June 27: Countrified Musicals

In honor of Ring of Fire opening soon at Coeur d'Alene Summer Theatre... Details to follow when I have a stronger internet connection.

June 20: Jerry Herman

Each Tomorrow Morning - Angela Lansbury, Dear World [Original Broadway Cast] (Sony)
I Wanna Live Each Night - Christine Baranski, Miss Spectacular (DRG)
I Wanna Make the World Laugh - Company; Howard McGillin, Mack & Mabel [1995 London Cast] (Capitol)
Showtune - Company, Parade (Decca U.S.)
Shalom - Robert Weede, Milk and Honey [Bonus Track] (DRG)
Milk and Honey - Robert Weede, Milk and Honey [Bonus Track] (DRG)
Motherhood - Chris Calloway; Emily Yancy; Pearl Bailey, Hello, Dolly! [1967 Cast Recording] (RCA)
It Only Takes a Moment - Emily Yancy; Jack Crowder, Hello, Dolly! [1967 Cast Recording] (RCA)
Before the Parade Passes By - Carol Channing, Hello, Dolly! [OBC Deluxe]
Ballet - Orchestra, Dear World [Original Broadway Cast]
It's Today - Angela Lansbury, Mame - 1966 Broadway (Sony Classical)
One Extraordinary Thing - Joel Grey, The Grand Tour (ArkivMusic Sony 60001)
Gooch's Song - Jane Connell, Mame - 1966 Broadway (Sony Classical)
And I Was Beautiful - Angela Lansbury, Dear World [Original Broadway Cast]
I Don't Want to Know (from Dear World) - Leslie Uggams, Jerry's Girls (Polygram)
Wherever He Ain't - Bernadette Peters, Mack & Mabel [1974 Original Broadway Cast] (MCA)
I Am What I Am - George Hearn, Star Spangled Rhythm Disc 4 (Smithsonian)
The Best Of Times - Jerry Herman & company, Tap Your Troubles Away! - The Words And Music Of Jerry Herman (LML Music)

June 13: Fathers of Fathers

Breeze Off the River - Patrick Wilson, The Full Monty (BMG)  
Father to Son - Cast, March of the Falsettos [Original Cast] (DRG)  
Race You to the Top of the Morning - Mandy Patinkin, The Secret Garden [Original Broadway Cast] (Original Cast Record)
Father's Day - William Solo, Children of Eden [Original Cast Highlights]  
Soliloquy - Ron Raines, Broadway Passion (That's Entertainment)  
A Father Now - Jerry Colker, Three Guys Naked from the Waist Down (Jay 1239)  
Other Pleasures - Kevin Colson, Aspects of Love [Original London Cast] (Polydor 841 126-2)  
You Two - Michael Ball; Carrie Fletcher; George Gillies, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang [Original London Cast] (Sony)  
Father's Footsteps - Orchestra, Mary Poppins [Special Edition] Disc 1 (Disney)
 The First Man You Remember - Kevin Colson, Diana Morrison, Aspects of Love [Original London Cast] (Polydor 841 126-2)
Inútil - Carlos Gomez, In the Heights (Ghostlight 84428)  
The Hardest Part of Love - Adrian Zmed; William Solo, Children of Eden [Original Cast Highlights] (RCA Records)
I Like You - Ezio Pinza; William Tabbert, Fanny [Original Broadway Cast] (RCA)  
Fathers of Fathers - Brent Barrett; Patrick Scott Brady; Richard Muenz, Closer Than Ever [Original Cast] Disc 2 If I Sing - Richard Muenz, Closer Than Ever [Original Cast] Disc 2 (RCA)  
Fathers and Sons - Original Cast, Working [Original Cast Recording]

June 6: The Sherman Brothers

Supercalifragilisticexpialidoc - Julie Andrews, Walt Disney Presents The Sherman Brothers (Disney)
Substitutiary Locomotion [From - Angela Lansbury; Cindy O'Calla, Classic Disney, Vol. 4
Gratification - Richard Sherman; Robert Sherman, Tom Sawyer (Varese Sarabande)
Protocoligorically Correct - The Sherman Brothers, The Slipper and the Rose
Busker Alley [From Busker Alley] - Gary Beach, Believe: The Songs of the Sherman Brothers
Tall Paul - Annette Funicello
Let’s Get Together - Haley Mills
You’re 16, You’re Beautiful, and You’re Mine - Johnny Burnette
Things I Might Have Been - Kitty Wells
Higitus Figitus (Sword in the Stone) - Karl Swenson; Ricky Sorenson, The Music of Disney: A Legacy in Song Disc 1 (Disney)
Tiggers - Jim Cummings, The Tigger Movie (Walt Disney)
Winnie the Pooh [From Winnie the Pooh & the Honey Tree] - Chorus, Walt Disney Presents The Sherman Brothers (Disney)
Makin' Memories - Disney Singers, Walt Disney Presents The Sherman Brothers (Disney)
The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room - Disney Singers, Walt Disney Presents The Sherman Brothers (Disney)
(There's A) Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow - Rex Allen, The Music of Disney: A Legacy in Song Disc 3
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Title Theme - Orchestra, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang [Rykodisc] (Rykodisc)
Over Here! - Maxene Andrews; Patty Andrews, Over Here! (Sony Classical)
Chim Chim Cheree - Dick Van Dyke; Julie Andrews; Karen Dotrice; Matthew Garber, Disney's Greatest, Vol. 2
River Song [Tom Sawyer] - Lawrence Clayton, Believe: The Songs of the Sherman Brothers
Tell Him Anything [Slipper & the Rose] - Susan Egan, Cinderella: Songs from the Classic Fairy Tale
Do You Remember Me - Shelby Flint, Snoopy Come Home (Paramount)
Your Heart Will Lead You Home [From the Tigger Movie] - Natalie Toro, Believe: The Songs of the Sherman Brothers (Fynsworth Alley)
Feed the Birds - Original London Cast, Mary Poppins [Original London Cast] (Walt Disney Records)
Let's Go Fly a Kite - Dave Tomlinson; Dick Van Dyke, Mary Poppins [Special Edition] Disc 1

I truly recommend the documentary The Boys by one son of Richard and one son of Robert Sherman. It's available to rent online.

Some additional notes on Robert Sherman and WWII...

While watching that wonderful documentary, The Boys, I couldn't help but notice Robert Sherman's eyes. In the family photographs as young boys, Bob's eyes were as bright and hopeful as his younger brother's. But in most of the subsequent photographs, after his time in WWII, there is a distinct veil to everything about him, especially his eyes. Near the end of the documentary, Bob says he was "the first one" into Dachau concentration camp.

(That was some field doctor treating Bob after he was shot in the knee on April 12, 1945, to get him limping along to get into Dachau by the end of the month... I digress.)  His 45th Infantry Division was "first" into the camp, with many different areas of the compound, with the 42nd Infantry division, of the 157th Infantry Regiment. The Army boys faced incredibly horrific sights, described several places online. I'm touched by Don Rodda's descriptions: http://www.evesmag.com/dachau.htm

On the day of the Americans' arrival, prisoners were crammed together in barracks - each one built to hold 250 people, but instead held 1600 people. That's like trying to fit 13 people into two beds. And there were 20 of these barracks, holding approximately 32,000 prisoners. Even during and after the celebration of the Allied arrival, prisoners continued to die because they were beyond medical help.I'm not even going into the death train and skeletal corpses. 

This was all new to the Allied forces. The ordinary GIs knew very little - if anything - about these concentration camps. NOTHING in their training or word of mouth prepared them for what they saw. Young Robert B. Sherman had enlisted at age 17. "I didn't know anything about anything. But I learned," he said on tape in The Boys. "We saw the poor, faded prisoners and had terrible experiences looking at corpses. It was enough nightmares for the rest of our life."

It's very possible that, if Robert Sherman was with his unit in Dachau, he witnessed or was even involved (unlikely with that knee injury) in the covered-up killing of surrendering German soldiers.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dachau_Massacre 

Several reports say how the sights and smells made the soldier vomit, going "out of our heads." One soldier, John Degro, wrote for Howard Buechner, "After viewing this situation we went further on, boiling mad, half out of our heads.... We came across a German hospital. How comfy the patients were, lying between clean white sheets with no regard for what was going on a few yards away [the 'death train' to be specific]. We ordered everyone out, regardless of their condition." According to some reports, more than 100 of those Germans were shot dead. Other prisoners reportedly killed the remaining guards who had been their keepers and torturers. A photo exists of two prisoners, gleeful smiles on their faces, killing their guard with a shovel.

Another layer is Robert Sherman's own connection to Judaism. His father, songwriter Al Sherman, was born to Russian-Jewish immigrants. None of the Sherman Brothers materials speak of religion, but Robert's wedding film clearly shows yarmulkes and a wedding canopy. Robert's donations of paintings to a temple are also featured in The Boys. Antisemitism was high in the '30s-'50s, so it's an unfortunate fact that most Jews hid that religious/cultural side of themselves, but it wouldn't be a stretch to infer that Robert Sherman identified as Jewish to some degree. The knowledge that this was happening to his own brethren, or at least those who shared some part of his culture or religion, would be especially horrific.

Robert Sherman, like so many of his comrades in arms, refused to remember those terrible times. He said that he did have a "nervous breakdown" when he returned, but then went on to dream about his 'Great American Novel,' painting pleasing images, and of course creating wonderful songs with his brother. I find it heroic and inspirational that someone who saw the worst of what man can do to one another worked on bringing joy to other people.

May 30: Soldiers - We'll Follow the Old Man

Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning [From This Is the Army] - Irving Berlin, American Musical Theater: Shows, Songs and Stars, Vol. 2 (Smithsonian Collection)

That's What the Well-Dressed Man in Harlem Will Wear - Pvt. James Cross, This Is the Army [Original Broadway Cast] (Decca Broadway)

This is the Army, Mr. Jones - Chorus; Irving Berlin, This is the Army (Original All-Soldier Cast) (Hollywood Soundstage 4009)

The Army's Made a Man Out of Me - All-Soldier Orchestra, This is the Army (Original All-Soldier Cast) (Hollywood Soundstage 4009)

  Military Life - Chandler Cowles; Harry Clark; Jules Munshin, Call Me Mister (Original Cast Members) (Jasmine Records)

We're on Our Way to France - Alan Hale/Company/George Murphy/George Tobias, This Is the Army [Original Broadway Cast] (Decca Broadway B0000831-02)

Sailors' Polka [Sailor Beware] - Dean Martin, At The Movies (Capitol)

The Navy Gets The Gravy But The Army Gets The Beans (from At - Jerry Lewis, At The Movies (Capitol)

How About a Cheer for the Navy - All-Soldier Chorus; All-Soldier Orchestra, This is the Army (Original All-Soldier Cast) (Hollywood Soundstage 4009)

Three Cheers for the Yanks [Outtake] - Judy Garland; MGM Studio Chorus; Six Hits and a Miss, For Me and My Gal (Turner)

  American Eagles - Company; Sgt. Robert Shanley, This Is the Army [Original Broadway Cast] (Decca Broadway B0000831-02)

Join the Waves - Betty Hutton, Here Come the Waves (Universal Studios)

Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet [From Broadway Rhythm] - Nancy Walker/Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra, Somewhere Over the Rainbow: The Golden Age of Hollywood Musicals Disc 1 (Rhino)

Hey Yvette/The Grass Grows Green - Douglas Watson; MacIntyre Dixon; William Griffs, Over Here! (Sony Classical)

  We're On Our Way - Alfred Drake, We're On Our Way (Decca # 72200 23345)

Honey Bun Reprise - Revival cast, PBS Live From Lincoln Center (PBS)

The Red Ball Express - Lawrence Winters; Male Quartet, Call Me Mister (Original Cast Members) (Jasmine Records)

You Can Always Tell a Yank - Dennis Morgan, Joe E. Brown, Hollywood Canteen (Great Movie Themes)

Don't Shoot the Hooey to Me, L - Samuel E. Wright, Over Here! (Sony Classical)

Going Home Train - Lawrence Winters; Male Chorus, Call Me Mister (Original Cast Members) (Jasmine Records)

  I've Got My Captain Working for Me Now (Ziegfeld Follies of 1919) - Eddie Cantor, The Ultimate Irving Berlin, Vol. 2 (Pearl)

What Can You Do with a General? - Karen Morrow; Brian d'Arcy James; Jeffry Denman, White Christmas [Original Studio Cast] (Ghostlight)

The Old Man, Gee, I Wish I Was Back In The Army - Bing Crosby; Danny Kaye, The Ultimate White Christmas (Ideal Music) 

May 23: Frank Loesser

Moon of Manakoora - Dorothy Lamour, Love Isn't Born Its Made - Ann Sheridan, Thank Your Lucky Stars (Sandy Hook) See What the Boys In the Back Room Will Have - Marlene Dietrich, Lili Marlene Rumble Rumble Rumble - Betty Hutton, Perils of Pauline (Vci Video) Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition - Harry Kaye, Stage Door Canteen (Heartland Music) They're Either Too Young Or Too Old - Bette Davis, Thank Your Lucky Stars (Sandy Hook) Summertime Love - Anthony Perkins, Greenwillow (Original Broadway Cast) Make A Miracle - Pip Hinton & Norman Wisdom, Where's Charley (Must Close Saturday) Once In Love With Amy - Frank Loesser, Frank Sings Loesser The Crapshooters' Dance - Orchestra, Guys and Dolls [1992 Broadway Revival Cast] Thank Your Lucky Stars - Dinah Shore, Guys and Dolls - J.K. Simmons; Walter Bobbie, Guys and Dolls [1992 Broadway Revival Cast] ( RCA Victor 090126 61317-2) My Time of Day/I've Never Been in Love Before - Ron Raines, Emily Loesser, So in Love With Broadway Joey, Joey, Joey - Cast, The Most Happy Fella [New Broadway Cast] My Heart Is So Full of You - Robert Weede, Jo Sullivan, American Musical Theatre: Shows, Songs and Stars, Vol. 3 (Smithsonian) FLoesser y - , Inchworm - Frank Loesser, Frank Sings Loesser Standing on the Corner [From The Most Happy Fella] - Alan Gilbert; John Henson; Roy Lazarus; Shorty Long, Broadway Showstoppers, Vol. 2 (Sony Music Distribution) Been a Long Day - Matthew Broderick; Megan Mullally; Victoria Clark, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying [New Broadway Cast] (RCA) A Secretary Is Not A Toy - Frank Loesser, An Evening with Frank Loesser (DRG)

May 9: Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all moms! Remember Mothers Day - Al Jolson, Jolson Jams (Future Noise Music Ltd.)
Mama, a Rainbow - Original Cast, Minnie's Boys (Project 3)
A Little House for Mama [*] - Richard Kind, Bounce [Original Cast] (Nonesuch 79830-2)
I'm Becoming My Mother - Courtenay Day, State of Bliss (LML Music 151)
Mother, Angel, Darling - Debbie Reynolds/Patsy Kelly, Irene - A Musical Comedy (Sony Broadway SK 32266 MP3)
The Apple Doesn't Fall - Chita Rivera; Liza Minelli, Rink [Original Broadway Cast] (Jay Records 1328)
Tina's Mother - Joan Ryan, Ruthless [Los Angeles Cast] (Varese Sarabande VSD 5476)
I'd give my life for you - Joanna Ampil, Miss Saigon [Complete Recording] ( Angel 55564)
What Kind Of Mother? - OOBC, Walmartopia: A Musical On A Mission (Outside the Big Box Productions)
Mother's Day - Snoopy, Snoopy [London] (Jay 1307)
The Portrait [A...My Name Is Alice] - Barbara Walsh, A... My Name Will Always Be Alice (Original Cast Records 9543)
Mother's Day - Sherie Rene Scott, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Ghostlight 84447)
The Story Goes On [Baby] - Susan Egan, So Far... (Jay 1359)
If I Sing - Karen Akers, Unchained Melodies (DRG)
Momma, Momma, Momma - Elliott Gould; Lillian Roth, I Can Get It for You Wholesale [Original Soundtrack] (Sbme Special MKTS.)
They Give Me Love - Shelley Winters, Minnie's Boys (Project 3)
I Don't Know Where She Got It - Lillian Hayman; Robert Hooks, Hallelujah, Baby! (Sony Classical)

May 2: Charles Strouse

Born Too Late - PoniTails, Doo-Wop Classics The Telephone Hour - The Teenagers, Bye Bye Birdie [OBC] (Sony 89254) We Speak the Same Language - Ron Husmann, All American [Original Cast] (Sony Broadway SK 48216) I Want To Be With You - Sammy Davis Jr, Paula Wayne, Golden Boy (DRG 19079) Something Was Missing - Victor Garber, Annie [Original Television Soundtrack] (Sony SK 89008) I Was Lost - Cast, Nightingale (Jay 1327) There's Always One You Can't Forget (from Dance a Little Closer) - Jason Graae, You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile: The Songs of Charles Strouse (Colosseum) Penny a Tune - Company, Rags (Columbia) Overture - Orchestra, Annie [Original Television Soundtrack] (Sony SK 89008) Those Were The Days opening credits - Carroll O'Connor; Jean Stapleton You've Got Possibilities - Linda Lavin, It's a Bird It's a Plane It's Superman (Sony Music Distribution) I Got A New Girl - Original Broadway Cast, Dance A Little Closer (TER 1174) Good Times - Original Off-Broadway Cast, Mayor, The Musical (Harbinger) He Doesn't Know I'm Alive - Original Cast, Annie 2: Miss Hannigan's Revenge (Time Life 19538) It Would Have Been Wonderful - Marguerite MacIntyre, Annie Warbucks (Angel CDQ 7243 5 55040 2 9) You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile - Donald Craig; Laurie Beechman, Annie [Original Broadway Cast] [Remastered] (Sony SK-60723) Tomorrow [First Public Performance] - Martin Charnin, Annie [Original Broadway Cast] [Remastered] (Sony SK-60723) Blame It On The Summer Night - Julia Migenes, Rags (Columbia) Applause - Bonnie Franklin, Applause (Decca U.S.)

Thank for the Pledge Drive support!

Thank you to everyone who called up to pledge last week! It was a great morning of pledge drive, and a big thanks to the Coeur d'Alene Summer Theatre, Lake City Playhouse, Spokane Civic Theatre, and Interplayers for donating tickets to our listeners.

Apr 18: Uppity Women

All Girl Band/A...My Name Is Alice Poems - Marta Kauffman, A... My Name Will Always Be Alice (Original Cast Records 9543)
I Put My Hand In - Mary Martin and Company, Hello, Dolly! (London 1965) (Masterworks Broadway)
Just You Wait - Julie Andrews, My Fair Lady [OBC] [2002 Bonus Tracks] (Sony SMK 89997)
The Lady Is a Tramp - Erin Dilly, Babes in Arms [1999 New York Cast Recording] (DRG 94769)
A Lady Needs a Change - Ethel Merman, American Legends Series: You're the Top (Pro-Arte Records)
One Of The Boys - Allison Janney, 9 To 5 - The Musical (Original Cast Recording) (Dolly Records 1980)
Defying Gravity - Debbie Gravitte, Defying Gravity (Jay Records)
Before the Parade Passes By [*] - Pearl Bailey, Hello, Dolly! [OBC Deluxe] (Sepia Records)
Pirate Dance - How To Succeed Orchestra, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying [2011 Revival] (Decca Broadway 001564502)
Women's Medley - Phyllis Newman, The Madwoman of Central Park West (DRG 5212)
The Life I Never Led - Cast, Sister Act (Ghostlight 84446)
Stranger to the Rain - Kelli Rabke, Children of Eden [Original Cast Highlights] (RCA 63165)
The Ladies Who Lunch - Barbara Walsh, Company (Revival) (Nonesuch 106876-2)
I Am What I Am [From La Cage Aux Folles] - Linda Eder, Broadway My Way (Atlantic / WEA 83580)
I'm Still Here - Elaine Stritch, Elaine Stritch: At Liberty (Bdwy) (DRG 12994)

Apr 11: Spanish Rose

Man of La Mancha - Plácido Domingo, Man of La Mancha (Erato)
No Me Diga - Andrea Burns, Janet Dacal, Karen Olivo, Mandy Gonzalez, In the Heights (Ghostlight 84428)
Buenos Aires - Madonna, Evita [Motion Picture Soundtrack] (Warner Bros.)
Muchacha - Judy Holliday; Peter Gennaro, Bells Are Ringing [Original Broadway Cast] [Bonus Tracks] (Sony)
Conga! - Donna Murphy, Wonderful Town [2003 Broadway Revival Cast] (DRG)
Spanish Rose - Chita Rivera; Townspeople, Bye Bye Birdie [Original Broadway Cast Recording] (Sony Classical 89254)
Cariño Mio - Olga San Juan; Tony Bavaar, Paint Your Wagon [Original Broadway Cast] (RCA)
Un Mejor dia Vendra - Emilio Hernandez, Working [Original Cast Recording] (Varese Sarabande)
Me Siento Hermosa - Josefina Scaglione; Jennifer Sanchez; Danielle Polanco; Kat Nejat, West Side Story [2008 Broadway] (Sony Masterworks Broadway)
Dance at the Gym - Orchestra, West Side Story [Expanded Original Soundtrack] (DRG)
America - Chita Rivera; Cast, Star Spangled Rhythm [Smithsonian] Disc 3 (Smithsonian Collection)
Sunday Afternoon - Ednita Nazario, Songs from The Capeman (WEA)
Puerto Rican Day Parade - Various Artists, The Capeman (Decca Broadway MP3)
La Imigraciòn - Coge El A Train (Take the "A" Train) - Cast, George C. Wolfe's Harlem Song (Original Apollo Theater Cast Recording) (Columbia CK 86886)
Go with the Flow - Jose Llana, Wonderland (Masterworks Broadway 788669)
La Vida Eternal - Ryan Duncan, Altar Boyz (Sh-K-Boom 7915586050-2)
Carnaval del Barrio - Cast, In the Heights (Ghostlight 84428)

Apr 4: Holier Than Thou

Blow, Gabriel, Blow - Kim Criswell, Anything Goes (1989 Studio) (EMI CDC-7 49848 2)
Do Ya Wanna Go to Heaven - Cast, Big River: The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn [1985 OBC] (MCA MCAD-6147)
Follow the Fold - Josie DeGuzman; Eleanor Glockner; John Carpenter; Leslie Feagan; Victoria Clark, Guys and Dolls [1992 Broadway Revival Cast] (RCA Victor 090126 61317-2)
Sit Down, You're Rockin' the B - Walter Bobbie, Guys and Dolls [1992 Broadway (RCA Victor 090126 61317-2)
Learn Your Lessons Well - London Cast, Godspell [1993 London] (Jay 1247)
Do Unto Others - Company, Nunsense, Vol. 3: The Jamboree (DRG)
All for the Best - Cast, Godspell [2001 National Touring Cast Recording] (DRG)
Take Me to Heaven (Reprise) - Female Company, Sister Act (First Night)
Soup's On (The Dying Nun Ballet) - Instrumental, Nunsense [London Cast] (Jay 1255)
Hello! - Andrew Rannells; Josh Gad; Rory O'Malley; Scott Barnhardt; Justin Bohon; Kevin Duda; Clark Johnsen; Benjamin Schrader; Brian Sears; Jason Michael Snow; Lewis Cleale, The Book Of Mormon (Ghostlight 84448 MP3)
Turn It Off - Andrew Rannells; Josh Gad; Rory O'Malley; Scott Barnhardt; Justin Bohon; Kevin Duda; Clark Johnsen; Benjamin Schrader; Brian Sears; Jason Michael Snow, The Book Of Mormon (Ghostlight 84448 MP3)
God Don't Make No Trash - Cast Recording, Bare (Bare)
Hang Up - Mae Barnes, By the Beautiful Sea [OBC] (DRG 19042)
Waitin' for the Light to Shine (Reprise) - Aramis Estevez; Carol Dennis; Daniel Jenkins; Elmore James; Franz Jones; Jennifer Leigh; John Goodman; William Youmans, Big River: The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn [1985 OBC] (MCA MCAD-6147)
I Believe - Andrew Rannells; Ensemble, The Book Of Mormon (Ghostlight 84448 MP3)
Holier Than Thou - Cast, Nunsense [Original Cast] (DRG)

Mar 28: Parody Tonight!

Parody Tonight [Comedy Tonight, Funny Thing... Forum] - Tom Plotkin, Forbidden Broadway Strikes Back (DRG)
The Crime Scene [Tomorrow/On Broadway] - Gerard Alessandrini, Forbidden Broadway: Special Victims Unit (DRG)
Trouble in New York City [Ya Got Trouble, Music Man] - Brad Ellis; Brad Oscar; Christine Pedi; Craig Wells; Herndon Lackey; John Freedson, Forbidden Broadway, Vol. 3 (DRG)
Give 'Em the Old Star Replacement [Razzle Dazzle, Chicago]] - Gerard Alessandrini, Forbidden Broadway: Rude Awakening (DRG)
No Leading Lady Tonight [Luck Be a Lady Tonight, Guys & Dolls] - Jennifer Simard, Forbidden Broadway: Special Victims Unit (DRG)
More Miserable Sequence: Medley - J. Freedson; K Murphy; L. Strasser; Ligon; M. McGrath; P. George; R. Lucas; Toni Di Buono; W. Selby, Forbidden Broadway, Vol. 2 (DRG)
On My Phone [On My Own, Les Miserables] - Gerard Alessandrini, Forbidden Broadway: Rude Awakening (DRG)
More Miserable Sequence: Medley continued - J. Freedson; K Murphy; L. Strasser; Ligon; M. McGrath; P. George; R. Lucas; Toni Di Buono; W. Selby, Forbidden Broadway, Vol. 2 (DRG)
Ten Years More [One More Day, Les Miserables] - Soundtrack, Forbidden Broadway, Vol. 5 : Forbidden Broadway Cleans Up Its Act! (DRG)
Please Don't Monkey With Broadway - Fred Astaire/George Murphy, Fred Astaire at MGM Disc 1
My Souvenir Things [My Favorite Things, Sound of Music] - Tom Plotkin, Forbidden Broadway Strikes Back (DRG)
Mary Poppins - Cast, Forbidden Broadway Goes To Rehab (DRG)
Mary Poppins [Chim Chim Cher-Ee/Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious] - Gerard Alessandrini, Forbidden Broadway: Rude Awakening (DRG)
It's De Merman [It's de-Lovely, Anything Goes] - Nora Mae Lyng, Forbidden Broadway (DRG)
Never, Never Panned [Never Never Land, Peter Pan] - Roxie Lucas, Forbidden Broadway, Vol. 2 (DRG)
Carol Channing Sequence: Imitation Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery - Carol Channing; Brad Oscar; Christine Pedi; Craig Wells; Gina Kreiezmar; John Freedson; Susanne Blakeslee, Forbidden Broadway, Vol. 3 (DRG)
Old Revivals! [Oklahoma] - Various Artists - DRG, Forbidden Broadway 20th Anniversary (DRG)
Judi Dench (Why Can't The English) - Soundtrack; Cast Album, Forbidden Broadway - 2001 Space Odyssey (DRG)
Season of Hype - Bryan Batt, Donna English, Christine Pedi, Tom Plotkin, Forbidden Broadway Strikes Back (DRG)
Spamalot (Camelot/The Song That Goes Like This) - Gerard Alessandrini, Forbidden Broadway: Rude Awakening (DRG)
Give My Regrets to Broadway [Give My Regards to Broadway, George M] - John Freedson; Karen Murphy; Linda Strasser; Luc; Michael McGrath; Phillip George; Toni Di Buono, Forbidden Broadway, Vol. 2 (DRG)
Finale (What I Did for Love) - Gerard Alessandrini, Forbidden Broadway: Rude Awakening (DRG)

Mar 21: Anything You Can Do

Eve - Alan Alda, The Apple Tree [Original Broadway Cast] (Sony Broadway SK 48209)
A Woman Is a Sometime Thing - Edward Matthew; Eva Jessye Choir; Harriet Jackson, Porgy & Bess (MCA, Angel)
I'm an Ordinary Man - Rex Harrison, My Fair Lady [Original Broadwa (Sony Mid-Price)
If I Were a Man - Julie Andrews, Victor/Victoria [Original Cast] (Decca Broadway)
I Hate Men - Marin Mazzie, Kiss Me, Kate [1999 Broadway Revival Cast] Most Gentlemen Don't Like Love - Mary Martin, From This Moment On: The Songs of Cole Porter Disc 1 (Smithsonian Collection)
Single Man Drought - Jennifer Simard; Melissa Weil, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change (Varèse Sarabande)
Logic of a Semi-Liberated Man - SuEllen Estey, I Love You Madam President [Original Broadway Cast] (Original Cast Record)
What You Don't Know About Women - Randy Graff, Kay McClelland, City of Angels [Original Broadway Cast] (Columbia)
Entr'acte - Orchestra, South Pacific in Concert from Carnegie Hall (Decca Broadway)
It's a Sad Day for Us All - Deny Staggs; Jordan Hunt; Ron Ostrow, I Love You Madam President [Original Broadway Cast] (Original Cast Record)
A Hymn to Him - Rex Harrison, My Fair Lady [Original Broadway Cast] [2002 Bonus Tracks] (Sony Mid-Price)
Anything You Can Do - John Raitt; Mary Martin, Annie Get Your Gun [1957 TV Mary Martin John Raitt] (Angel ZDM 0777 7 64765 2 0)
I Do Not Need a Man - Village Theatre, Little Women (Village Theatre)
Sister Suffragette - Glynis Johns, Mary Poppins [Special Edition] Disc 1 ()
All Men Are Freaks - Cast, Toxic Avenger (Time Life Entertainment)
World of Men - Stacia Fernandez, Beth Leavel, Lone Star Love
I'm a Woman - Georgia Brown, Carmelina (Take Home Tunes)
Shine Like The Sun - Megan Hilty, Stephanie J. Block, Allison Janney and Ensemble, 9 To 5 - The Musical (Original ( Dolly Records 1980)

Mar 14: Ireland

Listing coming soon!

Remembering Robert Sherman

I was sad to wake up to the news that Robert Sherman passed away yesterday (Mar. 5). I love the Sherman Brothers music, partly as a Disney fan, partly as a lover of good music, and partly to the fact that Robert was my dad's name too. (Silly sentimentalism with the latter, but it's there just the same.)

Several are taking the opportunity to chide one of Walt Disney's favorite Sherman Brothers songs, "It's A Small World (After All)" because it sticks in the head. It's a round, created specifically to overlap from room to room; when Walt showed them the initial demo for the World's Fair, it had all the countries' theme songs overlapping. So blame Walt, not Robert and Richard. But since it's stuck in your head now, try humming Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.

They did much more than just Disneyland rides and Mary Poppins. I actually know the Annette Funicello song Tall Paul that got them their real start. There's a fun song about photography called Makin' Memories. And Disney had nothing to do with the classic Chitty Chitty Bang Bang or Snoopy Come Home. On Broadway, they wrote a show for the two surviving Andrews Sisters, Patty and Maxene, called Over Here. And that show gave a Broadway start to several now-famous performers, including 1) the guy who sang Sebastian in the animated Little Mermaid and the live Lion King Musical Mufasa, and 2) John Travolta.

I recently got two coveted Sherman Brothers creations. One is a version of Tom Sawyer, the other is a version of Cinderella called The Slipper and the Rose. I'll be listening to these soon and redoing my Sherman Brothers tribute. RIP, Robert. Though the mountains divide and the oceans are wide, you made the world seem like a friendlier place.

Mar. 7: Dorothy Fields

'erbie Fitch's Twitch - Gwen Verdon, Redhead (RCA)
Dorothy Fields History - Dorothy Fields, An Evening with Dorothy Fields (DRG)
I Can't Give You Anything but Love - Angela Hall; Eugene Fleming, Black & Blue [Original Broadway Cast] (DRG)
On the Sunny Side of the Street - Barbara Cook, Lucky in the Rain (DRG)
It's Not Where You Start - Tommy Tune, See Saw (Original Cast) [DRG] (DRG)
A Fine Romance - Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers, Ginger & Fred at RKO (2 of 2) (Rhino)
Doin' the New Low Down - Bill "Bojangles" Robinson; Don Redman & His Orchestra, American Musical Theatre: Shows, Songs and Stars, Vol. 1 (Smithsonian)
When She Walks In The Room - Wilbur Evans, Up In Central Park/Arms And The Girl (Decca)
That's What I Told Him Last Night - Florenz Ames, Up In Central Park/Arms And The Girl (Decca)
Charity's Theme - Orchestra, Sweet Charity [Original Broadway Cast]
Big Spender - Dorothy Fields, Sweet Charity (2005 Broadway Revival Cast) (DRG)
Pink Taffeta Sample Size 10 [cut from Sweet Charity] - Sally Mayes, The Dorothy Fields Songbook (DRG)
Pick Yourself Up - John Lithgow, Sunny Side of the Street (Razor & Tie)
Don't Blame Me - Barbara Cook, Lucky in the Rain (DRG)
Make the Man Love Me - Johnny Johnston; Marcia Van Dyke, Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Sony)
The Way You Look Tonight - Bruce Hubbard, Great American Songwriters (Capitol)
I'm in the Mood for Love - Frances Langford, American Songbook Series: Dorothy Fields (Smithsonian Collection)
See-Saw - Randy Graff, Doing Something Right: Randy Graff Sings Cy Coleman (Varèse Sarabande)
If My Friends Could See Me Now - Gwen Verdon, American Songbook Series: Dorothy Fields (Smithsonian Collection)

As I post this, I'm listening to the new musical "Once" for next week's episode, Irish music. And it starts out with a busker singing an Irish take of Dorothy Fields's "On the Sunny Side of the Street." As the late Robert Sherman remarked, it's a small world after all.

Feb 29: Beauty

Whoops... coming soon...

Cinderella Stories

What is it about the Cinderella story that people like so much? Is it the rags-to-riches hope that fueled some of the American Dream? Is it the idea that a guy likes what he must pursue? Stories about a girl getting magical help to go to a party, meeting royalty, and leaving behind a trinket he uses to find her has been told many ways since the Ancient Greeks. Musical composers have played with Cinderella too, both as a full-fledged story and as a metaphor for other characters. Here's the collection I know of - a companion listing to the Broadway Matinee episode of Cinderella from Feb. 22, 2012.

Walt Disney Cinderella: We all know the 1950 film with the adorable mice. Ilene Woods voices the gentle soul that some women think is too meek and accepting, waiting for someone to save her instead of giving those stepsisters a punch in the nose. Mike Douglas as the prince has practically nothing to do except sing a lovely duet. Even Verna Felton's magic song isn't as long as we seem to remember from childhood. The focus is on the girl and the mice (recorded a la Chipmunks, I'm still looking for a straightforward performance of the Work Song/Cinderelli). Composers Mack David, Al Hoffman, and Jerry Livingston recorded a demo called "I'm in the Middle of a Muddle" - we assume its their voices since there was no paperwork with the tape, and it's most likely the first draft of the Work Song. My guess is they gave that moment to the mice so the girl herself wouldn't sound like a complainer.

Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella: What lovely music, introduced by a lovely Julie Andrews. There's the original 1957 studio recording, made less than two weeks before the live television broadcast. Right afterwards, Rodgers and Hammerstein had Mary Martin tour the country performing their Cinderella music with interactive storytelling. Meanwhile, R&H licensed it as a stage show for Britain, enhancing the traditional Cinderella pantomime shows at Christmastime - keeping the panto character of Buttons, a comic servant, and making the Ugly Sisters guys in drag. Another London studio recording, with new stars, came out for the following season. Eventually American t.v. audiences got a revival, of sorts, with Lesley Ann Warren (who did not have Andrews's vocal chops) in 1965. Disney and producer Whitney Houston made a multi-racial remake in 1997, but a licensed soundtrack is sadly unavailable; I love Bernadette Peters singing Falling in Love With Love as a lesson to her daughters. Some of the stylings added to that production were reflected in the Asian cast, billed as the "International Cast" starring Lea Salonga in 2008. The music is reportedly headed to Broadway next season, but with updated arrangements and a book that has Cinderella save the Prince (Cinderella meets Enchanted? Hope it doesn't play as contrived as it sounds!)

Cinderella by Cliff Richards & The Shadows: A very popular pop/early rock star in Britain, Richards had gone through a religious conversion and abandoned the sexy "exhibitionist" image. Part of the softer Richards was performances of Aladdin and Cinderella - both popular Brit pantos - written by "The Shadows" (his back-up group).

Cinderella produced/narrated by David Frost: This is an out-of-print 1972 LP, nearly impossible to find, so I haven't heard it yet. On the Starline label, Una Stubbs is the heroine with songs "That Kind of Day," and "If Only." Nicky Henson is the godmother with "Let's Imagine." British pantomime stars Beryl Reid and Barbara Windsor are the stepsisters. The album is filled out by the Mike Sammes Singers.

Cinderella from Drive Archive: While there's no record of these songs having been performed on stage, they are original songs that sound right for a children's-theater stage. No idea who actually wrote these songs, one source cites arranger Jim Timmens as Radio City Music Hall music director; he certainly arranged and conducted several award-winning recordings, many of them for children. The album was a Read-Along with lots of narration by Shirley Brown (very annoying to modern adult ears). Some listings credit the voices (Peggy Powers, Kay Lande, Alan Cole, Eric Carlson) as being the Sandpipers, but that shouldn't be confused with the pop singing group of the same name. This group was often credited as the Sandpiper Chorus or Golden Sandpipers.

The Slipper and the Rose: A few years after narrating Cinderella, David Frost produced a lavish film with music by Robert and Richard Sherman (of Mary Poppins fame). Richard Chamberlain and Gemma Craven star.

The Tale of Cinderella: An Italian version with a wooden-spoon-wielding Godmother and a matching Godfather for the prince (no mob jokes, though). Storytellers and much dialogue are included on the CD. I like the song for the "Unmarried Women" and their lamenting fathers.

Into the Woods: Stephen Sondheim's sweet but real fairytale is my all-time favorite musical. Cinderella's story is taken from the Brothers Grimm, complete with birds, magical tree, and steps smeared with pitch. Her tale is woven with other storybook characters. Three commercial vocal recordings exist: OBC with Bernadette Peters and Joanna Gleason, OLC with Julia McKenzie and Imelda Staunton (remember the frog-faced pink Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter?) , and the Broadway Revival with Vanessa Williams and Laura Benanti. (Too bad the London voices are so difficult to understand and hear, it was the production I got to see first-hand.)

Sisterella - an R&B musical from Larry Hart (not to be confused with Richard Rodgers's early lyricist) developed for/by Michael Jackson. Many of the songs are too repetitive (like many pop songs brought to stage) but it has promise. And Yvette Cason rocks.

Bloomer Girl "Satin Gown and Silver Shoe" - I would swear that Celeste Holm was taking the place of either a godmother or Cinderella's birth mother singing a lullaby to the little girl.

Wish You Were Here - The camp resort has a dance where the ingenue goes hoping for love and the duet with Jack Cassidy speaks to the time disappearing because he's found love.

My Fair Lady: Yes this is a Cinderella story. And listen to Julie Andrews sing "I Could Have Danced All Night" - take away the maids saying get to bed and you have Cinderella after the ball. No wonder R&H asked her to be the star for their television Cinderella!

Feb. 22: Cinderella

Am I the only one crazy enough to celebrate "Women's Month" with the feminist nightmare known as "Cinderella"? I want to point out that not all versions have her as a passive, I-need-someone-to-rescue-me stereotype.

Satin Gown and Silver Shoe (Lullaby) - Celeste Holm, Bloomer Girl (Decca Broadway)
In My Own Little Corner - Julie Andrews, Cinderella [1957 TV Soundtrack] [Rodgers and Hammerstein's] (Sony)
A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes - Ilene Woods; Mice Chorus, Cinderella [Disney] (Walt Disney)
Dream That Dream Again - Peggy Powers, Cinderella [Drive] (Drive Archive)
Loneliness Of Evening - Stuart Damon, Cinderella [1965 Television Cast] (Sony)
The Prince Is Giving A Ball - 1965 Television Cast, Cinderella [1965 Television Cast] (Sony)
The Work Song - Peggy Powers, Kay Lande, Alan Cole, Eric Carlson, Cinderella [Drive] (Drive Archive)
Royal Dressing Room Scene - George Hall, Cinderella [1957 TV Soundtrack] [Rodgers and Hammerstein's] (Sony)
Unmarried Women - Cast, Tale of Cinderella: New Musical for the Whole Family (Atlantic / Wea)
Into the Woods (Cinderella Prologue) - Tom Aldredge, Into the Woods [Original Broadway Cast] (RCA)
Showoff - Margaret Robinson; Michele Golden, Tale of Cinderella: New Musical for the Whole Family (Atlantic / Wea)
I'm in the Middle of a Muddle [Demo Recording] - Mack David, Cinderella [Disney] (Walt Disney)
Cinderella at the Grave - Laura Benanti, Into the Woods (Nonesuch)
Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo (The Magic Song) - Verna Felton, Cinderella [Disney] (Walt Disney)
Impossible/It's Possible - Edith Adams; Julie Andrews, Cinderella [1957 TV Soundtrack] [Rodgers and Hammerstein's] (Sony)
Do I Love You Because You’re Beautiful? - Lea Salonga, Peter Saide, Cinderella [Intl Tour Cast] (Lakeshore Records)
Stepsisters’ Lament - Jen Bechter, Brandy Zarle, Cinderella [Intl Tour Cast] (Lakeshore Records)
No One Ever Told Me - Christianne Tisdale/Sean Frank Sullivan, Tale of Cinderella: New Musical for the Whole Family (Atlantic / Wea)
Where Did The Night Go - Jack Cassidy; Patricia Marand, Wish You Were Here (Original Broadway Cast Recording) (DRG)
On the Steps of the Palace - Kim Crosby, Into the Woods [Original Broadway Cast] (RCA)
A Lovely Night - Julie Andrews, A Little Bit of Broadway (Columbia)
I Could Have Danced All Night - Julie Andrews; Maids; Philippa Bevans, My Fair Lady [Original Broadway Cast] [2002 Bonus Tracks] (Sony)
So This Is Love [From Cinderella] - Ilene Woods; Mike Douglas, Classic Disney, Vol. 2 (Walt Disney)