The FAB-ULOUS Broadway Thread

[Ojai Sam]

Original Broadway Cast - Coco (1970)

Here's a real oddity in my Best Musical Tony Nominees listening project. On paper, a show with book by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Andre Previn sounds like a sure winner. Instead, we have another "what on earth was she thinking of" project like Lucy's ill fated stab at portraying Mame. Rosalind Russell was originally cast for this musical tribute to Coco Chanel but Katherine Hepburn was tapped when Russell became ill. The songs are pretty good if predictable but Hepburn simply can't sing. She bravely tries to make up for her vocal weakness with aggression, but the results are shrill and simply painful to the ear.

The most costly musical to date, Coco sold so well that it ran for over 300 performances and then a national tour, garnering a Tony nomination in the process. But the critics slammed it and Paramount, which had paid for the production, wisely passed on the movie version.

 

[axolotl]

Original Broadway Cast - Coco (1970)

Here's a real oddity in my Best Musical Tony Nominees listening project. On paper, a show with book by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Andre Previn sounds like a sure winner. Instead, we have another "what on earth was she thinking of" project like Lucy's ill fated stab at portraying Mame. Rosalind Russell was originally cast for this musical tribute to Coco Chanel but Hepburn was tapped when Russell became ill. The songs are pretty good if predictable but Hepburn simply can't sing. She bravely tries to make up for her vocal weakness with aggression, but the results are shrill and simply painful to the ear.

The most costly musical to date, Coco sold so well that it ran for over 300 performances and then a national tour, garnering a Tony nomination in the process. But the critics slammed it and Paramount, which had paid for the production, wisely passed on the movie version.

View attachment 7297

I appreciate the photo. Until I saw it, I did not know which Hepburn you meant.

 

[Ojai Sam]

I appreciate the photo. Until I saw it, I did not know which Hepburn you meant.

Thanks, fixed.

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

1) Show Boat (1966 Broadway Cast Revival) - debut 1927

Alright, perhaps I flew too close to the sun on waxen wings hoping to not only listen to but also rank my personal list of 100 "Greatest" Broadway musicals - too many great ones to split hairs ranking. Still dedicated to going through them somewhat regularly over the next several months (will see how it works out)
So gonna go chronologically by show starting with Show Boat, historically huge as musicals go - the Kern-Hammerstein musical was first produced in 1927 (by Flo Ziegfeld) and represented a departure c/w the operettas, follies, and revues of the early 20th century. It's narrative over 40 years ushered in a new style of musical storytelling to the Broadway stage.

I'm not a huge Show Boat fan and have never seen it live (so my perspective is very much taken from the 1936 and 1951 films), but so many songs are iconic and have been covered by jazz and easy listening artists for decades - "Make Believe", "Can't Help Lovin' That Man", "Bill", and, of course, "Ol' Man River" - that it was an obvious choice for the opener of my list

Such an important musical and so many revivals and cast albums and yet not many readily available streaming so I went with the 1966 Music Center of Lincoln Center's revival with Barbara Cook (of The Music Man), William Warfield (who did a great job playing Joe in the 1951 film), David Wayne and Margaret Hamilton.

 

[Ojai Sam]

^
Yay, another Zeeb project!


I was just getting ready to needle you about the moribund Jazz Excursion [cough, cough]. :nunja:

I'm totally on board with this one. Here's the Spotify playlist, which I have made collaborative:

Zeeba's 100 Greatest Broadway Musicals

Playlist · Sam Ingham · 321 items

open.spotify.com

Back shortly with comments after I spin this album.

 

[axolotl]

Alright, perhaps I flew too close to the sun on waxen wings hoping to not only listen to but also rank my personal list of 100 "Greatest" Broadway musicals - too many great ones to split hairs ranking.

The musical for today is... Showboat.

And, we love you for it.

 

[Ojai Sam]

1) Show Boat (1966 Broadway Cast Revival)

Alright, perhaps I flew too close to the sun on waxen wings hoping to not only listen to but also rank my personal list of 100 "Greatest" Broadway musicals - too many great ones to split hairs ranking. Still dedicated to going through them somewhat regularly over the next several months (will see how it works out)
So gonna go chronologically by show starting with Show Boat, historically huge as musicals go - the Kern-Hammerstein musical was first produced in 1927 (by Flo Ziegfeld) and represented a departure c/w the operettas, follies, and revues of the early 20th century. It's narrative over 40 years ushered in a new style of musical storytelling to the Broadway stage.

I'm not a huge Show Boat fan and have never seen it live (so my perspective is very much taken from the 1936 and 1951 films), but so many songs are iconic and have been covered by jazz and easy listening artists for decades - "Make Believe", "Can't Help Lovin' That Man", "Bill", and, of course, "Ol' Man River" - that it was an obvious choice for the opener of my list

Such an important musical and so many revivals and cast albums and yet not many readily available streaming so I went with the 1966 Music Center of Lincoln Center's revival with Barbara Cook (of The Music Man), William Warfield (who did a great job playing Joe in the 1951 film), David Wayne and Margaret Hamilton.

This is a great choice to launch this project, Zeeb. Despite some uncomfortable racial baggage, strong songs and powerful performers like Paul Robson and here, William Warfield, have enabled this groundbreaking musical to transcend.

I have seen Show Boat several times on stage, the first one when I was about 8. The rather complex plot always seems secondary to the spectacular staging and winning songs. I didn't see Barbara Cook in this musical but greatly enjoyed her performance at the Carlyle Hotel years ago when she was filling in for Bobby Short. Her vocal chops and personality had the audience in the palm of her hand from the start.



This 6 song EP is all I seem to have in the vault on William Warfield. Wiki suggests that he had a complex life but he sure can sing. Further research is definitely called for.

 

[Ojai Sam]

It turns out that my friend, Buster, posted Deep River and three more Warfield albums with a lot of biographical information and ephemera at his Big 10-Inch Record blog here:

Big 10-Inch Record

10-inch LPs and other records from the early LP era - and before

big10inchrecord.blogspot.com

I neglected to mention that Warfield was married to Leontyne Price. One of his later albums found his work paired with that of a far less likely recording artist:

Unfortunately, there is no cast album for the original 1927 production of Show Boat. However, Paul Robeson and Helen Morgan did participate in this re-recording by Columbia Records released in 1946:

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

^
Pops Stargell narrating?! What an interesting choice

 

[Ojai Sam]

^
Pops Stargell narrating?! What an interesting choice

Interesting but not unheard of....

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

2) Anything Goes (New Broadway Cast Recording - 2011) debut 1934

Cole Porter is my favorite of the ol' classic songwriters (and often comes up when I rail against crappy lyrics - "Everything I do, I do it for you...ooh ooh ooh" - my response "Cole Porter is rolling over in his grave), but Anything Goes (1934) would make it here anyway given it's popularity and number of revivals. We're still in the era before cast albums, so no Ethel Merman (the original Reno Sweeney) - there is an import where Merman recorded some tracks and they combine those with the original London cast tracks.
That's OK, the great Merman will show up in a couple of musicals going forward.

I'm spinning the most recent Broadway revival which I did see (and was wonderful) from 2011. I totally SHOULDN'T listen to this, as I was excited to see this as both Sutton Foster AND Joel Gray were in the production. Of course, they both decided to take off that night , but the understudies performed admirably (and actually Foster on the soundtrack hams it up a bit too much for my taste) . Wonderfully humorous musical and great numbers including "I Get A Kick Out of You", "Easy to Love", "You're the Top", "Friendship", "It's De-Lovely" and the title song - it's like a Great American Songbook greatest hits album

 

[Ojai Sam]

2) Anything Goes (New Broadway Cast Recording - 2011) debut 1934

Cole Porter is my favorite of the ol' classic songwriters (and often comes up when I rail against crappy lyrics - "Everything I do, I do it for you...ooh ooh ooh" - my response "Cole Porter is rolling over in his grave), but Anything Goes (1934) would make it here anyway given it's popularity and number of revivals. We're still in the era before cast albums, so no Ethel Merman (the original Reno Sweeney) - there is an import where Merman recorded some tracks and they combine those with the original London cast tracks.
That's OK, the great Merman will show up in a couple of musicals going forward.

I'm spinning the most recent Broadway revival which I did see (and was wonderful) from 2011. I totally SHOULDN'T listen to this, as I was excited to see this as both Sutton Foster AND Joel Gray were in the production. Of course, they both decided to take off that night , but the understudies performed admirably (and actually Foster on the soundtrack hams it up a bit too much for my taste) . Wonderfully humorous musical and great numbers including "I Get A Kick Out of You", "Easy to Love", "You're the Top", "Friendship", "It's De-Lovely" and the title song - it's like a Great American Songbook greatest hits album

Another great pick right off the bat! I've added it to the playlist and will be back with comments tomorrow. This is a show that was born to be revived.

Back in 1977, The Smithsonian did a reconstruction in their "American Musical Theater" series with Ethel Merman and other 1934 cast members, perhaps the import Zeeb mentions. I picked up a copy and will share it on arrival.

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

3) Babes in Arms (debut 1937 - studio recording 1965)

My post from last year:
Babes in Arms' presence here is a bit of a cheat - I've never seen it and I doubt (unless your regional theatre company has put it on) that most have as it hasn't been restaged on Broadway (it had an off-Broadway run in the early 1980s). It's better known as the inspiration behind the Mickey Rooney-Judy Garland film which sadly only uses two of the shows songs. Interesting the original story had political overtones, a Communist character, and two African-American characters that are affected by racism. The show was then "sanitized" to make it less controversial
Why is it here? For the music of course - a popular 289-performance show in the 30s, the Rodgers and Hart soundtrack includes such classics as "Where or When", "The Lady is a Tramp", "My Funny Valentine", and "I Wish I Was in Love Again" - all classic vocal/jazz tracks over decades after
This album is a studio recording unfortunately not based on an extant cast - Mary Martin was hot off South Pacific and seemed like a good idea to get her in the studio with other singers and put out an album.

 

[Ojai Sam]

3) Babes in Arms (debut 1937 - studio recording 1965)

My post from last year:
Babes in Arms' presence here is a bit of a cheat - I've never seen it and I doubt (unless your regional theatre company has put it on) that most have as it hasn't been restaged on Broadway (it had an off-Broadway run in the early 1980s). It's better known as the inspiration behind the Mickey Rooney-Judy Garland film which sadly only uses two of the shows songs. Interesting the original story had political overtones, a Communist character, and two African-American characters that are affected by racism. The show was then "sanitized" to make it less controversial
Why is it here? For the music of course - a popular 289-performance show in the 30s, the Rodgers and Hart soundtrack includes such classics as "Where or When", "The Lady is a Tramp", "My Funny Valentine", and "I Wish I Was in Love Again" - all classic vocal/jazz tracks over decades after
This album is a studio recording unfortunately not based on an extant cast - Mary Martin was hot off South Pacific and seemed like a good idea to get her in the studio with other singers and put out an album.

I've added this album to the playlist. Zeeba's delightful project gives me a chance to utilize two of my favorite discographies:


My copy came from the Public Library of Plano, Texas. It is pristine, suggesting that folks in the Dallas-Forth Worth Metroplex may not cotton much to music from The Great White Way. Before he passed away in 2012, Mr. Lynch published a supplement to this essential volume running through 1995.

Babes In Arms doesn't appear in Broadway On Record, so I consulted another oracle:



Where Lynch is a "just the facts, ma'am" discography, BP-WM in less than 200 pages manages to comment on every musical that won a Best Musical Tony, a NY Drama Critics Circle Award, a Pulitzer Prize, and/or a Grammy, plus a fifth chapter of noteworthy shows that missed out on any awards. You may not agree with all of his opinions, but Miletich's breezy style is always enjoyable.

As usual, Zeeba is spot on. There is no cast album but Miletich really likes this Mary Martin-Jack Cassidy studio recreation from 1951 (reissued in 1964). He also recommends a 1990 studio cast version with Judy Blazer and Gregg Edelman.

 

[Ojai Sam]

2) Anything Goes (New Broadway Cast Recording - 2011) debut 1934

Cole Porter is my favorite of the ol' classic songwriters (and often comes up when I rail against crappy lyrics - "Everything I do, I do it for you...ooh ooh ooh" - my response "Cole Porter is rolling over in his grave), but Anything Goes (1934) would make it here anyway given it's popularity and number of revivals. We're still in the era before cast albums, so no Ethel Merman (the original Reno Sweeney) - there is an import where Merman recorded some tracks and they combine those with the original London cast tracks.
That's OK, the great Merman will show up in a couple of musicals going forward.

I'm spinning the most recent Broadway revival which I did see (and was wonderful) from 2011. I totally SHOULDN'T listen to this, as I was excited to see this as both Sutton Foster AND Joel Gray were in the production. Of course, they both decided to take off that night , but the understudies performed admirably (and actually Foster on the soundtrack hams it up a bit too much for my taste) . Wonderfully humorous musical and great numbers including "I Get A Kick Out of You", "Easy to Love", "You're the Top", "Friendship", "It's De-Lovely" and the title song - it's like a Great American Songbook greatest hits album

Show Boat reminds me a bit of The Jazz Singer. Both are historically important and musically strong, but not all that easy to watch today. In large part this is due to racial stereotyping. By contrast, Anything Goes is still fun from start to finish. Although it too relies on plot elements from the past, its comedic story never gets in the way of a terrific batch of Cole Porter songs. Judging by this sparkling cast album, I bet the 2001 revival was as much fun as Zeeba says, even without the headliners. The orchestra here turns in an especially energetic performance.

 

[Ojai Sam]

3) Babes in Arms (debut 1937 - studio recording 1965)

My post from last year:
Babes in Arms' presence here is a bit of a cheat - I've never seen it and I doubt (unless your regional theatre company has put it on) that most have as it hasn't been restaged on Broadway (it had an off-Broadway run in the early 1980s). It's better known as the inspiration behind the Mickey Rooney-Judy Garland film which sadly only uses two of the shows songs. Interesting the original story had political overtones, a Communist character, and two African-American characters that are affected by racism. The show was then "sanitized" to make it less controversial
Why is it here? For the music of course - a popular 289-performance show in the 30s, the Rodgers and Hart soundtrack includes such classics as "Where or When", "The Lady is a Tramp", "My Funny Valentine", and "I Wish I Was in Love Again" - all classic vocal/jazz tracks over decades after
This album is a studio recording unfortunately not based on an extant cast - Mary Martin was hot off South Pacific and seemed like a good idea to get her in the studio with other singers and put out an album.

flisten

Despite its Rodgers & Hart pedigree, Babes In Arms has previously slipped under my radar. Now I can see why: here's another early musical with major plot shortcomings that sabotaged a bunch of outstanding songs. The original cast was Mitzi Green, Ray Heatherton (yes, Joey's father) and Alfred Drake, as well as the superb Nicholas Brothers. This was apparently the only Broadway role for Mitzi, a former child film star who judging by this film appearance never really clicked:

So bringing back the songs sans plot with a studio cast was a great idea. And who could be better than Mary Martin and Jack Cassidy? This album is a real joy from start to finish. My favorite song has to be "The Lady Is A Tramp". The bitingly perceptive lyrics still bring a smile:

I like a prizefight that isn't a fake
I love the rowing on Central Park lake
I go to Opera and stay wide awake
That's why the lady is a tramp.

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

100 "Greatest" Broadway Musicals
4) Pal Joey (1950 Studio Cast) - debut 1940

Another Rodgers-Hart musical! Perhaps remembered now for the 1957 Sinatra film with Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak, the initial run in 1950 ran for 374 performances/10 months. For that run, Rodgers, Hart, and John O'Hara (who wrote the book based on his short stories), wanted a dancer to be cast as the title character, Joey Evans (an amoral but charming nightclub performer) and cast a little-known hoofer named Gene Kelly

Though the initial show had mixed reviews, it had a successful run, but because of the licensing fees that ASCAP imposed, radio broadcasters decided to boycott ASCAP music (most modern popular music) deciding to broadcast public domain music and regional artists (interestingly leading big bands to record classical music pieces). This 10-month ban occurred right as Pal Joey came out.

It wasn't until the late 1940s when artists began to explore, record songs from Pal Joey and two songs particularly "I Could Write A Book" and "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" quickly became popular standards. In response, this studio album was put out then a 1952 revival was staged which ran 540 performances (and included a young Elaine Stritch (was she ever young?) and a young dancer Bob Fosse as understudy for Joey.

I have the studio cast album above and it's close enough to the original production to have the vibe of that era. Was tempted due to my love of Patti LuPone to break out the other readily-available cast album, the 1995 Encores! series, but my understanding is Peter Gallagher as Joey drags it down.

 

[Ojai Sam]

100 "Greatest" Broadway Musicals
4) Pal Joey (1950 Studio Cast) - debut 1940

Another Rodgers-Hart musical! Perhaps remembered now for the 1957 Sinatra film with Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak, the initial run in 1950 ran for 374 performances/10 months. For that run, Rodgers, Hart, and John O'Hara (who wrote the book based on his short stories), wanted a dancer to be cast as the title character, Joey Evans (an amoral but charming nightclub performer) and cast a little-known hoofer named Gene Kelly

Though the initial show had mixed reviews, it had a successful run, but because of the licensing fees that ASCAP imposed, radio broadcasters decided to boycott ASCAP music (most modern popular music) deciding to broadcast public domain music and regional artists (interestingly leading big bands to record classical music pieces). This 10-month ban occurred right as Pal Joey came out.

It wasn't until the late 1940s when artists began to explore, record songs from Pal Joey and two songs particularly "I Could Write A Book" and "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" quickly became popular standards. In response, this studio album was put out then a 1952 revival was staged which ran 540 performances (and included a young Elaine Stritch (was she ever young?) and a young dancer Bob Fosse as understudy for Joey.

I have the studio cast album above and it's close enough to the original production to have the vibe of that era. Was tempted due to my love of Patti LuPone to break out the other readily-available cast album, the 1995 Encores! series, but my understanding is Peter Gallagher as Joey drags it down.

Another interesting and educational pick, Zeeb!

I like your choice of albums here. It features the two stars of the successful 1952 revival, Vivienne Segal and Harold Lang.

 

[Ojai Sam]

Vivienne Segal had an amazing career. According to the essential IBDB, her Broadway debut was in The Blue Paradise in 1916. She played in both the original run of Pal Joey and the 1952 revival, which proved to be her final major stage appearance.


Segal and Lang

However, she didn't actually retire until 1966. Her last gig? The Perry Mason TV show!

"The Case Of The Tsarina's Tiara"

This album, perhaps because it featured both stars of the revival, carries a lot of the ambiance of the show in addition to the strong songs. It must have been a fun show on stage. Segal and Lang are both outstanding.

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

5) Oklahoma (Original Broadway Cast) - debut 1943

Not much to be said about this obvious selection, important both musically and historically in the development/popularity of the "book musical".
Rodgers and Hammerstein won a special Pulitzer Prize for Oklahoma! in 1944
Mike Todd (theatre producer and eventual Mr. Liz Taylor), upon seeing New Haven try-outs commented after leaving after act one, "No girls, no gags, no chance." Got that one wrong, Mike

Here's a nice article about the hugely popular cast album which was delayed initially by a recording strike then rushed out - didn't matter. Clearly there was money to be made in them thar' Broadway cast albums (which from now on I'll be typically sticking to original cast albums)

How ‘Oklahoma!’ Revolutionized the Cast Album (Published 2019)

It took decades for the full Rodgers and Hammerstein score to be available. But even abbreviated, the show helped build a whole new audience for Broadway music.

www.nytimes.com