Girl Crazy--Studio Cast recording on CD

According to the very good notes to the 1998 CD reissue of this 1951 studio recording of the 1930 Gershwin show, Girl Crazy owed its relatively modest original Broadway run of 272 performances to the state of the economy at the time. No matter how much changes, some things stay the same. The notes are by Didier C. Deutsch, and I must make a point to find out more about him, as he has written interesting and informative notes for many CDs I've encountered this Year.

This studio recording was produced by Goddard Lieberson (another name I've come across often) as part of a project to capture previously unrecorded musicals using musical stars of the day. In 1951 Mary Martin had just hit with South Pacific when Girl Crazy was recorded.

Since this recording hoped to capitalize on the popularity of Ms. Martin, that was the motivation behind who was chosen to sing which selections of songs. Hence, Martin sings songs of a couple of different characters from the stage show and is featured more than she would have been on a traditional production cast album. This also accounts for the crooning nature of much of the singing on the album--it's probably not the style that would have been recorded if this cast had prepared the work for the stage.

This score features one of my favorite Gershwin tunes--"Sam and Delilah" is a kind of vampy, trampy story song that Ethel Merman introduced in the original cast (along with "I Got Rhythm". As presented on this recording, the tune is played much more "straight" and isn't as effective as other versions I've heard.

Girl Crazy
Music by George Gershwin
Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
Book by Guy Bolton and John McGowen
Opened in 1930
Cast of this studio recording: Mary Martin, Eddie Chappell, Louise Carlyle,

Girl Crazy--film on DVD

It's another Mickey and Judy "Let's put on a show" film, this time set in the wild west and based on a 1930 stage musical by the Gershwins. The film of Girl Crazy was released in 1943 and uses all Gershwin tunes, but not all the songs from the stage version. I have downloaded a recording of songs from the stage version, but haven't listened to it yet. I do know that Ethel Merman was in the original stage cast and introduced "I Got Rythm" and another song that didn't make it to the film, "Sam and Delilah."

I was excited in the opening credits to see both June Allyson and Nancy Walker credited. These would have been early films for both these performers. Well both are underused in a score that is really heaped on Garland and Rooney. Ms. Allyson has the opening song of the film, but is an anonymous nightclub singer, not an actual character. Ms. Walker doesn't sing at all. I suspect something ended up on the cutting room floor.

Girl Crazy
Music by George Gershwin
Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
Stage version premiered in 1930
Film released by MGM in 1943
Cast: Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Nancy Walker, June Allyson, Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra

Strike Up The Band film on DVD

Well, this 1940 MGM film may share its title with the 1930 Gershwin musical, but that's about all Strike Up The Band has from the original. A follow-up to the box office bonanza Babes in Arms, this vehicle for Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland doesn't deserve the Gershwin name.

I've actually seen the original stage version performed in a Encores-like semi-staging. I can't recall a thing about it, but in comparing the song list of the stage and film versions, only the title song appears in both. This seems to be due to Roger Edens, who is credited with writing most of the music in the film. After butchering Bernstein in On The Town, and now Gershwin in Strike Up The Band, I'm starting to dislike Mr. Edens. Perhaps there is a back story that needs to be uncovered to understand what happened.

I have to say, I do like the fruit orchestra sequence. I wonder if this is one of the earliest examples of stop-action photography, or whatever film technique is used.

Strike Up The Band
One song by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin
The rest of the songs by Roger Edens
MGM film from 1940
Cast: Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, June reisser, Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra, Larry Nunn, Ann Shoemaker