The Great American Songbook

[tmesis]

The King and I

I have great affection for this show. It was my first paid gig. In the late 60s at age 14, I played clarinet in the pit for a local amateur production in Derbyshire.

Favourites:

Hello Young Lovers - another great waltz with a feeling of calm because of the double pedal

We kiss in a shadow - a lovely song. The flute arabesque in the arrangement is a nice touch.

I have Dreamed - a really sumptuous ballad. Interesting structure, love how he re-states the tune a third higher early on. Gives the song a great lift

Something Wonderful - the pseudo-religious number that is now obligatory in his musicals.


I love the recorded version with Julie Andrews. It's  such a shame she never played the part of Anna live as it's made for her.

Embarrassing Admission: I've never seen a professional production of this musical!

[tonyloco]

Another Loco digression: I was going to post this on the Strictly Come Dancing thread but that has digressed so far from Strictly (quite amusingly) that I will post it here.

I just finished watching Strictly on the iPlayer and I could hardly believe what a ghastly mess musically they made of 'This nearly was mine'. When the engineers at Abbey Road would start working on remastering old tapes, the biggest nightmare was always finding that the tape machine used during the original recording sessions was not running at a constant speed. This resulted in strange fluctuations in pitch and tempo, and it sounded to me as if the soloist singing 'This nearly was mine' was going off on his own with tempo fluctuations that bore no relationship whatsoever to whatever it was that the orchestra was doing, which might well have been playing at uneven speeds of its own. It's not hard to stay in 3/4 time to play and sing a waltz, but Dave Arch and his vocalist sure couldn't manage that on Saturday night! End of digression.

[tonyloco]

Sept 25, 2017 15:19:13 GMT @theatremonkey said:

We kiss in a shadow - a lovely song. 

Still for me the greatest show tune ever written. An entire show in a few lines. One day, I'd love to expand it into a full-length musical.

Ah monkey, I see now what an old romantic you are. Good for you!

[tonyloco]

Sept 25, 2017 15:10:54 GMT tmesis said:

Embarrassing Admission: I've never seen a professional production of this musical!

Well, I've only ever seen it once but it was at the Palladium and it did have Yul Brynner in it. Despite having played it countless times, he was still magnetic and I was very happy to have seen him live.

[loureviews]

Richard Rodgers was marvellous both with Larry Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II, by far my favourite composer from the GAS.

Only Pal Joey and Babes in Arms remain that well-known from that first collaboration, but what a collaboration that produced Manhattan, Mountain Greenery, My Funny Valentine, If You Asked Me I Could Write A Book, The Lady is a Tramp, My Heart Stood Still, Zip, My Romance, Ten Cents a Dance, You Are Too Beautiful (an Al Jolson keeper), and With a Song in My Heart.

Wow!

The second teaming gave us the big, big shows like Carousel, Oklahoma, The King and I, The Sound of Music, and South Pacific, and who could live without Soliloquy, If I Loved You, When I Marry Mr Snow, People Will Say We're In Love, The Farmer and the Cowman, Surrey With The Fringe on Top, Something Wonderful, Shall We Dance, Hello Young Lovers, Climb Every Mountain, Sixteen Going on Seventeen, The Lonely Goatherd, Bali Ha'i, Some Enchanted Evening, and Happy Talk!

Then they gave us Cinderella, superb for TV with Julie Andrews. Flower Drum Song (I Enjoy Being A Girl). And to add even more riches Hamnerstein wrote lyrics for Jerome Kern's Show Boat, Rudolf Friml's Rose Marie, and Sigmund Romberg's New Moon.

[tmesis]

The Sound of Music

Well a lot of people can't stand this one, finding it too  saccharine and although it does not have the  same quality of amazing songs as his other massive successes, I still really enjoy it and am moved by it. Frankly it would be nigh on impossible to give it the depth of the others, with all the music that is required for the children.

Favourites:

My favourite things - another rare use of (mainly) the minor key by Rodgers

Edelweiss - it takes real class to write a tune this simple but completely original and memorable. He obviously succeeded because some Austrians think it's a folk tune that they learnt as children!

Processional March - I love how Rodgers writes a stonking tune for the wedding that then combines deliciously with 'How do you solve a problem.'

Something Good - written for the film with words by Rodgers, a lovely ballad.

Climb Ev'ry Mountain - the pseudo-religious one. It's more clever than it seems, with virtually every phrase in the tune a rising phrase that literally depicts the climbing of a mountain. Interesting shifting key-scheme.

I really enjoyed the Curve production of this a few Christmases ago.

[Dawnstar]

Sept 25, 2017 15:10:54 GMT tmesis said:

Embarrassing Admission: I've never seen a professional production of this musical!

Neither have I, and only one amateur production. Does it get done less often than R & H's other major shows or am I just biased because I haven't happened to see it? In the last 10 years I've seen 3 pro Sound of Music productions, 2 Carousels (skipped ENO's) & 1 each of South Pacific & Oklahoma but zero King and I.

Sept 25, 2017 19:54:04 GMT tmesis said:

I really enjoyed the Curve production of this a few Christmases ago.

Seconding that. It was well worth the trip to Leicester. I was especially impressed by Michael French as Captain von Trapp, who I think was the best of the 5 actors I've seen in the role over 3 productions.

[tmesis]

Dawnstar The Curve has done some terrific productions of musicals in the past few years - Oliver, Hairspray, a fantastic Chicago and Hello Dolly with Janie Dee.

[Dawnstar]

^Yes, I saw Hairspray & Hello Dolly, also Finding Neverland & The Light In The Piazza. Leicester's not too bad for me to get to, 1h40 each way, so I go up when there's something I want to see with a cast that appeals.

[loureviews]

I haven't seen The King and I live since 1991 (Susan Hampshire as Anna). There was a version at the RAH more recently but it seems to sidestep regular revivals.

Oklahoma - once, National (Hugh Jackman)
Carousel - twice, NT (Joanna Riding), last year with La Jenkins
Sound of Music - WE (Connie Fisher), most memorable because my now-husband proposed in the interval
South Pacific - NT (Philip Quast and Lauren Kennedy), Barbican (Samantha Womack)

[tonyloco]

Nice to hear from Dawnstar and loureviews. Despite its wonderful score, I find South Pacific hard to take. I had seen it onstage only once before, which was the original Australian production back in the very early 1950s and I remember nothing about it although I can still see every scene in Annie Get Your Gun and Kiss Me, Kate from a few years earlier. When I saw the recent NT production I firstly sat there in great irritation that they had rearranged the order of the scenes in Act I. My motto is: 'If you don't trust the material, don't do the show!' Most legendary iconic Broadway musicals don't need fixing, especially if they originally ran for 1,925 performances. Having said that, I really wanted to give Nellie Forbush a good slap in Act II, just I always want to slap Pamina in Act II of The Magic Flute. Please forgive me ladies, but that's just my reaction. I hope I would be just as annoyed if it was a man being that silly. Can anybody think of equivalent situations involving male characters in a musical or an opera?
Anyway, after my annoyance at finding the first act rearranged, I was then struck in the second act as to how much it stopped being a musical and became a war-time play.

I have of course seen the movie, which I feel melds that war action scenes more successfully with the earlier scenes, but the somewhat surreal use of colour washes makes it hard for me to take seriously.
None of this takes away from the achievement of Rodgers and Hammerstein in creating a fabulous score and maybe a proper concert performance by John Wilson without staging might make me happy!

[loureviews]

Some thoughts about Cole Porter, who is a close cousin to our own Noel Coward (and I love Coward).

'Anything Goes' and 'Kiss Me Kate' are probably the first musicals that come to mind from a stage/screen perspective, but he was also responsible for the majestical "Miss Otis Regrets" (Kirsty McColl did a knock-out version live back in the 90s, and of course there's the more traditional version by the vastly underrated Ethel Waters). 'Anything Goes' made a star of Ethel Merman, and we'll get back in her in later posts, I'm sure.

'Can-Can', 'Silk Stockings', and 'Dubarry Was a Lady' were all filmed but with limited success (my favourite of the trio is 'Silk Stockings', with its naughty "All of You" and playful "Satin and Silk"). "Well, Did You Evah?" was written for Dubarry but appeared in 'High Society', which also boasted "True Love", "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" and "I Love You, Samantha" which was a huge popular hit for Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen.

What else was Cole's? "My Heart Belongs To Daddy" which Mary Martin, Pat Kirkwood, and Marilyn Monroe all made their own. "I've Got You Under My Skin", never better than by the Chairman of the Board. "Begin The Beguine" (Fred and Eleanor in 'Broadway Melody of 1940', dancing on that shiny floor). "You Do Something To Me" (glorious by Marlene in old age). "Just One Of Those Things" (here are five diverse interpretations for you; Doris Day, Maurice Chevalier, Diana Krall, Ella Fitzgerald, and my favourite, Peggy Lee).

I feel he's been neglected in recent years, and that's a shame. He was funny, astute, and his songs are timeless.

[Dawnstar]

Sept 26, 2017 15:24:52 GMT tonyloco said:

Nice to hear from Dawnstar and loureviews. Despite its wonderful score, I find South Pacific hard to take. I had seen it onstage only once before, which was the original Australian production back in the very early 1950s and I remember nothing about it although I can still see every scene in Annie Get Your Gun and Kiss Me, Kate from a few years earlier. When I saw the recent NT production I firstly sat there in great irritation that they had rearranged the order of the scenes in Act I. My motto is: 'If you don't trust the material, don't do the show!' Most legendary iconic Broadway musicals don't need fixing, especially if they originally ran for 1,925 performances. Having said that, I really wanted to give Nellie Forbush a good slap in Act II, just I always want to slap Pamina in Act II of The Magic Flute. Please forgive me ladies, but that's just my reaction. I hope I would be just as annoyed if it was a man being that silly. Can anybody think of equivalent situations involving male characters in a musical or an opera?
Anyway, after my annoyance at finding the first act rearranged, I was then struck in the second act as to how much it stopped being a musical and became a war-time play.

I have of course seen the movie, which I feel melds that war action scenes more successfully with the earlier scenes, but the somewhat surreal use of colour washes makes it hard for me to take seriously.
None of this takes away from the achievement of Rodgers and Hammerstein in creating a fabulous score and maybe a proper concert performance by John Wilson without staging might make me happy!

I saw the film of South Pacific years before seeing it onstage & was therefore slightly confused by the scenes in Act 1 of the stage version, especially at the start, with the stage version having much less preliminary scene-setting than the film.

Not equivalent situations but I usually want to slap Rudolfo in Act 3 of Boheme & Calaf in Act 3 of Turandot.

[tonyloco]

Sept 26, 2017 20:55:43 GMT Dawnstar said:

Not equivalent situations but I usually want to slap Rudolfo in Act 3 of Boheme & Calaf in Act 3 of Turandot.

I'm not sure about Rodolfo: I have always thought there were faults on both sides and he and Mimì were sadly just not particularly compatible despite the love between them. I agree Calaf definitely needs a slap but why wait until Act 3? Better at the end of Act 1 when he strikes the gong – it's him who should be struck, and hard!

[tmesis]

I'd kinda like to slap Pinkerton in Butterfly but I suppose that's a bit obvious!

[tmesis]

Actually I'd like to strangle the Queen of the Night in Flute. Much as I love the oprera, her two showy arias bore me stiff and I bet she's always hated by the rest of the cast, because she always gets, but usually doesn't deserve, the biggest ovation.

[tmesis]

Rodgers and Hammerstein - 'Odds and Sods.'

There are a few other excellent songs from some of their much less successful shows.

From Allegro:

So Far
A fellow needs a girl
What a lovely day for a wedding
Come Home

Southwark Playhouse  did an excellent production  of this a few years back. The Union also had a valiant attempt at Pipe Dream but frankly I don't think they should have bothered!

I would have thought Flower Drum Song definitely worth an airing with some top-notch songs:

I enjoy being a Girl
Sunday
Grant Avenue

but I think getting the ethnicity of the cast right in these sensitive times is what is preventing a revival ( that's probably why there have been few performances of The King and I.)

However, I have left my favourite R&H song of all time 'til last (roll of drums):

It might as well be Spring
- this might almost be the loveliest music-theatre song ever written (L&L's Heather on the Hill runs it close.) It's an absolutely exquisite melody that I never tire of hearing or playing. I love how Rodgers goes to the flattened 7th at the end of the first phrase on the word 'string' and then the middle 8 just compliments the first section so well and there is a delicious extension to the 'A' section at the end. You would die happy if you'd just written this one song,  but then there's all the rest.
Bryn Terfel does a superb version of this,  but my actual favourite is by the jazz guitarist and vocalist John Pizzarelli, of whom I'm a massive fan for any of the Great American Songbook.

This song comes from State Fair which, as you all know was originally a film musical, but Finborough/Trafalgar did an excellent production a number of years ago.

[tmesis]

Omission:

I also like:

No Other Love

from Me and Juliet

[tonyloco]

Sept 27, 2017 6:15:35 GMT tmesis said:

I'd kinda like to slap Pinkerton in Butterfly but I suppose that's a bit obvious!

No, that's not really what I meant. Pinkerton is an out and out cad and reveals himself in his true colours when he proposes a toast in the opening scene to his real American bride (his 'sposa americana'). And the Queen of the Night seems to be a thoroughly bad person when she instructs Pamina to kill Sarastro. But I liked Dawnstar's idea of Calaf needing a slap, or perhaps two. There's no reason why he shouldn't be a good chap, just that he's dazzled by the apparently unattainable beauty of Turandot – silly man, when there's the lovely Liu right under his nose!

[tonyloco]

Sept 27, 2017 7:03:26 GMT tmesis said:

I would have thought Flower Drum Song definitely worth an airing with some top-notch songs:

I enjoy being a Girl
Sunday
Grant Avenue

but I think getting the ethnicity of the cast right in these sensitive times is what is preventing a revival ( that's probably why there have been few performances of The King and I.)

Flower Drum Song opened in London at the Palace in March 1960 just a few days after I arrived from Sydney. I remember it being quite enjoyable but I felt it was a bit inconsequential. I have a bright idea for a revival. They could swap the genders of a few of the principal characters then the audience would be so busy wondering who does what and with which and to whom that they wouldn't notice any problems with the ethnicity of any of the cast. That's a joke!

[tonyloco]

Following on from my previous post, Flower Drum Song ran for just over a year at the Palace and it was followed in May 1961 by The Sound of Music,which I loved. I saw it only once but my memory of it stays bright. And I was intrigued to find Constance Shacklock singing 'Climb ev'ry mountain' as I had heard her as Carmen a few years earlier in Sydney. Apparently she stayed with the show for six years – that sure is a lot of mountains!

[tonyloco]

Sept 27, 2017 7:03:26 GMT tmesis said:

However, I have left my favourite R&H song of all time 'til last (roll of drums):

It might as well be Spring
- this might almost be the loveliest music-theatre song ever written (L&L's Heather on the Hill runs it close.) It's an absolutely exquisite melody that I never tire of hearing or playing. I love how Rodgers goes to the flattened 7th at the end of the first phrase on the word 'string' and then the middle 8 just compliments the first section so well and there is a delicious extension to the 'A' section at the end. You would die happy if you'd just written this one song,  but then there's all the rest.
Bryn Terfel does a superb version of this,  but my actual favourite is by the jazz guitarist and vocalist John Pizzarelli, of whom I'm a massive fan for any of the Great American Songbook.

Yes, it's a fabulous song but I never had it in my repertoire or played it for anybody to sing. I have to confess that my taste is a little less sophisticated and of the R&H catalogue, I probably like 'Some enchanted evening' best although it is not all that effective when played solo because of those long breaks after each of the first two phrases and a similar gap before the repeat of the first section, but it's OK if you can hear Pinza's voice in your mind. And 'People will say we're in love' and 'If I loved you' are also high on my list. These are relatively straightforward in structure – just beautiful songs. But I have always maintained that it's best not to have favourites and just enjoy everything that there is on offer, whether it's 'All the things you are' or 'Daisy Bell' – but in the field of musicals I'll make an exception for 'The Belle of New York' and now '42nd Street'!

[tonyloco]

My current avatar is me tinkling in the lounge bar of a hotel in Sydney about 60 years ago. I was probably playing 'It had to be you' as I so often did! It was a great luxury to have a drummer for that kind of gig. As usual, I was filling in for the regular pianist who was taking a few weeks holiday. I remember it was a very easy gig – the crowd was friendly, the money was good and it was a decent piano. And it was five minutes walk from my home!

[Dawnstar]

Sept 26, 2017 23:44:43 GMT tonyloco said:

Sept 26, 2017 20:55:43 GMT Dawnstar said:

Not equivalent situations but I usually want to slap Rudolfo in Act 3 of Boheme & Calaf in Act 3 of Turandot.

I'm not sure about Rodolfo: I have always thought there were faults on both sides and he and Mimì were sadly just not particularly compatible despite the love between them. I agree Calaf definitely needs a slap but why wait until Act 3? Better at the end of Act 1 when he strikes the gong – it's him who should be struck, and hard!

It's the bit when Rudolfo tells Mimi that he's leaving her because he can't bear to see her suffer. How about stopping poncing around being Bohemian & getting a proper job so he can afford to try to alleviate her sufferings?

Yes, Calaf behaves pretty stupidly throughout but what really infuriates me is when Liu dies so as not to reveal his name then a mere few minutes later he goes & tells Turandot his name. So not only did he allow Liu to die for him but he then went & rendered her death pointless.

Sept 27, 2017 6:15:35 GMT tmesis said:

I'd kinda like to slap Pinkerton in Butterfly but I suppose that's a bit obvious!

Pinkerton is just too easy a target, whereas Rudolfo & Calaf people don't seem to dislike much.

Actually pretty much all of Puccini's lead tenor characters annoy me to a greater or lesser extent, apart from Cavaradossi, who seems to be the only really admirable character of the lot. This may be why I like Puccini's music but am not that keen on seeing the operas on stage.

[tonyloco]

Sept 27, 2017 20:50:40 GMT Dawnstar said:

Actually pretty much all of Puccini's lead tenor characters annoy me to a greater or lesser extent, apart from Cavaradossi, who seems to be the only really admirable character of the lot. This may be why I like Puccini's music but am not that keen on seeing the operas on stage.

Yes, Dawnstar, some of them are less than admirable characters. But poor old Des Grieux gets led a merry dance by Manon Lescaut and presumably dies in the desert in the USA after Manon dies and, as you say, Cavaradossi comes to a nasty end although Tosca thinks she has saved him. And what about Dick Johnson in Fanciulla: he's a bad 'un through and through as well! Perhaps it's best just to concentrate on the music and the singing at the opera and not worry too much about the characters. That's what I'm going to do at Aida tomorrow night. Just so long as we have six decent singers and a good conductor I will be happy! This has taken us rather a long way from Nellie Forbush but it's been an interesting journey!