Showtunes of the Day

It's now Showtunes of the Day. Musicals of the Day carried the implication that I would only be listening to show albums, which would negate...

Phyllis Diller: Born to Sing (1970, various). Mercifully, it's not a straight-up album of standards. She quips during the songs. Which is to say that she kills during the songs. "If I bought a hat, they'd cancel Easter."

Sugar Babies: 1979 Original Broadway cast recording (McHugh/Fields, Dubin) (mostly). Ann Miller and Mickey Rooney in a vaudeville revue. I have one of those candles in a tall jar, y'know what I mean?, that has a picture of Ann Miller pasted to it. It's AWESOME! The national tour starred Carol Channing and Robert Morse. Somewhere, there's gotta be one of those non-existant bootleg recordings of that tour. And find it, I will. Or won't, rather, because it doesn't exist.

Into the Woods: 1991 Original London cast recording (Sondheim). I discovered Into the Woods in 1993 and yet I've never heard this album. All because someone whose taste in shows I did not share and whom I haven't seen in years told me she didn't like it.

Prettybelle: 1982 cast album with most of the 1971 cast (Styne/Merrill) If you'd heard it, you wouldn't be able to stop listening to it either. Just to believe it.

Musicals of the Day: Jule Styne edition

Felt like revisiting some lesser known Styne today.

Fade Out - Fade In: 1964 Original Broadway cast recording (Styne/Comden & Green), Carol Burnett was not happy with this show

Hazel Flagg: 1953 Original Broadway cast recording (Styne/Hilliard), featuring Helen Gallagher as Carole Lombard

Prettybelle: 1982 cast album with most of the 1971 cast (Styne/Merrill) "A musical comedy tale of rape and resurrection starring Angela Lansbury as an alcoholic schizophrenic in a sanitarium? We'd be stupid not to do this!" For what it's worth, manic-depressives do do rewrites. We just get grumpy when forced to admit it wasn't right the first time.

Subways Are for Sleeping: 1961 Original Broadway cast album (Styne/Comden & Green), I've been in a Phyllis Newman kind of mood lately. Apparently.

Musicals of the Day

I can listen to my ipod at work, which is pretty danged awesome. With the trading and downloading of OOP cast albums that I don't do because that would be wrong, I've gotten really behind in my show tunes. So, while I theoretically could listen to non-theatre music, I probably won't. Hence, "Musicals of the Day," instead of "On the iPod Today" or "Arts & Crafts with Linnea Quigley."

Pacific Overtures: Original Broadway cast recording (1976, Sondheim) This isn't a new one, I just needed something to wash the taste of the 1987 ENO recording out of my mouth.

The Madwoman of Central Park West: Original Broadway cast (1979, various) The OBC was composed entirely of Phyllis Newman. I've been looking for this one for a long time, so me happy.

State Fair: 1962 Film soundtrack (Rodgers/Hammerstein) Ann-Margret.

Scrooge: Film soundtrack (1970, Bricusse) I listened to this last week, but can't remember a single song, which either means it was really boring, I was actually paying attention to my work, or both. Figured I should give it another whirl before burning and shelving. (update: boring)

Michael Kidd 1915-2007

Here's what you need to know about Michael Kidd:

The 1953 Broadway musical Can-Can (1953) featured Gwen Verdon, who stopped the show cold with Kidd's "The Garden of Eden Ballet" on opening night and promptly went back to her dressing room to change costumes. So great was the audience's ovation that she was rushed back onstage to take another bow - clutching her costume in front of her, as she had not quite finished changing. Verdon won the Tony that year - her first of four - and became a star overnight Credit the dancer for the performance. Credit the choreographer for the dance.

Kidd also won a Tony Award for Can-Can - his third of five. The others were Finian's Rainbow (1947), Guys and Dolls (1950), Li'l Abner (1957) and Destry Rides Again (1959).

(Complete Broadway credits here.)

Kidd was one of the few choreographers (Fosse was the only other, really) to work successfully both on Broadway and Hollywood. His Guys and Dolls dances were re-created for the 1955 film. Other films include The Band Wagon, Star!, Hello, Dolly! and something about a bunch of horny backwoodsmen...




And on top of everything else, he was in Smile.

New York Times obit.

All About The Katharine Hepburn Project...

The Katharine Hepburn Project was a grand idea that fell victim to my short attention span and my inherent distaste for following any kind of creative structure. As soon as I had to watch a KH movie a week, I wanted to do anything but. I'm transferring all of the entries from that blog over to this one and then shutting that one down. I still like the idea of watching all of her films in order, so I may keep it up - or I'll just delete everything related to it and insist to anyone and everyone that it simply never existed, which is pretty much what KH did with The Iron Petticoat, a copy of which I was actually able to find!

(I wrote pretty much the same post here.)