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Once more, a look back at Broadway's past chapters—via new recordings of old favorites and reissues on CD via ventures into vintage vinyl vaults. Let's do the time warp again, and go back to the 1950s. 1956 was a good year ... as proven by a concert presented fifty years later—and just released—proved. That's where we begin.
After a longer wait than usual, the April 2006 Broadway by the Yearconcert at The Town Hall in Manhattan has been issued. From the beginning of the series, the musical accompaniment has been in the good hands of pianist Ross Patterson, this time joined by four other musicians, including one of New York City's busiest and best bassists in cabaret and jazz rooms, Tom Hubbard. One of the strongest concerts in the series reflects one of the strongest solid golden years of Broadway, 1956, with some rich/memorable scores for much musical caviar like My Fair Lady and Candide. In addition to the soaring and grand melodies, there is a wealth of fun, juicy material, selections to make a lover of musical comedy happy, sampling Happy Hunting and The Most Happy Fella. (Happy Hunting gets just one spot, its spunky duet about that moment of near-recognition when the face is familiar but ... : "Don't Tell Me," sandwiched here between more familiar 1956 graduates, is a welcome bit of silliness dashed off with panache by John Treacy Egan and Connie Pachl.) Brash and zippy, Rachelle Rak struts her way through "I'm Available," one of a few selections from Mr. Wonderful. Devin Richards solos on the show's hit "Too Close for Comfort" in his comfort zone of breezy pop-jazz. Ashley Brown, recently on Broadway in the title role of Mary Poppins, is a pleasure and shows versatility in voice plus a comic flair, ranging from two lighthearted L'il Abner duets with commiseration consideration by Marc Kudisch or John Treacy Egan to soloing with the tour de force showpiece, "Glitter and Be Gay" from Candide. There's some déjà vu for some CD collectors here, in the My Fair Lady tracks. Christine Andreas revisits her (recorded and recently reissued on CD) leading role in the 1976 revival of My Fair Lady, showing fire on "Show Me" and sounding fresh as a daisy and full of life on "I Could Have Danced All Night" (actually the third CD version for her of the song, as it's on a solo album, too). Two of the score's gems are highlights on solo albums by two Broadway leading men who repeat them here. "On the Street Where You Live" is an entry on John Treacy Egan's own recent solo album in a medley and he does it full solo justice here, sounding truly enraptured. Likewise, "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" appears on Brent Barrett's memorable CD of songs by its lyricist Alan Jay Lerner. It's aced in the concert, providing a nice balance between the sense of realization and denial about the moment. Marc Kudisch, leading man heard on the revival cast recording of Bells Are Ringing, gets another go-round on the explosive joy of "I Met a Girl" and "Just in Time," this time with Emily Skinner as his partner. She, this concert's director, also partners with him for the serious and grand "My Heart Is So Full of You" (The Most Happy Fella), one of the evening's two songs performed without microphones for amplification. The other is led by them as the full company joins in for the finale of Candide, "Make Our Garden Grow." Among the 22 tracks, interspersed with admiring and dishy comments by series host-creator Scott Siegel, are many fine performances and no duds. I especially admire Brandon Cutrell's sincere, hushed and vulnerable rendition of Candide's "It Must Be So" and the way Connie Pachl, with some sarcasm and frustration rather than just daftness, finds a different way with the sublimely goofy "April in Fairbanks" from the revue New Faces of 1956. That score has been unearthed, dusted off and examined below.
1956 brought an edition of producer Leonard Sillman's occasional revues featuring a potpourri of newish performers with songs and sketches by various writers. New Faces of 1956 was the first to come after the most successful in these, the 1952 entry. An original cast album on vinyl had, in its day, been issued by RCA Victor. Not all tracks recorded were released by them, keeping the issue to a single long-playing record. The spoken sections are absent, except for brief lead-ins and the celebrity impressions by female impersonator T.C. Jones who acts as host(ess), wickedly voicing the larger-than-life personalities Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn, and Tallulah Bankhead (she had then just joined the ranks in an unsuccessful Ziegfeld Follies). In recent months, two different companies have released CDs of songs from the show. The just-out Arkiv reissue includes 21 numbers: those on the long-ago record and six withheld then (a limited-edition vinyl record of rarities from various shows, issued years ago, Forgotten Broadway had these and two other tracks from this show). The Stage Door CD has just the songs from the RCA in the sequence they were on that original record: some grouped together as they were then, so, if you have favorites from this uneven score, individual numbers cannot be isolated. As might be expected in a revue that was, to some degree, topical, some bits don't age well, seeming quaint, a bit tame or lame from today's view, or are plain confusing out of context and time. The packaging and liner notes are not extensive in either case, so there isn't a lot of help there. It might not be obvious that, for example, the then much-in-the-public eye Marilyn Monroe is being spoofed in "Talent," and knowing some more background about the staging and intent might enhance appreciation. It isn't quite necessary to catch the specific lines references to songs like "Bill" or "Happiness Is Just a Thing Called Joe" in the love song to another guy with a name that takes more than a syllable to roll off the tongue: "Mustapha Abdullah Abu Ben Al Raajid." It's a long name and a long way to go for a little laughter. And you need not instantly (or ever) note the quoted lines of the classic song "April in Paris"—or even know it is the model—to get the humor in "April in Fairbanks." There's enough pleasure to be taken in the deliciously loopy performance by Jane Connell (ten years before she would create her memorable Gooch in Mame). It's the one track that remains hilarious after repeated listenings, and the song from the score picked up by other performers over the years—the ode to blood congealing and sweetly sighing walruses nowadays serenaded by Mandy Patinkin and Patti LuPone in their duo concerts. Character voices are aplenty, for comic effect; thus, the early appearance of Maggie Smith (one track, "One Perfect Moment") is notable if only for history. Genuinely musically impressive/appealing is the stirringly stalwart voice of John Reardon, making his appearances worthwhile even if the songs themselves are not top tier or anything much more than lightly charming. Those with a taste for the silly-sweet or wacky camp will find more to tickle their funny bones here. The six numbers rescued that are present just on the Arkiv disc are, to my taste, the weakest links. There's buoyant energy and zing and a few are rather endearing: another solo for Jane Connell, "Rouge," is a pip and the group number "What Does That Dream Mean?" (Freudian analysis, anyone?) bristles with frolicking goodwill. The short (1:56) "I Could Love Him" for spunky Billie Hayes is a little spot-on spot of mirth about a gal who finds a loveable guy of every stripe around every corner—a drug store cashier or a murderer ("My heart would fly up/ Then I'd call the F.B.I. up"). What Stage Door offers instead of the six extra helpings of New Faces material are songs from a totally different show, the far more serious, understated, underrated Mrs. Patterson from 1954. The connecting theatrical history link is that it had the same producer and two familiar faces from past New Faces: the lovely songs were by James Shelton, a songwriter and performer in the 1934 edition, and starred a standout from the celebrated 1952 revue, the unique Eartha Kitt. Those with just a passing acquaintance of her voice and style, knowing only her celebrated and carefully recycled persona as purrrrrrring slinky sexy seductress with a big wink, will be surprised to discovered the scaled-back, shy characterization and tender singing. This was a play with music. Only the songs are presented here: the original rare record album I snapped up when a public library was divesting itself of vinyl also has quite a bit of dialogue that puts everything into perspective and has some instrumental music in the beginning. But all the songs are here on the CD: one ("I Wish I Was a Bumblebee") is for another amiable performer, Helen Dowdy, and has lyrics that are attributed to two additional writers, but otherwise it's all Eartha and all Shelton. And it's mostly quite wistful and bittersweet, except for a playful "My Daddy Is a Dandy" (you can't keep that spice and spunk in check completely). The number listed as the 45-second "Finale" is a reprise of the wide-eyed longing for having "Tea in Chicago." The songs have been issued on Eartha Kitt collections in the past (there's a giant box set that has them). Sound quality on both CDs is OK without being revelatory or sparkling. Both Arkiv and Stage Door have been busy reissuing and repackaging the past lately, and we'll be catching up with more from them. It's nice to have these memories of the theatrical landscape of the middle of the 1950s ... as originally recorded or revisited by today's performers as on the Broadway Musicals of 1956 above (the Broadway by the Year concert series ends its own season at The Town Hall in Manhattan on June 15 with a look at the shows of 1970). But before that, this column will come back to today's Broadway with new cast albums and CDs by some theatre figures.
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THE BROADWAY MUSICALS OF 1956
NEW FACES OF 1956
NEW FACES OF 1956 &
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