Today: NYMF and then Broadway

Oh, God of Comps, I bow down to you.

Bernice Bobs Her Mullett










Spring Awakening

Big Screen Broadway (sort of)

I can't resist Broadway on the Big Screen when it's at the tv museum. Enthusiasts always gather and have quite a time, collectively laughing out loud, groaning, oohing, ahhhing and applauding numbers. Broadway was on television quite a bit back in the 50s and 60s. Those were the good old days. Fortunately, there's a place to watch these gems.

12:30 PM: "West Side Story" at 50
Includes the "Balcony Scene" with Carol Lawrence and Larry Kert as seen on "The Ed Sullivan Show"; a 1958 episode of "Look Up and Live," with director/choreographer Jerome Robbins and cast members; and a 1961 episode of "American Musical Theatre" with Stephen Sondheim. (90 minutes) The gorgeous, haunting melodies of this work always give me chills. What a treat to see the original cast members Carol Lawrence and Larry Kert
singing that famous balcony scene from almost fifty years ago. Mickey Calen was so cute as as bad boy leader of the Jets, "Riff". I love all Sondheim interivews so the 1961 interview was a quite a treat. Also, what a great bonus today to hear Martha Wright singing "Small World" from "Gypsy" and then "I Feel Pretty" and "Tonight" from "West Side Story". Wow! She had a hell of a voice! Sondheim said that "Small World" was written to show how manipulative "Rose" was. He also said that he was unhappy with the lyrics of "I Feel Pretty" because the words were too smart for "Maria", who had only used simple phrases heretofore.

2 PM: "The Best of Broadway: Panama Hattie"
Music and lyrics by Cole Porter, book by Herbert Fields and B.G. DeSylva (television adaptation by Herbert Baker and supervised by Jule Styne). With Ethel Merman, Art Carney, Ray Middleton, Jack E. Leonard, Janis Carter, Neil Hamilton and Karin Wolfe. (1954; 60 minutes) Okay. Cole Porter! But ugh, corny! Still, it's the Merm. She played Panama Hattie on Broadway from October 30, 1940 to January 3, 1942 at the 46th Street Theatre (nka The Richard Rodgers). This television production 14 years later was probably cut for television, but still it was the sort of stand and deliver Merman that we all know and love. The songs are terrific but have little to do with the action. Art Carney stole the show as Woozy. An unannounced treat was that Karin Wolfe was in the house. She played the little girl Gerry. We had fun watching the commercials about sponsor Westinghouse in between acts. The big buy of the day was a new "big screen" television with aluminum by the picture tube for a brighter picture. It cost a whopping $250, give or take.

3 PM: Applause
Music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Lee Adams, book by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. With Lauren Bacall, Larry Hagman, Penny Fuller, Sarah Marshall, Robert Mandan, Harvey Evans and Rod McLennan. (1973; 105 minutes) You know there are some great, GREAT songs from this original cast recording. But oh - cheesy! And Lauren Bacall is so campy and that voice just makes me cringe when she actually tries to sing, but she's sort of perfect in this. It's such a fun show and I love it! I can kind of see myself as Eve Harrington, except for the backstabbing and sleeping with the producer part (not that I'm ruling out that option).

OperaTube Top Ten

Bob has challenged me to post my top ten favorite opera clips. Here goes:

10. Beverly Sills is Rosina, singing "Una Voce Poco Fa" from Il Barbiere de Seville



9. Karita Mattila and Thomas Hampson in Lehár's "Merry Widow" at Volpe Gala at the Met, 2006. "Vilja" & "Lippen schweigen"



8. Maria Callas sings "Casta Diva" from "Norma" at l'Opéra de Paris, December 19, 1958



7. Susan Graham sings "D'amour l'ardente flamme" from the Damnation of Faust in Brussels 2002



6. Kiri te Kanawa sings Dove Sono from Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro"



5. Frederica von Stade as Cherubino in The 1973 Glyndebourne Festival performance of Mozart's Marriage of Figaro



4. Nathan Gunn as Papageno in Mozart's Magic Flute 2006 at the Met



3. Placido Domingo sings "E Lucevan le stelle" from Puccini's "Tosca"



2. Dmitri Hvorostovky and Renee Fleming sing the final scene of Eugene Onegin at the Met, 2007.




And my number one favorite operatube scene:

1. Renée Fleming sings Rusalka's aria "Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém"" (Song to the Moon) from Antonín Dvořák's opera Rusalka. Opéra national de Paris, Bastille, 2001.




Honorable mention:


Renee Fleming, Violeta Urmana Jorge Antonio Pita and Rene Pape in Verdi's Requiem in London, 2001.



Renee Fleming sings Korngold's "Ich soll ihn niemals, niemals mehr sehn" at 2007 Proms in London



Beverly Sills and Alan Titus performs The Love Unspoken duet from "The Merry Widow"

Madness in Times Square; Sweetness at New World Stages

Another Gypsy Opened Yesterday

The first revival of Gypsy opened on September 23, 1974 for a limited run at the Winter Garden Theatre. Angela Lansbury brought this Mama Rose to Broadway after a US tour and a successful run in London. Despite her fear of following in the giant footsteps of Ethel Merman, she won her third Tony for Best Actress in a Musical. Yesterday at the flea market, I was browsing through playbills at the Twelfth Night Club's table when I met Dennis Karr. He was one of the Farm Boys (San Diego)in that production. He lost track of his Gypsy playbill and was hoping to replace it. That's some coincidence - looking for a playbill of the only Broadway show he was in on the very anniversary of the day that show opened.

Better than Pirate's Booty

Lots of treasure unburied today:

This Gypsy opened on November 16,1989 and ran for 486 performances at the St. James Theatre first and then the Marquis. Tyne Daly won her Tony award for Mama Rose.















Woman of the Year opened on March 29, 1981 and ran for 770 performances at the Palace Theatre. Lauren Bacall won her second Tony for this role.











Patti LuPone performed this Matters of the Heart concert on Sunday and Monday nights from October 15, 2000 to December 17, 2000 at the Vivien Beaumont. Contact was running concurrently in that theatre.










Sondheim Putting It Together was a review in March 1993 starring Julie Andrews, Stephen Collins, Christopher Durang, Michael Rupert and Rachel York.










Sondheim's Saturday Night is a rarely produced musical. This cast included a couple of recogniable names: Natascia A. Diaz and Andrea Burns.










This Sweeney Todd was affectionaly (or not) known as Teeney Todd, as it was a miniscule production compared to the original. This first revival of the Sondheim masterpiece only lasted for 188 performances at the Circle in the Square Theatre.










This revival of Into the Woods opened at the Broadhurst on April 30, 2002 and ran for 279 performances. It won the 2002 Tony for best revival. I'm embarrased to admit that I didn't see it.










I picked up this Playbill magazine article about Frank Langella for Sally. I expect it will make her happy.










Elizabeth Taylor on Broadway!










This is from Opening Night of Pacific Overtures from January 11, 1976. I saw the beautiful revival in 2005 at Studio 54.










Passion opened on May 9, 1994 and ran for 280 performances at the Plymouth (nka Schoenfeld). It won the 1994 Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical for James Lapine, Best Original Score for Stephen Sondheim and Best Actress in a Musical for Donna Murphy.










Rupert Holmes' The Mystery of Edwin Drood starred Betty Buckley, Cleo Lane, George Rose, Patti Cohenour and Howard McGillin. Donna Murphy and Judy Kuhn were in the cast as well. It opened on December 2, 1985 at the Imperial and ran for 608 performances.










This revival of Follies was another revival flop for Sondheim. It opened on March 8, 2001 and only ran for 117 performances.










The Goodbye Girl was a flop. Opening on February 13, 1993, it ran for only 188 performances. Bernadette left Into the Woods to star in this with Martin Short. There were nominations all around but with lyrics like, "Paula, on my knees, you're so much talla", it just didn't have what it takes. Still, it ran long enough to have two very different cover disigns.











Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad has to be the best title ever for a play so I just had to have this one. It only ran for 47 performances but it starred Hermione Gingold and Sam Waterston made his Broadway debut!










This original production of 42nd Street ran for 3,486 performances! It opened at the Winter Garden on August 25, 1980 (8/25/1980 - 3/29/1981), moved to the Majestic in 1981 (3/30/1981 - 4/5/1987) and finally was home at the St. James (4/7/1987 - 1/8/1989). Jerry Orbach and Tammy Grimes opened this production. Director/choreographer Gower Champion passed away on opening night, August 25, 1980. He posthumously awarded the Tony for Best Choreography, while the show won Best Musical.










This revival of Annie Get Your Gun, starring Bernadette Peters, ran from March 4, 1999 to September 1, 2001, for a total of 1,045 performances. Bernadette won the 1999 Tony for Best Actress in a Musical and the show won the Best Revival of a Musical. When Sondheim asked her how she could play that character for almost two years, she replied, "Well, she is a woman." I caught this one on video at the New York Library of Performing Arts. Bernadette was darling at Annie Oakley.










Contact was still running in 2001 when it was Barbara Cook's turn to take the stage of the Vivian Beaumont on Sunday and Monday nights from December 30, 2001 to August 25, 2002.










This Roundabout Production of Company opened on October 5, 1995
and only ran for 60 performances. It had a hell of a cast - Danny Burstein, Kate Burton, Diana Canova, Veanne Cox, Charlotte d’Amboise, Jonathan Dokuchitz, Boyd Gaines, John Hillner, Jane Krakowski, LaChanze, Timonty Landfield, Debra Monk, Patricia Ben Peterson and Robert Westenberg. I asked Debra Monk (Joanne) what instrument she would have played had she been in the recent revival and she responded, "I play the drums!"


Deathtrap ran for 1,793 performances! It opened at the Music Box on February 26, 1978. It moved to the Biltmore in 1982. Marian Seldes was in it the entire run. It won the 1978 for Best Play.











A few other items I grabbed were 2 handfulls of buttons from Grey Gardens
and a Grey Gardens program signed by Kelsey Fowler who was working that table for all it was worth and she talked me into buying them, a silver necklace from Tyne Daly's table (trade for the Gypsy autograph), and playbills of 1943 One Touch of Venus starring Mary Martin, 1966 The Appletree starring Barbara Harris and Alan Alda and 1980 Camelot starring Richard Burton and Christine Ebersole and 1978 Ballroom starring Dorothy Loudon and signed by her!
for my little love.












You know I wanted these (among other things), but I would have had to spend my rent money. Occassionally my "sense" kicks in.







Among others, I spotted Jeff Bowen browsing the stacks and stacks of treasure at the same table as me(perhaps he was looking for further inspiration for another Monkeys and Playbills tune), Veanne Cox browsing a table of wigs, and my friend Todd Buonopane who is playing Ralph Malph at Paper Mill's Happy Days.

Broadway Flea Market a/k/a Annual Treasure Hunt

The 21st Annual Broadway Flea Market is in Shubert Alley today.

Glass Harmonica Thought to Cause Insanity; Definitely a Mad Obsession

Natalie is sooo perfect; Jimmy is sooo cuuute.

The dress rehearsal of Lucia di Lammermore was perfect today. We arrived at 9:00 and browsed the displays, chatted with Cecilia Brauer about her glass harmonica that has our Auntie Sieglinde so excited, and then watched short clips from the HD broadcasts in List Hall. The house inside was packed for the dress rehearsal. This was my first Lucia and I had high expectations, both of the story and of Natalie Dessay in the title role. I saw her in the Met's Romeo & Juliette on March 1, 2006, and was blown away by her beautiful performance. I was not disappointed today. She is absolutely perfect. She managed to bring lightness to a dark production, both vocally and physically. She practically floats on stage, even when she is covered in blood and running around as a crazed killer. I was expecting a lot of this mad scene that everybody is always talking about. It wasn't quite as intense as I had heard, maybe it was because it was dress rehearsal, or maybe it was just high expectations on my part. However, I loved the story although it left me feeling a little crazy myself. Come on! When will these girls learn? He doesn't write, he doesn't call...you let yourself get duped into marrying somebody else...voila, of course, he shows up. Too little, too late. OH well. My favorite parts of the day were seeing Jo Anne Worley, who restrained herself from hitting any of her own high notes, and the young 20 somethings behind us who squealed, "Oh my God, he is sooo cuuute," every time Maestro Levine took the podium. Only disappointment, despite the setting being Scottland, the many opera hunks onstage weren't costumed in kilts.

Today: Lucia Dress at the Met

The Lullaby of Jerry Orbach Way

Part of 53rd Street became Jerry Orbach Way this week. Jerry was the first celebrity I saw in New York in June, 2002, at this very spot. I wasn't quite so composed back then when it came to celebrity sightings, but I somehow managed to give him a smile as big as my home state. He smiled back and nodded at me. I loved him dearly since I first lay eyes on him as reoccurring character private eye Harry McGraw on Murder, She Wrote. That reoccurring character gig earned him the short-lived, but very entertaining The Law and Harry McGraw. You know that lead to his appearance in 274 episodes of Law & Order. In the meantime, he lent his voice to dashing Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast.
Of course, before tv and movies, he was a leading man of theatre, starring in three off-Broadway shows and nine Broadway shows. He originated the roles in Promises, Promises, which earned him the 1969 Tony for Best Actor in a Musical, Chicago and 42nd Street.

Re Beverly Sills: My NY1 Interview

I'm at minute 1:31. Don't blink.

Lucia Madness

A Beautiful Day for Bubbles - A Tribute to Beverly Sills

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day for Beverly Sills. Outside the atmosphere was festive and exciting. The waiting time went by quickly and the reward of bloody mary's at O'Neals was deserved. We were interviewed by NY1. We even saw a few of our favorite characters (not fictional). Inside there was more of the same. We saw Nicole Cabell standing online with the rest of us. Inside, we saw Candice Bergen, Hal Prince, Mary Lou Falcone, Barbara Cook, Barbara Walters. Opera geeks, freaks, socialites and celebrities gathered to pay tribute with song, film clips, stories, applause and mostly laughter. It was good to be back inside the Met. Everybody spoke from their heart of Beverly, especially Barbara Walters and Carol Burnett. Everybody made us laugh, as apparently Beverly had made them laugh. Kissinger drew a small protest from a very old man in our row who started screaming, "He has blood on his hands." He was promptly removed, really disrupting nothing. The afternoon ended with a slide show of pictures of Bubbles during with the soundtrack of Allons! adieu, notre
petite table. We're just a week away from Opening Night now. And I think Miss Sills would have approved of a day for her so near the beginning of the season.


8:00 am














9:00 am














10:00 am














Not Nicole Cabell, but a lookalike














12:00 pm














1:00 pm














1:05 pm

















4:00 pm














7:00 pm



















While we were standing around inside by the box office, we were watching La Renee interview Anna during the broadcast of Puritani, when Anna herself sped by me. I wasn't sure if it was her, but followed for a second and watched her run down the stairs then saw her profile. A woman coming up the stairs confirmed that it was her. She was wearing a beautiful purple dress, spike heels, looked extremely tall and glamorous and smelled terrific. Her perfume lingered in the air. Onstage, she was poured into a sort of suit dress that was so tight she had difficulty with her diva bow. She sang "Nightingale and the Rose" very subdued and quite wonderfully.