Taking a detour from the film world, welcome back to the stage!
I have done posts about theatre in the past, particularly musicals, and I do always like to dip back into that world from time to time. I find musicals to be an interesting topic because I love a lot of them but many of them don't live up to the same artistic level that straight plays often achieve.
However, the amazing thing about a musical is how you can find yourself loving the music but then you don't connect with anything else. Most musicals, especially those done before the Rodgers & Hammerstein Renaissance of the 40s and 50s, were frivolous pieces that had no real plot or motivation. There was no real desire to tell a story through song...or that wasn't the main goal at least.
For that reason, I won't really focus on a lot of those older shows pre-1940 but what I will be discussing are showtunes that I am quite fond of from musicals that I am NOT fond of as a whole.
This could mean I dislike the show or it could mean I flat out hate the musical. I can make that clear as I go along on a case by case basis.
I will be choosing 10 showtunes and I will keep it as one showtune from each show, though I may address additional songs from a particular musical if it is worthy of a mention.
This list will be in no particular order...but I will say that 10th selection will be a special case.
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The Spark of Creation from CHILDREN OF EDEN
(Stephen Schwartz)
-Of all of the musicals on this list, I feel like Children of Eden is the one musical that I have had the most erratic of a relationship with. In terms of composers, Stephen Schwartz is someone that tends to have more hits than misses but he also suffers from a lot of filler.
Children of Eden is a musical that Schwartz himself is quite fond of and considers it to be his finest work...and I actually could understand that argument. The biggest problem with the show is that it feels incredibly bloated and it is held up barely by a very weak Book.
To sum up the show, Act 1 revolves around the story of Adam & Eve leading up to the feud of their children Cain & Abel while Act II goes into Noah and his family on the Ark.
"The Spark of Creation" is sung by Eve as she falls in love with the surroundings of her beautiful garden and will be followed by the Serpent's temptation.
You can hear a lot of Wicked influences in this score, and I think with this song, in particular, you can hear hints of something like "The Wizard and I".
The most famous production in the States came from NJ's Paper Mill Playhouse circa 1998 which led to a cast recording with Stephanie Mills playing Eve. Here, she tackles the song:
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Lonely Room from OKLAHOMA
(Rodgers & Hammerstein)
-There is only one production I ever auditioned for and got cast in that I regret ever doing it and feel it offered zero value to my theatrical goals. I have been in productions I loathed (one is even coming up next), but I cannot begin to say how little joy I felt doing Oklahoma. On closing night, there was no sadness...just complete relief. I think some of the only joy came from the comradery behind the scenes.
Oklahoma may be important in the history of the development of dramatic musical theatre, but as a show, I still think its trapped in very old-fashioned ideas and has a group of characters I care absolutely nothing about.
However, Jud Fry is such a dark and menacing character and after a whole act of featuring rather ho-hum material, the whole scene with Jud and Carly manages to give us the most intriguing dynamic yet. When Jud is left alone, he sings about the absolute despair he feels and the musicality of it is so tense that it is hard to believe that this was the same man who had just written the music for shows like Pal Joey and The Boys from Syracuse.
The best version of this song belongs to Shuler Hensley, who won the Tony in 2002 for his performance and, frankly, he couldn't have been more perfect.
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Ten Minutes Ago from CINDERELLA
(Rodgers & Hammerstein)
-I had the immense displeasure of acting in a production of Cinderella in college...to further add to the misery that had been brought upon me when I would've been in the ensemble of Oklahoma that previous summer.
I never minded the 1950 Disney film but it wasn't one of my favorites. I didn't think much of the R&H version either...and I recall being made to sit through a regional theatre production of it on a school trip back around 2000.
It is such a bland and trite piece of work that certainly stands out as being mawkish among the other efforts that were written by Hammerstein, who is truly the Grandfather of the Modern American Musical.
Seriously...what in God's name is a lyric like "Do I love you because you're beautiful...or are you beautiful because I love you?"
I have seen some very beautiful people before and guess what? Didn't love them...in fact, in some cases I thought they were horrible human beings!
At any rate, prior to that ridiculous song, the Prince and Cinderella duet on "Ten Minutes Ago" which starts off with a rather basic setup in which the two converse over the effect they had on each other in such a short span of time.
Even as a young kid sitting watching a production in 2000, something about this delicate waltz just stood out to me.
I think my favorite rendition has to be from the 1997 TV version starring Brandy.
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You've Got Possibilities from IT'S A BIRD, IT'S A PLANE, IT'S SUPERMAN
(Charles Strouse & Lee Adams)
-Not only is it weird that there is a musical about Superman, what is even more weird is that Superman is practically a supporting character in his own show.
When the musical premiered, it became more of a vehicle for dashing Jack Cassidy fresh off his Tony Award-winning portrayal as the original Stephen Kodaly in She Loves Me. Cassidy would play the cad-like Max, who is a fellow columnist at The Daily Planet who is vying for the attention of Lois Lane.
However, amongst this rather bizarre plot involving a romantic triangle and a scientist who loses the Noble Prize ten times is Linda Lavin as Sydney who sings the now-cabaret standard "You've Got Possibilities" in which she claims to Clark Kent that there is something underneath his dorky aesthetic.
Her recording of the song also got a random boost over publicity back in the 00s when it was featured in a series of commercials for Pillsbury products. Maybe you will recognize it here...if you aren't bowled over by the brilliant comic vocals of Linda Lavin.
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Screw Loose from CRY BABY
(Adam Schlesinger & David Javerbaum)
-I don't even know that I can fairly comment on a lot of Cry Baby anymore. It just so coasted under the radar and was relatively unremarkable...and yet it still managed to get some Tony nominations, including one for Best Musical.
However, one aspect of the show I do remember well is that Ali Mauzey as Lenora.
Mauzey would go on to play roles like Glinda in Wicked and even play Sydney in It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman doing a lovely job with "You've Got Possibilities"...but this was when I first discovered her...displaying her quirky weirdness in all its glory.
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Meadowlark from THE BAKER'S WIFE
(Stephen Schwartz)
-The legend behind the out-of-town tryout of The Baker's Wife is epic. It doesn't hurt that Patti LuPone was involved with it, because that allows a lot of venting of the horrors to be put out into the world.
With this musical, we have yet another score by Stephen Schwartz. As I sort of stated when discussing Children of Eden, I think Schwartz might be the prime example of a composer who always seems to be linked to rather erratic or flawed projects but most of his work tends to shine through...and yes, I do include Wicked among the flawed group.
The Baker's Wife may be a show that suffers from a rather messy Book and ensemble numbers that are too bloated but most of the score is actually quite lovely.
Songs like "Where is the Warmth?" or "Meadowlark" have managed to find extensive life in the decades sense...and in the case of "Meadowlark", I have also dubbed it my favorite showtune in the past.
I don't know if I would say it is the lyrics, but it is more so the melody/arrangement that drives it. When done well, this song can make me leap to my feet.
My favorite rendition of this, thanks to both the performance and the orchestra, is the divine Liz Callaway singing it at Carnegie Hall.
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Fifty Percent from BALLROOM
(Billy Goldenberg/Marilyn and Alan Bergman)
-When looking at the musicals directed and conceived by Michael Bennett, there is something rather bemusing seeing Ballroom smack dab between A Chorus Line and Dreamgirls.
Based on a telefilm entitled Queen of the Stardust Ballroom, this musical tells the story of a widower (Dorothy Loudon) who ends up falling in love with a married man named Alfred (Vincent Gardenia), whom she meets at a local dance hall.
I find Ballroom to be a show that doesn't offer much, but what it does offer is a solid vehicle for its lead. Dorothy Loudon was coming off a Tony winning performance as the iconic Miss Hannigan in the original production of Annie and here, she gets to perform what might be one of the greatest 11 o'clock numbers in musical theatre history: "Fifty Percent".
Loudon's Bea is a woman who knows what she wants...and there is something rather empowering about seeing this woman not cower to moral expectations.
Here is her rendition from the OBC Recording of Ballroom. I think had it not been for Angela Lansbury's legendary Mrs. Lovett in the same category that Loudon might've won her 2nd for this song alone.
I Love Betsy from HONEYMOON IN VEGAS
(Jason Robert Brown)
-I want to temper myself when it comes to Jason Robert Brown.
This is a man who has immense talent and can wow with his material, but he is also a man who can also turn out merely adequate work in subpar musicals.
Very few musicals in recent memory have had such a bizarre response as Honeymoon in Vegas, which was already based off of a forgettable 1992 film that didn't exactly scream out a need for a musical adaptation. However, early response to its out-of-town tryout at Paper Mill was more than positive. In fact, former NYT Theatre critic Ben Brantley gave it a glorious rave.
Then...the show started previews on Broadway which lasted a FULL TWO MONTHS over the holiday season and into the winter. I saw the show very early in its preview run before a lot of the negative buzz took hold, but I found to be a very average and messy show that was mostly held up by some of the score and its performers...and the killer orchestrations done by JRB himself.
The lack of passion for the musical was evident when ticket sales and buzz seemed muted. There were even rumors that co-lead Tony Danza was actually offering to pay his own money to help keep the show open longer, but it closed not long before the end of the season.
The strange thing about the show was it still managed to get prominent attention, even from the likes of Stephen Sondheim, who said he marveled at the classy jazzy tunes and the lyrical wordplay of JRB.
I can't disagree...to an extent. The show was mostly a mess, but the score was still quite tuneful as a whole.
I would even go as far to say the show's opening number is one of the best in recent memory. It does set a great tone at the very least and is performed well by the delightful Rob McClure.
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An English Teacher from BYE BYE BIRDIE
(Charles Strouse & Lee Adams)
-Speaking of great opening numbers, I have to kind of marvel at how unique it is to have the character of Rosie sing this number as opposed to Albert, who is really the leading character.
Rosie singing about the frustration she feels with Albert abandoning his literary aspirations just so he can write frivolous pop songs for Conrad Birdie sets everything up so perfectly.
As much as I don't really like BYE BYE BIRDIE as a whole, I do think there are flourishes of good moments, but the sad truth is the show peaks right out of the gate with An English Teacher...and I will always adore Chita Rivera's performance of the song.
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Practically the whole score to ANNIE GET YOUR GUN
(Irving Berlin)
-Okay, sue me...I am cheating with this last one.
If someone were to ask me: Anthony, what is the best example of a musical that really has a lot of problems, but it still has a great score?
Easy.
Annie Get Your Gun.
This is a musical that has gone under multiple revisions in terms of its libretto.
You have lines about wondering how we stole this land from the "Indians" told as a joke, or who could forget the rather horrid "I'm an Indian Too" song sung by Annie?
However, there are several songs in this show that are simply classics:
You Can't Get a Man With a Gun
There's No Business Like Business
Moonshine Lullaby
An Old Fashioned Wedding
I Got Lost in His Arms
I Got the Sun in the Morning
Anything You Can Do
Irving Berlin was quite possibly one of the more prolific composers to ever live. It was Jerome Kern that once said "Irving Berlin has no place in American music...he IS American music.
God Bless America? Irving Berlin
Easter Parade? Irving Berlin
White Christmas? Irving Berlin
So yes, the musical itself is highly problematic but the majority of the work done by the legendary Irving Berlin is simply just a classic batch of songs.
Here is a sampling:
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