Another Snowy-Blowy Christmas

We are expecting a major winter storm here in the NY area tomorrow and Christmas is only one week away. This year the season itself seems to be flying away so rapidly that I can hardly believe it. It’s been a dicey holiday season given the times in which we live. People are worrying about employment, the economy, our, well, everything. Anyway, for the first time in a long time I have been swept up in the season so I thought I’d give a very brief list of some of the my personal favorite musical theatre-related Christmas songs. If there’s anything you think I’ve overlooked, feel free to comment (and no, “I Don’t Remember Christmas” from Starting Here, Starting Now does not count).

“Twelve Days to Christmas” – She Loves Me. This song is a brilliant summation of Christmas in retail – from the perspectives of both the employees and consumers. The advancement of the plot from December 13 through the evening of the 24th is your typical Bock & Harnick – charm, wit and (very importantly) plot and character development. The song starts in a leisurely tempo, with book scenes interspliced showing how the two lead characters are growing fond of each other, but each time we go back to the song the tempo picks up pace until it becomes a full out patter verse complete with malapropisms on Christmas Eve. It’s a beautiful way to build the show to its inevitable and breathtakingly simple finale between Amalia and Georg. (And if you recall, I listen to the cast album every Christmas Eve).

“Pine Cones and Holly Berries” – Here’s Love. This musical adaptation of Miracle on 34th Street opened in late 1963 to less than stellar critical response in spite of a cast that included Janis Paige, Craig Stevens and Laurence Naismith (others included Fred Gwynne, Baayork Lee and Michael Bennett). Written and composed by Meredith Willson, the show wasn’t his best effort, but did feature a showstopping opening – a march overture that segued into an onstage recreation of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Willson incorporated his already popular “It’s Beginning to Look Like Christmas,” but he turned it into a quodlibet by adding this song as a counterpoint. (Interesting note: many people know that “Seventy-Six Trombones” and “Goodnight My Somone” were written to complement each other, but did you know that a contrapuntal reprise of “My White Knight” and “The Sadder-But-Wiser-Girl” was originally written for the scene prior to Harold’s arrest?) Apparently, this is a favorite Christmas number for the Osmonds.

“We Need a Little Christmas” – Mame. Nothing like the world’s favorite aunt declaring an early holiday in order to raise everyone’s spirits. However, given our current economic state, the song is as timely as ever. But it is a sheer joy to see and hear; especially as delivered on the original cast album by Angela Lansbury, Jane Connell, Sab Shimino and Frankie Michaels, which remains the definitive recording of this ever-popular holiday favorite. Here is a clip of the replacement cast led by Jane Morgan (Helen Gallagher is Gooch!!) performing the original staging on the Ed Sullivan Show.

Here’s the real thing:

“Who Says There Ain’t No Santa Claus?” – Flahooley An utterly enchanting little Christmas song from this flop score by Sammy Fain and Yip Harbourg. Jerome Courtland and the effervsescent Barbara Cook in her Broadway debut lead this gem.

“Be a Santa” – Subways Are For Sleeping. Note how many of these Christmas songs have many of our best Jewish composers behind them. Irving Berlin led the way with “White Christmas,” “Happy Holiday”. We also have Sammy Fain and Jerry Herman represented here. Now it’s Jule Styne; with his steady collaborators Comden & Green. The show is most famous now for David Merrick’s publicity stunt and for Phyllis Newman’s Tony-winning tour de force as Miss Martha Vail (particularly in that ‘musical dramatic playlet written and directed by huhself’, “I Was a Shoo-In”). Sydney Chaplin leads this company number (once again we have Michael Kidd staging) in which Salvation Army Santa Claus’ dancing up a storm.

And of course, that perennial favorite from Promises Promises. “Turkey Lurkey Time” I know I posted this video last year, but hell, it’s Christmas and to steal from my friends at [title of show], this is something you want to enjoy 24-7.

Quote of the Day: David Mamet

“I talked to Jeremy on the phone, and he told me that he discovered that he had a very high level of mercury,” Mamet said. “So my understanding is that he is leaving show business to pursue a career as a thermometer.”

-David Mamet, on Jeremy Piven’s abrupt departure from Speed the Plow due to illness “attributable to a high mercury account. (Seriously, kids).

Coming Soon!!

When Grey Gardens opened at the Walter Kerr Theatre in 2006, it established itself as the only Broadway show ever based on a documentary. Winning Tony awards for its stars Christine Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson, the musical had a 306 performance run before it closed prematurely due to much-publicized poor producing. Thankfully, Albert Maysles, who created the original documentary about Big Edith and Little Edie Beale, brought his video camera around to document the gestation of the musical through its Broadway opening in a new film called Grey Gardens: From East Hampton to Broadway. This documentary is set to air on PBS as a part of its “Independent Lens” series next week. For those of us in NY with Channel 13, it airs on Tuesday, December 23 at 10PM. The channel 21 airings on WLIW will be on Wednesday, December 24 @ 9AM, 3PM and 8:PM and Thursday, December 25 @ 1AM. For those of you around the rest of the country, be sure and check your local listings at the PBS website.

Quote of the Day: Tyne Daly on Rose

I then mentioned to Tyne that since the musical Gypsy is constantly revived, we should probably assume that it will come back again in a few years and, by the law of averages, someone sitting in the audience will probably be playing Mama Rose. Any tips? She turned out, glared and advised, “She is not a monster!” and stormed off. She’s still got it.

– Seth Rudetsky recapping his onstage conversation with Tony-winner Tyne Daly at the 20th anniversary of the “Gypsy of the Year” competition in his latest “Onstage & Backstage” column

Another Closing, Another Show

The acclaimed, Tony-winning revival of Gypsy appears to be the latest victim of our current economic crisis. It was announced today that the show is going to be closing on January 11, 2009 earlier than originally anticipated March 1 closing date. So if you’ve not had a chance, now is the time to see the three superlative characterizations of Patti LuPone, Laura Benanti and Boyd Gaines as you’ve got less than a month. Will any of the bloggerati who were at the opening night or post-Tony show be out for the last performance?

It’s a little frightening when you consider the shows that will be gone over the next few weeks: Spring Awakening, Hairspray, 13, Boeing Boeing, Grease, Spamalot and Young Frankenstein. That doesn’t include the current limited engagements of Liza at the Palace, Dividing the Estate, All My Sons, The Seagull, Equus, Speed the Plow, and A Man for All Seasons, which ended today. I wish the new shows still to open this season the best of luck, as it becomes more and more apparent that they will be facing an uphill climb to find an audience and establish a long term run. If you were hoping to see any of these shows, go! There are discounts to be had via the Playbill, Theatremania and Broadway Box websites. The shows may be going, but they haven’t gone yet!

"Rainbow Round My Shoulder"

I could repeat and rehash all of the superlative salvos that have been showered down upon the immortal Barbara Cook. Her professionalism, musicality, her warmth, her breadth of emotion and her uncanny ability to inhabit a lyric. It’s all been said before and will be said again: Barbara Cook is a living legend, who at 81 shows no signs of slowing down and continues to grow as an artist. And that is why it is imperative you pick up her latest solo album from DRG, “Rainbow ‘Round My Shoulder.” Cook essays a diverse branch of composers including regulars Gershwin, Bernstein, Bucchino (a devastating “If I Ever Say I’m Over You”) and Sondheim (of course), but also giving us Walter Wolcott (a scintillating “Sooner or Later” from the controversial Song of the South), Kurt Weill (the sublime “Lost in the Stars,” here paired with Sondheim’s “No More” in a haunting medley), and even Ray Charles (“Hallelujah, I Love Him So”). Every track is a gem. It’s definitely one of the most notable solo album releases of 2008. I would have to put it on my list of gift recommendations for anyone reading who is in need of a gift for a Broadway/cabaret fan. You can never go wrong with Barbara Cook.

Name That Tune – IPod shuffle style

While I was checking out the facebook this evening, an addiction for which there appears to be no cure, I discovered a friend of mine had created a quiz involving his iPod library. Following his lead, I put my ipod on shuffle and I’ve quoted the first line of each song. All I need is the song title and the show in which it appears. Some are easy, but I’m not going to lie, some are rather obscure, so knock yourselves out!

1. “With my wings resolutely spread, Mrs. Burnside”
2. “The sun sits low diffusing its usual glow”
3. “Child, I know the fear you’re feeling”
4. “To this we’ve come that men withhold the world from men”
5. “I went down to the tennis courts, lookin’ good in pleated shorts”
6. “Now as the sweet imbecilities tumble so lavishly onto her lap”
7. “Why can’t you be like a woman ought to be?”
8. “You called me back with a silent plea”
9. “Daddy always thought that he married beneath him”
10.”You smug little men with your smug little schemes”
11. “Let’s start looking alive, when we arrive it’s gonna be great!”
12. “Thank the Lord Mimi Paragon’s on board!”
13. “The day we meet the way you lean against the wind”
14. “Mademoiselle, I have followed you everywhere”
15. “Hail! Hail! Hail! Hail! Hail to the man who (hail!) without whom (hail!)”
16. “When you see the shape the world is in”
17. “My life is simply great, my silverware is gold”
18. “When the sun flew in my window and crept in bed with me”
19. “Do you see that cloud up there with the number nine?”
20. “You dear attractive dewy-eyed idealist”
21. “The best kind of clothes for a protest pose is this ensemble of pantyhose”
22. “Talk to flowers right here?”
23. “Take me back where I belong”
24. “Before you half remember what her smile was like”
25. “Things may not come through the way you plan”
26. “I will never understand what I did to deserve you”
27. “I married many men –a ton of them”
28. “Staring my life in the face haunted by what could have been”
29. “That old April yearning once more is returning”
30. “I’ll bet your friends are all celebrities. That’s wonderful.”
31. “I often have these miserable instincts”
32. “My days are brighter than morning air”
33. “To me this emporium is sex in memoriam”
34. “The newspapers call you the goddess of sex”
35. “Glad to see you folks. Sure is homey here.”
36. “When I was young my heart was weaving in and out of romance”
37. “I remember Claude. His face was gaunt, his skin was pale”
38. “Who’s the girl who had the men all eating from her hand?”
39. “I remember the way our sainted mother would sit and croon us her lullaby”
40. “Who’d believe that we two would end up as lovers?”

Bonus:

“Wine francaise straight from Burgundy”
“A friend of mine was hurtin’ bad, I bought that friend a beer”

Van Johnson (1916-2008)

Film and stage actor Van Johnson has died at the age of 92. He had recently been living in an assisted living facility in Nyack, NY. Johnson forged an indelible image as an easy-going, sandy haired presence in many popular films of the 1940s and 50s, and later carved out a niche in regional, Broadway and London theatre scenes. His Broadway career included Too Many Girls and the original production of Pal Joey, where he understudied Gene Kelly in the title role. Following in Kelly’s footsteps, he went out to the West Coast and his film career soon began with an uncredited bit in the film adaptation of Too Many Girls, which starred his good friend Lucille Ball (who was instrumental in jumpstarting his acting in Hollywood).

Signing with MGM, he became part of the studio system, rising in the ranks as a matinee idol in diverse projects such as Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, State of the Union, In the Good Old Summertime, The Caine Mutiny, Brigadoon, The End of the Affair and The Last Time I Saw Paris. His costars included Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Kathryn Grayson, Humphrey Bogart, Jose Ferrer, Elizabeth Taylor, June Allyson, Judy Garland, Deborah Kerr, Gene Kelly, Angela Lansbury, Esther Williams, Tony Martin, Janet Leigh, Clark Gable and Walter Pidgeon, to name a few.

When his film career waned toward the late 50s/early 60s, Johnson went to London where he starred as Professor Harold Hill in the original West End company of The Music Man (while we’re on it, the Laserlight CD release of the London cast album is decidedly incomplete; thankfully I have the complete HMV recording). Johnson’s Broadway comeback in the 1960s included the shortlived Come on Strong with Carroll Baker and the one-performance wonder Mating Dance, as well as replacing John Cullum as Dr. Mark Bruckner in On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. Johnson would go onto star in regional and stock productions, with a final Broadway turn as a replacement Georges in the original production of La Cage Aux Folles. He also made several notable appearances on television, including the musical episode of “The Love Boat” with Ann Miller, Ethel Merman, Della Reese and Carol Channing as well as several guest bits on “Murder, She Wrote.” Johnson is survived by his daughter Schuyler (from marriage to Eve Abbott Wynn).

Hugh Jackman to Host Oscars

It was announced today that Hugh Jackman will host the 81st annual Academy Awards ceremony on February 22, 2009. It’s a bit of a left-field choice, considering most recent hosts have a background in either stand-up or sketch comedy. However, if his charismatic turns hosting the Tonys in 2003 & 2004 are any indication, I don’t think viewers have much to worry about. Though one does wonder, does he plan on singing?