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| re: Sometimes an Obscure Show Deserves to Be Forgotten | |
| Last Edit: AlanScott 04:34 pm EDT 06/18/22 | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 04:32 pm EDT 06/18/22 | |
| In reply to: Sometimes an Obscure Show Deserves to Be Forgotten - BroadwayTonyJ 03:54 pm EDT 06/15/22 | |
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| Thanks for mentioning May Wine. I may have written misleading things here in the past. I have never read the script and until yesterday I think I had heard only one of the songs. Maybe two. So my knowledge of it is decidedly limited. It just sounds like a very interesting show, and I have hoped that Encores might at least look into it, although I think that is a long shot. A very long shot. Yesterday I found that three original cast members — Leo G. Carroll, Vera Van, and Walter Woolf King — appeared on Fleischmann's Yeast Hour, hosted by Rudy Vallee, where they performed a scene from the show (although how close it was to the actual scene is up in the air) and three songs were sung. I am linking this on youtube. A few other songs from the show can be heard on youtube, of which at the moment I will recommend Shirlee Emmons singing "Dance, My Darlings" (I think this recording is much better than the Patrice Munsel-Alfred Drake recording of the song for Bagley) and Lois Hunt singing "Something New Is in My Heart." I don't know if the show is worth unearthing for the kind of production it would receive at Encores! but it was unconventional for 1935, although with mostly standard operetta-style lyrics. In the Hammerstein Complete Lyrics book, editor Amy Asch says that the show was not an operetta, but it sounds to me like it was one, albeit an unusual one that eschewed some traditional operetta elements. And many of the critics called it an operetta, while noting that it lacked some of the expected elements. Unfortunately, it seems as if no Broadway version of the script may exist, although the rehearsal version might be close enough to use as the basis for a production or concert. More of a problem is that the orchestrations may be lost, although a piano-vocal score exists. There are so many unrecorded scores by the major writers. Some of them are from shows that were successful. It is sad that the Packard-McGlinn project foundered because I am pretty sure that McGlinn hoped to move on to other writers after Herbert and Kern, although completing just those two would have been a huge undertaking. Btw, I meant to ask you something in a thread that is no longer on the first page so I will ask here: What movies were you thinking of in which Glynis Johns sang, apart from Mary Poppins? I have seen some of her early movies, although some of them I have seen only parts of (tuning into TCM after they started). Am I remembering correctly that she sings a bit in The Sundowners (not really an early movie of hers)? And I know there is a singing sequence in Miranda, and it is comic, but if memory series it is not her voice. Or do we hear her own voice at some point? I am asking partly because I am wondering if she sang live in any of those movies, in which case those would not be examples that contradict Sondheim's statement, although “Sister Suffragette" in Mary Poppins clearly contradicts his statement. |
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| Link | May Wine on Fleischmann's Yeast Hour |
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| re: Sometimes an Obscure Show Deserves to Be Forgotten | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 06:03 pm EDT 06/18/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Sometimes an Obscure Show Deserves to Be Forgotten - AlanScott 04:32 pm EDT 06/18/22 | |
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| I was thinking of Miranda, State Secret, and Mad About Men, although there may be others. I saw Miranda and Mad About Men (the follow up to Miranda) as a youth in the 50's or 60's when I wasn't old enough to realize actors were sometimes dubbed. I have State Secret on DVD, where she plays an actress who is appearing in a stage musical. I'll check it out when I get a chance. It did sound like it was her voice, although the song could have been recorded live. Now that you are bringing it up, I think she plays dual roles in Mad About Men and I believe both characters sing at times. I'm pretty sure Johns used her own voice when singing as Caroline, Miranda's non-mermaid cousin. Johns may have sung a bit in some other 50's films, but I'm not sure. I have at least two of them on DVD and if she does sing, I'll mention it on ATC the next time I watch them. |
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| re: Sometimes an Obscure Show Deserves to Be Forgotten | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 08:43 pm EDT 06/19/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Sometimes an Obscure Show Deserves to Be Forgotten - BroadwayTonyJ 06:03 pm EDT 06/18/22 | |
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| Thanks for the detailed reply. I hope to catch those someday. I was shocked when I found out that actors were almost always lipsynching in movie musicals. I can't remember exactly when I first found out about this. Now it seems so obvious almost all the time, but of course we were young. And when watching movies on the televisions we had back then, I think it was probably less obvious than it is when we watch them now. |
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| re: Sometimes an Obscure Show Deserves to Be Forgotten | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 09:23 pm EDT 06/19/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Sometimes an Obscure Show Deserves to Be Forgotten - AlanScott 08:43 pm EDT 06/19/22 | |
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| I never knew that either. I just assumed singing was recorded the same way dialogue was. Even today I'm not sure I understand exactly how it's done. With musical numbers do the actors just mime the lyrics or do they actually sing but the singing is not recorded until it's dubbed in later? | |
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