When I was 5 years old, I saw Helen Gallagher on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1953, during the run of Hazel Flagg on Broadway. I believe she made two appearances on his show that season. On the first I'm pretty sure she and John Brescia performed "You're Gonna Dance With Me, Willie". Around the same time I remember Eddie Fisher singing "How Do You Speak to an Angel" on his weekly TV variety show.
I was never able to find the Hazel Flagg LP, but decades later I picked up the CD release, which happily included Fisher's cover version of "Angel". In 1954 Paramount surprisingly made a film version of the musical titled Living It Up as a vehicle for Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, and Janet Leigh. My parents took me to see it at the old 66 Drive-In, which at the time was located in La Grange, Illinois. Dean Martin sang "Angel" in the movie version.
In 2015 I saw the Musicals Tonight! production of Hazel Flagg. Good score, funny story. I enjoyed it. |
