My Favorite Broadway: The Leading Ladies on DVD

This is another of those special concerts at a prestigious venue, drawing in the glitterati of the musical theater world, performing for the creme of society paying top dollar, with the resulting performance being film and presented on PBS or somewhere, followed by the DVD being sold to the general public (and fortunately, Netflix). It's a formula.

With My Favorite Broadway: The Leading Ladies filmed in 1998 it's a formula that works very well:

• Prestigious venue? Check-Carnegie Hall.


• Glitterati of Musical Theater? Check-Julie Andrews, Faith Prince, Liza Minnelli, Audra McDonald, Marin Mazzie, Jennifer Holliday, Judy Kuhn, Bebe Neuwirth, and a host of others including the Rockettes, who are the most literally glittering of the -ati.


• Creme of society? I'm not in a position to identify who is in the audience or what they paid to be there, but the hall is full, and most rows seem to include several giddy gay men clapping wildly for Liza.

The main reason this formula works so well in this example is that the fare offered includes a good balance of the usual, the expected, and the unique. Yes, there is Andrea McArdle singing "Tomorrow" and Jennifer Holliday singing her song from Dreamgirls (and blowing the roof off the place, BTW) and Elaine Stritch toasting the "Ladies who Lunch", but there is also the phenomenal Debra Monk, nailing every bit of "Everybody's Girl" from Steele Pier, and Audra McDonald singing a wonderful, clever arrangement of "Down with Love". Ms. McDonald is also joined by Marin Mazzie and Judy Kuhn for a clever medley of Andrew Lloyd Webber songs.

I could have done without Tony Roberts and Robert Morse opening the concert with a number in drag (I assume from a musical version of Some Like It Hot that I don't know). These women can hold their own without any help from the Y chromosome.

Best Foot Forward--Off-broadway Cast Album on CD

The liner notes are rather skimpy with the CD reissue of this 1963 off-Broadway remount of the 1941 show Best Foot Forward, so I may get a lot wrong in my assessment of this recording. Its difficult to tell who is singing when, as there is not printed libretto, as many recordings have.

I was intrigued by this recording for several reasons--primarily it was the New York stage debut of Liza Minnelli. Also, Christopher Walken is in this production, along with his brother Glenn. The Walken Bros.'s bios say they modeled for the Conover Agency. Sadly a google image search did not reveal a photo for my use with this entry.

According to the liner notes, composer Hugh Martin is credited with the wonderful three-part arrangement of "Sing for you Supper" from Rodgers and Hart's Boys From Syracuse. So I was looking forward to the women's trio "The Three B's" from this score. While the song is generally wonderful, and well sung by Minnelli, Kay Cole and Renee Winters, it doesn't contain a lot of the the tight, three-part Andrews Sisters-like harmonies I was expecting.

The act one "Ev'ry Time" should be a cabaret or big band standard. Maybe it it, although I had never heard it. Several songs form act two deserve some continued life: "You're Lucky is a great ballad tune that suffers from some pedestrian lyrics; "What Do You Think I Am?" and "A Raving Beauty" are both fun duets; "You are for Loving" is also a nice ballad in the big band style.

The score is performed on "twin" pianos--which seems like an odd phrase two me--giving the music a slight cabaret feel, which didn't bother me too much, although I'm certain some of the lusher songs suffered from this reduced instrumentation.

Two bonus tracks on the CD are songs from the score that Liza recorded on her debut 1963 album, which was released about the time of the stage production. While these versions of "You Are For Loving" and "What Do You Think I Am?" have a fuller accompaniment, their arrangements suffer from sounding rather dated at this point. In each case I prefer the version from the show.

Best Foot Forward

Music and lyrics by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane
Opened on Broadway in 1941
Off-Broadway remount opened in 1963
Cast: Liza Minnelli, Christopher Walken (billed as Ronald Walken), Paula Wayne, Glenn Walken, Karin Wolfe, Grant Walden, Kay Cole, Renee Winters,

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,

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

The Act original Broadway cast recording on CD

Liza with a z won a Tony for her portrayal in this musical, and Kander and Ebb were nominated for the Tony in the Best Score category, but I had never heard one song from The Act. Well, I'm ready to make up for lost time.

There is a lot to like from this 1977 musical, which was the follow-up to Cabaret for the team of Kander and Ebb. It was clearly written as a star vehicle for Ms. Minnelli, and she delivers on this album. There is little for anyone else to do (at least as far as the score is concerned). As the liner notes for this CD are non-existence, I can't comment on the story or any of the non-singing roles.

Some of the music seems very much like a modern "revival" meeting, including the opening "Shine it On" and the almost humorous version of the Shaker tune "Tis a Gift to Be Simple." "Arthur in the Afternoon" is a very funny song, and I hope is included in someone's cabaret act.

Martin Scorsese directed this show! His only Broadway credit, I believe.

The Act

Music by John Kander

Lyrics by Fred Ebb

Book by George Furth

Cast: Liza Minnelli, and a couple of other people that don't really matter as far as this album is concerned.

Ghost Light Monday--Chris and Don: A Love Story

Intriqued about Christopher Isherwood from my recent thinking about Cabaret, I went to see the film documentary Chris and Don: A Love Story about the 30+ year relationship between Isherwood and Don Bachardy.

The focus of the film is really on Bachardy as he reminisces about the life that Isherwood opened up to him. It deals very little with Isherwood as a literary figure, although does mention most of his significant works. Excerpts from Isherwood's diaries are read by Michael York, continuing his doppleganger position from Cabaret.

The film is enjoyable. While referring to the 30 year age difference between the two men, the film doesn't dwell on it. Nor does it make a big deal about the sexual intimacy of the relationship. But it serves up a big dose of the emotional intimacy between Isherwood and Bachardy, which included a father-and-son-like fostering of Bachardy in the early stages of the relationship, and a parent-child-like care-taking of Isherwood in the late stage of his life.

I had never heard of Bachardy prior to seeing this film, and knew nothing of Isherwood's personal life beyond his early days with W. H. Auden and Stephen Spender in England and Germany. Perhaps I'll now read some of Isherwood's later diaries (if they are published) or his seminal Christopher and His Kind.

Chris and Don: A Love Story
Documentary Film by Tina Mascara and Guido Santi
In limited release currently
Cast: Christopher Isherwood, Don Bachardy, Michael York, Leslie Caron, Liza Minnelli

Cabaret film on DVD

My Year now has two musical films in a row directed by Bob Fosse. Let's compare and contrast Sweet Charity with Cabaret.

Both films feature standout performances by lead women.

Both lead female characters are alone and searching for something.

Charity is looking for a quiet life with a husband and baby.

Sally is looking or the wild life of fame and fortune and avoids getting a husband and baby.

Both leading characters are eternal optimists.

Both feature a chorus line of women from the wrong side of the rail.

Clearly, the Mr. Fosse of Cabaret owes a lot to the Mr. Fosse of Sweet Charity. In Sweet Charity he was trying out various cinematic techniques; with Cabaret, Mr. Fosse has a much stronger sense of his cinematic vision for telling the story. The camera tricks are used much more sparingly and don't get in the way of the story, but help us see it more clearly. In Charity there was an Overture and Intermission, mimicking how people experienced the stage version of musical. With Cabaret, that convention is thrown out.

Fosse's choreography seems to have evolved as well. The isolation moves are still there, but they are much less constraining--perhaps fitting in the looser environment of Weimar Berlin.

The movie loses some of the music of the stage show and really only presents musical numbers that are in the setting of the Cabaret. So Brian and Fritz and Natalia and Fraulein Schneider don't sing. I think this probably heightens the contrast between the cabaret-world and the "real" world of fascism, hate crimes, and violence. However, it prevents us from knowing some of the inner thoughts of the characters, which a good ballad would give us. I've never seen the show on stage, so I don't know for certain what's missing.

Michael York seems the perfect embodiment of Christopher Isherwood, on whose Berlin Stories this stage show and film are based--young, thin, beautiful, blond, with a swoop of blond hair that makes him look like he just left the campus of Eaton.

There is an independent film out right now called Chris and Don: A Love Story, that is about Isherwood in Hollywood. Perhaps it will soon add some insight to my musical thinking.

Cabaret
Music by John Kander
Lyrics by Fred Ebb
Book by Joel Masteroff
Screenplay by Jay Presson Allen
(a woman, who is also the playwright of Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and Tru)
Directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse
Cast: Liza Minnelli, Michael York, Joel Grey, Fritz Wepper, Helmut Griem, Marisa Berenson.