Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Song of the Day

On October 14, 1930, Ira and George Gershwin's Girl Crazy opened on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre, now known as the Neil Simon on West 52nd Street. The score wasn't really remarkable except for that it gave us the standards Embraceable You, But Not For Me and especially I Got Rhythym. Who sang I Got Rhythm? The Merm of course! Yes, that's right, a 22 year old Ethel Merman was in this cast of almost 70 members strong! Unfortunately, these were the days before cast albums. But the trivia about Girl Crazy that I love most about this show is really the make up of the pit orchestra. Future stars of the big band era - Glenn Miller, Gene Krupa, Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman were all in that pit! I wonder if nearly 50 years later, the book writer of 42nd Street had this particular pit in mind when his "Maggie Jones" said, "There's a reason we keep them in a pit!" This brings me to Glenn Miller. If you know me like you should, then you know I can't resist the big band sound. Last night, I made it home just in time to watch The Glenn Miller Story on TCM. Oh, I can't help it. I've seen it a 100 times if I've seen it once. My favorite Glenn Miller tune is In the Mood, a big hit from 1940. Click here to hear why it's such a great tune. You'll be dancing in your office with this one!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Just love this movie! A String of Pearls would have to be my favorite. It was also my grandfathers favorite. He danced with me at my wedding to this song!!:)

Stephanie