July 27 Ahrens & Flaherty

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Prologue - Ensemble, Ragtime [Original Broadway Cast Disc 1]
We Dance - The Storytellers, Once on This Island [RCA]
The Gospel According to King - Ensemble; Tim Curry; Tom Mardirosian, My Favorite Year
The Comedy of Love - David Patrick Kelly, Julyana Soelistyo, The Glorious Ones
Mama Will Provide - Kecia Lewis Evans; The Storytellers, Once on This Island [RCA] (RCA)
Journey to the Past - Liz Callaway, Anastasia [Atlantic] (Atlantic)
Come Down from the Tree - Lillias White, Lost in Boston (Colosseum)
Gliding - Peter Friedman, Ragtime [Original Cast Recording - RCA]
Ti Moune's Dance - Grands Hommes/La Chanze/The Orchestra, Once on This Island [RCA]
Preamble - Lynn Ahrens, Schoolhouse Rock
Alone in the Universe - Cast, Seussical: The Musical (Polygram)
Times Like This - Janet Metz, Lucky Stiff [Off-Broadway Cast]
Shut up and Dance - Evan Pappas, Lannyl Stephens, My Favorite Year
Opposite You [The Glorious Ones] - Marin Mazzie, Jason Danieley, Opposite You
Back to Before - Patti LuPone, Matters of the Heart (Varèse Sarabande)
Wheels Of A Dream [Ragtime] - Bryn Terfel, Under the Stars (Decca)

July 20: Once Upon a Time

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July 13: Getting Tall

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I Won't Grow Up - Mary Martin, Peter Pan [Original Broadway Cast] (RCA)
Little Known Facts - Anthony Rapp; B.D. Wong; Llana Levine, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown [1999 Broadway Revival Cast] (RCA)
Think Big - Carolee Carmello/James Ludwig, John & Jen
Bye Room - Carolee Carmello; James Ludwig, John & Jen (Varese)
When We Grow Up - Diana Ross, Free to Be...You and Me
Growing Pains - Johnny Johnston; Nomi Mitts, Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Sony)
Maybe (Next to Normal) - Alice Ripley; Jennifer Damiano, Next To Normal [Original Broadway Cast Recording] Disc 2 (Ghostlight)
The Age of Not Believing [From Bedknobs and Broomsticks] - Christine Ebersole, Believe: The Songs of the Sherman Brothers (Fynsworth Alley)
Sunrise, Sunset - Chaim Topol; Company; Miriam Karlin, Fiddler on the Roof [Original London Cast] [Bonus Tracks] (Sony Classical)
Slipping Through My Fingers - Meryl Streep, Mamma Mia
Stop, Time (Big) - Liz Callaway, On and off Broadway: The Story Goes On (Varese)
Be Happy - Shelly Winters, Minnie's Boys (Project 3)
Part of Getting Tall (from Nine) - Malcolm Gets, The Journey Home (PS Classics)
Move On - Bernadette Peters, Sondheim, Etc.: Live at Carnegie Hall
Growing Up - Malcolm Gets, Merrily We Roll Along [1994 Off-Broadway Revival Cast]
Summer Is Over - Cast, A Family Affair [Original Broadway Cast]
Old Folks - Cast, 70, Girls, 70 [Original Broadway Cast] (Sony Classical)

July 5: Comden & Green

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Taxi Song - Adolph Green; Betty Comden, Perform Their Own Songs (DRG)
If You Hadn't But You Did - Dolores Gray, Two on the Aisle [Original Broadway Cast] (Uptown/Universal)
Vaudeville Ain't Dead/Catch Our Act at the Met - Bert Lahr; Dolores Gray, Two on the Aisle [Original Broadway Cast] (Uptown/Universal)
Interview - Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Jule Styne, Do Re Mi [DRG 1999 New York Co
Just in Time - Sydney Chaplin; Judy Holliday, Bells Are Ringing [Original Br
Give a Little, Get a Little - Carol Burnett, Let Me Entertain You: Carol Burnett Sings (Decca Broadway)
Make Someone Happy - Brian Stokes Mitchell; Heather Headley, Do Re Mi [DRG 1999 New York Concert Cast] (DRG)
Ohio - Edith Adams; Rosalind Russell, American Musical Theatre: Shows, Songs and Stars, Vol. 3 (Smithsonian)
Story of My Life - Judy Blazer, Leonard Bernstein's New York (Nonesuch)
I Like Myself - Gene Kelly, S Wonderful
Carried Away - Judy Kaye, On the Town (Studio Recording)
Wrong Note Rag - Edith Adams; Rosalind Russell, Wonderful Town [Original Broad (MCA)
Never Never Land - Michelle Nicastro, Musical Adventures of Peter Pan (Varese Sarabande)
Distant Melody - Mary Martin; Kathy Nolan, Peter Pan [Original Broadway Cast] (RCA)
An Interview With Jule Styne/B - Soundtrack, Do Re Mi [DRG 1999 New York Co
The Time for Parting - Adolph Green; Betty Comden, Perform Their Own Songs (DRG)
The Party's Over [From Bells Are Ringing] - Barbara Cook, Barbara Cook's Broadway!
Some Other Time - Cast, Bernstein on Broadway: Highlights from West Side Story, Candide and on the Town (Polygram)

Free Music Downloads from Spokane Library

Interesting news for music fans in the City of Spokane: Download three songs a week from the Sony catalog for free, to keep. Legally. THE CITY OF SPOKANE PAYS FOR THIS! It simply requires a valid/current Spokane City Library card. (Which reminds me to renew....)

This is a new subscription service called Freegal (rhymes with legal). "It includes a variety of musical styles such as classical, jazz, rock and pop." AND MUSICAL THEATER CAST ALBUMS! Downloads begin MID-JULY (2011).

"Customers will be able to download three songs a week for free, to keep. Because there are no digital rights management issues the songs are not loaned, they are just available. We pay for the service, just like we pay to buy books, DVDs and CDs in order to provide them to customers. One of the reasons the library selected this service was because it is very customer friendly.

Some of the aspects of the service that make it customer friendly:

* mp3 format (no confusion about competing formats)
* web-based (no software to download)
* use in library or your own computer
* works on PCs AND Macs
* vast collection increases offerings to customers"

Because of that last section, I hope this doesn't mean that the library will stop purchasing tangible materials. I have found many unusual, rare, highly out-of-print items in libraries around the country. (I've also purchased items that libraries chose to cull from their collections because no one was borrowing them. Horror!)

Bottom line - visit your local library. Music theater fans will probably be very impressed at what they find. Just be prepared to find them in the SOUNDTRACKS section (shudder).

June 29: America

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Yankee Doodle Dandy - Joel Grey, Company, George M! [Original Cast]
You're a Grand Ol Flag - Joel Grey, Company, George M! [Original Cast]
I Want to Hear a Yankee Doodle Tune - Billy Murray, Star Spangled Rhythm [Smithsonian] Disc 1 (Smithsonian Collection)
Yankee Doodle Rhythm - Cast, Strike Up the Band (Nonesuch)
God's Country - Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Douglas McPahil, Betty Jaynes, Judy Garland & Mickey Rooney Collection [Box Set]
I Like America - Graham Payn; Pat Kirkwood; Sylvia Cecil, Ace of Clubs (Bayview)
What a Country - Ray Bolger, All American [Original Cast] (Sony Classical)
Typical Self-Made American - Cast, Strike Up the Band (Nonesuch)
The American Dream - Jonathan Pryce, Miss Saigon [Original London Cast] Disc 2
America - Karen Olivo; Jennifer Sanchez, West Side Story (Sony Masterworks Broadway)
America - Fozzie (Frank Oz), The Muppet Movie (Zoom Express)
Piddle, Twiddle and Resolve - William Daniels; Virginia Vestoff, 1776 [Original Broadway Cast] (Sony Classical)
Cool, Cool, Considerate Men - Cast, 1776 [New Broadway Cast] (TVT)
The Egg - Ken Howard; Rex Everhart; William Daniels, 1776 [Original Broadway Cast] (Sony Classical)
The Flagmaker, 1775 - Jessica Molaskey, Songs for a New World (RCA)
Is Anybody There? - Brent Spiner, 1776 [New Broadway Cast] (TVT)
God Bless America - Kate Smith, This Is the Army [Original Broadway Cast] (Howard's)

June 22: Wheels

Yes, I'm aware that I'm probably the only person who would pair "Chitty Bang Bang" with "Greased Lightnin'" (NOT "the chicks will scream" version.) This show has some of my favorites: Highway of Love, Wheels, the Taxi number, and Movin' Right Along (I'm a big Muppets fan).

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Henry Ford - Larry Daggett, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Ragtime [Original Broadway Cast Disc 1] (RCA)
Driving at Night - Oscar Hammerstein II, State Fair [Original Broadway Cast] (DRG)
Travel Hopefully - Don Stephenson; John Scherer; Martin Jarvis, By Jeeves [Original Broadway Cast] (Uptown/Universal)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Carrie Fletcher; Emma Williams; George Gillies; Michael Ball, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang [Original London Cast] (Sony)
Greased Lightnin' - Jim Jacobs, Grease [Original Broadway Cast] (Polygram)
Greased Lightnin' (Reprise) - Rosie O'Donnell, Grease [1994 Broadway Revival Cast] (RCA)
Cadillac Car - Billy Porter; Darius de Haas; Heather Headley; James Stovall; Norm Lewis, Dreamgirls in Concert: The First Complete Recording Disc 1
Lovin' Al - Original Cast, Working [Original Cast Recording]
Brother Trucker - Original Cast, Working [Original Cast Recording] (Varese Sarabande)
Traffic Jam - James Taylor,
Pump Boys - , Pump Boys & Dinettes: On Broadway (CBS Masterworks)
Taking It Slow - , Pump Boys & Dinettes: On Broadway (CBS Masterworks)
Taxi - Jared Crawford; Raymond King, Bring in 'da Noise Bring in 'da Funk
Movin' Right Along - Kermit (Jim Henson), Fozzie (Frank Oz), The Muppet Movie (Zoom Express)
Taxi Number: Come Up to My Place - Cris Alexander; Nancy Walker, On the Town [Original Broadway Cast]
On the Highway of Love - Danny Burstein, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change (Varese Sarabande)
The Drive In - Louise Gold, Nunsense
Alone at a Drive-In Movie - Jim Jacobs, Grease [Original Broadway Cast] (Polygram)
Wheels - Barbara Walsh, My Name Will Always Be Alice
Wheels of a Dream - Brian Stokes Mitchell, Audra McDonald, Ragtime [Original Broadway Cast Disc 1] (RCA Victor Broadway)

June 15: We're Family

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Go Visit Your Grandmother - Henrietta Jacobson; Tommy Breslin, 70, Girls, 70 [Original Broadway Cast] (Sony Classical)
I Don't Need Anything but You - Andrea McArdle; Reid Shelton; Sandy Faison, Annie [Original Broadway Cast] [Remastered] (That's Entertainment/Sony)
Family - Randy Newman, James and the Giant Peach (101 DISTRIBUTION)
One Small Girl - Afi McClendon/Ellis Williams/Sheila Gibbs/The Storytellers, Once on This Island (RCA)
My Child - Bernard Reilly; Martin Etheridge; Nick Payn; Rod Edwards; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Susanna Furmanek-Halberda; Terry Johnston; Will Hill, Blood Brothers [International Cast Recording]
I Won't Mind - Audra McDonald, How Glory Goes (Elektra/Asylum)
Five Forever - Sutton Foster, Little Women: The Musical (Sh-K-Boom)
Round My Family Tree - Jim Cummings, The Tigger Movie and More (Disney)
A Handbag Is Not a Proper Mother - John Irving; Sara Seegar, Ernest in Love (DRG)
Look over There - Gene Barry, La Cage aux Folles [Original Cast] (RCA)
Family Values - Ryan Perry, Bed, Boys & Beyond (Original Cast Record)
Old Clothes - Carolee Carmello, John & Jen (Varese)
Just Like You - Carolee Carmello, John & Jen (Varese)
Not While I'm Around - Edward Sanders, Helena Bonham Carter, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street [2007 Deluxe Edition] (Nonesuch)
They Live in You (with Reprise) - Samuel E. Wright, Jason Raize; Tsidi Leloka, The Lion King [Original Broadway Cast] (Disney)
Children Will Listen - Bernadette Peters, Sondheim, Etc., Etc.: Live at Carnegie Hall -- The Rest of It (Angel)

June 8: "Yip" Harburg

(Okay, so my voice is a little rough right now. Blame some kind of allergy I get every spring and fall.)

Listen to this episode online via PRX here: www.prx.org/p/51874

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? - Mandy Patinkin, Mandy Patinkin
You're a Builder Upper - Ethel Merman, American Legends Series: You're the Top (Pro-Arte Records)
I Love to Sing-A - Al Jolson, Cab Calloway, Let Me Sing and I'm Happy: At Warner Bros. 1926-1936 (Turner)
Paper Moon - James Caan, Funny Lady
April in Paris - Klea Blackhurst, Autumn in New York: Vernon Duke's Broadway (Sh-K-Boom)
Down With Love - Judy Garland, The Very Best Of Judy Garland
Lydia the Tattooed Lady - Groucho Marx, At the Circus (Raven)
Satan's Li'l Lamb - Ethel Merman, American Legends Series: You're the Top (Pro-Arte Records)
Ain't It De Truth - Lena Horne, Jamaica (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
Over the Rainbow - Judy Garland, Judy Garland in Hollywood: Her Greatest Movie Hits (Rhino / Wea)
Necessity - Guy Davis; Terri White, Finian's Rainbow [2009 Broadway Revival Cast]
It Was Good Enough for Grandma - Celeste Holm, Bloomer Girl (Decca Broadway)
The Eagle and Me - Chorus; Dooley Wilson, Bloomer Girl (Decca Broadway)
For Every Fish - Adelaide Hall, Jamaica (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe/Addenda to Happiness - Ethel Waters, Cabin in the Sky [Rhino/Angel] (Rhino)
Here's to Your Illusions - Barbara Cook; Jerome Courtland, Flahooley (DRG)
When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love - Malcolm Gets, Finian's Rainbow [2004 Off-Broadway Revival Cast]
Look to the Rainbow - Kate Baldwin; Cheyenne Jackson; Jim Norton, Finian's Rainbow [2009 Broadway Revival Cast] (Ps Classics)

June 1: Class Struggle

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Who Wants To Be A Millionaire - Frank Sinatra, Celeste Holm, High Society ()
The Harvard Variations - Legally Blonde (Original Broadway Cast), Legally Blonde (Original Broadway Cast) ()
Big Fish, Little Fish - Joyce Brown; C. David Colson; John Heffernan, Purlie (RCA Victor Broadway)
Rich and Happy - Company, Putting It Together (Image Entertainment)
This Is The Life - Billy Daniels, Sammy Davis Jr, Paula Wayne, Cast, Golden Boy (DRG)
Come Raise Your Cup - Chorus, Ernest in Love (DRG)
Ascot Gavotte - Company, My Fair Lady [Original London Cast] [Bonus Track] (Sony Classical)
Why Can't the English? - Rex Harrison; Robert Coote, My Fair Lady [Original Broadway Cast] [2002 Bonus Tracks] (Sony Mid-Price)
Pleasure and Privilege - Jon Peck; Keene Curtis, The Rothschilds (Sony Classical)
That Great Come-and-Get-It Day - Jeannie Carson, Carol Brice, Chorus, Finian's Rainbow [1960 Broadway Revival Cast Recording] (RCA Victor)
When the Idle Poor Become the Idle Rich - Orchestra, Finian's Rainbow [2009 Broadway Revival Cast] (PS Classics)
When the Idle Poor Become the Idle Rich - Jim Norton; Kate Baldwin, Finian's Rainbow [2009 Broadway Revival Cast] (PS Classics)
I Have Danced - Victoria Clark, Bill Buell, Titanic: A New Musical (RCA)
Chimp in a Suit - Gregory Jbara, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Ghostlight)
What Do the Simple Folk Do? - Julie Andrews; Richard Burton, Camelot [Original Broadway Cast] (Sony)
Rent - Jonathan Larson, Rent [Original Soundtrack] Disc 1 (Warner Bros.)
I'm Black/Ain't Got No - Cast, Hair [Original Soundtrack: 20th Anniversary Edition] (RCA)
Rags - Judy Kuhn, Dick Latessa, Rags (Columbia)
Once We Were Kings - Class, Billy Elliot [Original London Cast] (Decca Broadway)

May 25: Unusual Love Songs

In honor of my 13th wedding anniversary, I focus on love songs this week. It seems strangely fitting that my darling hubby spent the evening at a theater board meeting while I worked on my show.

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What More Do I Need? - Dawn Upshaw, I Wish It So (Elektra/Asylum)
Till There Was You (From the Music Man) - Christiane Noll, Three Broadway Divas ()
You've Got That Thing - Jason Graae, Fifty Million Frenchmen (New World)
What Makes Me Love Him? - Barbara Harris, The Apple Tree [Original Broadway Cast] ()
Bill [Alternate Version] - Annette Warren, Show Boat [1951 Soundtrack] [Bonus Tracks] (Turner)
Unusual Way - Elaine Paige, Jonathan Price, Nine (Sony Classical)
The Human Heart - Andrea Frierson; The Storytellers, Once on This Island [RCA] ()
Kiss the Girl [From the Little Mermaid] - Samuel E. Wright, Classic Disney, Vol. 1 (Walt Disney/EMI)
As Long as You're Mine - Idina Menzel; Norbert Leo Butz, Wicked (Decca)
People Will Say We're in Love - Gordon McRae & Shirley Jones, Golden Memories of Stage & Screen 2 (RCA)
If I Loved You - John Raitt; Eileen Christy, Carousel [1965 Broadway Revival Cast] (RCA)
Loving You - Donna Murphy; Jere Shea, Passion [Original Broadway Cast Recording] (Angel Records)
If Ever I Would Leave You - Robert Goulet, Camelot [Original Broadway Cast] (Sony)
Buddy's Blues - Bronson Pinchot, Putting It Together (Image Entertainment)

May 18: Stephen Schwartz

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We Beseech Thee - Cast, Godspell [2001 National Touring Cast Recording] (DRG)
Simple Song - Barbara Cook, It's Better With A Band
Corner Of The Sky - John Rubinstein, Pippin OBC
It's an Art - Original Cast, Working [Original Cast Recording] (Varese Sarabande)
Lion Tamer [From the Magic Show] - Kristin Chenoweth, The Stephen Schwartz Album (Varèse Sarabande)
Where Is the Warmth? - Patti LuPone, The Baker's Wife [Original Cast Recording] (Original Cast Record)
In Whatever Time We Have - Darius de Haas; Kelli Rabke, Children of Eden [Original Cast Highlights] (RCA Records)
Defying Gravity - Idina Menzel; Kristin Chenoweth, Wicked (Decca)
Colors of the Wind [From Pocahontas] - Judy Kuhn, Classic Disney, Vol. 3 (Disney International)
The Bells of Notre Dame - Cast, On the Record Disc 2
God Help the Outcasts [From The Hunchback of Notre Dame] - Heidi Mollenhauer, Classic Disney, Vol. 5
Deliver Us/River Lullaby - Eden Riegel; Ofra Haza, Prince of Egypt
Just Because It's Magic - Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Drew Carey, Geppetto
That's How You Know (As Used in the Film Enchanted) - Amy Adams, Enchanted [Original Soundtrack] (EMI Music Distribution)
On the Wings of a Swan - Kristoffer Cusick, Lost

Musicfest Northwest

No Matinee show this week due to the great young artists performing in the Musicfest in Spokane. Wow, there are amazing musicians who work their fingers off to make lovely art!

May 4: Irving Berlin

My co-worker asked me the topic of today's show. When I told her, she asked who Irving Berlin was. "Annie Get Your Gun?" I prodded, but it didn't ring bells with the self-proclaimed "death-metal chick." I told her he wrote a lot of songs she'd recognize. She didn't believe me, but throughout the hour she'd gape at the radio, "He wrote this?" "He wrote THIS?" "You're kidding me..." Then I had to add he also wrote White Christmas and God Bless America, two of his immense hits that are in other episodes of the Matinee. Jerome Kern was right: "Irving Berlin... IS American music."




You'd Be Surprised - Eddie Cantor, Star Spangled Rhythm [Smithsonian] Disc 1 Shaking The Blues Away (Ziegfeld Follies) - Ruth Etting,
Alexander's Ragtime Band - Al Jolson; Bing Crosby, The Best of the Decca Years (MCA)
The Army's Made a Man out of Me - Chorus; Corporal Philip Truex; Oshins, Sgt. Julie; Staff Sergeant Ezra Stone, This Is the Army [Original Broadway Cast]
Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning - Irving Berlin, This Is the Army [Original Broadway Cast] (Howards International)
Rock-A-Bye Baby (Music Box Revue of 1924) - Grace Moore; Rosario Bourdon, The Ultimate Irving Berlin, Vol. 2
Heat Wave - Ethel Merman, American Legends Series: You're the Top
Blue Skies/It's A Lovely Day Today - Malcolm Gets, Melissa Errico, The Journey Home (PS Classics)
Steppin' Out With My Baby - Fred Astaire, Fred Astaire at MGM Disc 1 (Turner/Rhino)
Puttin' on the Ritz - Roger Bart, Shuler Hensley, Young Frankenstein [Original Broadway Cast]
There's No Business Like Show Business - Tom Wopat, Ron Holgate, Peter Marx, Annie Get Your Gun [1999 Broadway Revival Cast]
They Say It's Wonderful [Outtake] (Annie Get Your Gun) - Howard Keel; Judy Garland, Romantic Duets from MGM Classics (Decca)
My Defenses Are Down - Ron Raines, Broadway Passion (That's Entertainment)
You're Just In Love - Ethel Merman, Dick Haymes, Call Me Madam
Mr.Monotony (Miss Liberty/Call Me Madam) - Debbie Shapiro, Jerome Robbins' Broadway Disc 2
Love, You Didn't Do Right by Me/How Deep Is the Ocean - Anastasia Barzee, Brian D'Arcy James, White Christmas [Original Studio Cast] (Ghostlight)
It's A Lovely Day Tomorrow - Irving Berlin, Louisiana Purchase
Falling out of Love Can Be Fun - Anastasia Barzee; Karen Morrow; Meredith Patterson, White Christmas [Original Studio Cast] (Ghostlight)

April 27: Friends and Frenemies

Listen to this episode online at PRX - requires free account.

All Our Friends - Harvey Evans, Joel Grey, George M! [Original Cast] (Sony)
Me and My Shadow - Cheyenne Jackson; Michael Feinstein, The Power of Two (Harbinger Records)
I Wan'na Be Like You [From The Jungle Book] - Disney, Buddy Songs ()
Old Friends, Pt. 2 - Malcolm Gets, Michelle Pawk, Merrily We Roll Along [1994 Off-Broadway Revival Cast] (Colosseum)
Together, Wherever We Go - Bernadette Peters; John Dossett; Tammy Blanchard, Gypsy [The New Broadway Cast Recording] (Capitol)
We Go Together - Original London Cast Recording, Grease [1993 London] ()
Let's Be Buddies - Ethel Merman; Joan Carroll, From This Moment On: The Songs of Cole Porter Disc 2 (Smithsonian Collection)
Buddies - Robert & Richard Sherman, Snoopy Come Home ()
You've Got A Friend In Me (Whe - Robert Goulet, Toy Story 2 ()
Ya Got Me (On The Town) - Scott Wise, Michael Kubala, Debbie Shapiro, Mary Ellen Stuart, Jerome Robbins' Broadway Disc 1 (RCA)
What It Means to Be a Friend - Allie Trimm, 13 [Original Cast] (Ghostlight)
Big-Ass Rock - Jason Danieley; John Ellison Conlee; Patrick Wilson, The Full Monty [Original Broadway Cast] ()
Til Him - Matthew Broderick; Nathan Lane, The Producers [Original Broadway Cast Recording] ()
My Buddy/Old Friend - Ann Hampton Callaway, Sibling Revelry ()
Drink With Me - Anthony Warlow, Michael Ball, Les Miserables - Complete Symphonic Recording (Relativity, Red Ink)
For Good - Idina Menzel; Kristin Chenoweth, Wicked ()

April 20: Andrew Lloyd Webber

Audio available here on PRX.org - free account required.

Buenos Aires - Elaine Paige, Evita [Original London Cast] (MCA International)
King Herod's Song - Rik Mayall, Jesus Christ Superstar [London Revival Cast] (Sony)
The Music of the Night [The Phantom of the Opera] - Michael Crawford, Ultimate Broadway Disc 2 (Arista)
Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again - Sarah Brightman, Best of Andrew Lloyd Webber: Broadway (Polydor)
Anything But Lonely - Ann Crumb, Aspects of Love [Original Lond ()
Take That Look Off Your Face - Marti Webb, Tell Me On A Sunday - Original London Cast (Marti Webb) (Polydor)
Don't Cry for Me Argentina [Evita] - Patti LuPone, Ultimate Broadway Disc 2 (Arista)
Jellicle Ball - Orchestra, London Cast Cats
Memory [Cats] - Elaine Paige, Sweet Memories (Music Club Records)
Love Changes Everything - Michael Ball, Aspects of Love [Original London Cast] Disc 1 (Polydor)
I Don't Know How to Love Him [J C Superstar] - Yvonne Elliman, Best of Andrew Lloyd Webber: Broadway (Polydor)
Unexpected Song - Denise Van Outen, Tell Me on a Sunday [2003 London Revival Cast] (Decca Broadway)
As If We Never Said Goodbye [Sunset Boulevard] - Elaine Paige, Sweet Memories (Music Club Records)
Light at the End of the Tunnel - Richard Stilgoe, Starlight Express [Original London Cast] Disc 2 (Hip-O)
Superstar - Ben Vereen, Front Row Center: The Broadway Gold Box, 1935-1988 Disc 4 (Decca)

Last night, after I'd finished making this episode, I got a Facebook quiz - "What shows have you seen live on stage?" It didn't have points for how many times one had seen a particular show live on stage. Cats 4, Phantom 3, JC Superstar 2, Evita 2, Starlight Express 2, etc. Nor was there a place to put that I would attend these shows again only in the interest of a dear loved one. ALW's romanticism and fantasy has a place in the theater world, like rich French food - more than an occasional indulgence makes me feel bloated.

One other confession: I showed my 7 1/2 year old daughter a clip of Cats, to see if she might be interested in seeing it. She sat through the required amount, then turned it down, "They don't look like cats." Looks like she's got a lot in common with her grandmother.

Last week's show coming...

Whoops, that's the problem with vacations - you get all distracted when out of routine. The show was a little shorter than usual so I didn't get it polished up for national use. Or at least I haven't - yet. Hm, still prepping materials for the Spokane Children's Theatre Open House and season brochure, cleaning up after my daughter's Egg party, packing up orders from my online business, you'd think I could squeeze in some Matinee show production.....

Apr 6: April In Paris

Audio available online at PRX - free account required

Do You Want to See Paris? - Howard McGillin; James Harder; JQ and The Bandits; Karen Ziémba; Kim Criswell; Peggy Cass, Fifty Million Frenchmen (New World)
Only for Americans - Eddie Albert; Ethel Griffies, Miss Liberty (Sony Classical)
Ah Paris - Liliane Montevecchi, Follies (TVT)
Paris Holds the Key (To Your Heart) - Bernadette Peters; Ensemble; Jonathan Dokuchitz, Anastasia [Atlantic] (Atlantic)
Paris Loves Lovers - Don Ameche; Hildegarde Neff, Silk Stockings [Original Broadway Cast] ()
Stranger in Paris - Jeannette MacDonald, The New Moon ()
Paris by Night - Carole Todd, Victor/Victoria [Original Cast] (Decca Broadway)
Paris Stay the Same - Maurice Chevalier, The Love Parade ()
French Lesson - Adolph Green; Betty Comden, Perform Their Own Songs (DRG)
Bidin' My Time (French Reprise) - Jeremy Harrison; Jon Clairmonte; Kieran Mcllroy, Crazy for You [Original London Cast] ()
An American in Paris - George Gershwin, Gershwin Plays Gershwin: The Piano Rolls ()
I Love Paris - Lilo, Can-Can [Original Broadway Cast] ()
The Parisians - Betty Wand, Gigi (Turner)
Paris Is a Lonely Town - Kate Baldwin, Let's See What Happens (P.S. Classics)
I Hate the French - Patrick Wilson, Richard Kind, Bright Lights, Big City [Original Cast] ()
Paris Wakes up and Smiles - Johnny V.R. Thompson, Miss Liberty ()
Mélodie de Paris - Glory Crampton/Paul Schoeffler, Phantom ()
Paris Is Paris Again - Alfred Drake, Gigi [Original Cast] (RCA)
The Last Time I Saw Paris - Ann Sothern; MGM Studio Orchestra, Academy Award Winning Music from MGM: 1939-1965 (Turner Records)
You Don't Know Paree - Howard McGillin, Fifty Million Frenchmen (New World)
April in Paris - Dawn Upshaw, Sings Vernon Duke (Nonesuch)

Mar 30 - Live at KPBX!

Spring is here which means... PLEDGE DRIVE! Before you run off screaming, I have bunches of tickets to give away via Coeur d'Alene Summer Theatre and Best of Broadway. Tune in and call 328-5729 in Spokane, outside Spokane call 1-800-328-5729. Pledge and be entered to WIN TICKETS!
Plus, to be honest, it shows me that people are actually listening and that this time it takes is truly appreciated and worth it. Thank you!

Mar 23: Stephen Sondheim

Happy Birthday Stephen Sondheim!
Listen to this episode online here via PRX

Lovely - Ruthie Henshall, Carol Burnett, Cast, Putting It Together (Image Entertainment)
Everybody Ought to Have a Maid - Lewis J. Stadlen, Nathan Lane, Mark Linn-Baker, Ernie Sabella, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum [Angel] (Angel)
Everybody Says Don't (Anyone Can Whistle) - Timothy Nolen, Sondheim Disc 1 (BMR)
The Miller's Son - D. Jamin Bartlett, A Little Night Music (Sony)
Kiss Me - Lauren Molina, Benjamin Magnuson, Sweeney Todd [2005 Broadway Revival Cast] (Nonesuch)
Everybody Loves Louis - Bernadette Peters, Sunday in the Park with George (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 [A Little Night Music] - Judi Dench, Hey Mr. Producer!: The Musical World of Cameron MacKintosh Disc 2 (404 Music Group)
God - , Sondheim on Sondheim [Original Broadway Cast] Disc 2 (P.S. Classics)
I Remember [Evening Primrose] - Megan Mullally, The Sweetheart Break-In (SELEC (Supreme Music Program)
Losing My Mind [Follies] - Michael Ball, Hey Mr. Producer!: The Musical (404 Music Group/Phillips)
Loving You - Donna Murphy; Jere Shea, Passion [Original Broadway Cast Recording] (Angel Records)
No One is Alone - Barbara Cook, No One Is Alone (DRG)
You Could Drive a Person Crazy - Original Cast Recording, Company [1996 London Revival Cast] (RCA)
Finishing the Hat - Mandy Patinkin, Sunday in the Park with George [Original Broadway Cast] (RCA)
Our Time - Stephen Sondheim, Merrily We Roll Along [1994 Off-Broadway Revival Cast] (Colosseum)