No Day But Today

First off, I don't go to movies much. It's taken more than a year for me to see the film of Rent. My brother-in-law gave us tickets to Rent in Seattle as a wedding gift, and while we enjoyed it, we couldn't see what all the hype was about. Maybe it wasn't a great production, but I had a hard time getting into it. It seemed too long - at least some of the songs seemed too long - and I had problems understanding many of the lyrics. The film completely changed my outlook on Rent.

We finally had a movie night last Saturday in our living room, this time with my husband at my side and our preschooler on my lap. The opening sequence, with everyone in the neighborhood lighting their eviction notices on fire and tossing them out the window, was one of those moments where a filmmaker makes the most of the the medium. Another amazing reinterpretation was having Mark hit his head on the concrete floor in the middle of Tango Maureen, and suddenly hallucinate -- with dozens of dancers suddenly doing the tango, including Maureen in red. Fabulous.

This week, I've been listening to the soundtracks. Comparing as hundreds of Rentheads have done before me. I realize I'm late to the table, and have nothing real to add to it. My own personal impression, though, is that I applaud the cutting the director and writers did. For example, suddenly "Out Tonight" makes sense (why did Rodger let her sing that whole song and then push her out? Because she didn't come in until the last verse, after she came home from work! On stage, doing a pole-dance routine on the scaffolding of the set, it seemed odd to me. But hey, pole-dancing in a room full of pole dancers and their paying customers, that's her work, that's her character. It finally clicked.) Cutting out most of "Goodbye Love" works well -- we don't need to hear the argument in words, we've seen it enough between the action 'til he leaves, and the visuals of "What You Own" do an excellent job of telling the story. The setting of "Take Me Or Leave Me" in their own ENGAGEMENT PARTY, I loved.

Okay, this is why I'm not a reviewer. I have a hard time putting my own thoughts and impressions into words. Basic point -- I usually appreciate a stage show more than a film, but Rent is a fabulous exception. At least, so far: now I really want to see the live show again for comparison. The chance comes in May.

Elphaba's a real doll

The 2007 Toy Fair is opening in New York, and one of the items previewed caught my eye. Mattel is bringing back a series of Wizard of Oz dolls as part of the Barbie line, and this time they've added a Wicked Witch of the West doll. Pictures show it looks nothing like Margaret Hamilton's crone. Instead, she's a pretty witch, looking remarkably like Elphaba in Wicked.

Wicked is immensely popular with a similar pre-teen girl crowd that the Barbie dolls are marketed towards. Young people (mostly girls) about the age of 10 and older going wild for it. It's a coming-of-age story, with themes of friendship and being yourself -- that speaks strongly to girls in their teens and pre-teens. At the touring production in Seattle last September, the high-pitched cheers for Elphaba and Galinda made it clear: THE GIRLS WERE IN DA HOUSE.

So Barbie gives us the new icon of individuality nestled amongst the plastic princesses. Mattel's been looking for a way to expand their audience, and at least they recognized the purchasing power behind Wicked fans. Incidentally, the Glinda doll sticks with the movie character's costume, and Dorothy looks like Judy Garland.

Feb 7: Kids On Broadway

Alright, I know that some people will flip off the program as soon as they hear kids' voices. Tough. Kids are a part of Broadway too, and it's time to feature them. I know, sometimes their voices are shrill, thin, small. They're not as well-trained as their adult counterparts, although they do have training. It takes an amazing amount of self-discipline to be a successful child actor. And frankly some of their songs are great in my opinion.

One reason for doing the show now is Annie coming to Spokane. I do have fond memories of the show, since it was the first professional show my parents took me to (Los Angeles, 1979 or 1980, I don't remember).

Another reason -- my own child. She loves to sing along to other kids. Her favorite recordings are kids singing kid songs. This is why The Broadway Kids albums have taken off -- those kids are professional, their voices are usually palatable even to adults, and kids can really relate to them. I utilize three tracks of Broadway Kids Sing Broadway on this show.

Other albums from today's show:
Peter Pan OBC
Oliver! OBC
The Music Man OBC
Les Miserables, RSC
Gypsy - 1993 TV
The Boy From Oz OBC
Will Rogers Follies OBC
Annie - Disney TV
Shenandoah OBC
The Secret Garden OBC
Nine, 2003 revival
The King and I, 1992 studio
Mame

There were of course several more shows that I could have featured. I really like BarBara Luna's Dites Moi from South Pacific. I love the song Ordinary Mothers from A Little Night Music -- as Audra McDonald quipped, "I hope my child never sings this about me!" I also love Everyone Hates His Parents from Falsettoland, The Mermaid Song from Aspects of Love. As I mentioned, ALL four of the Disney shows currently on Broadway have child actors. But Chip only has a line or two in Beauty and the Beast, it's still too early to play I Can't Wait To Be King from the The Lion King (give Spokane a few more years to get over the King's reign), I still don't have the complete London Mary Poppins, or the cast album for Tarzan. I also didn't play songs from The Sound of Music, or Getting to Know You, or other songs where the kids are backup for an adult.

There are also many shows where, on the professional recording, the "kids" are played by adults. The Charlie Brown and Snoopy songs, Willy Wonka, Jack and Red of Into the Woods, Putnam County Spelling Bee, Toby in Sweeney Todd.... There's a good business for short actors!

Thanks to Verne for filling in Jan. 31

Due to illness, I wasn't able to finish a sampling of Broadway items in the KPBX Recordings & Videos Sale. No matter, R&V Sale days are some of Verne's FAVORITE. There really is nothing like going through the boxes of donated items. Every year, we've had some excellent DVDs, videos, CDs, and LPs looking for new homes. Verne concentrated on the LPs; yes we have all the classics, including every version of Carousel, Sound of Music, Kiss Me Kate, and Camelot. I'm also pleasantly surprised at the unusual items -- Goldilocks with Elaine Stritch. Mack and Mabel with Bernadette Peters and Robert Preston. The Little Prince television soundtrack, the final collaboration between Lerner and Loewe (and Bob Fosse sings!). The sale takes place Feb. 17 and 18 at the Masonic Center Auditorium in downtown Spokane -- use the West Main Street entrance. I'll be there with the camera, see you there!

Skaters use songs from musicals for performances

Yesterday, I had the priveledge of sitting at the Exhibition of Champions from the 2007 National Figure Skating Championships, held here in Spokane. The TV schedule shows a broadcast of Feb. 18 from 4-6 p.m. on ABC. The medal-winners from each discipline performed whatever routine they wanted to whatever music they wanted -- unlike in competition, which is purely instrumental. Many chose rock 'n' roll or hard rock. My favorite chose showtunes.
Unfortunately, the sound system in the Arena made it impossible to understand the names of the performers, so I don't know who they were. I'm going to make educated guesses based on the photographs from the usfigureskating.org site.
Alissa Czisny took to the ice in a laced-up costume reminiscent of a peasant dress, such as one Aldonza might wear; the music was the theme from Man of La Mancha, as sung by Linda Eder. (I'd bet that half of the audience thought it was Barbra Streisand.) The powerhouse singer put La Mancha on her solo album, and performed it live at Carnegie Hall in an evening of divas.
Immediately following her was pair Rena Inoue and John Baldwin, with Bette Midler's The Rose, from the film of the same name.
Soon after came an ice dance couple who "Dreamed the Impossible Dream," with an edited version, but most of it was the version with Linda Eder. (I'm guessing it was Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov?)
Songs from movies or musicals are pretty common in performance, although for competition they have to be instrumental versions. The year of Tara Lipinsky's tutu (to quote Car Talk), her exhibition was to the animated film Anastasia, written by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. Once Upon a December and Journey to the Past were sung by Liz Callaway, a respected soloist (and the best interpretation of Meadowlark anywhere!) But my all-time favorite use of musicals in skating came from Paul Wylie and Nancy Kerrigan.
Paul and Nancy had the same coach, and Paul had spent some time skating pairs before focusing on solo men's competition. When he and Nancy both won silver in the 1992 Olympics, they were both to perform in the exhibition. I remember watching Kerrigan in a white costume skating to one of Kim's solos from "Miss Saigon," performed by Lea Salonga. Soon after Paul came on with "Why God?" from Saigon, the male love interest. He had a white jumpsuit, with the same kind of accents as Nancy's. Then they stepped on the ice together and performed the duet "Solo Saxophone" from Saigon. It was beautiful. I can't tell you anything special about the performances other than they worked beautifully with the music -- and Kerrigan landed the spin Paul threw her into. (The look on the coach's face was priceless.) And in the age of YouTube.com, you can see the moment for yourself. (I also just saw Nancy Kerrigan's performance of Defying Gravity for a TV special. My only quip - why so few jumps for "Defying Gravity?")
In any case, the great thing about music from musicals is that they tell stories in song. The skaters have a few minutes to tell a story in dance, jumps, and body expression, and if the story is told partially in the song, all the better.

Jan 17: Comden & Green

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

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

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

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

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

Albums played:
Comden & Green Perform Their Own Songs
Bells Are Ringing
That's Entertainment! The Best Of The MGM Musicals
Leonard Bernstein's New York
Bells Are Ringing revival
On the Town
The interview clips come from Do Re Mi revival
These links support purchasing new music for Wednesday Matinee. Thank you!

Festivals - Asassins and Forever Plaid

Every other year, the American Association of Community Theatre (AACT) has festivals looking for the best of the best.
The Washington State festival, "Kaleidoscope," takes place March 9-11 in Walla Walla at the Little Theatre. Participants include Spokane Civic Theatre with a shortened version of the upcoming musical Assassins by Stephen Sondheim.
The Idaho State Festival takes place Feb. 16-17 in Lewiston. Participants include the Lake City Playhouse, with a shortened version of Forever Plaid, their fall musical production.
By the way, LCP has a fundraiser for taking Forever Plaid to the festival. Feb. 2, see Forever Plaid at The Old Church in Post Falls, tickets $15. The festivities start at 6:30 with a meet and greet followed by the show at 7:30 and closes with the announcement of Lake City Playhouse's 2007-2008 season.

Civic announces '07-'08 season already

2007 is barely into double-digit days and Spokane Civic Theatre already has announced its upcoming season of shows.
The pattern has, at least since 1994 (after the "JC Superstar at Christmas" fiasco), been to start with a classic "golden era" musical, a kid-friendly musical at Christmas, and end with a musical. For the past few years, they've also had a main-stage, one-night concert of a big musical that could never pay off for the Spokane audience (Hair, Jeckyl and Hyde.) Most excitingly, each season includes a musical in the Studio theatre, either something pretty new or controvercial that would NEVER fly on the main stage.
Those slots this year:
Opening Musical: SOUTH PACIFIC
September 28 – October 28, 2007
This Oscar and Hammerstien show was highly controvercial for romantically mixing Polynesians with Whites. (Gasp- the horror ;-p) Highly fun, several good roles for women.

Concert Musical: INTO THE WOODS
October 21, 2007
This is my favorite Stephen Sondheim show, probably my favorite show period, and certainly the best memories of being onstage. I had the honor of being the Baker's Wife way back in '95? at the Lake City Playhouse. I fell in love with this show with the London production in '90/'91, and I still love to pop in my tape of the Broadway Great Performances version (a show my husband saw live, and I'm still envious). When Civic did this on the main stage, in '92? it was the first community theatre to get the chance to do it (thanks to Jack Phillips). Unfortunately, I heard it didn't sell well. Maybe it was still too new, maybe it's the Spokane Sondheim curse. But seriously, how can you lose by combining Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and his Beanstalk, and Rapunzel? The script is fantastic and funny, the songs have something to say while being completely entertaining.... Okay, I'll get off the soapbox. Needless to say I'm thrilled that Civic will do at least a concert version.

Christmas Musical: THE CHRISTMAS SCHOONER
November 16 – December 16, 2007
I have never heard of this show, but a quick Google shows it's based on the Christmas Tree Ships, specifically the Rouse Simmons which was lost in a storm in November 1912. Christmas Trees (Tannenbaum) were a German tradition, and immigrants loved to have that reminder of home in the new world at Christmastime. So it's a story of tradition, ancestors, and human fellowship. One theatre specifically said Schooner is not appropriate for children younger than 6 (my guess being some characters die and the storm scene would be potentially frightening). In any case, now that I know it exists and a CD is out there, somewhere, I'll look for more on the songs themselves.

Studio Musical: THE LAST FIVE YEARS
January 25 – February 17, 2008
Jason Robert Brown is a young, prolific songwriter for the stage, with a pop style. If you watched Audra McDonald's PBS concert at Lincoln Center last fall, she sang one of his songs as he accompanied on piano. Last Five Years is a two-character work, completely out of synch with time. A man and a woman meet, marry, divorce in the span of five years; the two tell their stories separately. Somewhat confusingly, Cathy tells her story backward; the show begins with her "Still Hurting." Jamie tells his side of things chronologically, beginning with meeting his "Shiksa Goddess." It's not a new gimmick, and I'm not sure it's more than a gimmick, but I'm still looking forward to a local production of a new-ish (2002) work.

Closing: THE MAN OF LA MANCHA
May 16 – June 15, 2008
Don Quixote! The Lord of La Mancha! A male-heavy show, and an operatic one to boot. Unfortunately, there is a problem of finding enough Spokane-area men who sing, especially in spring. (For example, the Chorale has mid-April and mid-May concerts.) I wish the director and producer luck in casting.

Guess that Disney tune!

In preparation for tomorrow's show on record labels and new releases, I found this fabulous listing for a Japanese CD set. Disney classic tunes, performed in English at
Footlight.com Here are the song titles, obtained from a Japanese website: translated from English to Japanese and back again. Guess that song!

CD 1:
1. Hole new world [[arajin]]
2. The past when it is revealed [[arajin]]
3. Beauty and beast [beauty and beast]
4. If eye [nevua] new u [[pokahontasu]]
Artist John [sekada] & plain gauze Nice
5. Color of the window [[pokahontasu]]
6. Yule B in my heart [Tarzan]
Artist Filling Collins
7. Feeling love, [the lion king]
8. Alice of the country of wonder [Alice of the country of wonder]
9. Once upon a time, with dream [the beauty of the forest which you can sleep]
10. As for me wonder [the beauty of the forest which you can sleep]
11. As for dream secretly [Cinderella]
12. Once upon a time the prince [Snow White]
13. [u] wooden pail obtaining of love [Bambi]
14. My baby [[danbo]]
15. From the right 2nd star [Peter pan]
16. Someone waits, [large venture of [bianka]]
17. Go the distance [[herakuresu]]
18. Look through my [aizu] [brother bear]
Artist Filling Collins
19. My funny friend and me [the king who becomes the llama]
Artist [suteingu]
20. Sum D [Notre Dame bell]
Artist All 4 one
21. [hoen] sea [ravudo] me [toy story 2]
Artist Plate [makurakuran]
22. Aisle try [Peter pan 2]
Artist [jiyonasa] brook
23. Part of [yua] world [Little mermaid]
24. In star request [Pinocchio]

CD 2:
1. Hawaiian [rorakosuta] ride [[riroandosuteitsuchi]]
Artist Mark [keari] hole & [kamehamehasukuru] child choir
2. Favorite become, you cannot be, [[riroandosuteitsuchi]]
Artist A* [teinzu]
3. Pineapple princess [[riroandosuteitsuchi] 2]
Artist [anetsuto] [hunisero]
4. Under the sea [Little mermaid]
5. Kiss the girl [Little mermaid]
6. Dig the hole [the lion king 3 [hakuna] [matata]]
Artist [rebo] M& [vuinkusu]
7. [topushi] [tavui] [Notre Dame bell]
8. Round rise of [utsudei] [toy story 2]
Artist [raidazu] in the sky
9. Even as for also you ([uiji] [vuajiyon]) [toy story 2]
Artist Robert [guretsuto]
10. You companion [Peter pan 2]
11. It continues in the leader, [the Peter pan]
12. It can fly you! [Peter pan]
13. High hoe [Snow White]
14. It was late to time, [Alice of the country of wonder]
Artist Building Thompson
15. We would like to become everyone cat, is, [the foppish cat]
16. We would like to become like you, [the jungle book]
17. April rain [Bambi]
18. [chimu] & [chimu] cherry [Mary [popinzu]]
19. [bibidei] [babidei] [bu] [Cinderella]
20. When being troubled, the whistle [the Pinocchio]
21. [jitsupa] D [dou] [da] [southern part ‰S]
22. [kuruera] of town [101 cups]
23. Time of [yua] life [[baguzu] life]
Artist [randei] [niyuman]
24. Unless you are, [the [monsutazu] ink]
Artist [biri] crystal and John Goodman
Bonus Track:
25. Very him pirate [[pairetsu] of [karibian]]

May 10: Once Upon a Time

Beauty and the Beast opens this Sunday for Spokane Children's Theatre, part of the 60th anniversary season. It's an ambitious undertaking: the full Disney version based on the popular animated movie. Disney is synonymous with musical fairy tales, but theatre is full of shows and songs based on "Once Upon a Time."

- Ray Bolger performed in the 1969 show "All American," where he and Eileen Herlie sang a wistful make-believe.

- In honor of the Children's Theatre production, the opening song from Beauty and the Beast, the stage version.
- The Royal Shakespeare Company's stage version of the Judy Garland film The Wizard of Oz.
- The best fairy-tale show by far is Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods. Hello Little Girl introduces the wolf to Little Red Riding Hood, and I Know Things Now is her summation of what happened and the lessons she takes.

Cinderella also stars in Into the Woods, with her dilema of being stuck on the steps of the palace. But first, Rodgers and Hammerstein turned the same story into a television special with Julie Andrews. Edie Adams is the Fairy Godmother.

- Carol Burnett made her stage debut as a very un-typical princess in Once Upon a Mattress, a retelling of The Princess and the Pea. She's got to pass a test in order to marry the prince she loves, and is studying by reading the fairy-tale history of the kingdom.

- Hans Christian Andersen wrote many beloved fairytales, and the Danny Kaye musical of the author's life showcased many of the sweet stories, including Thumbelina.

One of the interesting facets of fairy tales is how they can represent fascets of our ordinary lives.

- Pajama Game: Young love usually feels like a fairy tale, so why not use fairy tales to tell someone how much you love him/her?

- Two Fairy Tales: Stephen Sondheim initially meant this song to introduce the sunny ingenue and moody son-in-law of A Little Night Music. Goes to show that fairy tales mean different things to different people.

- Meadowlark: The show is The Baker's Wife, by Stephen Schwartz (more of his songs in July as Cour d'Alene Summer Theatre present his show Pippin). A womanis torn between her older husband and an exciting young stranger, and uses a fairytale to sort out her situation.

- Race You To The Top of the Morning: From "The Secret Garden," the father secretly reads to his ill child every night, again putting his situation into fairytale form to tell the sleping child.

- The show Once Upon an Island is a beautiful Caribbean-style fairy tale, with a young girl in love with a prince-like rich boy. Like the original Little Mermaid, this young woman does not get the boy, and sacrifices herself for love, transformed into something beautiful. The final song is special not for the end of the story, but the storytellers themselves explaining why they tell the story: "for out of what we live and we believe, our lives become the stories that we weave."


Incidentally, Peter Pan is playing at Coeur d'Alene Summer Theatre this summer, and in July we'll have a collection of songs from the many different versions.

May 3: And Now For Something Completely Different

Our pledge drive request show brought some interesting results: requests for comedy songs. Jimmy Durante, Victor Borge, Spike Jones, more Tom Lehrer. Almost all of these songs have been performed on stage. Comedy Tonight!

Religion and musicals

On April 12, Passover begins. Easter is on the way. This week is the setting for both Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell. It's the perfect time to take a look at how religion and beliefs are portrayed in musicals. There's far too much material to cover in one hour, and there are no sweeping generalizations. But there are wonderful songs to share.

Fiddler on the Roof: If I Were a Rich Man
In the creation of Fiddler on the Roof, Zero Mostel insisted on a serious verse, where Tevye considered how life would be if he could just sit in the synagogue and pray.

Jesus Christ Superstar
This is the show everyone thinks of when you mention "God" and "Musicals" in the same sentance. "Superstar" is Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's personal take on the New Testament, with several liberties to the traditional views.
Two songs from the 2000 London recording, followed by Jerry Hadley's take on Gethsemanie.

In most epic stories about political injustice, faith in God is a central theme - usually holding on to God as an anchor. Here is a collection of prayers (or as I call it, "Bible Belting.")

The Color Purple (based on the book and subsequent film) is about personal freedom and the context of racism. Celie goes from a childlike view of God to complete disbelief to strong spirituality, while living in a strong Bible-belt community.
Sarafina is an Apartheid show (later a film with Whoopie Goldberg) about students fighting for equality. At the start of the day, they sing the Lord's Prayer.

Notre-Dame de Paris, based on The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (by Victor Hugo), takes place in the famous cathedral. At one point, the gypsy woman Esmeralda takes refuge in the church and prays to Mary.
In the Disney animated film of Notre Dame, the same moment is "God Help the Outcasts," written by Stephen Schwartz.

Speaking of Stephen Schwartz, he wrote 'that other musical about Jesus,' Godspell.
(More about Stephen Schwartz this summer when Coeur d'Alene Summer Theater presents his show Pippin)

In Victor Hugo's novel Les Miserables, religion is the core reason for Jean Valjean's redemption, as heard in this selection from the opening of the show. (By the way, this musical mentions "God" more than all the successful Broadway musicals combined.)

Mario Lanza sang the music for the film version of "The Student Prince," which includes "I'll Walk with God"

And finally, the Sabbath Prayer from Fiddler on the Roof.


Some other songs that we can't fit on the show:
- On the Deck of a Spanish Sailing Ship, a captain sailing to the New World prays for his crew and passengers. (From Songs for a New World)
- Whistle Down the Wind: Set in the American South, some kids believe an escaped convict is Jesus in the second coming.
- Randy Newman's Faust, a musical retelling of the Devil vs. God test with Faust in between. James Taylor sings the role of God, coming across as a pompous celeb (in true Randy Newman style, who by the way sings the Devil).

Old Testament stories: Just as novels are a core source material for musicals, so is the Bible.
- Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - pop songs tell the story without one mention of "God"
- Two by Two is Richard Rodgers' version of Noah and the Ark, most famous because of Danny Kaye's performance.


Sometimes instead of an anchor, the singer is wondering where God is during all this trouble.
- Lost in the Stars: 1949 Kurt Weill
- Dog Eats Dog from Les Miserables.

Two Off-Broadway musicals poke fun with respect at Catholic beliefs: Nunsense (and its various sequels) and Altar Boyz. Each have their "in" jokes that non-Catholics don't quite get, but each are good-natured fun.
- Altar Boyz takes the premise of a stereotypical pop 'boy band,' with the religious members Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan, and Abraham singing in that American Idol style. (Cheyanne Jackson isn't on the CD, but he took a turn as group leader Matthew)

Non Judeo-Christian
- In The King and I, Yul Brynner's King makes a Prayer to Buddha for preservation of the kingdom against the British. When Carousel Players present The King & I later this summer, I'll do an hour of music inspired by Asia.

A PBS program interviewed Jerry Herman on his spirituality and the songs that reflect that. Transcript is here.

Songs of the Western Plains

Movies and the stage both romantisized life in the frontier. In honor of Oklahoma coming to town, let's look at some of the songs set in the old American West.

Oklahoma - Rodgers and Hammerstein's joyful love of what it is to be in the West in the early 1900s.

One pleasure of seeing "the west" onstage is the roughness and anything-goes energy, usually from the men. Here are some of those fun-and-fancy-free numbers, the Buffalo Bill show, and Belly up to the Bar.

* Colonel Buffalo Bill - The opening number to "Annie Get Your Gun," David Garrison from a studio recording (also featuring Thomas Hampson as Frank)

* Belly Up to the Bar, Boys - Tammy Grimes is the title character in The Unsinkable Molly Brown

* The Lonesome Cowboy - from Crazy for You, the reworking of "Girl Crazy" set in a Nevada mining town

A few songs about the slow, often lonely pace of the West.

* Bidin' My Time - the quartet from Crazy for You lyin' about on stage makes for my favorite rendition of this Gershwin classic

* Lament (Lonesome Polecat) - Matt Mattox from the film Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

* They Call The Wind Maria - Opera star Bryn Terfel is Welsh, but channels the lonely calling of the western wind in this classic from Paint Your Wagon.

* Joey, Joey Joey - Another 'wind calling you away' song, thi time from the original cast of The Most Happy Fella.

When you're lonely, you go looking for companionship. Sometimes you find it, sometimes you just keep complaining that it's not there.

* The Wild Wild West - When America headed west, so did Fred Harvey's restaurant chain...and so did a lot of young waitresses who didn't know how wild the frontier was. Virginia O'Brien's character thought it would be a lot wilder, though, and has one of the fun songs from this 1946 film.

* Bless Yore Beautiful Hide - Howard Keel in the 1954 answer to Oklahoma's success

* Doin' What Comes Natur'lly - Bernadette Peters won a Tony for her 1999 revival of Annie Oakley's story; this song revels in the facts of the birds and bees with her little siblings.

* What Takes My Fancy - Lucille Ball took a spectacular flop on Broadway with "Wildcat," which includes this rough-and-tumble duet between a crotchety varmit and a sassy gal who come to a mutual understanding.

Just a few more songs to wrap things up...

* Hand Me Down That Can 'O Beans - from Paint Your Wagon, Robert Penn and the men celebrate a gal coming to town.

* On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe - the big number from The Harvey Girls with Judy Garland. You can live in the Wild West, but it sure helps to be connected to civilization once in a while with a train!

* March of the Doagies - an outtake from the Harvey Girls, with Judy Garland

And finally, some people just like civilization a lot better.
* Way Out West - from the film Words and Music, with Betty Garrett.


A few other shows that feature cowboys and the west:

- Will Rogers Follies: The restless Rodgers broke in horses for the British Army, was a trick roper in South Africa, roped on Vaudeville, and eventually worked up a routine for Ziegfeld's follies. His story's told in an Ahrens-Flaherty musical set up like a Ziegfeld show.

- Roadside: The 2001 musical by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, following a traveling tent show on an Old West adventure. Also based loosely on "Green Grow the Lilacs," the play that birthed "Oklahoma"

Desperate Measures - a reworking of Shakespeare's Measure for Measure

Girl of the Golden West - a 1938 film with Nelson Eddy and Jeannette MacDonald.

Mar 22: Happy Birthday Andrew

Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, arguably the most popular modern composer, turns 58 on March 22. This week we hear a collection of songs from his musical career. While his work incorporates rock, pop, gospel, and other music genres, Janean will focus mostly on ballads, Lloyd Webber's strong suit.

Born in Britain on March 22, 1948, Andrew Lloyd Webber is probably the most popular composer of our time. His show Phantom of the Opera holds the record for the longest-running musical on Broadway, surpassing his other record-breaker, Cats, in January. His honors include seven Tony Awards, three Grammy Awards, an Oscar, an International Emmy, six Olivier Awards, and a Golden Globe Award.

But he is also the most polarizing person in today's theatrical world. Love him for his soaring and memorable melodies, or hate him for his syruppy style and stealing from Puccini -- and himself!
I visited London in spring of 1991, and he had four productions running at once -- Phantom, Cats, Starlight Express, and Aspects of Love. All four hold fond places in my heart, for varying reasons. My second musical was JC Superstar at the Civic. I helped my parents present Joseph at the school they taught at. Evita was the first musical I was bombarded with advertisements for (leading me, during a regular grocery trip with my mom, to point to a brand of processed cheese and sing, "Velveeeeeta, Velveeeeta...")

Andrew Lloyd Webber's music is certainly that cheesy, and he's not my favorite composer. His lyricists, for the most part, don't measure up to the songs.


Notes about a few of the specific songs:

"Half a Moment" - Lloyd Webber attempted a show based on the "Jeeves" novels, which fell flat. This song was one of its highlights, and occasionally he would talk about all the good songs that were lost to the general public because the show it's from flopped. That eventually led to a CD with then-wife Sarah Brightman called "The Songs that Got Away."

"The Love Trio" - Three of his best love songs were combined for a leading ladies concert, televised by PBS. Audra McDonald sings Love Changes Everything (from Aspects of Love), Marin Mazzie sings Unexpected Song (from Song & Dance/Tell Me On A Sunday), and Judy Kuhn sings I Don't Know How To Love Him (JC Superstar). The old adage about something being worth more than the sum of its parts holds true with this combination.

"Could We Start Again Please" - Not on the original concept album, this song gives an important voice to the disciples after the confusion of the trial. Renee Castle, on the 2000 CD cast recording, gives a beautiful quietness to Mary Magdaline. (Look for more JC Superstar songs in mid-April, when we explore religion in musicals)

"Whistle Down the Wind" - The show was perhaps too ahead of its time. With lyrics by Jim Steinman, the dark soul behind the Celine Dion hit "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" and most of Meatloaf's success (the "Bad Outta Hell" albums), the lyrics are brooding, gothic, and not the feel-good show the producers thought was expected of Lloyd Webber. It sold out in Washington DC (1996), but went back to London for its final run. (Of course 10 years later, here comes "Lestat" - if it fails, Lloyd Webber will probably say 'Told you so.') Fans call the title tune one of the best in the show, with a Steinman-esque turn of the ol' "Chin Up" message.

"Sunset Boulevard" - The American version debuted in Los Angeles, appropriately enough. From that recording, Alan Campbell as Joe sets the stage.

"Capped Teeth and Ceaser Salad" - Speaking of life in Los Angeles, this sweet and funny song captures the shallowness of the media life there. Bernadette Peters performed the one-woman show it's from, "Tell Me On A Sunday," (otherwise known as the "songs" half of "Song and Dance") on Broadway in 1985. By the way, some years ago Ann Fennessy took on the demanding role of Emma for Spokane Opera (then called Uptown Opera).

"Tell Me On A Sunday" - The title song from the aforementioned show. Denise Van Outen is a British model and TV personality who starred in a West End revival (and update) a few years ago.

"I Believe My Heart" - Lloyd Webber's most recent show was The Woman in White, which came and went pretty quickly. The recording is from the opening night performance at the Palace theater in London, September 2004.

"Anything But Lonely" - The big emotional finale to Aspects of Love.
Forbidden Broadway did a great parody of the big song "Love Changes Everything" making it "I Sleep with Everyone." It should be called "Aspects of Lust" since the only true love shown in the show is that between father and daughter in the second act. (Or is that really Alex's daughter and not his niece? None of the characters ever make that connection, but...) Despite the crazy, improbable relationships from the novel, some of the music is truly gorgeous.

"All I Ask of You" - JC Superstar and Evita made it to the big screen, Cats made it to video, so Phantom had to follow suit. By the time it was ready to film, both Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford (the original stars) were too old for the parts. Emmy Rossum was a child singer for the Metropolitan Opera, and at age 16 won the part of Christine for the film. Her Raoul is Patrick Wilson, who was excellent as Joe Pitt in the cable TV version of Angels In America.

When Andrew Lloyd Webber turned 50 back in 1998, the celebratory concert was at Royal Albert Hall. Dame Kiri Te Kanawa introduced a tune called "The Heart is Slow to Learn," with lyrics by Don Black. It's been recycled in "The Beautiful Game," as "Our Kind of Love."

Mar 15: Donoval Stohlberg shares his 'favorite things'

Donovan Stohlberg of Spokane Civic Theatre comes in to talk about Life 101, his musical making its Northwest debut at Civic's Studio, and other songs from musicals he enjoys.

Donovan has also written "Jack the Ripper: A Musical Mystery." He has directed several productions, including "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" at Civic's Studio Theatre, "Equus," "The Foreigner," and "The Barber of Seville." Donovan holds an MFA in acting from Minnesota State University. He also serves Spokane Civic Theatre as the Marketing and Development Director.

Mar. 8: Dream Girls

"Dream Girls" pander to male fantasies -- in song. Guys in musicals tend to wax poetically about some girl who's away, or the ideal mate who just hasn't come along yet.

Composers and producers discovered that audiences wanted a ballad early in the show. How can you write a gentle love song for characters who have either just met or don't know each other at all? One answer was a love song to the unknown girl-out-there, the girl they fantisize about.

As a modern woman, of course, I'm always skeptical of these songs. Love ME, not the fantasy you then want me to embody. And writers picked up on that -- sometimes, the girl that the guy falls for is very different than what he imagined. Ruth ain't no "Quiet Girl," Annie Oakland is quite different than the girl Frank envisioned he'd marry.

In Bye-Bye Birdie, a teenage girl dreams of being one of those women. Girls, you can set better goals than to be "what they're whistling at."

There are female counterparts of course -- Marion the Librarian's "My White Knight," The Man I Love. We'll save those for another time. If you have suggestions, email me at janean@kpbx.org.

Mar 1: Broadway Divas

There is a big difference between a leading lady and a true Broadway diva. A diva is so much larger-than-life that the mention of her name can inspire devotion bordering on fanaticism.

Some would add Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland to this list, but concerts and revues don’t cut it. Barbra only starred twice on Broadway.

Ethel Merman, on the other hand, starred in more than a dozen original musicals. From Girl Crazy in 1930 until the Annie Get Your Gun revival in 1966, the brassy belter of them all graced the Broadway stages. Ethel made her Broadway debut in George Gershwin's Girl Crazy (1930), causing a sensation with her performance of "I Got Rhythm!" She went from there to appear in George White's Scandals of 1931 (opposite Ray Bolger, Ethel Barrymore Colt, and Rudy Vallee), in which she introduced DeSylva, Brown, & Henderson's "Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries" to the world. Her next big score was as Reno Sweeney in Cole Porter's Anything Goes (1936), where she belted out such hits as "I Get a Kick Out of You" and "You're the Top!," thus beginning the long Porter-Merman string of hits (Porter lovingly referred to her as "The Golden Fog Horn"). Rodgers & Hammerstein presented Ethel as historical sharpshooter Annie Oakley in Irving Berlin's Annie Get Your Gun. The greatest performance of her career was as Rose in Gypsy. That was the last role that Ethel created on the stage, but in the late 1960s, she stepped into the role of Dolly Levi (a role originally written for her that she had initially turned down) in Jerry Herman's Hello, Dolly! At this point the microphone had invaded the Broadway stage, but La Merm refused to wear one-- and, indeed, she didn’t need one. She never had.

Mary Martin is -- next to Merman -- the name that pops into most people's heads when they hear the term "The Golden Age of Broadway." As we mentioned last week in the Cole Porter hour, she shot to stardom overnight thanks to her strip-tease singing "My Heart Belongs to Daddy."After that, she played a statue of the Goddess of Love come-to-life in Kurt Weill's One Touch of Venus, introducing to the world such standards as "That's Him" and "Speak Low." From there, she was the original Nellie Forbush in Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific and Maria von Trapp in The Sound of Music. She appeared on national television broadcasts of Peter Pan and Annie Get Your Gun.

Some say Bernadette Peters is the last true Broadway diva. She made her stage debut as Dainty June's understudy in a national tour of Gypsy, and made it to Broadway at age 19. Her second Broadway show earned her a Theatre World citation for George M opposite Joel Grey, and then won her first Drama Desk Award for her performance in Dames At Sea. She was nominated for a Tony for her performance as silent screen comedienne Mabel Normand in Jerry Herman's Mack & Mable and in Sunday in the Park with George. She created the role of the Witch in Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods, starred in a revival of Irving Berlin's Annie Get Your Gun, and in 2003 returned to her first show, but this time as Mama Rose in Gypsy. She is now considered the foremost interpreter of Stephen Sondheim songs.

Julie Andrews was one of the best voices of the golden age of Broadway. She actually only had four Broadway runs – The Boy Friend in 1955, My Fair Lady from 1956-1960, Camelot in 1961 and 62, and the stage adaptation of Victor/Victoria in the late ‘90s. But those middle two shows, along with her television performance in Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella, and her incredible film roles showcased her outstanding voice.

Barbara Cook is the current reigning master of the art of the American Popular Song. She first made her mark in the cult favorite Flahooley, but really burst upon the scene singing the fiendishly difficult "Glitter and Be Gay" as Cunegonde in Leonard Bernstein's operetta Candide. She went on from there to create the role of Marian the Librarian in Meredith Wilson's The Music Man. From there, she created the role of Amalia Balash in Bock & Harnick's touching and endearing She Loves Me, then essentially went into one warmly remembered flop after another until she ultimately retired to specialize in concert appearances and one woman shows.

Kristin Chenowethis 39 but still looks barely 21. The "diminutive diva" has a soprano to rival Barbara Cook's, and even better acting chops. We can't play her brilliant Conegonde appearance in the New York Philharmonic's staging of Candide, but she can switch from soaring seriousness to trilling happiness with complete believability. She's had fouringénue roles on Broadway, and more in her fim and concert roles. (TV watchers also know her from her role on the West Wing.)

Patti LuPone is the great grand-niece of opera star Adelina Patti. She inherited more than a name, she tok the singing seriousness and also the operatic attitude. She has more than a dozen Broadway credits, including her long-running role as Evita. She was the first English-speaking Fantine in Les Miserables. She was the first Norma Desmond for the musical Sunset Boulevard – and earned full-fledged diva attitude-status when she sued Andrew Lloyd Webber for canceling her contract to originate the role in the states.

Right now, she’s on Broadway in the latest revival of Sweeney Todd. In an interview for the show, she talked about what being a “diva” means to her. She said that no doubt, the opera singers are bigger divas.

“The word diva to me means doing something supernatural with something natural. When you listen to Maria Callas, Renee Fleming, what they did with their instruments, it’s ungodly. As far as the bad behavior is concerned, I think it depends on your circumstances. If you behave badly, then you’re a miserable human being in your life. But the theater is a tough place. It’s not cushioned the way it is in film and television. Somebody said it the other day, “Broadway ain’t for sissies.”

Feb. 1: Spring Preview 2006

One of the reasons to do a local program of musical theatre songs instead of taking one of the few other syndicated programs of show tunes is that we can spotlight the great efforts by our region's theaters and performers. For Feb. 1, we'll give a preview of shows coming to the area, through professional cast recordings.

Best of Broadway series

42^nd Street Feb. 2-5
The tap-dancin' show that gives hope to the young talents trying to make it big. Jerry Orbach starred in the original stage version. Listen to Verne Windham's music program on Feb. 3 for an interview with one of the leads in this touring production.

Oklahoma April 13-16
The Rodgers & Hammerstein show that took musical theater to a new level. Spokane native Kasey Graham is the music director for the tour, and will conduct at the Opera House.

Spokane Children’s Theatre

Little Mermaid: A Story of Aloha Feb 4-19
The classic Hans Christian Andersen tale goes Hawaiian in this treatment by Spokane actress and director Maria Caprile. The story is set in 1889 Hawaii, where the mermaid wants to be like a sister to the Hawaiian Princess Kaiulani (who left for an European boarding school in that year). The script incorporates many true aspects of the Princess's life, including her friendship with writer Robert Louis Stevenson. There are two original songs in the show, but the bulk of the production depends on hula dance (one of Maria's passions) to traditional Hawaiian chants, such as Ho'opuka E Ka La.

Beauty & The Beast May 14-June 4
Our region has seen the professional tour at the Opera House, and a semi-professional production last year in Coeur d'Alene. Spokane Children's Theater, a volunteer and community organization, tackles the show that started Disney's domination of Broadway. (Auditions are Feb. 4th and 5th.)

Lake City Playhouse

Kiss Me Kate Feb 17, 18, 19, 23, 24, 25, 26 March 2, 3, 4
Cole Porter's treatment of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, set in the context of a bad acting troupe's version. The play within a play is silly, romances entwine the cast, and Porter delivers some of his best music.

Clue The Musical May 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27
Yes, you read it right. A musical based on a board game. Figure out who done it, with what, and where. Thanks to Lake City Playhouse for providing selections from the show.

Christian Youth Theatre

A Year with Frog & Toad Feb. 24-Mar 5
Appealing music and lyrics by Robert and Willie Reale to Arnold Lobel's classic children's books turned this show into a Broadway success in 2004. The cast recording captures the original production from Minneapolis. CYT will have a total of 58 students of their theater school making up the forest animals. This is one of the best children's theater scripts and scores available today.

Seussical the Musical May 26-June 3
The show loosely constructed from elements of Dr. Seuss's books didn't do so well with the adult Broadway critics, but all agreed it made a fine children's show. While centering on Horton the Elephant, it pays tribute to the thinks you can thinks and the places you can go if you believe in yourself.

Spokane Civic Theater Studio Theater

LIFE 101 March 10-April 1
When Civic's board hired Yvonne A.K. Johnson to take the reins as Artistic Director, she brought collegue Donovan Stohlberg with her as Development and Marketing Director. Besides having a head for business, Donovan is a composer, with the show Life 101. The show's run in the 2004 Edinburgh (Scotland) Festival was well received, and now we in the northwest get our first look at it. The story, as the title suggests, follows a group of American college students in a semester in London.

Spokane Civic Theater Main Stage

The Music Man May 19-June 18
Upstairs, Civic brings back another classic favorite, Meredith Wilson's great American small-town USA show.

Pend Oreille Arts Council

The Mikado April 21
The comedy about a Japanese tailor who becomes an executioner pokes fun at English society. From the Arts Council's website:

Carl Rosa Opera, Britain’s oldest touring opera company, present a new production of The Mikado: a hilarious tale of love, marriage, executions and heroics. Carl Rosa’s stunning production uniquely features the glorious Oscar-winning costumes from Mike Leigh's acclaimed film "Topsy-Turvy". These were copied from the original antique costumes created for Gilbert’s production in 1885, now restored by the Carl Rosa Opera

Recordings & Videos Sale Preview

The annual R&V Sale is set for Feb. 18 & 19 at the Masonic Temple, and donations are flooding in. The best part for us at the station is listening to the great stuff that people are cleaning out of their collections. Records, CDs, DVDs, cassettes, we take it all.

This week's Matinee focuses on the records that are in the Soundtracks section of the sale. (Incidentally, I HATE my cast recordings being lumped in with movie recordings. Musical theater doesn't use a 'soundtrack,' it's live!)

Some of the CDs that are in this year's sale:
West Side Story: Original Broadway Cast recording
Paul Simon: Concept album of the Capeman
Bernadette Peters: Rodgers & Hammerstein, Baby Tonight, and Sondheim ETC
Audra McDonald: Way Back to Paradise and How Glory Goes

We also have a copy of "Song & Dance, The Musicals Of Broadway," a color book with three CDs, a kind of "best of" compilation (and quite a few famous jazz covers mixed in)

And if you have extra copies of something, or a showtunes CD that you're just not listening to anymore, please donate them to the sale. Come by the KPBX studios at 2319 N. Monroe St any business day.

Dec. My Favorite Things: Bob and Carmen Farley

December 14, we continued the My Favorite Things theme with Bob and Carmen Farley. These two have spent more than 30 years directing, producing, and acting in the Spokane theatrical scene.

They also have special significance to me, as they introduced me to the gentleman who would become my husband, and served as a mentor to both of us.

They invited me to their home with a microphone, and we spent more than an hour talking about the productions they'd seen, from New York original casts to the out-of-town tryouts in San Francisco. We touched on several of the shows that they absolutely love. There wasn't enough time to air a song from all of them. I will post a list of what we did air and discuss when possible. In the meantime, thank you Bob and Carmen for your love of theater, and instilling it in other generations.