July 15: Leonard Bernstein

New York, New York song - Adolph Green; Cris Alexander; John Reardon; Michael Kermoyan, On the Town [Original Broadway Cast] (Sony)
Lonely Town (On The Town) - Ron Raines, Broadway Passion (That's Entertainment)
My Darlin' Eileen - Men's Chorus, Wonderful Town [1999 Studio Cast] (EMI Classics)
Wrong Note Rag - Audra McDonald, Kim Criswell, Wonderful Town [1999 Studio Cast] (EMI Classics)
Conga! (Wonderful Town) - Rosalind Russell, Broadway: The Great Original C (Sony Mid-Price)

Who Am I - Marcia Henderson, Peter Pan [Original 1950 Broadway Cast] (Columbia Rec)
Dream With Me [Cut from Peter Pan] - Glory Crampton, Musical Adventures of Peter Pan (Varese Sarabande)
What a Movie (Trouble In Tahiti) - Dawn Upshaw, The World So Wide ()
The Best of All Possible Worlds - Deborah St.Darr; Lewis J. Stadlen; Mark Baker; Maureen Brennan; Sam Freed, Candide [1974 Broadway Revival Cast] Disc 1 (Original Cast Record)
Oh Happy We - Mark Baker; Maureen Brennan, Candide [1974 Broadway Revival Cast] Disc 1 (Original Cast Record)
I Am Easily Assimilated (Candide) - Christa Ludwig, Bernstein on Broadway (Deutsche Grammophon)
Maria - Jim Bryant, West Side Story [Expanded Original Soundtrack] (Sony Classical/Legacy)
Seena (1600 Pennsylvania Avenue) - Bruce Hubbard, American Classics Leonard Bernstein (EMI Records Ltd.)
Spring Will Come Again (Skin of Our Teeth) - Linda Eder, Daniel Narducci, Bernstein's Peter Pan (Koch Int'l Classics)
My New Friends - Dawn Upshaw, I Wish It So (Elektra/Asylum)

Oct 10: Bernadette Peters

Counting the hours until Saturday night's concert with the Spokane Symphony....

Star Tar - Dames at Sea [Original Cast] That's Entertainment
Raining in My Heart - Dames at Sea [Original Cast] That's Entertainment
Oh, You Wonderful Boy George M! [Original Cast]
Time Heals Everything (Mack and Mabel) - Sondheim, Etc.: Live at Carnegie Hall
Sunday in the Park with George - Sunday in the Park with George
Unexpected Song from Song and Dance - Hey Mr. Producer!: The Musical World of Cameron MacKintosh Disc 1
Stay with Me - Into the Woods
Last Midnight - Star Spangled Rhythm Smithsonian
No More - The Goodbye Girl [Broadway Cast] Columbia
You Can't Get a Man With a Gun - Annie Get Your Gun [1999 Broadway Revival Cast] Angel
Some People - Sondheim, Etc.: Live at Carnegie Hall Angel
The Gentleman is a Dope - Bernadette Loves Rodgers and Hammerstein Angel
I Haven't Got a Worry in the World - Bernadette Loves Rodgers and Hammerstein Angel
Not a Day Goes By - Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall Varese Sarabande

Aug 29: Alan Jay Lerner

Oh, Come to the Ball - Alan Jay Lerner , American Songbook Series: Alan Jay Lerner Smithsonian Collection
We Must Have a Ball - Thomas Hampson , Bernstein: A White House Cantata Deutsche Grammophon
Waitin' for My Dearie - Carol Richards , Brigadoon Turner
I Could Have Danced All Night (My Fair Lady) - Julie Andrews , Golden Memories of Stage & Screen Reader's Digest Music/ Sony Music
The Simple Joys of Maidenhood - Julie Andrews , Camelot Sony
Little Prince - Richard Kiley , The Little Prince Decca
I Remember It Well - Hermione Gingold/Maurice Chevalier , American Songbook Series: Alan Jay Lerner Smithsonian Collection
Gigi - Louis Jourdan , Gigi Turner
One More Walk Around the Garden - Bernie Knee/Gordon Ramsey/Howard Ross , Carmelina Take Home Tunes
Let's Go Home - David Holliday , Coco Decca US / MCA
Anyone Who Loves [from Dance a Little Closer] - Brent Barrett , The Alan Jay Lerner Album Fynsworth Alley/Varese Sarabande
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever - John Cullum , Golden Memories of Stage & Screen Reader's Digest Music/ Sony Music
How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Loved You When You Know ... - Fred Astaire/Jane Powell , Steppin' Out: Astaire at MGM Sony
Another Autumn - Rufus Smith/Tony Bavaar , Paint Your Wagon RCA

Aug 22: Leonard Bernstein

Come Up to My Place - Judy Blazer/Mandy Patinkin Leonard Bernstein's New York Nonesuch
You Got Me - Adolph Green/Betty Comden/Chorus/Cris Alexander/Nancy Walker On the Town [Original Broadway Cast] Sony Classical
Carnegie Hall (Do-Do-Re-Do) - Chorus On the Town [Original Broadway Cast] Sony Classical
Build My House - Marcia Henderson Peter Pan [Original 1950 Broadway Cast] Varese Sarabande
Dream With Me [Cut from Peter Pan] - Glory Crampton Musical Adventures of Peter Pan Varese Sarabande
Ohio - Edith Adams/Rosalind Russell American Musical Theatre: Shows, Songs and Stars, Vol. 3 Smithsonian Collection
Conga! [From wonderful Town] - Rosalind Russell Broadway: The Great Original Cast Recordings Disc 1 Sony Mid-Price
What a Waste - Richard Muenz, Dawn Upshaw, Donna Murphy Leonard Bernstein's New York Nonesuch
Wrong Note Rag - Audra McDonald, Kim Criswell Wonderful Town [1999 Studio Cast] EMI Classics
Best of All Possible Worlds - Adolph Green, Jerry Hadley, Kurt Ollmann, June Anderson, Della Jones Bernstein Conducts Candide Disc 1 PolyGram
Glitter and Be Gay - Barbara Cook Smithsonian Collection of American Musical Theater, Vol. 4: Shows, Songs and Stars Smithsonian Collection
Undetermined quintet from Candide (was SUPPOSED to be the Old Lady's Tango, mislabeled on the CD) - Cast Bernstein Conducts Candide Disc 1 PolyGram
Maria - Mike Eldred West Side Story: The Original Score Naxos American
One Hand, One Heart - Jim Bryant/Marni Nixon West Side Story [Expanded Original Soundtrack] Sony Classical/Legacy
Lud's Wedding - Leonard Bernstein Bernstein: A White House Cantata Deutsche Grammophon
My New Friends - Dawn Upshaw I Wish It So Elektra/Asylum

Aug 1: Cole Porter

A collection of fun songs from the genius lyricist and composer Cole Porter.

You're the Top - Cole Porter From This Moment On: The Songs of Cole Porter Disc 1 Smithsonian Collection
You Don't Know Paree - Howard McGillin Fifty Million Frenchmen New World
Who Said Gay Paree? [Can-Can - Unused] - Thomas Hampson Cole Porter: Night and Day EMI
Paree, What Did You Do to Me? - Chorus Fifty Million Frenchmen New World
I Love Paris - Maurice Chevalier From This Moment On: The Songs of Cole Porter Disc 4 Smithsonian Collection
You Irritate Me So - Hildegarde From This Moment On: The Songs of Cole Porter Disc 2 Smithsonian Collection
Please Don't Make Me Be Good - Karen Ziémba Fifty Million Frenchmen New World
I'm Getting Myself Ready for You - Randy Graff, John McMartin High Society [Original Broadway Cast] DRG
It's De-Lovely - Anne Francine/Howard McGillin/Kathleen Mahoney-Bennett Anything Goes [1987 Broadway Revival Cast] RCA
I Get a Kick Out of You (Anything Goes) - Ethel Merman Composers on Broadway: Cole Porter Decca
Anything Goes - Kim Criswell Anything Goes (First Recording of the Original 1934 Version) EMI
So in Love [From Kiss Me Kate] - Diana Montague Greatest Love Songs From Musicals MCI Musicals
Where Is the Life That Late I Led? - Alfred Drake Kiss Me, Kate [1959 Capitol Studio Cast] Angel
Too Darn Hot - Stanley Wayne Mathis Kiss Me, Kate [1999 Broadway Revival Cast] DRG

July 11: Dorothy Fields

A couple of years ago, there was a small to-do about the 100th anniversary of lyricist Dorothy Fields' birthday. So why not a 102 anniversary?

I Feel a Song Coming On - Dorothy Fields, An Evening with Dorothy Fields
I Can't Give You Anything but Love [Broadway 1928: Blackbirds of 1928]- Dorothy Fields, An Evening with Dorothy Fields
On the Sunny Side of the Street [Broadway 1930: International Revue] - Dorothy Fields , An Evening with Dorothy Fields
A Fine Romance - Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers, Ginger & Fred at RKO (2 of 2)
Doin' the New Low Down - Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, American Musical Theatre: Shows, Songs and Stars, Vol. 1
I'd Rather Wake Up by Myself - Shirley Booth, By the Beautiful Sea
Love Is the Reason - Shirley Booth, Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Make the Man Love Me - Johnny Johnston, Tree Grows in Brooklyn
The Right Finger of My Left Hand - Gwen Verdon, Redhead
I'll Try - Gwen Verdon, Richard Kiley, Redhead
Medley 1: If They Could See Me Now [Broadway 1966: Sweet Charity] - Cy Coleman, Dorothy Fields, An Evening with Dorothy Fields
I'm the Bravest Individual - Gwen Verdon, Sweet Charity [Original Broadway Cast #1]
It's Not Where You Start - Company, See Saw (Original Cast)
Don't Blame Me - Barbara Cook, Lucky in the Rain
Happy Heart [From Junior Miss] - Lynnette Perry, Prime Time Musicals

Apr 4: Yip Harburg

A dozen or so years ago, the Lake City Playhouse in Coeur d'Alene had a summer season. One of the shows performed was The Big Broadcast, a show featuring songs and skits from the golden age of radio. I was lucky enough to be in the ensemble cast, going through American history as it was told to families gathered around their large living room radio set. At one point we danced on the stage singing "The Best Things In Life Are Free," then as we faded the chorus, I sat down quietly in a rocking chair and started in on, "Once I built a railroad, made it run, made it race against time. Once I built a railroad, now it's done... Buddy, can you spare a dime?" It was one of the most moving songs in the entire show, all because of Yip Harburg's vivid imagery. He tapped into the hidden American psyche of the time, yet created a timeless call to social justice. This song has been recorded by everyone from Spokane son Bing Crosby to pop icon Barbra Streisand, and it's still used to give voice to the voiceless. Yip Harburg's work is example that it IS possible to create entertainment while staying true to one's beliefs and sending a message.

Brother, Can You Spare A Dime? sung by the lyricist
April in Paris (from Walk a Little Faster) - Dawn Upshaw Sings Vernon Duke
Fun To Be Fooled - Bea Arthur On Broadway: Just Between Friends
You're A Builder Upper - Ethel Merman, You're The Top
Only a Paper Moon - Cliff Edwards
I Love To Sing-A (from The Singing Kid) - Al Jolson At Warner Bros. 1926-1936
Down With Love - Audra McDonald on The Leading Ladies
Over The Rainbow - RSC Stage production of The Wizard Of OZ
If I Only Had A Brain, Heart, the Nerve/Off to See the Wizard - special edit compiled from The Wizard Of OZ film soundtrack
The Jitterbug (cut from the film) - The Wizard Of OZ
Ain' It The Truth (outtake) - Louis Armstrong, Cabin in the Sky
The Eagle And Me - Dooley Wilson, Bloomer Girl
When The Idle Poor Become The Idle Rich - Melissa Errico, Finian's Rainbow (Irish Repertory 2004)
Here's to Your Illusions - Barbara Cook, Flahooley
Little Drops Of Rain (Gay Purr-ee) - Judy Garland In Hollywood: Her Greatest Movie Hits
Look To The Rainbow - Melissa Errico, Finian's Rainbow (Irish Repertory 2004)

Mar 21: Kander and Ebb, take 2

John turned 80 last Sunday. Fred died three years ago. The duo of Kander and Ebb open their latest (and probably final) collaboration tomorrow night on Broadway. When we looked at the Kander and Ebb catalogue last September, we focused on Chicago. Today's show has a more representative sample of their work.

Theme from New York, New York / The World Goes 'Round, Cast - And And The World Goes Round
My Coloring Book, Barbra Streisand - Greatest Hits
How Lucky Can You Get, Barbra Streisand - Funny Lady
Dear Love, Liza Minnelli - Flora The Red Menace
It Couldn't Please Me More (A Pineapple), Lotte Lenya and Jack Gilford - Cabaret
Seeing Things, Robert Goulet with Julie Gregg - The Happy Time
Only Love, Maria Karnilova - Zorba!
Do We? Lucie Lancaster, Gil Lamb - 70, Girls, 70
Razzle Dazzle, Jerry Orbach - Chicago: The 10th Anniversary Edition
Colored Lights, Liza Minnelli - The Rink
Kiss of the Spider Woman, Chita Rivera - Kiss of the Spider Woman
Willing to Ride, Karen Ziemba - Steel Pier
No, My Heart (Hay Fever), Brent Barrett - The Kander & Ebb Album

Jan 17: Comden & Green

Betty Comden and Adolph Green are my heroes. Betty in particular. Performers AND writers, they wrote lyrics that are so wonderful to sing, that are completely natural to the thought process. One of my favorites is "A Little Bit In Love" from Wonderful Town, which I didn't put in this show because I've played it recently on the Audra McDonald show. (And Audra is THE interpreter of this song!) Complex rhymes (for the tongue, at least) flipping into a little simple thought:

When he looks at me, everything's hazy and all out of focus,
When he touches me, I'm in the spell of a strange hocus-pocus,
It's so ... I don't know, I'm so... I don't know!
I don't know, but I know if it's love then it's lovely!

It's not easy to pull those "I Don't Know"s off with the right innocense, nuance of shading (so each is different in each repetition), and complete wonderful bewilderment. It's a wonderful lyric.
The other favorite song of mine from Comden & Green is a gem called "The Story Of My Life." Many of their songs were fun and free, but this meloncholy mood really speaks true. It was cut from Wonderful Town, probably (like Bernstein's own Ain't Got No Tears Left in On the Town) because the producers thought it was too depressing. I love to hear it particularly because it's depressing -- any time I'm depressed, it reminds me that other people do feel this way.

You dream you hear a lovely song,
All night you're haunted by its theme.
When you wake up, the notes are wrong
The song has vanished with the dream;
Well, that's the story of my life.

Betty died last November, Adolph died in 2002. Their partnership lasted 60 years (longer than their marriages -- to other people). They only earned a half-dozen or so Tony Awards, far fewer than they deserved I think. Comedy is an art, and they mastered it.

Albums played:
Comden & Green Perform Their Own Songs
Bells Are Ringing
That's Entertainment! The Best Of The MGM Musicals
Leonard Bernstein's New York
Bells Are Ringing revival
On the Town
The interview clips come from Do Re Mi revival
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