Three Wishes for Jamie--OBC album on CD

The extensive liner notes detailing the checkered history of this show states: John Raitt possessed possibly the finest male voice on Broadway at that or any other time, a perfect instrument with the deft grace of a lyric baritone but with a tenor's ringing high notes. That is reason enough to give a listen to the original Broadway cast recording of Three Wishes for Jamie.

While there is much to enjoy from this score and the singers presenting it, I can understand why I have never heard any of these songs before. The feel of the score is VERY sentimental and yet the lyrics may be some of the most pedantic and cliche-ridden I've encountered.

The liner notes also make the very apt point that this show and it's fantasy themes and Celtic-like score suffer in comparison to the better shows of Brigadoon and Finian's Rainbow. John Raitt plays the title character, who fakes his own death in Ireland to make his way to Georgia in the American South after an Irish fairy grants him the wishes of a beautiful wife, successful business and a son who will speak the Gaelic language. In Georgia, he falls for Anne Jeffreys, while being pursued by the woman he was engaged to in Ireland (Charlotte Rae). Pretty silly stuff.

Still the singing, particularly of Mr. Raitt, is something to behold. There is indeed a graceful lyric baritone voice, skipping up thirds and fifths with ease and legato. And each song he sings ends with a note F or higher that Mr. Raitt seems to reach without undo effort or without sacrificing his beautiful tone. Anne Jeffreys also possesses a lovely voice; I don't know anything about her. It's fun to hear Charlotte Rae in this character role, but with a strong upper register that she uses for comic effect.

I was interested to read in the liner notes how this show debuted out of town as part of subscription series with the light opera companies of Los Angeles and San Francisco. I know that now non-profits can be involved with the out-of-town tryouts (like that hideous show I saw at the Goodman theater was part of their subscription and was aimed for a Broadway opening) but I hadn't realized the practice went back so far.

Three Wishes for Jamie
Music and lyrics by Ralph Blane
Opened on Broadway in 1952
Cast: John Raitt, Anne Jeffreys, Bert Wheeler, Charlotte Rae

Putting it Together--staged review on DVD

Well, I was just complaining the other week about the plethora of Sondheim revues, events, benefits, concerts, etc. and here I am Thinking about one again. My bad. I saw Putting it Together on the musical DVD shelf at the library and was curious.

And by curious, I mean about the performances of some notables in the cast. Actually this cast of five is all notable, I was Thinking specifically about the performances of Carol Burnett and John Barrowman.

Mr. Barrowman is now best known for his roles in Dr. Who and Torchwood, but he has a musical theater past, and I hope, a musical theater future. I own a couple of solo cds of Mr. Barrowman singing show tunes, but I've never seen him on stage in a musical, so I was curious. He's very good, if a bit showy. He is the strongest singer presented here, and that's saying something given the strengths of this cast. He has an ease into his upper register that I envy more than I even envy his physique and good looks.

I was also curious of Ms. Burnett's return to Broadway after an absence of 30 years or so. She sings two of the most difficult songs in the Sondheim songbook--"Ladies who Lunch" and the wedding patter song (does it have a name? Hixx, you're my Sondheim go-to gal). Ms. Burnett delivers on both solo songs. Her duets with George Hearn left me wanting a little, though.

Bronson Pinchot is surprisingly delightful in this production, which was his Broadway musical debut. While he is a rather weak singer, his charm and acting abilities make up for much of his vocal shortcomings. I got tired of the convention of Mr. Pinchot introducing each segment, but his solo numbers were well-done.

A little googling of the history of this review (they use this spelling, which to me is what a critic does) tells me it was revived from a 1993 production that starred Julie Andrews; a version which was released on CD.

So maybe I have some Sondheim Thinking left to do.


Putting it Together
A Musical Review

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Cast: Carol Burnett, John Barrowman, Ruthie Hensell, Bronson Pinchot, George Hearn

Ghost Light Monday--Bea-keeping

Okay, so I do have a least one good story from my less-than-grandiose career in the performing arts, and that story involves Bea Arthur, RIP.

About 10 years ago, the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago produced a season of concert-version musicals, similar to what New York's City Center does with its Encores Series. Ovations at the Auditorium lasted just one season.

Ms. Arthur was hired to be part of the cast of the Gershwin show Strike up the Band and spent a week in Chicago rehearsing and performing the show. I was hired to be the "Bea-keeper". Basically, I would show up at her hotel 15 minutes before the hired car was due to take her to the theater and make certain that she left on time. I would phone up to her suite and rouse her into action which was fortunately never very early in the day. I also got her to fittings, some press interviews and the airport. And it is the trip to the airport as she was leaving town that is the setting of my story.

After the final matinee performance of Strike up the Band, the company--including Ms. Arthur and myself--went to a restaurant for a celebratory dinner. Ms. Arthur was flying back to California that evening, so we only had about 45 minutes' time at the restaurant before I needed to get her into the hired car and off to O'Hare. Well, in that 45 minutes, she ate very little of the dinner buffet, but downed three gin and tonics. While she had a little nap in the car on the way to the airport I had to figure out how to get her to her gate in O'Hare's remote terminal--a long schlepp for anyone, let alone a septuagenarian with a good buzz on.

When the car dropped us off at the curb, we checked Ms. Arthur's bags with the Skycap and I escorted her into the terminal, where we sat down. Fortunately, it was late enough on Sunday evening that the departure lines were not long, and doubly fortunately a (presumably gay) ticket agent at a closed first-class counter noticed her come in. I went over to the ticket agent and said I had a VIP first-class passenger and I wondered if he could help get her checked in and convince her that calling for wheel-chair assistance to the remote terminal was the most expedient option.
Well, where would this world be without helpful, over-zealous gay men? The ticket agent did the trick, got Ms. Arthur checked-in without her having to get up from the chair she had landed in upon arrival, and with more than a little fawning convinced her that he should call for an assistant to get her to the gate.

Bea agreed to the wheel-chair on one condition; during the ride through the terminal and to the gate, I had to apologize to her (frequently) for tripping her at the theater that afternoon, which of course hadn't happened, but was her excuse for not making the walk herself. So off she rolls, pushed by a slightly mentally challenged adult wheel-chair assistant with me hold Bea's hand saying things like "I just feel awful that this happened" and Bea saying things like "Now, it's not that bad, just a little twist, I'll be fine by the time I land in Los Angeles." The highlight of this little improv scene was when she pulled my ear down to her level in the chair and whispered "Now who's the best actress you know?"

Bea, you were definitely one of the best actresses I knew. I lift my g & t to you. You will be missed.

Classical Monday--My Bach Festival

One of my part-time jobs is managing a festival of the music of JS Bach. That festival is happening this week, so I will have to continue my Musical Thinking next week, because I'm busy Musical Doing right now. If you're near Chicago and like baroque music, check out the Bach Week Festival in Evanston. We have concerts on Friday, April 24 and Sunday, April 26. I'm happy to say that the Sunday concert is almost sold out.

I have lots of great cast albums piling up for entries. And I have a ticket to see Curtains, so lots of good thoughts to come.

Michael

Baby original cast album

This is the first Maltby and Shire musical in my Year, and I'm shocked that it has taken me this long to get to one. In the past, I've found their music fun and frothy, although I don't know that I've seen one of their shows live on stage. Baby may have been their biggest hit. At least its the show I most closely associate with them, without ever having heard a song from it. Actually, that's not true, I had heard Danny's song "I Chose Right" before, although I didn't know it was from Baby.

The ensemble songs are the best in this show--although none of the music is listenable. I particularly liked the women's trio "I Want it All." This would be very good in any kind of cabaret setting. The duet for the college-student couple has very clever lyrics. Liz Callaway (sorry, I've seem to have misspelled her name previously; I'll work to correct) sing her big Act I closer "The Story Goes On" very well. Also the song "Patterns" maybe the best song of the score--why was it cut from the Broadway incarnation of the show? It has the most poetic lyrics of the bunch.

One song that is in the show and I would cut if I were producing it is "The Ladies Sing their Songs." While I liked the a capella section of the song, the rest of it left me flat. And since it takes a chorus of women (okay 5) to sing it, why include it?

The opening sequence narrated by Kim Criswell sounds very funny; I wonder what it looked like on stage. I imagine the film-strip images from junior high sex education classes. I liked the voices of the six primary characters--particularly Martin Vidnovic.

Baby
Music by David Shire
Lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr.
Book by Sybille Pearson
Opened in 1983
Cast: Liz Callaway, Todd Graff, Beth Fowler, James Congdon, Martin Vidnovic, Catherine Cox

Iolanthe--Live stage performance on DVD

Iolanthe was the first Gilbert and Sullivan I performed. It was the summer after my junior year of high school and I went to the National Music Camp at Interlochen to sing and dance my little heart out. I'm sure I had heard of G & S before (my father always talks about being the "Little Midshipman"--a role which doesn't appear in the printed score-- in a production of Pinafore when his sister was Little Buttercup) but I had never seen one of their operettas, been in one of their operettas, and had probably never sung any of their songs. Oh, wait, there was the Linda Ronstadt Pirates (shiver)...

The Interlochen production of Iolanthe featured something like 150 high-schoolers. Over-whelming, yes. A lot of fun, you bet. I've since met many people who spent summers at Interlochen, and the operetta is always mentioned as one of the highlights of their time there. One of my first entries in my Year of Musical Thinking mentions the death of Mel Larimer who was the musical director for the NMC operettas.

Anyway, onto the production at hand. This is a 1984 staging at the Stratford Festival in Ontario Canada. It stars operatic contralto (and Canadian favourite) Maureen Forrester. Ms. Forrester is by far the best singer in the cast, but there is much else to be delighted by. Paul Massel as Strephon is a good singer with a nice hairy chest.

The production is created as a faux Provincial touring show, with stage hands opening crates and unpacking costumes and props. The look of the production is therefore whimsical and two-dimensional. There are tons of Canadian-isms interpolated into the lyrics, and I can't claim to understand most of them, despite being somewhat a Canadi-ophile.

Oh, dear, I just Googled Mr. Massel and it appears he's now a Catholic priest. I could make a very mean joke about Strephon being half a fairy, but I won't.

I need some therapy.

Iolanthe
Music by Arthur Sullivan
Lyrics by WS Gilbert
First performed in 1882
This production from 1984 at the Stratford Festival in Ontario, Canada
Cast: Maureen Forrester, Paul Massel, Eric Donkin, Arvo Kittask, Katharina Megli, Marie Baron

Thoroughly Modern Millie--Original Broadway Cast Album on CD

Add Thoroughly Modern Millie to the growing list of shows I have not seen in live performance, but need to. Based on this original cast album, I will love this show. This is a good old fashioned type book musical, with a lot of variety in its music. And this recording shows that the original cast was top-notch.

Sutton Foster had been on Broadway before, but only as a ensemble player or understudy, but here she is coming out from the chorus to play the lead and she is fantastic! I don't hear a note of Ms. Foster's singing that I have any quarrel with--it's a bright, forward sound that is typically American for the typically American Millie Dilmount.

The male leads are equally good. Baritone Marc Kudisch nearly floored me with the Gilbert and Sullivan re-work as "The Speed Test". The tap-dancing for the typing segment is brilliant, and I need to see it live. Tenor Gavin Creel has a nice light, flexible voice that I always want to hear from my Broadway tenors.

The other women in the cast vary in experience and success. Sheryl Lee Ralph was the original Deena in Dream Girls; her club act numbers in Millie are wonderful. Harriet Harris is a character actress with a familiar face, but neither the Broadway database nor imdb.com give me any clue where I've seen her before. Angela Christian has several musical Broadway credits, but I found her soprano voice a little forced.

It's the music in this show that is the real star. Incorporating themes from the 1969 film with new music by Jeanine Tesori along with the afore-mentioned Sullivan number, a couple of Victor Herbert tunes, and a fantastic jazz arrangement of the Nutcracker, this score is delightful--evoking the 20s era without ever descending into stereotypes or blandness. I do wonder if the Chinese jokes were an issue in our proto-proper inclusive environment.

None of these performers nor the music and lyric team have appeared previously in my Year. Again, I'm amazed at the number of composers who have written musicals. I'm going to shoot for 100 composers before the 12 months are up at the end of May.

Thoroughly Modern Millie
Music by Jeanine Tesori (with some help from James Van Heusen, Victor Herbert and Arthur Sullivan)
Lyrics by Dick Scanlan (with some help from Sammy Cahn)
Book by Richard Morris and Dick Scanlon
Opened in 2002
Cast: Marc Kudisch, Sutton Foster, Gavin Creel, Angela Christian, Sheryl Lee Ralph

Words and Music film on DVD

This bio-pic of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, suffers the fate of many bio-pics of the era. It sugar-coats the significant problems of the lives of its subjects, while creating drama around things that didn't really happen. It doesn't really give a very good picture of either Rodgers and Hart's collaboration or their works. So I'll need to find some more authentic recordings of their shows, in the meantime I consider Words and Music from 1948.

There is a cavalcade of stars of the era in this film, making cameo appearances in songs from R & H's shows (that's the first R & H, not the second), and a lot of it seems miscast to me. "Johnny One Note" is a fantastic song, but not one for Judy Garland (sorry, friends of Dorothy). I've never cared for June Allyson and her plastered on smile wears thin with me in "Thou Swell". Betty Garrett sings a song that shows her Grand Canyon of a break. Perry Como and Mel Torme are wonderful singers, but crooning has no place in the songs of R & H. I didn't understand why the "Slaughter on 10th Avenue" was included; it's a great dance number, but doesn't show of Hart's creativity at all.

Perhaps, like was done with Cole Porter, there will be a modern-day film version of Rodgers and Harts lives to tell more of the real back-story and to show off more of their wonderful music.

Words & Music
Music by Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Film released in 1948
Cast: Mickey Rooney, Tom Drake, Janet Leigh, Vera Ellen, June Allyson, Judy Garland, Perry Como, Mel Torme, Betty Garrett

Little Shop of Horrors film on DVD

I've seen this film many times, and always love it, so I'm surprised that I actually learned something new watching Little Shop of Horrors again. I didn't realize that the ending of the show was changed for the film. Hmmm.

Some of this music has to be the most lively, most clever ever written for the musical stage. Does that seems too strong a statement for what director Frank Oz called "a simple story of a boy, a girl, and a man-eating plant"? Well not for me; I could listen everyday to "Feed Me" or "Suddenly Seymour" or "Someplace That's Green."

Ellen Greene is the unique kind of talent that I am really drawn to. Granted, her uniqueness probably doesn't make her very hire-able, but she owns the role of Audry. I like the dichotomy between her cupie doll speaking voice and her powerful belt singing voice. Rick Moranis is not much of a singer, but he really inhabits the role of Seymour, and manages to hold his own singing with Greene and Levi Stubbs as Audry II. The cameo roles mostly get in the way for me enjoying the film; I think the "who's who" of comedians in these roles is distracting.

Little Shop of Horrors
Music by Alan Menken
Lyrics byHoward Ashman
Based on the Roger Corman film of 1960
Opened off-Broadway in 1983
Film released in 1986
Cast: Ellen Greene, Rick Moranis, Levi Stubbs, Vincent Gardenia, Michelle Weeks, Tisha Campbell, Tichina Arnold

Sondheim: a Celebration at Carnegie Hall

Has any musical theater composer been the subject of more special concerts during his life-time than Stephen Sondheim? Doubtful. I wonder why that is?

I believe he appeals to performers, who enjoy the opportunity to sing his songs with orchestra. I don't dislike his music, but I won't be lining up to sing it with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia this summer (even if they ask me to have done, which they should have asked me to have done). I get that his shows are creatively formatted and explore more contemporary human situations in a more modern setting. He probably also appeals to anyone who appreciates clever, urban word-play--which I do.

Still, so many Sondheim revues/evenings/tributes/galas/concerts/acts? Well, I don't have any more lined up for the remainder of my Year, and gratefully Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall from 1992 is a good tribute concert on which to end my Sondheim thinking.

Firstly, while I groaned when Bill Irwin walked onto stage after the overture, he turned out to be really funny. I hate clowns, but this was a hysterical take on the "fake stage manager" routine. Of course, I'm a fake stage manager myself, so I'm biased.

I mourned the late Jerry Hadley and Madeleine Kahn, both of whom do their songs very well. Liza Minnelli was fantastic in her songs, both of which were new to me. I thought Liza Minnelli was very good. Glenn Close was not quite at the level she was at in the Lloyd Webber tribute I listened to last week. Betty Buckley was miscast singing "Children will Listen". I didn't care for the Tonics.

While I have heard most of this music before, just about everything from Merrily We Roll Along and Assassins was new to my ears.

Perhaps I do need to look for a little more Sondheim.

Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall
Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Staged in 1992
Released on video in 1993
(Amazon says this is a two-disc set and Netflix sent me only one disc that seems to contain a compilation of what is on the two-disc version. What gives?)

Cast: Bernadette Peters, Billy Stritch, Liza Minnelli, Glenn Close, Betty Buckley, Patti Lupone, Mark Jacoby, Dorothy Loudon, Patrick Cassidy, Victor Garber, Bill Irwin, Jerry Hadley,

Ghost Light Monday -- The passing of an era

A few days ago, one of my musical mentors passed away. While not a professional or even amateur musician, my friend was a life-long devotee of classical music and a long-term patron of the arts. From her, I learned how to value musicians and how to strive to create an environment in which they could do their best work.

I was a some-time theatrical stage manager 15 years ago when I started being invited to musical evenings at the home of a well-to-do woman in her 60s whom I had met through a mutual friend, and whom I had gotten to know because I took care of her dog when she travelled. Often--I would say 12 or 15 times a year--she would host a salon evening with music provided by a professional symphony player. She would invite 30-40 people to be the audience in her living room, and everyone would share in a buffet dinner following the performance.

These evenings were like a modern-day version of a scene out of an Edith Wharton novel. In a pre-war co-op apartment over-looking Lincoln Park and Lake Michigan, this audience of interesting and appreciative people would be treated to a top-notch Chicago Symphony musicians playing chamber music works. Then everyone would mingle and dine in several rooms throughout her apartment.

As these evenings took on a life of their own, my friend decided to found and sponsor an annual competition for pre-professional musicians just completing their university or conservatory training. She hired me to help with the administration of the competition. For six years, I ran this competition, which was for a different instrument each year. During my tenure, I worked on contests for oboe, violin, piano (twice), and voice (twice). Through this work, I met many prominent musicians in Chicago, who served as musical advisers or judges for the competition. It lead directly to the job I currently have administering a public weekly chamber music series.

With my friend's death last week, I do feel like something very special has come to an end. Not many people open their home so willingly and so often, or work so hard to put together an interesting evening of entertainment and camaraderie. Not many people have such an appreciation of the art of the professional musician that they will strive so diligently to create an kind, supportive environment for that art to happen. It is a lesson I try to take with me in my own life, whether I am dealing with musicians, actors, or cab drivers.

I feel grateful that for so many years, I could see first hand how it should be done.

Judy Garland The Duets

I don't know much about how this compilation was put together, where or when the individual songs originally aired, or where or when the compilation was broadcast, but Judy Garland The Duets is a time-capsule of talent that was both new and old in the 1960s from the world of musical theater, musical film, and Big Band.

This is Judy in the later years, and while much of the music-making is exciting, it is sometimes hard to watch. You don't know if the mannerisms are due to something traumatic or are just mannerisms. Judy seems to need to hold on to everyone she sings with. Granted, given the frenetic pace of some of these medleys, she probably needed to hold on for dear life.

Some of the arrangements are wonderful, though, and I had not heard most of them. I particularly liked the version of the "Trolley Song" with Mel Torme. The medley of songs from West Side Story with Vic Damone was perhaps not the best selection.

Judy Duets
Music and lyrics by too many to name
Released on DVD in 2005
Cast: Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, Ethel Merman, Bobby Darin, Count Bassie, Mickey Rooney, Lena Horne, Liza Minnelli, Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Mel Torme, Vic Damone

Stars and the Moon: Betty Buckley at the Donmar Warehouse

This was part of the "Divas at Donmar" series of concerts presented at London's Donmar Warehouse in the early 2000s. I'll have to see if any of the other "Divas" are available, because Stars and the Moon: Betty Buckley is pretty good.

This is more a jazz cabaret concert to my ears than a musical theater cabaret concert--even though the songs come from Broadway in many cases. The arrangements by Ms. Buckley's music director Kenny Werner are significantly arranged and the piano accompaniments vary tremendously from the original. Many are incredibly interesting and clever. Of particular note was the arrangement of "Send in the Clowns", which is completely re-harmonized. Sometimes, these arrangements went a bit too far for my tastes, but then I am an old musical theater queen. There was one section (which began with Stephen Schwartz's "Meadowlark") where I wondered if all the piano parts would have the same driving rhythm.

Ms. Buckley is a very likeable performer who strides the chasms between Broadway, jazz and cabaret very well. She makes each song her own, with some trademark vocalisms and physicalities, like the best of jazz performers. There were some arrangements, though, where I wished Ms. Buckley would adventure at least a bit from the published melody. I found this particularly true of her encore, "Amazing Grace". If any song can take a bit of noodling, it is that one.

Still, this is an interesting evening of familiar and unfamiliar songs, well presented.

Zero Patience -- A Movie Musical about AIDS on DVD

You have to love Canadian film making; it is so much more adventuresome than American movies (at least the ones I see). Yet the films of our Canadian counterparts are still relatively accessible to me, whereas European independent films are too out there most of the time for me. So when a friend of mine loaned me the soundtrack to Zero Patience--A Movie Musical about AIDS, I was glad to find the film available through Netflix, since it is a Canadian production. And if I hadn't watched the film connected to this soundtrack, I think I would have been completely baffled by the score.

This film from 1993 follows a 180 year-old British scientist (who looks pretty good, considering) as he puts together a museum exhibit on this history of epidemics in Toronto. Rather the exhibit is in Toronto, the epidemics were everywhere, which I guess makes them pandemics. As part of his research, the 180 year-old British scientist looks into the story behind Patient Zero, a real life French-Canadian airline steward who was an early AIDS victim and critical in the determination in 1982 or so that HIV was sexually transmitted.

Well, during the course of his research, Patient Zero appears to the 180 year-old British scientist; the two enter into a love affair and the course of the museum exhibit is altered from blaming "Zero" as a Typhoid Mary-like figure, to understanding that it took some amount of courage and understanding for "Zero" to cooperate with the medical community prying into his sexual history. During the course of the film, we also see several of Zero's friends struggle with the disease and involved with an Act Up protest.

The music in this film forms the more outlandish fantasy sequences of the story. It is treated a bit like a music video, with the music commenting on the situation in the story rather than moving the story along. There is a funny song called the Butthole Duet which use disturbing puppets. The music is mostly in an 90s pop style. The only song I really cared for was the duet ballad "Six or Seven Things" which is a lovely song about lost love.

Zero Patience--a Musical Movie about AIDS
released in 1993
Screenplay by John Greyson
Music by Glenn Schellenberg
Lyrics by John Greyson and Glenn Schellenberg
Directed by John Greyson
Cast: John Robinson, Normand Fauteux, Diane Heatherington, Richardo Keens-Douglas

Ghost Light Monday--the funniest thing I've read in a while

Fans of obvious double entrendres prick up your ears! This article from the recent issue of The Tracker (a quarterly on historic organs--you know the musical instrument) is the funniest thing I've read in weeks. I'm not certain if its an April Fool's joke or the real deal. It helps if you know that pipe organs are essentially wind instruments with high-pressure air chambers that force air through their pipes in order to make sound. A footnote to the article says it is reprinted from Everybody's Guide to Music from 1894 and was written by Josiah Booth. The headline gives a strong hint of the text to follow:

Directions for Blowing the Organ

Although the blowing of the instrument does not devolve upon the player, it is important that he should have a full knowledge of this department to start with. More harm can be done to the organ by bad blowing than by bad playing, therefore see that this duty is always properly performed, according to the following directions:

The bellows' handle should be firmly grasped near the outer end, and then moved up and down with a slow, sweeping stroke, which must be absolutely free from all jerking. An indicator usually shows the amount of wind contained in the reservoir, and this should be kept as nearly as possible in the position shown in the illustration.

With a soft organ a very slow stroke will suffice to keep in the wind; a loud organ will require a quicker and stronger stroke; in all cases, the indicator must be made to ride steadily in one place. Wind must on no account be blown when the indicator is at full, as this causes a straining of the wind-chest, and gives annoyance to the player by the noise of superfluous wind rushing from the escape-valve.

Footlight Parade

This is pure Hollywood, not written for, not adapted from, not conceived for the stage. Although it is the world of the stage musical that Footlight Parade explores. Specifically it looks at Prologue productions, which were short live presentations given between movie screenings. I believe they were the way movie theater owners drew audiences to their movie house while their competitors might be showing the same film. "We're Air Conditioned!" "We have more comfy seats!" "We have a waterfall and scores of bathing beauties that swim in a tank that could never really fit in this movie house!"

If I'm wrong on the history lesson, I'm sure someone will correct me, or point me to a good source--Oscar Brockett never covered it in the text book he wrote for my theater history courses in college.

Well, Footlight Parade is a "let's put on a show" variant. They put on three Prologues at three different movie houses in one evening. Different Prologues, same cast. Realistic? No.

While you get a taste of some singing and dancing during the course of the film, you have to wait to the end to see the three ultra-elaborate Prologues presented back-to-back-to-back at the end of the film. The waterfall/pool number is particularly stunning to watch, if you can get past the idea that this is supposed to be seen in a live stage show. Exactly how would an audience experience the overhead and underwater shots as created by Busby Berkeley (see above)?

Jimmy Cagney is rough and tumble as the man who dreams up the Prologue themes and then rallies the team. He also performs one of the Prologues. It's a good preview of the more nuanced and worthy performance Cagney will give as George M. Cohan nearly a decade later in Yankee Doodle Dandy. Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell round out the cast.

I didn't care for any of the music, which is written by Al Dubin and Harry Warren, although "Shang-hai Lil" is somewhat catchy. It is surprising to see a cast of all shades in this one number--Black, Asian, White. Did it cause a sensation?

Oscar Brockett doesn't know.

Footlight Parade
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Al Dubin
Film released in 1933 by Warner Bros.
DVD released in 2006
Cast: James Cagney, Ruby Keeler, Joan Blondell, Dick Powell

Andrew Lloyd Webber Celebration at Royal Albert Hall on DVD

Well, I suppose since it is at Royal Albert Hall and it is Andrew Lloyd Webber, I shouldn't be surprised that this Celebration is over-produced and involves a somewhat larger battalion than was used in the D-Day invasion. That said it must have something to see live. It's something to see on DVD.

Some quick observations and questions are all I have time for now:

Is Sarah Brightman some kind of cross between a cupie doll and Stevie Nicks? Why does she sing "Music of the Night" from Phantom, rather than a man? Her overly rounded vowels are distracting to watch and are some kind of bastardization of vocal technique.

Donny Osmond is cute. He sings well. He's charming with the children's choir backing him up.

Antonia Banderas is also cute. He doesn't sing well. His circling around everybody is a little odd--is he a herding dog?

I like Elaine Paige's singing. While her Evita gown probably "read" well live in the hall, it's a little much for close-up television.

The roller skating musical hasn't improved with age.

Was that Bonnie Tyler? I'm sure there are credits, but I haven't gotten to them yet. I eventually did get to them and, yes, that was Bonnie Tyler. Which leads to my next question; why was Bonnie Tyler there?

I don't know who any of the British rocker men or boys are. Labels would have been nice. Then again, so would me finishing watching the whole DVD before writing this entry. The cast is listed at the end, and a song by song list is given if you scene select on your DVD player.

There are things I very much like about Andrew Lloyd Webber's theater music. Some of the themes are lovely, but don't developed enough to keep me interested.

The same is true for the Requiem: the "Pie Jesu" for soprano and treble has some beautiful moments and I would appreciate them more if they weren't repeated 10 times in a 3 minute movement; the "Hosanna in excelsis" (I could have that Latin wrong) is exciting and needs a really good tenor, but again let's vary some of the musical motives, Andy.

I want to hear more of the cello concerto, or whatever the piece is referred to as. It's called Variations for Cello and Orchestra.

Glenn Close might not be the best singer out there, but she surely outshone everyone else in the acting department; I couldn't take my eyes off her. I would not have wanted to sing "Memory" after Ms. Close's songs.

Michael Ball is not as cute as I had hoped.

Two show of Webber's that I don't know but need to hear more of are Sunset Boulevard and Aspects of Love.

What kind of name is Tina Arena? It sounds like a pole dancer. And was her song from Whistle Down the Wind repeated to give some sort of closure to the event? It seemed anti-climatic.

If anti-climatic is "against the climax", how does one state "against the climate"? Well, I just looked it up and anti-climatic is "against the climate"; anti-climactic is the word I meant for the repeat of Tina Arena's song. Learn something everyday--that's my motto.

Andrew Lloyd Webber Celebration at Royal Albert Hall
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics: all his collaborators, from Tim Rice on...

Filmed in 1998, released on DVD in 1999
Cast: Elaine Paige, Donny Osmond, Antonio Banderas, Sarah Brightman, Julian Lloyd Webber, Michael Ball, Glenn Close, Tina Arena, Kiri Te Kanawa

Something for the Boys--film on DVD

This is another example of a fine Cole Porter show being drastically changed in the process of becoming a film. Some of it is understandable as a film is a different medium and needs to fit the talents of the film cast. The stage version starred Ethel Merman--again one of her signature roles given away in the film version. Poor Mr. Porter seems not to have had one of his shows filmed in earnest by Hollywood. Earnest, Hollywood, what am I thinking?

The film version of Something for the Boys is in that classic WWII-era mold--with lots of soldier boys, and sweet young things wondering how they can help the war effort. In this case they help out by fixing up an old Georgia plantation house and puttin' on a show or two.

This is the first entry in my Year with Carmen Miranda. A unique talent, perhaps not given adequate material in this film. One of the DVD extras is an interesting (if overly long) profile of Carmen Miranda's career. I knew nothing about her except the silly accent and hats. There is a lot more there, and quite a bit of it is sad, particularly her death at age 46 after having a heart attach on live TV!

This is the second appearance in my Year for Perry Como, although he was only was in three for four films. I can see why he was best experienced on the radio--he has a lovely voice, but looks very awkward on film (what do I do with my hands?). He really doesn't have a character in this film, his song seems just dropped in. He's a crooner, as is Vivian Blaine here, although I will forever think of her as Miss Adelaide in Guys and Dolls.

The score is rather forgettable, although the only Cole Porter song that seems to be in both film and stage versions is the title song, so I'm forgetting songs not by Cole Porter but by Jimmy McHugh. There are several cast albums of the real Cole Porter show, so I will need to seek them out.

Something for the Boys
Music and lyrics by Cole Porter, well only for one song, the rest are by Jimmy McHugh
Opened on stage in 1943, film released in 1944
Cast: Carmen Miranda, Phil Silvers, Perry Como, Vivian Blaine. Michael O'Shea

Mary Poppins--live Broadway touring production

My recent discovery that only 5 of my entries at the 10-month point of my Year of Musical Thinking have come from seeing live shows sent me right over the box office of the Cadillac Palace Whorehouse, I mean, Theater to buy a ticket to see Mary Poppins, which has started its North American tour in Chicago. I was particularly interested to see Ashley Brown and Gavin Lee, both of whom are reprising their Broadway roles on this leg of the tour. The show and its leads did not disappoint, in fact they more than delivered on their promise to delight and inspire.

While based on the Disney film and incorporating most of the songs from that score, the story takes some different twists than fans of the film will remember. There are also some new songs added to the score. But nothing is added that is not firmly in the style and feel of this feel-good show. Not to say its all saccharine, but even the darker bits of the story are not too dark.

I'm sure the role of Bert will remain a signature role for Gavin Lee for life. With his tall, lean frame and legs that seem to go up to his chin, he proves an athletic and charming host for the show--serving as participant as well as a bit of a narrator for some scene shifts. His dancing is first rate and his Cockney accent must more reputable than Dick Van Dyke's. I was struck by the fact that Mr. Lee has the whitest teeth I've ever seen for a chimney sweep. Not that I know any chimney sweeps.

Ms. Brown (above) is also delightful in the title role, and takes the bulk of the responsibility for the show's charm on her well-tailored shoulders. Her Mary Poppins is its own creation without drifting too far from the standard set by Julie Andrews in the film. Ms. Brown is rarely off-stage in this 2-1/2 hour production, yet the definite twinkle in her eye never flinched. She also has the bulk of the singing to do and proved to have a lovely, soubrettish voice that fit the role and score perfectly.

There are of course, other characters in the show; Mr. and Mrs. Banks are seen quite a bit, and Megan Osterhaus has a lovely second act song for Mrs. Banks. The Banks children, Michael and Jane were on stage a lot for relatively young children, yet their performances were never anything except right on the mark. A colorful array of characters rounded out the cast.

The scenic elements and technology for this show are fantastic without beating one over the head. It started with the Bank's house, which opens like a doll's house at the beginning of the show and reveals more surprises in its clever design as the show progresses. But there is also fantastic scenery that is not technically advanced, but delightful all the same; the simple scrims used for the park trees, the painted backdrop of the bank where Mr. Banks works, and the shop in the park for Mrs. Corry are wonderful by just being imaginative. There are two highly-technical, and very satisfying effects--one for Bert and one for Mary. I won't give them away.

As a kid, my family had a songbook of Disney songs from live-action and animated films. I remember discovering at some point that many of the songs were by Richard and Robert Sherman. Who were these two who wrote songs for The Jungle Book, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Aristocats, Winnie the Pooh, and Bedknobs and Broomsticks (my favorite of the bunch)? Well, I'll have to do a little more investigation, but it appears their only Broadway effort (prior to the "expansion" of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Mary Poppins to full stage shows) was Over Here!, a 1974 show for the Andrews Sisters, which I believe I saw the Kalamazoo Community Theater perform in the late 80s. More digging needed.

I also saw this show as a bit of a fact-finding mission; my mother is planning to take her grandchildren (my niece and nephews) to see the show in May.

Shhh, don't tell her I've already seen it.

Mary Poppins
Music and lyrics by Robert and Richard Sherman, with new songs by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe who also added some new sections and lyrics to several of the Shermans' songs.
Cast: Ashley Brown, Gavin Lee, Megan Osterhaus, Karl Kenzler, Ellen Harvey, Valerie Boyle,

Follies in Concert on CD

I've never heard the original cast album of Follies; apparently it was missing many songs in order to fit onto the vinyl of the day. So this 1985 concert version of the show is much more complete and gives a better impression of the score.

The format of Follies fascinates me. I've never seen it on stage, but the idea of "ghost" chorus girls floating through scenes, and the past and the present inhabiting the same space is very cinematic and endlessly intriguing to me. Its not often staged and understandably when so many characters are doubled with young and old versions.

There is so much music I like in this score--and surprisingly for me, I like the "contemporary" songs of the score as often as the follies-era songs--"In Buddy's Eyes", "The Road you didn't Take", "I'm still Here", "Losing My Mind", and "Too Many Mornings" are all good or better.

The number of wonderful performers in this concert also makes this recording a gem. About the only cast member I have issues with is Mandy Patinkin--and that's more for his being much too young for the role. Although I believe his ultra-manic version of "Buddy's Blues" is a drastic change from the original stage version.

I bought this concert album soon after it was released in 1985, the version I own is on two audio cassettes. I'm listening to it today on CD, because I don't even have a cassette player any more. I remember being so taken from the very start with Arthur Rubin's robust tenor in "Beautiful Girls" and with the two Heidies singing "One More Kiss". This was before I'd ever been to an opera, but I was still attracted to the most "legit" singers in the cast.

Of course, in 1985, I wouldn't have known any of the famous names in the cast (except Carol Burnett and Mandy Patinkin, which is probably why I bought the thing in the first place). No, I wouldn't have known George Hearn, or Barbara Cook, or even Elaine Stritch.

So, I came a long way even before starting my Year of Musical Thinking.

Follies

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Book by James Goldman

Opened in 1971, this stage version recorded in 1985

Cast: Arthur Rubin, Barbara Cook, George Hearn, Jim Walton, Howard McGillin, Mandy Patinkin, Lee Remick, Liz Calloway, Daisy Prince, Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Lilane Montevechhi, Elaine Strich, Phyllis Newman, Carol Burnett, Licia Albanese, Erie Mills