Orginal Cast Recording- Man of LaMancha

This little gem from the Great White Way was only $1.  It contains one of my favorite songs ( and perhaps one of Broadway’s greatest),which I post quite frequently on this blog, “The Impossible Dream”.  As a side note, despite many attempts, I have yet to finish reading the source material, Don Quixote.  I get hung up on Cardenio’s story.  It seems to bring the novel to a screeching halt to me.

Man of La Mancha, with book by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darion, and music by Mitch Leigh, was based on an earlier tele-play by Wasserman, titled I, Don Quixote, with no music.  The musical, set in a dungeon, tells the story of the author, Miquel de Cervantes telling the story of Quixote while awaiting trial by the Spanish Inquisition.  You know, a kind of play within a play thing. Apart from a double bass and flamenco guitars, no stringed instruments were used in the score.

Man of La Mancha opened after 21 previews in November of 1965.  With a run of 2,328 shows, and five Tony’s including Best Musical, it was pretty successful. The original production started Richard Kiley, Irving Jacobson, Ray Middleton, Robert Rounseville, and Joan Diener A touring production as well as numerous revivals followed (including one by Dr Sam Beckett on Quantum Leap).  A film version with Peter O’Toole was released in 1969.

Finally, the song “Impossible Dream” has become an enduring standard with many, many cover versions.

For a sample, I went with the Finale as I felt it tied up all the great musical numbers together.

Great little album.  Satisfactory.

Orginal Broadway Cast- South Pacific

We got another month of Donkey Show on tap with a new theme for the month.  Broadway.  Yes, Broadway.  All this month we will be blogging records from Broadway productions, movies based on Broadway productions, and Broadway related material.  Why you ask?  Not sure other than I wanted to clear these records out of the un-listened pile.  Seemed like a good idea at the time but after listening to these 24 records over the long Hurricane Harvey weekend, in retrospect, it is a bit much.  But here we are and here we go.  Whole lot of gatefold albums this month, this being one of them. This was $1.

South Pacific, which opened in 1949, was the fifth major collaboration between Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II (their fourth for the stage).  Based on James Michener’s 1947 book, Tales of the South Pacific, the musical starred Mary Martin as an American nurse who falls in love with French plantation owner, Martin Pinza but struggles with acceptance of his mixed race children.  A secondary plot also involves love and race.

In this end, Rodgers and Hammerstein hoped to send a powerful, progressive message about racism. The video makes a good point that after their failure with Allegro, the duo really needed South Pacific needed to be a hit.

Well, the musical was a hit and at the time with 1,925 performances was second at the time  only to the duo’ earlier work , Oklahoma in terms of Broadway run.  It won Ten Tony’s as well as becoming the only production to win all four acting categories.

The musical did cause controversy, however, with its theme of interracial relationships.  In particular was the song “Carefully Taught” which points out that racism is a learned trait.  Several so called progressive areas as well as state legislators from the Southern US called for the songs removal.  Several sources even went as far as to equate the musical with Communist ideals.  However, Rodgers and Hammerstein held strong to this point and the song stayed in the production.

But controversy aside, the musical remains popular and many of the songs became standards, including ” There Is Nothing Like A Dame”, “Some Enchanted Evening”, “Bali Ha’i”, and “I’m In Love With A Wonderful Guy”. The musical was also adapted into a movie in  1958 featuring Rossano Brazzi and Mitzi Gaynor.

For a sample, I decided to embrace the controversy and present “Carefully Taught”.

Satisfactory record.

OST-My Fair Lady

This was $1.  I had seen a spot on TCM of Andrew Lloyd Weber discussing the importance and significance of this work, based on Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion with book and lyrics by Alan Lerner and music by Fred Loewe.  I took it quite a compliment that an Englishman would give such reverence to an American musical about British Class-ism.  At the time, it was the longest running Broadway musical at 2,717 shows. Now it is #20.  Oddly enough, Cats is at #4 with 7,485 shows. As the number 1, 2, and 3 spots are Phantom of the OperaChicago, and The Lion King, I think the longer run of more recent productions is due to advances and cost reduction of travel allow more people to see productions for a longer run of time.

Despite being a fan of Broadway, I never particularly like My Fair Lady which Weber and critics have called the perfect musical (which is amazing given the fact that early stagers of this adaptation thought the source material was not structured to produce a proper musical).  There are  various reasons.  partly because of the movie version which stars Audrey Hepburn (whose voice was overdubbed for the movie for all songs except “Just You Wait” ).

This was done as Warner Brothers wanted a big name star and at the time, Julie Andrews, who originated the role on Broadway, was not a big name.  Despite being nominated for a Tony, and delivering what many felt was a perfect portrayal of the character, Hepburn got the job.

Andrews had the last laugh, winning an Oscar that year for her role in Mary Poppins and therefore setting her self up for major big screen stardom. Her success in MFL also led to her work in Lowe and Lerner’s Camelot. Also, Andrews got her own chance to screw a broadway actress out of work when she took the lead role in the movie version of Sound of Music.   And finally, on AFI’s list of greatest movie musicals, Sound of Music rates 4th, Mary Poppins rates 8th, and My Fair Lady ranks 10th.  So take that, Audrey Hepburn’s corpse.

 

Also, among my criticisms of the musical, is that I did not find Rex Harrison (as a uptight confirmed bachelor who when not making bets with other bachelors, sings songs about how he does not need women) as a believable love interest.  This point was made light of in an episode of the Simpson when they were in London.  Harrison, himself was a bit of a ladies man, marrying 6 times and driving Carole Landis to suicide.  He is also noted for his flatulence.  In one antidote, during rehearsals, he apparently ripped one of the loudest farts in the history of Broadway.

 

But that being said, I gave this record a spin with an open mind and was quite taken back with Andrews’ performance.  And the songs are quite good. The musical won a Tony as did Harrison. Harrison also won an Oscar for the movie version.  Coincidentally,  this album, was the number one seller of 1956.  Due to its success, this work has been parodied quite a bit, again most notably on the Simpsons.

Anyway, for a sample, I wanted to highlight Andrews’ work so I went with the vengeful “Just You Wait”.  I also went with “The Street Where You Live” as it has always been a favorite of mine.

Okay, I will give credit where credit is due and so this is a satisfactory record.

VA-This is Broadway’s Best

At a dollar for this double record, I might as just of have walked out without paying for it.  Besides all the really great Broadway songs from some of the greatest Broadway productions by some of the most talented people to grace the stage, this record also includes a detailed booklet of some of the more popular Broadway productions as well as a cover with illustrations from the famous New York cartoonist, Al Hirschfeld.

 

Hirschfeld’s Web Page

Hirschfeld, born in St Louis in 1903, moved to New York with his family and studied art.  He became a commissioned cartoonist for The New York Times and as a self described “Characterist”, he drew countless portrayals of artists, performers, politicians, and other celebrities for just about every publication there was at the time.  

His unique use of pure black lines against white backgrounds made his work iconic.  Hirschfeld passed on in New York in 2003, just months shy of his 100th birthday.

This record, as suggested above, is a collection of iconic Broadway tunes from top productions such as Gypsy, My Fair Lady, South Pacific, Finian’s RainbowShow Boat, Kiss Me Kate, West Side Story, Pal Joey, and The Sound Of Music among others.  Performers include Carol Channing, Julie Andrews, Rex Harrison, Ethel Merman, Carol Lawrence, Mary Martin, the list goes on and on.  What more can I saw?  Iconic performers giving performances from iconic productions.  The booklet is also real neat as it has a bunch of pictures. It was released by Columbia Records in 1961.

For a sample, I was pulled in show many directions.  I could have listed the whole album. However, I decided to go with three samples.  First off , from On The Town, here is the signature song, “New York New York”.  Written by Adolphus Green and Betty Comdon in 1944 with music by Leonard Berstein, the original version which ran 462 performances differed from the movie version, which cut all but three of Bernstein’s song. Comdon had a role in the Broadway play along with Green who is here on this track with John Reardon and Cris Alexander.  Also different from the movie is the exclamation that New York is a H-E- double hockey sticks of a town. I realize this is a side note, but I would love to have been a fly on the wall for the filming of the movie version of this musical, just to see a perfectionist Gene Kelly swear and berate Frank Sinatra for missing cues.

I also went with Bye-Bye Birdie’s “Kids”, mostly as a tribute to the Simpsons who both parodies the song as well as the actor who sung it, Paul Lynde. He is joined by Marijane Maricle on vocals.

Finally, just because I like the song, here is Carol Haney with “Hernando’s Hideaway” from The Pajama Game.

Great album.  Great cover.  Great packaging. Top Rated.

OST- Flahooley

DSCN5118 (1017x1024)This was a upper end purchase of $5.00.  A friend of mine asked me why I had not posted any Yma Sumac.  Mainly because her stuff falls in the range of collectibles and not typically under $5.00. So when I found this, I jumped on it, despite knowing little about the production it came from.MTE5NDg0MDU1NDI1NDg0MzAz (1)

Yma Sumac (1922-2008), was a Peruvian queen of exotica music.  Known for her five octave voice, she appeared on radio and made records in Argentina before moving to New York City in 1946 where she performed with her husband.  She also made numerous records as well as concert appearances around the world. She started in a handful of movies, including Secret of the Incas, the film the inspired the Indiana Jones series.  Her work has also been featured in advertising as well as in movies, such as one I always like referencing, The Big Lebowski.  The song below was used in the trampoline scene at Jackie Treehorns.

A better bio on Sumac from her Website

There is a rumor that Sumac is actually one Amy Camus, a housewife from New Jersey.  I do not believe this as I feel there would be more conclusive evidence on the net at this point.

An article with a link to another article on the subject of Amy Camus

Which leads us to this production, Flahooley by E.Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy with music by Sammy Fain.  Harburg, who wrote several US standards as well as the songs for The Wizard of Oz, had recently found himself on the wrong end of House Un-American Activities Committee and as a result, blacklisted in Hollywood, despite not being a Communist.  Not a stranger to political satire as his work, Finian’s Rainbow shows, he wrote this play based on Joe McCarthy and the Communist witch hunt.  Adjustments were made and several references were toned down, but still, from what I am told, the play was still very relevant to the current political climate.

flaho

Entry on the Broadway  Database

As far as what I can piece together, the story focuses on a toy factory.  One inventor is about to reveal a talking doll to the company’s board of directors (in early scripts, the dolls said “Dirty Red” when turned around until Harburg toned that part down). A delegation of Saudis interrupt and ask the toy maker for help repairing their genie lamp.  It would seem if I am reading this right, that Saudi Arabia has run out of oil and need the genie to return to bring back prosperity.

Flahooley The CEO is charmed by the Arabian princess and gives the task to the inventor, who hopes to use the genie to become rich enough to marry his sweetheart.  However, the genie, who is unclear on capitalism, starts to give the talking dolls away, causing panic and a witch hunt.  I am not sure how it resolves. I do believe puppets and marionettes were used pretty extensively, however.

Flahooley premiered on Broadway on May 14, 1951 and closed a few months later after 40 performances.  Even though some parts were watered down, the theater going public at the time was not ready for anti-communist satire as both the Cold War and McCarthyism were in full swing. It should be noted that the original production marked the Broadway debut of Barbara Cook, best known for originating the role of Marion Peroo in The Music Man.  A revival production was done in the US in 1998.  Two productions were also done in London, one in 1997 and one in 2012 as seen below.

 

Getting back to Sumac, she landed the role of the Arabian princess and has three songs on the album.  They were all written by her husband, Moises Vivanco and all pretty much demonstrate her beautiful range.  As far as the rest of the album goes, it is ok.  There are some decent songs including ” Who Says There Ain’t No Santa Claus” and “Springtime Cometh”.

For a sample, I went with the opening number which was a pretty good poke at McCarthy’s stooges, “You Too Can Be A Puppet”. As far as Sumac’s songs go, after some thought and listening, I settled on “Najala’s Lament”.  I felt this best showed her range both high and low although I almost went with “Birds”.ymaaa

Despite the three songs by Sumac, this is really meh for me.  It seems like a lot to pick at for three Sumac tunes. Perhaps if I paid a dollar for this, my opinion would be different.