about the only high school in America that would have risked staging Pippin. It was also about the last time I would have dared wear a unitard, which the entire cast wore, making the sexually charged nature of the show even more potent. It was 1983 and the show was, if not still cutting edge, at least a lot more edgy than your average high school musical. This also a time before things like parents' advisory groups, which now would surely squelch any director who wanted to use high schoolers to tell this story.

This show suffers a bit from age, not only in the "finding one's self" story, but also from it's circus-infused story-telling techniques, its strong theatricalities, and it's blatant anti-war theme. Actually, the anti-war theme may still be potent. The music remains likable, particularly Pippin's solo numbers.

William Katt is a pleasant Pippin, with the right pop-twinged voice for Stephen Schwartz's score. He spends a goodly amount of time without a shirt on, and it's, well, goodly. The cast is generally all good. Ben Vereen reprises his leading player role from the Broadway cast, for which he had won a Tony Award in 1973. Chita Rivera is Pippin's mother; Martha Raye is Pippin's grandmother. The vocal standout in the cast is Benjamin Rayson as Charlemagne. He displays a strong full-throated baritone befitting the King that united an Empire. Is this the touring company? It's nearly a decade after the show opened on Broadway.

Sorry to drop so many unknown names, but really all I can think of when writing about Pippin is Teri and Adam (who split the Leading Player role), and Drew(Pippin), and Anna (Berthe), and Paul (Charlemagne), and Jamie (the brother whats-his-name), and Melissa (Catherine), and Carrie (Fastrada), from"my" production. I should get points for remembering those names after 25 years. I've only seen two of them in the last 10.

Pippin
Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
Book by Roger O. Hirson and Bob Fosse
Original production directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse
Filmed in Hamilton, Ontario in 1981
Cast: William Katt, Martha Raye, Chita Rivera, Ben Vereen, Benjamin Rayson, Leslie Denniston

Aida Original Broadway Cast album

When I turned this cast album in to the librarian, he proudly launched into "Ritorna vincitore". I had to explain that this was not Verdi's version, but Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida. While the story may be the same, the story-telling is certainly not.

At first this score reminded me of Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, with a belt-voiced female narrator opening the show. But in this case the narrator is Amneris, who becomes a primary character in the story. The rock and pop twinged score is also Joseph-like.

I didn't respond positively to much of this score. I like Heather Headley's singing very much, and she is very successful in "Easy as Life" which is the best song of the show. She also sings the reprise of "Elaborate Lives" very well at the end of the show, but the song is not as strong.

Adam Pascal is most effective when singing full voice. His sotto voce ballad singing is just breathy, rather than emotional. His Act II song "Radames Letter" could be effective but suffers from pedestrian lyrics.

Sherie Rene Scott sings very well as Amneris, showcasing a comic side with "My Strongest Suit" and then more emotional singing in the reprise. Of the rest of the music, I liked the chorus piece that ends Act I, "The Gods Love Nubia" a gospel-like spiritual, which is about the only singing the chorus gets to do. "Not Me" has some interesting four-part writing for Aida, Amneris, Radames, and Mereb. The two songs of Zoser (Radames' father) don't do a thing for me.

I have to question ending the show with three reprises, rather than a new duet for Aida and Radames as they are trapped in the tomb. Maybe the production team didn't want us to focus on the death of the lead characters. Well, then why tell the story?

According to the Broadway database, there was a production of Aida that used Verdi's music, but a new libretto with the story set during the Civil War. A similar thing was done by Oscar Hammerstein II with the music of Bizet for Carmen Jones. My Darlin' Aida was produced in the 1950s (as was Carmen Jones). Hmmm.

Elton John's version ran for more than 1,800 performances, so it must be considered a success. I think I'm going to join the librarian and put Leontyne Price on the turntable.

Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida
Music by Elton John
Lyrics by Tim Rice
Book by Robert Falls, Linda Woolverton, and David Henry Hwang
Based on the opera by Verdi
Cast: Heather Headley, Adam Pascal, Shere Rene Scott, Tyrees Allen, John Hickok, Damien Perkins, Daniel Oreskes

Ghost Light Monday about Gospel Sunday

I've talked a little bit about my musical past--how I grew up in a church with a youth choir that sang contemporary Christian music (contemporary to the 1970s) and how much I loved getting away from that when I left home and discovered traditional choir repertoire.

Well, yesterday in my usually very traditional current church choir, we performed a service of all gospel and gospel-inspired music. Running the gamut from revival tent hymns like "Bringing in the Sheaves" to "I Know Where I've Been" from Hairspray, the service shows how wide ranging American religious music can be. The title of the concert comes from the hymn "Amazing Grace" which forms the starting point for the musical tradition and for the concert.

I actually happen to know something about the hymn "Amazing Grace." I once gave a program on the history of the hymn and it's author, John Newton. Newton was a British captain of a ship in the slave trade. He transported Africans from the Ivory Coast to the Caribbean and then transported rum or sugar cane from the Caribbean to England. At one point he was enslaved himself after being shipwrecked. This led to a religious awakening and his work as a curate (sort of an assistant minister in a parish church), and his support of the British abolitionist movement in the late 18th century.

Newton wrote the words to "Amazing Grace" sometime in the 1770s and they were put to an existing tune. One tidbit that I remember: the verse that begins "When we've been here ten thousand years" was not written by Newton, but appears in Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Whether she wrote the words or had heard them somewhere else is not known.

Anyway, I enjoyed my one Sunday a year venture back into contemporary Christian gospel, although I'll be glad to rehearse Brahms or Mendelssohn at choir rehearsal this Wednesday.

Cabin in the Sky film version

Apparently there is nothin' that the love of a good woman can't overcome--sickness, greed, sloth, wickedness, and early 20th Century African-American vaudeville stereotypes.

I had run across the title of the show for years, but didn't know anything about Cabin in the Sky, so I was actually surprised to learn it was an all-Black show. Well, this show has not lasted the test of time, due mostly to its very strong religious theme and its out-dated Black humor--with a capital B, meaning the people, not a lower-case b meaning dark. Oh, golly there is no way to be truly sensitive about this, so forgive me if I offend.

The plot is a sort of a "It's a Wonderful Life" story, with Little Joe (Eddie "Rochester" Anderson) not being truly wicked, but rather often straying from the path his wife Petunia (Ethel Waters, reprising her role from the stage version) and the Lord would wish him to take. When Little Joe is shot in a gambling ring, his immortal soul is fought over between Lucifer Jr. (Rex Ingram, also from the stage version) and the General of God's Army (Kenneth Spencer). Lena Horne is the vixen whose honey in the honeycomb is a temptation to Little Joe.

The music is a mish-mosh of styles, including some spiritual-like numbers, big band songs, and novelty acts. "Taking a chance on Love" is the song from the score that's continued to have a life outside the theater.

Cabin in the Sky
Music by Vernon Duke
Lyrics by John LaTouche
Book by Lynn Root
MGM film released in 1943 based on the Broadway musical of 1940

Directed by Vincente Minnelli

Cast: Ethel Waters, Lena Horne, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Louis Armstrong, Rex Ingram, Kenneth Spencer

Best Little Whorehouse in Texas film on DVD

It's a little T & A for my musical Year. Well, a lot of T if you're looking at Dolly Parton. And just to keep everyone engaged, there's some nice A in the football team locker room scene in Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

This show seems tailor-made for the personas of Ms. Parton and Burt Reynolds, although I think several songs written by Parton were added to the film version. And Mr. Reynolds, while not embarrassing himself musically in his one number, wisely does not perform the other songs for the Sheriff from the stage version. I had know that Parton wrote "I Will Always Love You" (as made famous by Whitney Houston), but didn't know it was in this film.

The music for chorus is really the draw for this show; from the back-up singers for Melvin Thorpe (Dom DeLuise) to the girls of the Chicken Ranch and the boys of the Aggie's football team, the group numbers are fun, funny and upbeat. The couple of solo or duet numbers don't really reach off the screen.

Sorry, sis, by I need to tell one personal story about this show. When my sister and I were in our twenties, my family went to visit her and see her in a community theater production of this show. I don't remember much about the production, except that it was well-done, and that I have rarely been more embarrassed than I was sitting between my mother and grandmother watching the football locker room scene. You're familiar with the phrase "Will it play in Peoria?" well this was "Is he gay in Peoria?"

Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
Music and Lyrics by Carol Hall
Book by Larry L. King
Film released in 1982 based on the 1978 stage musical
Cast: Dolly Parton, Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise

110 in the Shade Original Broadway Cast album

Inga Swenson is my new goddess!

You may always associate her (as I do) with the role of the autocratic, mouthy housekeeper on Benson, but Ms. Swenson is a woman with a past and that past includes some marvellous singing on the cast album of 110 in the Shade.

This was the Broadway debut score for songwriting team of Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones. They were nominated for a Tony for their score. Ms. Swenson was also nominated for a Tony for her portrayal of Lizzie. All of them lost to Hello Dolly!--Ms. Swenson to Carol Channing and Schmidt and Jones to Jerry Herman.

I had heard the songs "A Man and a Women" and "Gonna Be Another Hot Day" before; I like those songs and was captivated by much of the score. Schmidt and Jones seem to have a real knack for creating tuneful and poetic songs that have a universality, but also speak to their characters' situation. Schmidt seems to like 3/4 time a lot, giving a lilting feel to much of the score. There is also some Copland-esque accompaniment from the orchestra, with open fourths and sixths, contributing to that American heartland feeling.

The cast includes Ms. Swenson (who had been Julie Andrew's understudy in Camelot), Stephen Douglass (who originated the role of Joe Hardy in Damn Yankees) and Robert Horton (a television star from the 50s and 60s). Also in the cast was a 17 year old Lesley Ann Warren (credited as Lesley Warren) in a supporting role with a comic duet number.

But let me wax poetic about Inga Swenson. Her voice has a Barbara Cook-like purity to it, with the ability to reach into the upper register wtihout getting either covered or tinny. She has a real legato supported by good breath control, giving her the ability to make the phrases of her songs truly musical. From "Love, Don't Turn Away", through the comic "Raunchy", the bravura end of Act I "Old Maid, and the effective "Simple Little Things" (pictured, with Robert Horton), Ms. Swenson does nothing that I could argue against or wish were better. Oh, yah, I'm supposed to really like good baritone singing, and there is some of that here, too, by Stephen Douglass and Robert Horton, but they pale in comparison to what Ms. Swenson achieves.

I listened to this album at the library, buy may need to buy it to add to my collection.

110 in the Shade
Music by Harvey Schmidt
Lyrics by Tom Jones
Book by N. Richard Nash, based on his play Rainmaker
Original Broadway Cast Album recorded in 1963
Cast: Inga Swenson, Stephen Douglass, Robert Horton, Lesley Ann Warren, Scooter Teague

A Catered Affair Original Broadway Cast on CD

Well, they say the wedding is never really about the bride or groom, but rather about the bride's mother, and that seems to hold true in this musical story, where the primary character is the Mother-of-the-Bride at A Catered Affair.

There is a nostalgia that is very attractive about this score, even if the music falls into the category of tuneful passages that never really make melodies. Faith Prince as mother Aggie adds much to the reflective nature of the story of a working class Bronx family learning that their only daughter is getting married. Ms. Prince gives a nuanced musical performance.

Set in 1953, the story tries to bridge a couple of generations in the changing and expanding world of the 50s. Daughter Janey (Leslie Kritzer) is anxious to start her new life with fiance Ralph (Matt Cavenaugh), while Aggie and her husband (Tom Wopat) look back on the course of their marriage. "Bachelor" Uncle Winston, who is a family fixture, is portrayed by Harvey Fierstein.

There are some likable moments in this score, coming more often from the lyrics than the music. "Immediate Family" has funny lines about how we all have to put up with our families. "I Stayed" captures the frustration of a working man's life feeling unappreciated. The big number from the score is "Coney Island" which offers a poetic comparison between riding the roller coaster and embracing life. Musically, the number never reaches it's full bloom, and that may be due to Mr. Fierstein's presentation; while I can be a fan of some voices outside the norm, Mr. Fierstein's musical abilities are lost on me.

This is another show that feels very intimate to me, and I wonder if that may be the reason it only lasted three months on Broadway. In a 200-300 seat theater, this could be a lovely show. Perhaps a local Chicago company will produce it soon, so I can see if that assessment is true.

A Catered Affair
Music and Lyrics by John Bucchino
Book by Harvey Fierstein
Cast: Faith Prince, Tom Wopat, Matt Cavanaugh, Leslie Kritzer, Harvey Fierstein

Ghost Light Monday--John Adams mini-series on DVD

Several weeks ago I viewed the film version of 1776 and I mentioned that I was going to watch the recent HBO mini-series John Adams and compare and contrast. Well, here it is.

The mini-series is really wonderful, due mostly to the strong performances of Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney. Each deserves the Emmy they won for these roles. There are particularly good when on screen together, which unfortunately becomes rarer and rarer and the story progresses.

The mini-series does not focus for long on the Continental Congress and the writing of the Declaration of Independence, so comparing to the musical 1776 would really be a conceit--although I will say both productions depict Adams as an irrantant and generally disliked by his Congressional colleagues. The delight for me in the mini-series is to learn more about Mr. Adams service to his country during its infancy, particularly his work in finding allies in the Revolutionary War.

The difficulty of daily life during the 18th century is aptly depicted throughout this series, particularly in showing the farming of the Adams family and in the (at times horrifically graphic) medical practices of the day.

There is a large cast of secondary characters, portrayed with varying degrees of success. Particularly lively is Tom Wilkinson's Ben Franklin.

Passion stage performance on DVD

Manipulative bitch!

I don't get this story. Are we supposed to side with someone? Feel sorry for someone? Can someone please tell me why Passion is admired by so many? Even the commentary track doesn't really help me.

The music never reaches the same fever pitch of the characters' situations. In fact, a lot of the music sounds to me as if it is recycled from Into the Woods or Sunday in the Park With George. The characters' situations never speak to me. The staging by James Lapine is beautiful to look at, but a bit cold. The story-telling feature of letters is also rather cold. And I don't get why the chorus repeats lines from other characters. Actually, I don't get why there is a chorus at all. Wouldn't this be a better "chamber musical", with just 5 or 6 actors rather than 14?

Marin Mazzie seems to go through a ridiculous number of dresses with hoop skirts. The mole on Donna Murphy's face seems to have a life of its own. Jere Shea's character seems to have the emotional depth of his chest hair. Sorry, I know lots of people love Sondheim, and I'm often with them. But I can't get a hold on this one.

Passion
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book and Direction by James Lapine
Original Broadway cast taped for television in 1994
Cast: Donna Murphy, Marin Mazzie, Jere Shea, Tom Aldredge

State Fair 1945 film on DVD

The immediate follow-up to Oklahoma! for the burgeoning song-writing team of Rodgers & Hammerstein was not Carousel, but a musical film. There was another version of the film created in 1962 with Pat Boone and Ann-Margaret, but that version doesn't have nearly the midwestern charm of the original 1945 State Fair.

Set in Iowa, rather than Texas in the later remake, the story follows the coming of age of brother and sister Wayne and Margy Frake. Literally right off the farm, each sibling is looking to see what the wider world may have to offer at the Stage Fair. And they find a lot. There is love for everyone in this film, including the prize-winning pig, Blue Boy. He's blue no more!

The two most famous songs from this film score are "It Might as Well Be Spring" and "It's a Grand Night for Singing", both of which remain regularly performed as part of the R & H catalogue--and deservedly so. They are memorable tunes with good lyrics. I was surprised that "Grand Night" is sung by a secondary character of the film--a boy singer with the band on the Fair's Midway--although, both Dick Haymes and Vivian Blain have verses, along with the chorus.

Ms. Blaine will go on to originate the role of Miss Adelaide in Guys & Dolls in 1950, and if that is the persona you are most familiar with, Blaine is hardly recognizable in State Fair. A redhead to beat all the henna-hens, Ms. Blaine displays a contralto-like, sultry singing voice. Dick Haymes has a likeable, lyric baritone, but is a bit of a disappointment in the acting department.

Sister Margy is played by Jeanne Crain, who meets Des Moines Register reporter Pat Gilbert played by Dana Andrews. Both actors are dubbed by others when singing, even though Mr. Andrews was trained as an opera singer.

State Fair
Music by Richard Rodgers
Book and Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
20th Century Fox film released in 1945
Directed by Walter Lang
Cast: Jeanne Crain, Dana Andrews, Dick Haymes, Vivian Blaine, Charles Winninger, Fay Bainter

Aladdin score for television production on CD

This is the third original musical for television to populate my Year. First there was Lerner and Loewe's The Little Prince, then Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, now we come to Cole Porter's Aladdin. I had never heard of this tv musical, so it attracted me when I saw it in the library bin with Cole Porter's name above the title. Well, it turns out this show is not a perennial favorite for good reason, although a couple of the songs have real verve and deserve to be heard outside of the full production.

It's hard to judge a television production just by the soundtrack, so there is much I can not discuss with regards to this production. But about the music...I like Cole Porter's music in his best shows, like Kiss Me Kate, yet here the music seems of a very generic nature. While being very listenable and at times swinging, it doesn't say much specifically about the characters or their situations. Any "Orientalism" to the score is an add-on in the orchestrations rather than in the tunes themselves.

The cast is a mixed bag of musical successes and also-rans. Sal Mineo as Aladdin does particularly poorly with his one song. Anna Maria Alberghetti's singing as the Princess is pretty enough, but without much life. Cyril Ritchard as the Emperor is the most deserving of credit and he gets three songs in this score of nine numbers. His song "No Wonder Taxes are High" could easily be adapted for current use in a cabaret act and would be funny.

This is another score where I query why the 1958 television broadcast was reissued on CD in 1992. For Cole Porter aficionados? Sal Mineo fans? Really, really guy gays?

There are four bonus tracks to the reissue that present studio demo recordings of four songs from the score, orchestrated very differently than the finished television product and sung by uncredited studio singers. In all four cases, the musical results are better in the demos than the TV versions--thanks primarily to the stronger demo voices.

I'm starting something new in the labelling with this entry. I'm adding the year the production was created, so I can track when my musicals were written. I'm sure I have a plethora of 40s, 50s, and 60s going on already, without many 70s, 80s, 90s, or 2000s. This should help me flesh out those musical decades.

The photo for this entry comes from the CD booklet for the reissue. It shows Cyril Ritchardson as the Magician, Geoffrey Holder (of 1970's 7-up commercial fame) as the Genie, and Sal Mineo as Aladdin. Mr. Holder does not appear on the recording, so there must not have been any music for the Genie. Would that the same could be said about the Disney version of Aladdin with Robin Williams.

Aladdin
Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter
Produced for television in 1958
Soundtrack reissued on CD in 1992
Cast: Anna Maria Alberghetti, Sal Mineo, Cyril Ritchard, Geoffrey Holder, George Hall, Dennis King

Can-Can film

I haven't had nearly enough Cole Porter in my Year, yet, so I'm making up for that with the film version of Can-Can. The message of this film seems to be that, yes, the bad boy often wins out. I also need to remember that Cole Porter wrote good songs for good shows--even if the film version of this one doesn't show him off to his best advantage.

The casting of this film is an odd combination of Americans and Frenchmen. Frank Sinatra and Shirley MacLaine are very colloquial and American as Francois Durnais and Simone Pistache; even when singing "C'est Magnifique" they seem more their Brat pack personas than anything else. Maurice Chevelier and Louis Jourdan are the French members of the cast and it's hard to argue with either of them as charming performers, although neither are the singers that I really wanted to hear. I suppose the casting is to drive home the class distinction that plays a part in the storyline of bad boy Sinatra and class act Jourdan both vying for the love and, a-hem, hand of MacLaine.

The plot is basically wrapped around a big "dance-tease" waiting for the Can-Can to be danced. When it finally comes, it is lively, but filmed in a very two-dimensional way. Who choreographed this? Hermes Pan for the film, Michael Kidd on the stage. But it appears that characters were switched around from the stage to the screen (or at least given other names), so I'll have to listen to the cast album to compare and contrast.

The songs, while being some of Porter's most memorable, seem lack-luster. Most are ballads and are presented at the slowest possible tempo, it seems. There aren't enough upbeat songs to balance out the dourness (that's the wrong word, help me here) of songs like "It's The Wrong Face". In looking at the song list for the stage show, it also appears that much was changed in transfering this to the screen, so cast album ho.

Can-Can
Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter
Film released in 1965 by 20th Century Fox
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Shirley MacLaine, Louis Jourdan, Maurice Chevelier

Roberta on film

Ol' fashioned American operetta meets new-fangled Hollywood movie musical with a dash of Borscht-belt humor thrown in for good measure in the 1935 film version of Jerome Kern's 1933 Roberta.

The title character is not the focus of the story, but the starting point. Roberta is a Parisian couturier, producing high-end women's fashion. When her nephew, John Kent (Randolph Scott, pictured) inherits the business upon Roberta's death, shop manager Stephanie (Irene Dunn) must learn to work with the former football player. Love blossoms among the swatches.

The comedic couple is band leader Huck Haines (Fred Astaire) with Ginger Rogers playing an American "faking it" as Comtesse Scharwenka. The comtesse's first name is Tanka, so she is Tanka Scharwenka. How long had this joke been used in the Catskills?

The score includes some of the best songs Jerome Kern ever wrote: "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes", "I Won't Dance, Don't Ask Me" and "I'll Be Hard To Handle". If the songs don't really move the story along, be forgiving, this was before that was part of the plan for a musical. It is nice to know that Kern had a more swinging period of his song-writing; this was after Showboat.

The Broadway cast was really interesting, but I'm sure their performances were lost to the ages. Bob Hope originated the Astaire role. Ray Middleton, who would go on to originate Frank Butler in Annie Get Your Gun, played John Kent. It appears that the story of the stage play has been altered a bit in translation to film, so I'll look for a recording of a stage version to see if I can learn more.

Ginger Rogers is delightful in this film, singing, dancing and striking the right chords with the schticky humor. Astaire feels a bit heavy-handed at times with the humor, but has a tap routine that is not to be equalled. Irene Dunn has the waivery soprano voice that this era seemed to prefer--similar to Jeannette McDonald. Since Randolph Scott just stands around looking gorgeous, he doesn't sing. That's okay, too.

I think Lucille Ball has a brief appearance on screen as one of the "mannequins" in the big finale fashion show. She's a blonde.

Roberta
Music by Jerome Kern
Book and Lyrics by Otto Harbach
Film by RKO Pictures released in 1935

Based on the stage musical produced in 1933
Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Randolph Scott, Irene Dunn

Stop the World--I Want to Get Off original Broadway cast album

I guess depending on how the results of today's elections go, this title may be very prophetic for me. I have a book about becoming a Canadian citizen, and I'm not afraid to consider it. But onto the task at hand...

I have known the title of this show for ever, and known for quite a while that it was created by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse, but didn't know anything about the show. Well, it turns out that show is all about Anthony Newley, as he is the only singing man in the show that he also co-created and directed. I wouldn't be surprised to learn he also sewed the costumes and sold the tickets. Given all that one-man-show stuff, I was prepared to be dismissive of the score and Mr. Newley's performance; however, there was a lot I liked on the Broadway album of Stop the World--I Want to Get Off.

The story surrounds the life of Littlechap, a Chaplin-like character (Charlie, not Sydney) as he goes through life reacting to the things that happen to him, but not really being an active participant. The show seems prescient of some Sondheim, particularly Company, in it's non-linear story-telling and unique production design. The look of the production wasn't discussed specifically in the thin liner notes to this CD reissue, but seems to be a circus theme with Newley in whiteface.

The only other singing role is taken by Anna Quayle as the various women that come and go in Littlechap's life. Both Ms. Quayle and Mr. Newley originated their roles in London before coming to the Broadway stage. The liner notes do include a rather funny letter from producer David Merrick stating why he was so taken by the production when he saw it in England and choose to bring it to New York. Basically, Mr. Merrick writes a love letter to Anthony Newley.

I had heard the song "What Kind of Fool am I" before, as well as Newley's gospel-inspired song "Gonna Build a Mountain." Both are good numbers. Newley's song "Mumbo Jumbo" does for politics what "Backstage Babble" in Applause did for the theater. The four songs that Ms. Quayle sings introducing the women she plays are hysterical: "Typically English", "Glorious Russian", Typiche Deutsche" and "All American" poke fun at attributes of each culture and Ms. Quayle delivers them well. The duets in the score don't really match the level of the solo numbers.

Stop the World--I Want to Get Off
Music, lyrics and book by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley
Recorded in 1962, released on CD in 2001
Cast: Anthony Newley, Anna Quayle

Classical Monday--Manon live opera performance at the Lyric Opera of Chicago

I'm inaugurating a new type of Monday entry--one that is musical, but not musical theater. I can sum up my first Classical Monday entry in one phrase--holy Natalie Dessay.

This weekend I went to the production of Massenet's Manon at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. This Romantic-era opera featured genuine superstar Natalie Dessay in the title role. Ms. Dessay deserves every accolade awarded her tremendous international career. She is a consummate performer, not only singing her role exquisitely, but inhabiting it. Her limp rag-doll performance in the fifth act was a study in how to physically portray a character while keeping the core of one's sound.

Ms. Dessay's tenor was every bit her equal. Jonas Kaufmann is German and while his timber was far from French, his ringing high notes and often hushed legato singing matched the beauty of Massenet's score in just about every way.

One other voice that stood out for me was that of a young baritone, Sam Handley, who sang the small first act role of the Innkeeper. Possessing a robust voice that stays even through the registers, Mr. Handley will be someone to watch. He is in his first year as a Ryan Center Artist, the training program of the Lyric Opera.

The production staging was also very interesting. Presented as a sort of fin du siecle French debauchery, the chorus acted as an audience for much of the opera, situated in tiers of opera house boxes overlooking the stage from the back (depicted in this photo). As the third act presents a ballet-pantomime for the enjoyment of the primary characters, this set-up worked well for the most part. The boxes became the altar of St. Sulpice chapel for the second scene of Act Three.

Sorry, I saw the closing performance at Lyric Opera, so you'll have to scour the opera houses of Europe to find Ms. Dessay or Mr. Kaufmann in their next roles.

Manon
Music by Jules Massenet
Libretto by Henre Meilhac and Philippe Gille
After the novel of Antoine-Francois Prevost (a former monk!)
First performed at the Opera-Comique in Paris, 1884
Cast: Natalie Dessay, Jonas Kaufmann, David Cangelosi, Christopher Feigum, Raymond Aceto

Subways are for Sleeping original Broadway cast album

I believe this makes the seventh appearance for bookwriters and lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green in my Year. They are by far leading the pack of other songwriters who have come up. Mr. Green also appeared once as a performer. Today is another of their musicals with composer Jule Styne, Subways are for Sleeping.

Compared their this teams' previous hit, Bells are Ringing, Subways was not a successful production, as the overly-long liner notes to this CD reissue make clear. Initially Comden and Green only wanted to write the song lyrics, not the book, saying that weren't certain how to coax a plot out the collection of short stories by Edmund G. Love. But when another bookwriter was not forthcoming, the pair capitulated and created a plot revolving around two sets of lovers. Comden and Green perhaps knew best in their initial reaction to writing the book, as that seems to be the aspect that let this show down the most.

In listening to the score, I have to wonder how bad must the book have been to have this show be considered unsuccessful. The songs are uniformly good--often much better than good--and the sung performances also quite engaging. I knew none of these songs before listening to this cast album, and I'm surprised they are not interpolated more often (if at all) into revues or cabaret acts.

Adolph Green's wife, Phyllis Newman, was cast (after five auditions) as the women in the comic pair of lovers, along side Orson Bean. As the liner notes state, this pair had much better material than the "primary" pair in the show, played by Carol Lawrence and Sydney Chaplin. This seems to have been part of the problem with the show. Newman is a hoot in her big Act One number "I was a Shoo-in", telling of her inevitability (and inevitable disappointment) as a beauty contestant. The song is hysterical and Ms. Newman plays it just right--completely straight and not too over-the-top. She won a Tony Award for her performance. A bonus track on this CD contains the song "Let's Talk" which was cut from the show, but also would have been for Ms. Newman.

I had previously queried about Sydney Chaplin, who not only originated the lead role in this show, but also lead roles in the stage versions of Bells Are Ringing and Funny Girl. This is the first singing I've heard by Mr. Chaplin (who was Charlie's son) as I saw the film versions of those other shows, where he did not appear. Chaplin has an enjoyable-enough, slightly raspy baritone, well suited to the cads he seems to have made a living portraying. His big number in Subways is "Swing Your Projects", a very funny song about financial indiscretions and double-dealings that seems all too current to today's situation. He is paired with Carol Lawrence, who sings beautifully on this recording, although the duets she and Chaplin share are perhaps not the most inspired numbers in the score.

Subways are for Sleeping
Music by Jule Styne
Book and Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green
Opened late 1961, cast album recorded in early 1962
Cast: Sydney Chaplin, Carol Lawrence, Phyllis Newman, Orson Bean
Directed and choreographed by Michael Kidd

Guys and Dolls:Off the Record

Well, points against my queue planning, for today I repeat a show in my Year for the first time--a show I just discussed a week ago-- a show that featured Nathan Lane (who I also discussed this week)--and a documentary surrounding the recording of a cast album, a format I also discussed earlier this week. In my favor, it's a good cast and a great show and an interesting recording process.

Guys and Dolls: Off the Record followed the 1992 recording of the cast ablum for the Broadway revival production that featured Nathan Lane and Faith Prince. I'm certain in 1992 I had never heard of either of these performers and when I bought this cast album (which I still have) and saw this documentary (which may have been on PBS) I was taken with both of them. I still am.

If there is a better show for which to be a member of the men's chorus, please tell me what it is. "Oldest, Established, Permanent, Floating Crap Game in the World" must be fun to sing. Backing up Sky in "Luck Be a Lady Tonight", ditto. Backing up Nicely-Nicely in "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat, double ditto. Nicely is nicely sung here by Walter Bobbie, who has had a nice career as performer and now director for musicals, just as Jerry Zaks has had before him. Mr. Zaks directed this revival of Guys and Dolls and we see of lot of him reassuring performers during the recording process.

I must find a way for Faith Prince to reappear in my Year. I know she did a revival of Bells are Ringing, but what else?

Guys and Dolls: Off the Record
Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser
Revival Broadway Cast album recorded in 1992
Documentary taping of recording also in 1992
Production directed by Jerry Zaks
Cast: Nathan Lane, Faith Prince, Josie de Guzman, Peter Gallagher, Walter Bobbie, JK Simmons