Author: Chris Van Patten

"The Sound of Music" original cast television appearances

I’m still reeling from attending the 50th anniversary celebration at Lincoln Center, but before I wrap my head around all that I experienced today, I thought I’d continue The Sound of Music festivities with some choice videos of the original cast.

First up are the Tony-nominated von Trapp children (all seven in Best Featured Actress in a Musical…take that, Billy Elliot) appear on an episode of “What’s My Line? during the summer of 1960:

Tony-winner Patricia Neway (not Frances Breeze) and The Sound of Music nuns (including some glorious ladies I met today) perform “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” on Ed Sullivan’s Christmas special on December 20, 1959:

And now for a real rarity, Mary Martin accepts her Best Actress in a Musical Tony for show on April 24, 1960 in the Astor Hotel ballroom. The Tony Awards telecast was a simple banquet affair with no major production numbers and an emphasis on the awards being given out. Eddie Albert was the master of ceremonies and the evening’s sole entertainment was provided by Meyer Davis and his Orchestra:

"The Sound of Music" 50th Anniversary


Due to the overwhelming success of the film adaptation of The Sound of Music, the original stage production often gets lost in the shuffle. The soundtrack is infinitely more popular. Julie Andrews is still a cultural icon and likely to remain so for generations to come. Not to mention the film is still one of the most successful of all time, having broken countless records on its initial release in 1965. And I must confess, the film adaptation is one of the few cinematic adaptations that is an improvement on the original stage source. The show originally opened at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on November 16, 1959 and in celebration of the Golden Anniversary, Masterworks Broadway has reissued the original cast album.

The Sound of Music, which was inspired by the story of Maria von Trapp and her family’s escape from Nazi occupation in Austria, starred three-time Tony winner Mary Martin. Vincent J. Donehue, the musical’s director, had seen the German films based on the Trapp story and thought they would make a good stage vehicle for Martin, as opposed to a proposed Paramount film starring Audrey Hepburn. They brought on Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, who had written the smash hit Life with Father and the libretto for the hit Irving Berlin-Ethel Merman vehicle Call Me Madam, to adapt the story for stage. The original idea was to create a play with music, using actual pieces sung by the family. Things changed when Martin approached Rodgers and Hammerstein, the men behind her greatest stage triumph South Pacific, to write a special song for her. They balked at that idea, insisting that would only write a full scale musical.

When the show opened, it was met with mixed notices. While the score was pleasant, the story and libretto weren’t up to the usual standard of the R&H canon. Their reputation for musical theatre had been to advance the artform, and this was seen by many critics as a step backward. (It was also the only show where Hammerstein didn’t have a direct hand in the libretto, so one can speculate if that might have contributed to the leaden book). For some critics, the presence of seven children, happy singing nuns and bad boy Nazis in a swirl of lederhosen and strudel proved far too treacly and reeked of moldy operetta. However, the critics did little to quell the audience response to the show. It had an advance of $2 million, and would run for 1,443 performances on Broadway and for 2,385 performances in the record-breaking original London engagement. It was to be the final Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, as Oscar Hammerstein died on August 23, 1960 from cancer.

At the 1960 Tonys, Martin famously bested Merman (then appearing in Gypsy) for Best Actress. (The Merm’s equally famous response “Well, you can’t buck a nun.”) Opera singer Patricia Neway won Best Featured Actress, Oliver Smith won for his Scenic Design and Frederick Dvonch won for his Conducting and Musical Direction. In an unprecedented twist, the show tied for the Best Musical Tony with the Pulitzer Prize winning Fiorello! (Gypsy, arguably the best musical ever written, went home empty-handed that night). The original cast album was released by Columbia records, and proved to be a best-seller. I have the original LP release and it’s one of those lavish gatefolds that opens up with pictures and text.

While I have had a long love affair with the film version, when it comes to actually listening to the score I tend to play the original cast album more often. Martin, who at 46 was far too old to play a postulant, was nevertheless a charmer. While her singing won’t erase your memories of Andrews’ crisp soprano, the cast album performance exudes that warmth and star quality that made her popular with audiences for years. Martin herself said that her voice never recovered from years of belting Annie Get Your Gun and her instrument, rather fragile to begin with went into decline over the rest of her career. Others I know have issue with her performance on this album, but for me it’s Jennie where things really started to become noticably problematic. I feel her performance can be summed up in one fraction of a second: her giggle at the end of “Do-Re-Mi.” That giggle sums up the personality that was Mary Martin – charming, warm and playful; the embodiment of the star presence that made her an audience favorite for thirty years.

It’s also interesting to compare the stage score with its film counterpart. “My Favorite Things” is originally sung by Maria and the Reverend Mother (Patricia Neway) in the scene before Maria leaves for the von Trapp home. “The Lonely Goatherd” was sung to quell the children’s fears during the thunderstorm. Max and Elsa (Kurt Kaznar and Marion Marlowe) had two dynamite numbers onstage: the droll “How Can Love Survive?” in the first act and the unusually catchy “No Way to Stop It” to start the second. The supporting cast on the album is superlative.
Neway’s Mother Abbess is my favorite on record, delivering a stirring, dignified rendition of “Climb Ev’ry Mountain.” Actor/folk singer Theodore Bikel offers a tender rendition of “Edelweiss,” the last song written by Rodgers and Hammerstein. The only dud in the entire score, and one of the worst songs ever written by R&H, is the lugubrious “An Ordinary Couple” which was replaced with “Something Good” for the movie. The original cast album was also produced by the master, Goddard Lieberson and boasts the orchestrations of Robert Russell Bennett and the choral arrangements of Trude Rittman.

The album was previously remastered and reissued in 1998. The original material remains the same, though the album itself is now packaged in an environmentally friendly cardboard sleeve. However, there are new bonus tracks with this new release. The most substantial is the highly amusing “From Switzerland: The Family Pratt,” which features Julie Andrews and Carol Burnett in their 1962 TV spoof of the musical (Sony should get that whole special out on CD). There is also a cut from the live 2005 Austrian cast album performance of “Edelweiss,” which was the first time the show was ever staged in the country (the Austrians have long harbored an aversion to the von Trapp story). Finally there is unexpected curio: Tommy Korberg, who was The Russian on the concept album and in the original London production of Chess, singing “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” in Swedish.

There are also brand new liner notes by Bert Fink, Senior Vice President for Communications at the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, offering a concise and informative essay on the show’s history as well as some background on the bonus material. The usual production photos are dispersed throughout, but this time there are also some new shots from the actual recording session (Nov. 22, 1959 at Columbia’s 30th Street Studios), including Bikel with the kids during a break, and Martin embracing the kids during a take. There is also a picture of a very soulful Neway recording her aria. For those who already have this album on disc, I only suggest upgrading for the purists among you who want the new tracks and notes. However, if you don’t own this cast album, I can’t recommend it enough. It’ll never supplant the beloved soundtrack for many of you, but it does offer a warm and inviting alternate reading of a long beloved score.

In the spirit of the 50th anniversary, Simon and Schuster has also released a Classic Collectible Pop-Up book of The Sound of Music, adapted by Mr. Fink, with illustrations by Dan Andreasan and paper engineering by Bruce Foster. Adapted from the Lindsay and Crouse libretto, Fink has streamlined the script into an engaging storybook text, with many of the score’s most well known lyrics incorporated into the book. I am rather impressed with how each page creates such an intricate three dimensional image based on the show, and further smaller surprises in the smaller flip-out sections of the book. I never thought I’d ever find myself reading a children’s pop-up book, but I’m most amused that I have. It’s not suitable for children under three years, so I’m going to have to wait a couple years before I can let the Baby Jack get his hands on it.

Note: Today is the show’s 50th anniversary, and there is going to be a celebration at the Lincoln Center Barnes & Noble at 66th and Broadway this afternoon with guest appearances by original cast members Theodore Bikel, Lauri Peters and Brian Davies. Mary Rodgers, Anna Crouse (daughter of Russel) and Maria von Trapp’s grandson Sam von Trapp will be special guests at the event. Also present will be R&H, Inc. president Ted Chapin and Lawrence Maslon, author of The Sound of Music Companion. Broadway starlet Kate Baldwin will be on hand to sing the famed title song, and Mr. Bikel will reprise “Edelweiss.” The event starts at 5PM, and will be followed by a CD and book signing.

Simpler Yet Still Sublime: "Ragtime"


Some might feel it is too soon for a revival of Ragtime, but there is no time like the present for this exhilarating, moving epic musical based on the novel by E.L. Doctorow. The show is well known for its opulent original production, a history pageant that spared no expense in becoming a theatrical event. That production lingers in the hearts and minds of many theatre-goers for its superb original cast, and the Tony-winning score by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens. It also is remembered for the less than stellar reception it received the first time around, finding itself in competition with the critical darling The Lion King across the street, losing the Best Musical Tony and closing when Garth Drabinsky’s Livent collapsed after 834 performances and a financial loss.

Imported from the Kennedy Center, this production strips away the physical extravagance that some felt overwhelmed the first production, finding at its heart the story of three diverse families whose lives somehow intersect during the post-Gilded Age. More faithful to the source material than the film adaptation, the musical Ragtime opens with one of the most extraordinary pieces of expository writing known to musical theatre. In nine minutes, we are introduced to every major character, every theme and every thread of plot which we are to follow for the next two and a half hours.

An archetype family of affluent WASPS living in Westchester find themselves rattled from their suburban complacency by the discovery of an abandoned African American baby in their garden. The family’s lives are forever changed by this moment, by taking in the young woman and exposing themselves to much of the unjustices and darker underbelly of the American dream (as experienced by the immigrant Tateh, who also becomes intertwined in their lives in the second act). Doctorow’s original novel finds these fictional characters encountering many historical figures such as Evelyn Nesbitt, Harry Houdini, Emma Goldman, Henry Ford, J.P. Morgan and Booker T. Washington. Those characters are also supplanted into the musical, where they serve as observers and commentators on the main fragments of the plot.

Comparisons with the original production are inevitable, especially given it’s been less than ten years since the original closed at the (now) Hilton Theatre. However, director-choreographer Marcia Milgrom Dodge, in removing the opulence turns this large musical into an actor driven piece. It’s not as drastic as the family band version of Sweeney Todd from a few seasons back, but it places further emphasis on the characters, who are less stately and more realized in this production. Rather than overwhelming the audience in its history, Dodge focuses on the human connections providing great emotional intensity in her stage visuals.

Quentin Earl Darrington plays Coalhouse with an unaffected earnestness that is tragically contrasted by his grief-stricken vigilantism in the second act. Stephanie Umoh has the the inenviable task of filling Audra McDonald’s Tony award winning shoes as the ill-fated Sarah, but if she doesn’t make you forget her predecessor, she certainly rises to the occasion. Ron Bohmer finds considerable dimension in Father, a man aware of change around him but so grounded in his fastidious manner he can’t accept or adapt to it. Even more pleasantly surprising is his ability to make his character sympathetic. Rob Petkoff exudes considerable warmth and charm as the immigrant turned filmmaker Tateh. Bobby Steggert proves exceptional as Mother’s Younger Brother, simmering with angst and finding himself through activism, and later joining Coalhouse in his quest for justice.

The emotional core of the entire musical is to be found in Christiane Noll’s layered, multifaceted portrayal of Mother. The character with the most overwhelming arc, Mother emerges from docile housewife to an independent woman aware of herself and her responsibility in the world. Noll, known mostly as the woman who wasn’t Linda Eder in the original Jekyll & Hyde, comes into her own with a star making turn that is sure to be the talk of the spring’s awards season. She finds humor and pathos in the most subtle nuances of her performance, enhanced by the singing actress’ sumptuous soprano.

The intimacy of Dodge’s staging is further enhanced by the three-tier set by Derek McLane. Utilizing set pieces and lighting, the stage becomes a Ford factory, the house in New Rochelle, the Tempo Club in Harlem, Atlantic City and the Morgan Library, among other locales. The skeletal abstract nature of the design creates some striking tableau vivants, particularly those seen at the very top of the show and during “New Music.” Supporting actors are often found on a tier of the set, observing the story going on below and is ultimately a spare and effective use of the space. Santo Loquasto, costume designer of the original production, repeats the honor here. The lighting design is by Donald Holder, whose work here is the most atmospheric aspect of the scenography.

I have had the privilege of seeing this musical twice already, once on its first preview and again the other evening (where I found myself behind Ben Brantley). It’s no secret among friends and fellow bloggers that this was the musical production I’ve been looking forward to the most this season. One of the most powerful scores of the last twenty years, Flaherty’s music runs the gamut of period styles including cakewalks, rags, marches as well as soaring anthems and lingering ballads. Ahrens’ lyrics are among her best. One of the strengths of this revival is its retention of William David Brohns Tony-winning original 28 piece orchestration, complemented by exceptional singing. The only severe flaw I tend to find with the show is that it tends to wear its heart and ambition on its sleeve far more than it should, and Terrence McNally’s libretto, while an exceptional example of adapting a novel for musical theatre, fails to match the elegance of the score.

If the current revival at the Neil Simon Theatre is in every capacity less stately than the original production, it’s a stirring, overwhelmingly emotional event. Already, I am aching for the opportunity to see the show again, as I don’t know if I’ve ever been so moved by a musical production. I saw the original production of The Light in the Piazza a whopping twelve times, and that’s my personal record and I wouldn’t be surprised if this enthusing, affirming revival smashes that record. I can only hope that this time, Ragtime is welcomed to Broadway with the open arms it deserved the first time around.

"Love, Loss and What I Wore"

Truth be told, had I not been invited to see it I probably wouldn’t have seen Love Loss and What I Wore. I’m not really the target demographic for this production, currently playing off-Broadway at the West Side Theatre/Downstairs. From what I’ve read, it didn’t seem to be the sort of show that would appeal to me. However, I am very glad that I found myself seated in the theatre for last Sunday evening’s performance. The play, written by Nora and Delia Ephron based on the book by Ilene Beckerman, features a rotating cast of five actresses recalling the various memories triggered by various articles of clothing and accessories, under the direction of Karen Carpenter.

I know very little about maternity clothes, shopping for bras and prom dresses or the frustrations stemming from a purse or shoes, so I wondered if would fully appreciate the situations and stories being relayed. Leaving the play, I was stunned at my own preconceived notions. The play was both hilarious and touching, but I also found great appreciation at the daily rituals and indignities women have to endure in Western society when it comes to their appearance. I’m usually done clothes shopping within a half hour; the only thing I ever bother trying on is pants. So I am stunned to hear that women find themselves facing hours upon hours of shopping in order to find clothes and accessories that are just right.

The play is performed as a staged reading, so there is a certain casualness to the proceedings that only heightens the intimacy between the actors and the audience, with many audience members expressing themselves vocally from their seats (the mere mention of Eileen Fisher got one of the biggest reactions of the night). The stories and monologues feel more like you are attended a party, picking up fragments and anecdotes as you work your way through the room. This is further intimated by the simplistic staging: the ladies remain seated on stools, with scripts on stands for the duration, smartly decked out in all black attire (a color choice given its due praise in the play).

Kudos to the Ephrons and Carpenter for shaping an evening that is often funny and often moving, but without becoming unnecessarily maudlin or overly sentimental. So many of the subjects touched on in Love, Loss are not unfamiliar and have often been beaten to death by the Lifetime and Hallmark networks. However, the proceedings are kept smart, savvy and the familiarity of the stories breeds universality rather than cliche.

Mary Louise Wilson serves as a sort of narrative base for the evening. She relays the life of a singular woman through cardboard drawings of the individuals wardrobe, essaying memories of childhood, love, lust, family, failed marriages, motherhood, and getting older with a certain casualness. She also got one of the biggest laughs instructing the audience on how to draw oneself (they include an insert in the Playbill so you can do it yourself, and they post them on a bulletin board in the lobby). Wilson

The other four actresses portray a wide variety of characters. Mary Birdsong brought her unique comic sensibility to her different women, but shone especially as a woman languishing in a loveless relationship for eight years. She and Lisa Joyce have one of the more affecting bits of stage business as they tell two seemingly separate stories simultaneously, only to gobsmack the audience with a twist that ties the two together seamlessly. Jane Lynch, who is well known for her comedic skills from her various film and TV appearances has the opportunity here to display her depth and range as she recounts one woman’s battle with breast cancer in the most moving segment of the evening.

And on top of all this, there’s Tyne Daly. The Tony-winning actress is simply sublime delivering a comic monologue about purses, and how they become a reflection of the individual but she’s also endearingly saucy as a southern woman recounting her romance with man in prison. Daly (sadly, no relation) is as warm and effusive onstage as you would hope her to be. On top of it, she makes it all look so innately easy. As much as I loved all the ladies, I found myself looking forward to all the moments directly involving her. However, there was a sense of camaraderie between the actresses. When one was working, the others were watching her; listening and genuinely appreciating what the other was saying.

A new cast is taking over this coming week, but pay that no mind. Part of the novelty behind this simple staging is that so many acclaimed actresses will have the opportunity to step in over the next few months. The show has been such a success that is has already extended itself into March. Kristin Chenoweth, Rhea Perlman, Debra Monk, Michele Lee and Capathia Jenkins are just a handful of the actresses who will be rotating in and out of the show over the next couple of months. (You can check out the cast rotation on the show’s website).

Since I didn’t know what to expect, I wanted to make sure that I brought someone with me who I feel would feel a connection to the material. When Roxie proved unavailable, I turned my good friend Dana, a savvy thirty-something with whom I used to work. I didn’t expect or know that the Jane Lynch monologue about breast cancer would hit as home as it did. But it matched detail for detail, save for the type of cancer. She had what she later referred to as a “moment” there, and it proved a very personal moment for the both of us as I considered how I fortunate I was to have this particular person in my life. She already has plans on bringing her mother and sister back to see the show.

After the show, I was talking to the show’s exceptional associate general manager, fellow blogger Jodi Schoenbrun-Carter. She, my friend and I were espousing the virtues of Love, Loss and What I Wore and she casually mentioned her husband retaining a particular item of clothing. For the example, she said “an old flannel shirt.” Suddenly, as though a light switch was turned on, I remembered that I actually keep a worn, XL flannel shirt in my old bedroom closet at my parents’ house. I acquired this shirt in ninth grade, and often wore it as a jacket, and used it for a production of The Wizard of Oz I appeared in my senior year. I’ve never worn it since that show, but because of its personal importance I’ve held onto it. Hanging alongside that shirt, are my Boy Scout uniform, college graduation gown, and a vintage 1970s Nino Cerruti sports jacket (total non-sequitur – my oldest brother bought the exact same jacket – same size, color, etc. around the same time unbeknownst to either of us until a year later). So gents, if you find yourselves wary of seeing the show, just remember – you can substitute purses, heeled shoes and maternity clothes with briefcases, fishing boots and tuxedos and you’ll find that you can start culling up memories of your own.

Collegiate Chorale presents "A Jubilant Song" Gala on 12/1

The Collegiate Chorale, led by Maestro James Bagwell in his inaugural concert as The Chorale’s newly appointed Music Director, presents A JUBILANT SONG, a celebration of the organization’s remarkable history of exceptional conductors, noteworthy commissions and premieres, and multi-faceted choral programming on December 1, 2009 at 7pm at Carnegie Hall. Tickets are $25-$125 and are available through CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800, at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, or online at www.carnegiehall.org. For more information, visit www.collegiatechorale.org.

As the new Music Director, Mr. Bagwell will give tribute to his predecessors and usher in a new era of The Collegiate Chorale. Tony® Award winner Roger Rees will host the evening. A JUBILANT SONG will feature Salvatore Licitra, tenor (who debuted at Carnegie Hall with The Collegiate Chorale in 2003 in Verdi’s La forza del destino); Jenny Lin, piano; Erin Morley, soprano; Emily Pulley, soprano; Anita Johnson, soprano; Krysty Swann, mizzo-soprano; Vale Rideout, tenor; Robert Mack, tenor; Daniel Mobbs, bass-baritone; Kalif Omari Jones, boy soprano; and the American Symphony Orchestra. A benefit dinner with Mr. Bagwell and the artists at Carnegie Hall’s Rohatyn Room will follow the concert.

“Before coming on board with The Chorale, one of the things which attracted me the most was its rich history of musical and programming diversity, going all the way back to the ideals of founder Robert Shaw and continuing steadily through the tenures of all subsequent Music Directors, particularly the late Robert Bass – and so I wanted this first concert under my baton to capture the essence of that diversity. We will perform works from Gabrieli to Dello Joio, and from Kopylov to Bernstein and Lerner. The programming will include Verdi and Meyerbeer arias, the beloved Beethoven Choral Fantasy, a couple of exquisite a cappella choral pieces, and musical theater excerpts from Bernstein and Lerner’s A White House Cantata. Many of the works we will perform hearken back to earlier concerts, including the Kopylov Heavenly Light, which was on The Chorale’s very first public program in 1942,” said James Bagwell, music director of The Collegiate Chorale.

The evening’s program follows:
Beethoven, Choral Fantasy; Gabrieli, In ecclesiis; Kopylov, Heavenly Light (part of the first public program presented by The Collegiate Chorale on March 8, 1942); Dello Joio, A Jubilant Song; Shaw/Parker, Set Down Servant; Meyerbeer, O Beau Pays, from Les Huguenots; selected arias from Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera; and La forza del destino; excerpts from Bernstein and Lerner’s A White House Cantata (which received its New York Premiere in March 2008 by The Collegiate Chorale); and the Brindisi from La Traviata.

The Collegiate Chorale, among New York’s foremost vocal ensembles, has added to the richness of the city’s cultural fabric for more than 65 years. Founded in 1941 by the legendary conductor Robert Shaw, The Chorale achieved national and international prominence under the leadership of Robert Bass. The Chorale has established a preeminent reputation for its interpretations of the traditional choral repertoire, vocal works by American composers, and rarely heard operas-in-concert, as well as commissions and premieres of new works by today’s most exciting creative artists. In the summer of 2009, The Chorale performed for the fourth season at Switzerland’s Verbier Music Festival. In July 2008, The Chorale toured with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under Zubin Mehta in Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Jerusalem.

"Kitty’s Kisses"

There was this musical about three years ago that came to Broadway by way of Canada. It was about a middle age recluse who listened to his favorite cast album as it came to life in his own living room. It won a few Tonys, was a decent hit and endeared co-librettist/star Bob Martin to the theatre world. The show was The Drowsy Chaperone, which glibly spoofed 20s musicals of a certain ilk, namely the light romantic musical comedy.

The first time I popped on the cast album of Kitty’s Kisses from PS Classics, I was immediately reminded of Chaperone, seeing the character archetypes and plot contrivances popular in the pre-Show Boat musical that are reflected on and spoofed in the later show. Kitty’s Kisses ran for 170 performances, not bad for a show of the era, back when it took a couple of months if not weeks to recoup. Though a success, it wasn’t a blockbuster like No No Nanette or Good News, and like many other likable period shows, fell by the wayside. Some of the songs by Con Conrad and Gus Kahn became hits (the liner notes mention that Queen Marie of Romania was particularly fond of the title song), but the show has been mostly forgotten, except as a footnote in musical theatre history books.

One of my biggest issues with The Drowsy Chaperone was its initial conceit, a point exemplified by the obscurity of Kitty’s Kisses. There was no such thing as an original Broadway cast album during the decade. It wasn’t until the 1930s that record producers started to experiment in preserving musical theatre scores. It seems a minor sticking issue, but it’s what’s kept Chaperone at bay for me. Though, I took less issue with the London production which adapted the show for the West End (the original London cast album predates the original Broadway cast album by quite a few years). My main beef – the Chaperone is pastiche. It’s sometimes amusing, but it’s mostly mediocre, coming off as a rehash of a rehash of a rehash (and truth be told, I hope and pray there is a moratorium on new 20s musical comedy spoofs).

But now we get a sample of the real thing, and what a superb treat it is. Kitty’s Kisses was a success in NY, then it went to London where it was merged with the Rodgers and Hart musical The Girl Friend (that’s something you don’t hear every day…). It was a charmer that got lost in the shuffle, and was eventually shelved in a New Jersey warehouse where it would have continued to languish were it not for Tommy Krasker. He stumbled upon the material while cataloging the Warner Bros music archive in the mid-80s and it is through his persistence that the restoration was done, with painstaking research and commitment as well as the blessing of Donald Kahn, Gus’ son (to whom the album is posthumously dedicated). Now after 23 years of hard work, he has given us an unexpected surprise this fall: an official cast recording of Kitty’s Kisses, billed as “The Bright New Summer Musical Delight.”

Rebecca Luker lends her shimming soprano to the title role, the innocent ingenue who finds herself at the center of the ridiculous period farce going on around her. The big scandal – Kitty poses as a married woman to get a hotel room and is mistaken for another married woman. Hijinks, mistaken identities and your usual machinations propel the plot (of which there is admittedly very little). But as was often the case, the script was an excuse for gags and light musical entertainment. The score is light, engaging and often delightfully clever with Kahn’s lyrics beautifully complemented by Conrad’s period sound. There are many studio recordings of scores that feel like a textbook document of a musical, rather than a vibrant cast album. I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt such joy and warmth from hearing a “lost” score.

The effervescent Kate Baldwin is the free-spirited Lulu, getting things off to a fresh start with the opener “Walking the Track.” Victoria Clark is an absolute riot as grand dame opera singing dowager Mrs. Dennison, who shares the duet “I Don’t Want Him” with Luker. The “Him” in that number happens to be played by Danny Burstein, while Malcolm Gets plays his brother. Andrea Burns and Christopher Fitzgerald take on the specialty material, originally created for vaudeville duo Ruth Warren and William Wayne. Phil Chaffin is Robert Mason, Kitty’s stoic love interest. Jim Stanek makes a brief appearance as the train conductor leading “Choo Choo Love.”

The album was not only produced by Mr. Krasker, but he has supplied a concise, informative essay on the show, its fall into obscurity and its restoration and resurrection. The show’s synopsis is provided by Robert Edridge-Waks. Orchestration was provided by Sam Davis, who also conducted the recording. The CD booklet also contains various production photos and images of newspaper clippings as well as the program from the Newark tryout.

According to the Krasker, the material for the finale ultimo was never recovered. The show ended on Broadway with a song called “Steppin’ on the Blues,” (with additional music by Will Davidson) and I can only assume that the song itself is also lost. The powers behind the album have created a brand new finale ultimo for the show using the composing duo’s Oscar-winning song “The Continental” from the 1934 film The Gay Divorcee. It doesn’t quite gel with the rest of the score, but it’s a cute way of wrapping things up.

This is the third in a line of score restorations for the label; they released Vincent Youman’s Through the Years in 2001 and Kay Swift’s Fine and Dandy in 2004. I cannot stress how wonderful it is that the folks at PS Classics have taken the time to painstaking refurbish a show like Kitty’s Kisses. In the late 1980s and 1990s, John McGlinn was pretty much the go-to archivist with an emphasis on the works of Jerome Kern, while John Mauceri took care of the Gershwin canon. Those albums, however, were intent on restoring the works of major composers. However, the audience for show music sadly appears to be shrinking and shrinking, so less recordings like these are less likely to be made. John Yap make a series of full studio cast albums of entire vocal scores, but given the economy has left them sitting on the shelf (including the full album of One Touch of Venus made with Melissa Errico). It’s unfortunate, as each of these recording provides musical theatre fans with a further link to the history of the genre. I only hope it’s not another five years until PS Classics releases its fourth restoration.

Julie Andrews in "My Fair Lady"

Collection of videos from various TV appearances, and a couple of interviews. Most of the performances appear to be from Ed Sullivan. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen Andrews perform “Just You Wait” and “Show Me” (twice, one with full costume and set, the other on Ed Sullivan). Two brief interviews at the end of the second part. The first is from around the time of the London opening in 1958, the second from Oscar night when an audacious reporter asked Julie in the press room if her win for Mary Poppins was because Audrey Hepburn was dubbed in the film version of My Fair Lady that same year.

"The Huge Medley"

One of my current favorite recordings is “Sibling Revelry” with Ann Hampton Callaway and Liz Callaway in concert. Unfortunately it is out of print (DRG, get it back out there!) but if you can get your hands on it, it is an epic win. The two sisters are so innately different as performers, but when they sing together it blends brilliantly. Ann’s timbre is a bit darker, and lends itself to jazzier renditions, while Liz’s clarion belt is the stuff of Broadway dreams. However, both have extensive ranges and both possess exceptional soprano registers, which you’ll hear in this video. This was what they refer to as “The Huge Medley,” filmed at a performance of “Sibling Revelry” on the 2007 R-Family cruise. Special thanks to my pal Robbie for finding part 2. Enjoy: