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

All-Star Tribute to Cole Porter--Bell Telephone Hour on DVD

The collection of Bell Telephone Hour broadcasts are a treasure trove of notable performances from the 50s and 60s. I've previously seen some of the opera performers (Leontyne Price, Joan Sutherland, etc), but had never seen an Hour with musical theater performers. Well, that streak ended with The Tribute to Cole Porter. This show offers 6 solo performers and a chorus in 48 songs of Porter in an hour. If you're doing the math that means each song gets about a minute and 7 seconds. The writers of this show seem particularly proud that they were able to cram in so many tunes, because they constantly have our hostess with the mostess Ethel Merman tell us how many songs they've hit on already.

As you might guess from the statistic above, most of the songs are presented in medley, and therein lies the problem for me. It's a little difficult to assess the strength or wit or structure of a song if you're only getting the chorus, or even less. I suppose if I had previously known most of the songs (as I assume many viewers in 1964 did) it may have triggered a memory, rather than making me wish I could hear the whole song.

The performers are uniformly good. Ms. Merman is built to be appreciated from a distance, in my opinion, and a lot of her in close-up is not always the best way to see or hear her. But she takes the heaviest load in this show; besides narrating between sets, she sings probably a third of the 48 songs. The rest of the cast includes John Raitt, Martha Wright, Gretchen Wyler, New York City Ballet star Jillana, and pianist Peter Nero. The Misses Wright and Wyler are new to me. Ms. Wright has a particularly pleasant voice that transitions well into the upper register. She reminds me a bit of Kelli O'Hara. Ms. Wyler is a character singer.

I got this DVD because I was interested in hearing more Cole Porter--I still am interested, but this broadcast did nothing to satisfy my curiosity.

The Cole Porter Tribute: A Bell Telephone Hour
Television presentation from 1964
Released on DVD in 2004
Cast: Ethel Merman, John Raitt, Martha Wright, Gretchen Wyler, Jillana, Peter Nero

Call Me Madam film on DVD

Composer and lyricist Irving Berlin makes his first appearance in my Year with the Ethel Merman vehicle Call Me Madam. Wealthy Texas oil widow Sally Adams is posted as Ambassador to little Lichtenburg and lusty singing ensues.

Joinging La Merm in this film (and actually holding their own) are Donald O'Connor, Vera-Ellen, and George Sanders. Mr. Sanders sings one nice number and Ms. Ellen dances a nice dance or two, but the real delight is Mr. O'Connor. I've of course seen him clowning in Singin' in the Rain, and loved "Make 'Em Laugh", but in Madam, O'Connor has to sing, dance and romance the girl--usually all at the same time. And he pulls it off with elan. A tap number where he bursts a lot of balloons is particularly creatively choreographed.

Madam's music perhaps is not uniformly the best that Berlin produced. The memorable song from the score is "You're Just in Love" and it doesn't take a genius to realize it's the best number, because the film reprises the tune again and again! Fortunately, it really is a great quodlibet song with two melodies overlapping one another. "It's a Lovely Day Today" is also a memorable tune, but the other haven't lasted the course of time.

I've actually seen this show live on stage, in a City Center-like staging in Chicago with Jo Anne Worley as Adams and Malcolm Gets as her press secretary Kenneth Gibson. It was about ten years ago, but Worley was great, as I recall, and Gets had a very nice singing voice.

Call Me Madam
Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin
Screenplay by Arthur Sheekman based on the
Book by Howard Linsday and Russel Crouse
Released by 20th Century Fox in 1953
Cast: Ethel Merman, Donald O'Connor, Vera-Ellen, George Sanders