It marked the return of Stritch to NYC after years in the UK. I loved the surprise of her slowed down version. It suited her hard, cynical persona. Of course, although she never seemed young, she once was a convent girl from Detroit who came to the city with all those "Broadway Baby" dreams.
The distortion of the text in the slower tempo is something I've always struggled with. Sondheim never even once wrote the word "OH!" in the lyric, but in doing it slowly, that then becomes the most frequent word in the song. I've never liked it.
