May 27: Comedy Songs

Comedy Tonight - Nathan Lane, Company, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum [Angel]
Professional Showbizness Comedy - Andrea Martin; Ensemble; Tom Mardirosian, My Favorite Year (RCA)
Johnny One Note - Melissa Rain Anderson, Babes in Arms [1999 New York Cast Recording] (DRG)
Is It a Crime - Judy Holliday, Bells Are Ringing [Original Broadway Cast] [Bonus Tracks] (Sony)
The Rumor - Bea Arthur; Ensemble; Leonard Frey, Fiddler on the Roof OBC (RCA Victor Broadway)
We Both Reached for the Gun - James Naughton, D. Sabella, Ann Reinking, Chicago [RCA] (RCA)
Gee, Officer Krupke! - Jets Cast; Kieran Daniels, West Side Story [Leicester Cast] (Curtain Call)
Shipoopi - Buddy Hackett; Ensemble, The Music Man [Original Soundtrack] (Warner Bros.)
Lydia the Tattooed Lady - Groucho Marx, At the Circus (Raven)
Adelaide's Lament - Faith Prince, Guys and Dolls [1992 Broadway Revival Cast] (RCA Victor)
You Gotta Get a Gimmick - Jule Styne, Gypsy [2008 Broadway Revival Cast] [Barnes & Noble Exclusive] Disc 1 (Time Life)
Schadenfreude (edited for radio) - Avenue Q
Friendship [From Du Barry Was a Lady] - Bert Lahr; Ethel Merman, American Musical Theater: Shows, Songs and Stars, Vol. 2 (Smithsonian)
Brush up Your Shakespeare - First Man & Second Man, Kiss Me, Kate [1999 Broadway Revival Cast]

Mar 20: Mothers

Momma, Momma, Momma - Elliott Gould; Lillian Roth, I Can Get It for You Wholesale [Original Soundtrack] (Sony)
Tomorrow's Mothers Day [Cut from Gypsy]
Glamorous Life - Elaine Tomkinson, A Little Night Music
Mother Darling - Erin Davie, Christine Ebersole, Bob Stillman, Matt Cavenaugh, Grey Gardens: A New Musical (PS Classics)
Piano Lesson/If You Don't Mind My Saying So - Pert Kelton; Shirley Jones, The Music Man [Original Soundtrack] (Warner Bros.)
Tina's Mother - Joan Ryan, Ruthless [Los Angeles Cast] (Colosseum)
Our Little World - Julia McKenzie; Mary Lincoln, Into the Woods [London Cast] (BMG)
Swinging Song/Thomas - Victoria Clark, Fifteen Seconds of Grace (P.S. Classics)
Your Mother and Mine - Disney’s Peter Pan
My Best Girl - Broadway Cast, Mame - 1966 Broadway
Mamma A Rainbow Minnies Boys - Michael Digioia, Another Look
My Son - Christine Ebersole, Patrick Wilson, Bright Lights, Big City [Original Cast] (Sh-K-Boom)
Slipping Through My Fingers - Meryl Streep, Mamma Mia
The Portrait [A...My Name Is Alice] - Barbara Walsh, My Name Will Always Be Alice (Original Cast Record)
I Don't Know Where She Got It - Lillian Hayman; Robert Hooks, Hallelujah, Baby! (Sony Classical)
Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now - Marissa Jaret Winokur; Nikki Blonsky; Ricki Lake, Hairspray [2007 Soundtrack] (Universal Classics)

Shows and Showtunes in the Region

The BEST place to find arts events is at spokanearts.org, but there are several events outside the county of Spokane that are still of interest to musical theater lovers. The region’s schools are also doing some incredible work. If you want to add a musical theater-related event, please email me.

Lake City Playhouse presents Big River from May 8 to May 23 at Lake City Playhouse. The tale of Huck Finn and Joe's epic journey down the Mississippi with excellent music by Roger Miller

Spokane Civic Theatre presents A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum from May 15 to Jun 14 at Main Stage. Stephen Sondheim's silly but popular romp through Greek farce

Spokane Children's Theatre presents Heidi from May 16 to May 31 at Spokane Community College Lair.

Spokane Civic Theatre Academy presents Rent: The School Edition from May 30 to May 31 at Main Stage.

Best of Broadway presents Fiddler on the Roof starring Topol from 1-Sep to Sep 6 at INB Performing Arts Center.

Spokane Civic Theatre presents Pirates of Penzance from Sep 25 to Oct 25 at Main Stage.

Spokane Children's Theatre presents Disney's High School Musical 2 from October to at TBA.

Spokane Civic Theatre presents Chess in Concert from Oct 30 to Oct 31 at Main Stage.

Best of Broadway presents Disney's The Lion King from Nov 11 to Dec. 6 at INB Performing Arts Center.

Spokane Civic Theatre presents Tuna Christmas/Best Christmas Pagent Ever from Nov 20 to Dec 20 at Main Stage.

Spokane Civic Theatre presents Curtains from Jan 15 to Feb 7 at Main Stage.

Best of Broadway presents Avenue Q from 11-Feb to Feb 14 at INB Performing Arts Center.

Spokane Civic Theatre presents Spitfire Grill from Mar 17 to Apr 11 at Firth Chew Studio Theatre.

May 6: Bernadette Peters

Bernadette Peters is on stage again in the Spokane area, this time at Northern Quest Casino Sunday May 10 (Mother's Day). In honor of the diva, here's an hour of songs from her career. She is also reading from her children's book Broadway Barks on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Valley Barnes & Noble.

Star Tar - Bernadette Peters, Dames at Sea [Original Cast] (That's Entertainment)
There's Something About You - Bernadette Peters; David Christmas, Dames at Sea [Original Cast]
Musical Moon/Oh, You Wonderful Boy/All Aboard for Broadway - Jerry Dodge, Betty Ann Grove, Bernadette Peters, Joel Grey, George M! [Original Cast] (Sony)
Time Heals Everything (Mack and Mabel) - Bernadette Peters, Sondheim, Etc.: Live at Carnegie Hall (Angel)
Sunday in the Park with George - Bernadette Peters, Mandy Patinkin, Sunday in the Park with George [Original Broadway Cast] (RCA)
Tell Me on a Sunday - Bernadette Peters, Song & Dance - The Songs [Original Broadway Cast] (RCA)
Unexpected Song [Song and Dance] - Bernadette Peters, Hey Mr. Producer!: The Musical World of Cameron MacKintosh Disc 1 (404 Music Group/Phillips)
Stay with Me - Bernadette Peters; Pamela Winslow, Into the Woods [Original Broadway Cast] (RCA)
Last Midnight - Bernadette Peters, Star Spangled Rhythm [Smithsonian] Disc 4
No More - Bernadette Peters, The Goodbye Girl [Broadway Cast] (Columbia)
Doin' What Comes Natur'lly - Bernadette Peters, Annie Get Your Gun [1999 Broadway Revival Cast] (Angel)
Some People - Bernadette Peters, Sondheim, Etc.: Live at Carnegie Hall (Angel)
The Gentleman is a Dope - Bernadette Peters, Bernadette Loves Rodgers and Hammerstein (Angel)
I Haven't Got a Worry in the World - Bernadette Peters, Bernadette Loves Rodgers and Hammerstein (Angel)
Not a Day Goes By - Bernadette Peters, Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall Disc 2 (RCA)

Apr 29: Sondheim

Lovely - Ruthie Henshall, Carol Burnett, Cast, Putting It Together (Image Entertainment)
Bring Me My Bride - Cris Grienendaal, Nathan Lane, Cast, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum [Angel] (Angel)
The Miller's Son - D. Jamin Bartlett, A Little Night Music (That's Entertainment/ Sony)
Kiss Me - Lauren Molina, Benjamin Magnuson, Sweeney Todd [2005 Broadway Revival Cast] Disc 1 (Nonesuch)
You Could Drive a Person Crazy [Company] - Lea Salonga; Maria Friedman; Millicent Martin; Ruthie Henshall, Hey Mr. Producer!: The Musical World of Cameron MacKintosh Disc 2 (404 Music Group/Phillips)
Everybody Loves Louis - Bernadette Peters, Sunday in the Park with George [Original Broadway Cast] (RCA)
What Can You Lose? - Judy Kuhn, Unsung Sondheim (Fynsworth Alley)
Goodbye for Now [From Reds] - Liz Callaway, Unsung Sondheim (Fynsworth Alley)
Send in the Clowns - Glynis Johns, Star Spangled Rhythm [Smithsonian] Disc 4
I Remember (Evening Primrose) - Megan Mullally, The Sweetheart Break-In
Loving You - Mandy Patinkin, Oscar & Steve (Nonesuch)
Losing My Mind [Follies] - Michael Ball, Hey Mr. Producer!: The Musical World of Cameron MacKintosh Disc 2 (404 Music Group/Phillips)
No One is Alone - Barbara Cook, No One Is Alone (DRG)
Free - Nathan Lane, Jim Stanek, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum [Angel] (Angel)
Pretty Little Picture - Nathan Lane, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum [Angel] (Angel)

Mar 11: Gardens

Winter's on the Wing - The Secret Garden [Original Broadway Cast] (Original Cast Record)
The Springtime Cometh - Irwin Corey, Flahooley
Green-Up Time [From Love Life] - Lotte Lenya, Lotte Lenya Sings American & Berlin Theater Songs of Kurt Weill (Sony)
Hurry! It's Lovely up Here! [From On a Clear Day You Can See Forever] - Bryn Terfel, If Ever I Would Leave You: The Songs Alan Jay Lerner (Polygram)
The flowers that bloom in the spring, tra la - D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, Mikado ()
Edelweiss - Theodore Bikel, The Sound of Music [Original Broadway Cast] [Bonus Tracks] (Sony BMG)
Spring Is Here - Julie Andrews, Broadway: The Music of Richard Rodgers
One More Walk Aroun the Garden - Julie Andrews, Here I'll Stay: The Words of Alan Jay Lerner (Philips)
Come to My Garden/Lift Me Up - The Secret Garden [Original Broadway Cast]
Wick - The Secret Garden [Original Broadway Cast]
Somewhere That's Green (Little Shop Of Horrors) - Ellen Greene, Hey Mr. Producer (404 Music Group/Phillips)
Make Our Garden Grow - New Broadway Cast Recording, Candide (RCA)
The Fantasticks/Plant a Radish - Harvey Schmidt, The Fantasticks [2006 Off Broadway Recording] (Ghostlight)
Mountain Greenery - Dawn Upshaw, Sings Rodgers & Hart
The Apple Tree (Forbidden Fruit) - Larry Byden, The Apple Tree [Original Broadway Cast] (Sony)
The Spring of Next Year - Joe Masiell, William Larsen, Clifford Fearl, Charles Karel, Zale Kessler, Charles Welch, Dear World [Original Broadway Cast] (Sony)

Mar 4: Vincent Youmans

Take a Little One Step - , Lollipop
Tea for Two - No No Nanette
Too Many Rings Around Rosie - No No Nanette
You Can Dance WIth Any Girl At All - Helen Gallagher, No No Nanette 1971 Revival
Telephone Girlie - Bobby Van, No No Nanette 1971 Revival
Hallelujah [From Hit the Deck] - Ann Miller; Clark Burroughs; Debbie Reynolds; Kay Armen; Tony Martin; Vic Damone, Somewhere Over the Rainbow: The Golden Age of Hollywood Musicals Disc 1 (Rhino)
I Know That You Know (Hit the Deck) - Jane Powell; Vic Damone, Romantic Duets from MGM Classics (Turner/Rhino)
Sometimes I'm Happy - Charles King; Louise Groody, Star Spangled Rhythm [Smithsonian] Disc 1 (Smithsonian Collection)
The Carioca Song - Etta Moten, Flying Down to Rio
Flying Down to Rio Song - Fred Astaire, Flying Down to Rio
You're Everywhere - Brent Barrett, Through the Years
Through the Years - Heidi Grant Murphy, Through the Years
Kinda Like You - Hunter Foster, Jennifer Cody, Through the Years
Lucky Bird - Joan Morris, Carioca: Songs Of Vincent Youmans, Vol. 2
Without A Song - Robert White, Orchids in the Moonlight: Songs of Vincent Youmans
Soft Eyes - Vincent Youmans, Carioca: Songs Of Vincent Youmans, Vol. 2

Feb 25: Car Tunes

Henry Ford - Larry Daggett, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Ragtime [Original Broadway Cast Disc 1]
Driving at Night - Cast, State Fair
Waiting for Life - La Chanze, Once on This Island [RCA]
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Carrie Fletcher; Emma Williams; George Gillies; Michael Ball, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang [Original London Cast]
Travel Hopefully - Don Stephenson; John Scherer; Martin Jarvis, By Jeeves [Original Broadway Cast]
Lovin' Al - Original Cast, Working [Original Cast Recording] (Varese Sarabande)
Brother Trucker - James Taylor, Working
Traffic Jam - James Taylor, Working
Road Kill - Cast, The Great American Trailer Park Musical
Come Up to My Place (Taxi Number) - Cris Alexander; Nancy Walker, On the Town [Original Broadway Cast] (Sony Classical)
On the Highway of Love - Danny Burstein, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change (Varese Sarabande)
Beep Beep - The Playmates
Greased Lightnin' - Original Broadway Cast, Grease
Alone at a Drive-In Movie - Jim Jacobs, Grease
Wheels - Barbara Walsh, A My Name Will Always Be Alice
Wheels of a Dream - Audra McDonald; Brian Mitchell, Ragtime [Original Cast Recording - RCA] (BMG)

Feb 18: Down With Love

Down with Love - Barbra Streisand, Live in Concert 2006 Disc 1 (Columbia)
You Can Always Count on Me - Randy Graff, City of Angels [Original Broadway Cast] (Columbia)
If - Adolph Green; Betty Comden, Perform Their Own Songs (DRG)
The Love of my Life - Judy Kaye, Brigadoon (Redline)
Making Love Alone - Bernadette Peters, Sondheim, Etc.: Live at Carnegie Hall (Angel)
Economics [From Love Life] - Brent Barrett, The Alan Jay Lerner Album (Fynsworth Alley)
In the Broken Promise Land of Fifteen [from Lolita, My Love] - Brent Barrett, The Alan Jay Lerner Album (Fynsworth Alley)
It Would Have Been Wonderful (from Annie Warbucks) - Jason Graae, You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile: The Songs of Charles Strouse
Where Is the Warmth? - Patti LuPone, The Baker's Wife [Original Cast Recording] (Take Home Tunes)
When She Loved Me [From Toy Story 2] - Kerry Butler, Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust (P.S. Classics)
Falling Out of Love Can Be Fun - Mary McCarty, Miss Liberty (Sony Classical)
One Hundred Easy Ways - Kim Criswell, Wonderful Town [1999 Studio Cast] (EMI Classics)Rocks in My Bed - De Shield, Andre; Larry Marshall, Play On [Original Broadway Cast] (Varese)

Feb 11: Broadway In Love

If Ever I Would Leave You (Camelot) - Robert Goulet, Golden Memories of Stage & Screen Disc 1 (RCA)
All the Things You Are - Bruce Hubbard, Great American Songwriters [Capitol] (Capitol)
I Got Lost in His Arms - Mary Martin, Annie Get Your Gun [TV Soundtrack] (Angel)
Unusual Way - Elaine Paige, Jonathan Price, Nine (Sony Classical)
A Quiet Thing - Jim Walton; Karen Ziémba, And the World Goes 'Round
Bill - Christine Andreas, Here's to the Ladies (Image)
What Makes Me Love Him? - Barbara Harris, The Apple Tree [Original Broadway Cast] (Sony)
I Have a Love [From West Side Story] - Andréa Burns, A Deeper Shade of Red (P.S. Classics)
My Funny Valentine - Kristin Chenoweth, Let Yourself Go (Sony)
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What More Can I Say - Michael Rupert, Falsettoland [Original Off-Broadway Cast] (DRG)
You Walk With Me - Jason Danieley; Ted Sperling; Romain Frugé, The Full Monty [Original Broadway Cast] (RCA)
I Love My Wife - Lenny Baker, I Love My Wife [Orig. Cast] (Disques Swing)
Shouldn't I Be Less in Love With You? - Robert Roznowski, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change (Varese Sarabande)
The Human Heart - Andrea Frierson, Broadway in Love (RCA)

Jan 28: Baby Songs

Me and My Baby - Ann Reinking, James Naughton, Chicago [RCA]
The Baby Song - Danny Burstein, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change (Varese Sarabande)
Fandango - Lynne Wintersteller; Richard Muenz, Closer Than Ever [Original Cast] Disc 2 (RCA)
Triplets - Fred Astaire; Jack Buchanan; Nanette Fabray, The Band Wagon (Columbia/Rhino)
It's a Fish - Alan Alda, The Apple Tree [Original Broadway Cast] (Sony)
Go to Sleep, Whatever You Are - Barbara Harris, The Apple Tree [Original Broadway Cast] (Sony)
Somebody Gonna Love You - LaChanze, The Color Purple [Original Broadway Cast] (Angel)
You'll Be In My Heart - Kala, Ensemble, Tarzan: The Musical (Disney Records)
Baby Mine [From Dumbo (1941)] - Betty Noyes, Classic Disney, Vol. 4 (Disney International)
Children Will Listen - Bernadette Peters, Sondheim, Etc., Etc.: Live at Carnegie Hall -- The Rest of It (Angel)
A Father Now - Jerry Colker, 3 Guys Naked from the Waist Down (Jay)
It's a Boy edit - John Cullum, Shenandoah
Soliloquy - John Raitt, Carousel [1965 Broadway Revival Cast] (RCA)
My Child - Blood Brothers [International Cast Recording]
The Story Goes On (Baby) - Liz Callaway, On and off Broadway: The Story Goes On (Varese)
I Won't Mind - Audra McDonald, How Glory Goes (Elektra/Asylum)
Stop, Time - Barbara Walsh, Big (Uptown/Universal)

Jan 21: Villians

Bargain The Waltz Of Treachery - Les Mis, Les Miserables - Complete Symphonic Recording ()
Bad Companions - Gene Varrone; Margaret Hamilton; Nathaniel Frey; Richard Armbruster, Goldilocks (Sony)
Bring Me My Bride - Cris Grienendaal, Nathan Lane, Cast, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum [Angel]
Kismet/Was I Wazir? - George Forrest, Kismet [Original Broadway Cast] (Naxos Musicals)
A Powerful Thing - Gregory Harrison; Ronn Carroll, Steel Pier [Original Cast] (RCA)
Me and My Town - Angela Lansbury; Harvey Evans; Larry Roquemore; Sterling Clark; Tucker Smith, Anyone Can Whistle [Original Broadway Cast] [Bonus Tracks] (Sony Classical)
Those Were the Good Old Days - Ray Walston, Damn Yankees [Original Broadway Cast] (RCA)
I Want the Good Times Back - Alan Menken, The Little Mermaid [Original Broadway Cast] (Disney)
Fie on Goodness - The Knights, Camelot [Original Broadway Cast] (Sony)
The Seven Deadly Virtues - Roddy McDowall, Camelot [Original Broadway Cast] (Sony)
Hook's Tango - Cyril Ritchard, Peter Pan [Original Broadway Cast] (RCA)
Tarantella - Cyril Ritchard, Peter Pan [Original Broadway Cast] (RCA)
Alive - Bob Cuccioli, Jekyll & Hyde [Original Broadway Cast] (Atlantic)
Molasses to Rum - Clifford David, 1776 [Original Broadway Cast] (Sony Classical)
Lonely Room , Oklahoma
No Good Deed - Idina Menzel, Wicked (Decca)
Everybody's Got the Right - Cast, Assassins [Original Broadway Cast] (P.S. Classics)

Whoops

I hate it when I push the wrong button, ya know? My apologies to Stephen Sondheim, Stephen Schwartz, and Civic for playing "Turn Back O Man" from Godspell - in the studio this spring - after introducing songs from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum - on the Main Stage this spring. The worst thing is that I'm at my day job, far from the KPBX studio, so I can't do a thing about it. ;-p Oh well, mea culpa. I'll try to post a list of songs played, but I'm heavily into rehearsal for Cowgirls at Interplayers. Wheeeeeeee....
Thanks for listening! You can always reach me at janean at kpbx.org.

Dec 10 '08: Carols for a Cure

Carols for a Cure is an eclectic mix of classical choral, novelty songs, alternative rock, and world music, created and performed by singers in New York's biggest shows. For today's show, I interviewed Lynn Pinto, an actress who 10 years ago began recording Christmas songs with the casts of Broadway shows and sold the CDs to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Today's show doesn't fit into any cubby hole of music genres. Some are beautiful chorals, some have fabulous sounds that bowled me over, some are silly fun, and one song I just didn't get until Linn explained it to me. It's as fabulously mixed as the musical theater scene today. And it's a perfect foil to the oh-too-familiar music piped through stores and certain radio stations all December long.

To be perfectly honest, I put this show together with the hope that you, the listener, will go to the BroadwayCares.org site and purchase any of the Carols for a Cure series for yourself. The "for a Cure" part means all proceeds benefit research to find a cure for AIDS and services for those with the condition. (I'm a dreamer - I want an end to all diseases and life-threatening conditions, AIDS included.)

I am thoroughly grateful to everyone involved - the music directors who had creative ideas, the songwriters who donated their talents, the singers and musicians who take the time out of their performing schedules every year to make it a reality. It gives me great pleasure to listen to these songs, and I hope that these songs have the same effect on you, too.

Here are the songs I played on this show, just a tiny handful of all the great songs from the whole Carols for a Cure series:
Dreidel Dreidel Dreidel - 2003 Cast of Hairspray
I Wonder as I Wander - 2008 Cast of Spring Awakening
Good King Wenceslas - 1998 Nuns Choir of Sound of Music
Los Peces en el Rio - Antonio Banderas and the 2003 Cast of Nine
Los Peces en el Rio - 2008 Cast of In the Heights
Carol of the Bells (with Djembe) - 2008 Cast of The Lion King
Cold Christmas (by Elton John) - 2008 Cast of Billy Elliott
Eight Lonliest Nights of the Year - 2008 Cast of Avenue Q
Holiday Lament (The Fruitcake Song) - 2004 Cast of The Lion King
Tannenbaum - 2001 Cast of The Producers
The Holly and the Ivy - 2008 Cast of Mary Poppins
White Christmas - Bernadette Peters and the 1999 Cast of Annie Get Your Gun

Dec 3 2008 - Howard Ashman

Okay, it's not pretty - my formatting self destructed. But here's a list of what the songs were for today's show. Thanks for listening!

Title Artist Album
Cheese Nips Howard Ashman Howard Sings Ashman
Sheridan Square (Too Many Hats) Howard Ashman Howard Sings Ashman
Skid Row (Downtown) Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene Little Shop of Horrors [Original Soundtrack]
A Little Dental Music [*][Demo Version] Alan Menken Little Shop of Horrors [2003 Cast]
I Found a Hobby [*][Demo Version] Howard Ashman Little Shop of Horrors [2003 Cast]
Suddenly, Seymour Alan Menken Little Shop of Horrors [OS]
Be Our Guest (Demo) Howard Ashman Beauty and the Beast
If I Can't Love Her Ron Raines So in Love With Broadway
Seize the Day [From Newsies] David Moscow; Newsies Classic Disney, Vol. 5
This Only Happens in the Movies Kerry Butler Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust
I Can't Believe My Heart Susan Egan Coffeehouse
Lights of Long Ago Lynn Ahrens A Christmas Carol [2004 TV Cast]
A Place Called Home (A Christmas Carol) Liz Callaway On and off Broadway: The Story Goes On
Abundance and Charity Michael Mandell A Christmas Carol [Original Cast]
God Bless Us, Everyone Company A Christmas Carol [Original Cast]

Shows and Showtunes in the Region

Tickets to shows make GREAT Christmas Gifts! The BEST place to find arts events is at spokanearts.org, but there are several events outside the county of Spokane that are still of interest to musical theater lovers. The region’s schools are also doing some incredible work. If you want to add a musical theater-related event, please email me.

Spokane Civic Theater presents A Christmas Carol, The Musical from Nov 21 to Dec 20 at Main Stage. Lynn Ahrens (Ragtime, Once On This Island) and Alan Menken (Beauty & The Beast, Little Mermaid, Little Shop of Horrors) teamed up to give new voice to the Dickens' classic. Kelsey Grammar took this adaptation and made a TV movie of it.

Spokane Children's Theatre presents Madeline's Christmas from Nov 28 to Dec 13 at Spokane Civic Theatre Main Stage.

Lake City Playhouse presents Annie from Dec 4 to Dec 21 at Lake City Playhouse. America's favorite redhead girl gets another production, this time in Coeur d'Alene

Best of Broadway presents The Color Purple from Dec 10 to Dec 14 at INB Performing Arts Center.

Coeur d'Alene Summer Theatre expands into winter with a concert production of Irving Berlin's White Christmas. The stage production combines several classic Berlin songs with the plot of the movie by the same name, Dec 19-21 at the Schuler Performing Arts Center in Boswell Hall on the campus of North Idaho College.

Interplayers presents A Reduced Christmas Carol or Scrooge vs. The Stopwatch! The 50-minute special event puts Dickens through a blender, a zany treat for the holidays Dec. 17-21. (Okay, it's not a musical, but it's silly fun, and it stars my director ;-p )

Interplayers presents Cowgirls, the musical where classical butts into cowboy country. Your Wednesday Matinee hostess plays Jo, the owner of a bar that needs to blow the roof off on opening weekend and mistakenly hires a classical trio. Jan 29-Feb 14, 2009

Les Misbarack: Showtunes for Obama?

A friend passed along a YouTube video from the Ultimate Improv group, using "One Day More" from Les Miserables as a political parody. It's the night before the election, the scene is the Obama election headquarters. A couple of campaign workers realize their time together might be over, and in comes McCain and Palin singing Javier and Mrs. Thernardier. Yes, it's true that most theatre people I know are 'liberals' and Democratic liberals at that, so the Obama support shouldn't surprise people. Nonetheless it's a cute job of lip-syncing no matter the political position.


While at that political video I noticed another for "Do You Hear the People Sing." Made by someone else, this takes images of anti-war protests and from the economic difficulties that some still term a "downturn" and uses it to connect the Bush administration to McCain and boost Obama.


By the way, while I'm on the topic of YouTube videos, there are several videos of musical theater productions or homemade videos of famous movie or TV clips put to the tune of a musical, such as Avenue Q's "The Internet is for Porn" setting for images of Harry Potter movies.

So where are the playlists?

You know, I love computers and I also despise them. I wouldn't be able to do the Matinee without my MP3s of musical theater songs tucked away on a big portable hard disc, and my great flexible music database program. But every once in a while, the scripts that are supposed to make the technical aspects easy go berserk. A couple of functions now return errors that I haven't had time to fix ;-p So playlists are delayed. I have the info, just not easily portable to the rest of the listening audience. So thanks for listening, I'll work on getting my computer programs to cooperate better, and consider the playlister on vacation. (If Car Talk can send the Puzzler off...)

July 30: New Releases

South Pacific [2008 Broadway Cast] - Bali Ha'i (Reprise), Cast (Sony Classics)
South Pacific [2008 Broadway Cast] - Younger Than Springtime, Matthew Morrison (Sony Classics)
In the Heights Disc 1 - It Won't Be Long Now, Karen Olivo
In the Heights Disc 1 - Breathe, Mandy Gonzalez (Ghostlight)
Mamma Mia - Winner Takes It All, Meryl Streep
A Catered Affair [Broadway Cast] - I Stayed, Tom Wopat (P.S. Classics)
Adding Machine - Didn't We?, Joel Hatch/Cyrilla Baer
Adding Machine - I'd Rather Watch You (revised), Cast
Adrift in Macao - Adrift in Macao, Cast
Adrift in Macao - Rick's Song radio edit, Cast
Forbidden Broadway: Rude Awakening - The Be-Littled Mermaid (Part of Your World), Gerard Alessandrini (DRG)
The Little Mermaid [Original Broadway Cast] - She's in Love, Cast (Disney)
Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust - Disneyland [From Smile], Kerry Butler (P.S. Classics)
Wonder in the World - Make Someone Happy, Kelli O'Hara (Razor & Tie)

July 9: Jerry Herman

Open A New Window - Angela Lansbury, Mame - 1966 Broadway
I Put My Hand In - Pearl Bailey, Hello, Dolly! [1967 Cast Recording] (RCA)
Shalom - Jerry Herman, An Evening With Jerry Herman
It Only Takes a Moment - Emily Yancy/Jack Crowder, Hello, Dolly! [1967 Cast Recording] (RCA)
Before the Parade Passes By - Carol Channing, Star Spangled Rhythm (Smithsonian Collection)
It's Today - Angela Lansbury, Mame - 1966 Broadway
Gooch's Song - Jane Connell, Mame - 1966 Broadway
Each Tomorrow Morning - Angela Lansbury, Dear World [Original Broadway Cast] (Sony)
I Don't Want to Know - Angela Lansbury, Dear World [Original Broadway Cast] (Sony)
I Won't Send Roses - Howard McGillin, Mack & Mabel [1995 London Cast] (Capitol)
Whereever He Ain't - Caroline O'Connor, Mack & Mabel [1995 London Cast] (Capitol)
Look over There - Gene Barry, La Cage aux Folles [Original Cast] (RCA)
La Cage aux Folles - Jerry Herman, La Cage aux Folles [Original Cast] ()
I Wanna Live Each Night - Christine Baranski, Miss Spectacular (DRG)