Richard Rodgers: The Sweetest Sounds on DVD

When I took this DVD out of the Netflix envelope, I was afraid it was going to be another special concert offering, but it turns out Richard Rodgers: The Sweetest Sounds was made for PBS's American Masters series, and is more talking heads about the history, importance and substance of Rodgers' music than singing heads. I actually would have like a little less conversation and a little more music-making, but seeing as I've already listened to a Rodgers one-off concert, perhaps this is better--for now.

The documentary goes through the three major phases of Rodgers' career--two decades of work with Lorenz Hart, including some time in Hollywood; nearly two more decades of work with Oscar Hammerstein II; and the post-Hammerstein years when Rodgers is working on his own, and several others.

Among the many knowledgeable and informative talking heads are performers--Shirley Jones, Barbara Cook, Diahann Carroll, Maureen McGovern, and jazz musicians Billy Taylor and Barbara Carroll; Rodgers family members--daughter and composer Mary Rodgers Guettel, daughter Linda Rodgers, and grandson and composer Adam Guettel; music theater historians and producers such as Ted Chapin, president of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization, which licenses Rodgers' shows.

There are several interesting historical clips the documentary including the wonderful "Bench Scene" from Carousel with John Raitt recorded for television, and the lovely Diahann Carroll singing the title song from "No Strings". I must make a point of finding more to listen to from this show.

I've had the idea for a while to do a concert called Rodgers Without Hammerstein, focusing on his work with Hart, his work alone and including things that wouldn't have lyrics like "Victory at Sea", "Slaughter on 5th Avenue", and the dance music from R&H shows --like "The Carousel Waltz" which has always been one of my favorite pieces of music.

Any takers?

Richard Rodgers: The Sweetest Sounds
Produced for PBS American Masters in 2001
Music by Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart, Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Rodgers and others
Cast: Shirley Jones, Julie Andrews, Ted Chapin, Mary Rodgers, Adam Guettel, Barbara Cook, John Raitt, Diahann Carroll, Maureen McGovern

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

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

The Pajama Game 2006 Roundabout Theatre Cast recording

The original Broadway cast featured John Raitt, in my opinion the finest Broadway baritone of his or any generation. So how would Harry Connick, Jr. hold up in this music that I hear John Raitt singing in my mind's ear? Well, there is a lot to like about Mr. Connick, Jr. and this cast recording of The Pajama Game from the Roundabout Theatre Company production of 2006.

One of the best things is the reinstatement of Sid Sorkin's song "The World Around Us", which I believe was cut out of town from the original show. It's a wonderful song and I'm glad to be able to listen to it. Sid's "A New Town is a Blue Town" is also wonderful, but has been overshadowed by the perennial popularity of "Hey There", which is a much less interesting song.

Kelli O'Hara has just the right balance of belt, lyricism, and perk for the role of Babe. Ms. O'Hara is currently on Broadway in South Pacific (also produced by the Roundabout), and the roles of Babe and Nellie Forbush have a lot in common, both vocally and in spunk-factor.

One pet peeve with the packaging for this cast album. The track listing makes sure to include the licensing and copywrite ownership after every track, but doesn't tell you which character or which performer is singing. That seems a slap in the face of the actors. I've seen this show on stage and seen the film, so I know mostly which character is singing which song. But for the show novice? Maybe it was an oversight and not intentional.

The Pajama Game
Music and Lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross
2006 Broadway Cast Recording
Released on CD for Columbia Records
Cast: Harry Connick, Jr., Kelli O'Hara, Roz Ryan, Megan Lawrence, Michael McKean

Showboat Recording

My listening pleasure today is a 1962 studio recording of Showboat by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II. The liner notes say it was recorded to take advantage of the new Stereophonic recording capabilities. John Raitt sings Gaylord Ravenal; Barbara Cook is Magnolia; William Warfield sings Joe. The rest of the cast are not familiar names to me.

Is there any Broadway baritone who can compare to John Raitt? This is how I dreamed I would sing once I was leading my life upon the wicked stage. There's such an ease to his upper register that I've never been able to achieve. I remember watching, I think it was an Ed Sullivan clip, where John Raitt sings the "Soliloquy" from Carousel. At the end he interpolates at high b-flat. Most operatic baritones don't have that note.

Barbara Cook's singing is luminous. I have to say that William Warfield's voice does not have the rumble I think is needed to sing "Ol' Man River". I have other recordings of his singing and I like his voice, but this song calls for a true bass.

The CD reissue that I have includes four bonus tracks, one of which is Paul Robeson singing a song which was written for the 1936 film version; I'd prefer to hear Mr. Robeson sing "Ol' Man River."

Who knew PG Wodehouse shared the lyrics credit with Hammerstein? I must investigate the Wodehouse connection. PS. I discovered that Wodehouse wrote the lyrics for the song "Bill"-- a good song, no doubt, but certainly misleading on the credits of this recording cover, especally since other songs in the show have lyrics by writers other than Hammerstein.

Showboat
Music by Jerome Kern
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and PG Wodehouse and others
Columbia Broadway Masterworks recording
Recorded December, 1961; CD reissue 2000
Cast: John Raitt, Barbara Cook, William Warfield, Anita Darian, Fay De Witt, Louise Parker, Jack Dabdoub
With bonus material sung by Tess Gardella, Helen Morgan, Paul Robeson, Jan Clayton