March 2022 at Musical Cyberspace is all about songs with people’s names in the title.
One of the most disturbing parts of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Jesus Christ Superstar, “Judas’ Death” documents Judas’ descent into a suicidal mania following an epiphany of what he has done in betraying Jesus. Featuring reprises of “Damned for All Time”, “Blood Money” and “I Don’t Know How to Tell Him”, the song builds into a frenzy of rock guitars and riffs until Judas hangs himself. After a brief moment of silence, the chorus intones his name profoundly and we are left to experience the outcome of the pact that has been sealed. Chilling stuff.
Like some of the other recent numbers featured in the March Monikers columns, this is a song that relies on the show itself for its power. I imagine that people’s favourite renditions largely fall in line with their favourite Judases. I’d probably go for the Carl Anderson and Jérôme Pradon’s versions respectively, knowing that the former is often lauded as the best ever in the role and that the latter has numerous detractors – but I’m not one of them.
Keen to share your thoughts on “Judas’ Death”? Who interprets the sequence best for you? Head on to the comment box at the end of this post.
March 2022 at Musical Cyberspace is all about songs with people’s names in the title.
Kiss Me, Kate features one of Cole Porter’s strongest scores. “Bianca”, sung by Bill Calhoun to woo Lois Lane exclusively into his arms, is often singled out as the weak link. Truth be told, it is something of a throwaway number. Perhaps, since the chorus of the song is intended to have been written for Lois by Bill himself, Porter decided that Bill wasn’t quite the composer-lyricist Porter himself was. Nonetheless, with a good actor in the role – from Harold Lang in the original cast through Michael Berresse and Tony Yazbek to Corbin Bleu – and imaginative staging, “Bianca” can still be great fun.
Keen to share your thoughts on “Bianca”? Head on to the comment box at the end of this post.
March 2022 at Musical Cyberspace is all about songs with people’s names in the title.
“Gigi,” a song about the titular character of the 1958 film of the same name, is a song I first heard when I picked up a piece of sheet music and played it on the piano as a child. By the time I saw the film and heard an orchestra accompany Louis Jourdan’s tentative delivery of Alan Jay Lerner’s lyrics and Frederick Loewe’s melody, I was already sold on the song. Perhaps the lyrics do get a bit overly poetic here and there, but Gaston is a Frenchman so perhaps it can be excused as an expression of character. Either way, I still love it.
As a song, “Gigi” has largely remained within the domain of the musical, on screen, on stage, in concert and in the recording studio, albeit with a couple of jazz covers on the side. Most recently, Corey Cott gave the song a more contemporary musical theatre sound in the flop Broadway revival of the stage adaptation of the film, which I’m not quite sure works for the material. It just doesn’t quite soar. Would someone like Jeremy Jordan or Aaron Tveit do better by the song in these times? Who can say?
That said, the show has never worked on stage and the earlier interpretations by Geoffrey Burridge and Daniel Massey don’t being things home either. Part of the challenge is the song, which basically asks performers to Henry Higgins the charm out of the verse, but then deliver a rich vocal on the more romantic chorus. It is perhaps Graham Bickley who finds the best balance between the two elements of the song on the JAY studio recording of the show. In the end, maybe one just has to return to the OG for Louis Jourdan’s intimate delivery of the song, which works beautifully in context.
Keen to share your thoughts on “Gigi”? Head on to the comment box at the end of this post.
Today we celebrate the birthday of one of the most well known leading ladies of the legit musical theatre era, Elaine Paige. Born Elaine Jill Bickerstaff, she changed her name at the start of her career at her acting teacher’s recommendation. Looking for inspiration, she then quite literally took a “page” from the phonebook and just added the “i”! Let’s take a look at this iconic West End lady’s shining career moments.
5. “With One Look” from Sunset Boulevard
Picking up the lead role of Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard with a two-and-a-half week rehearsal, Paige filled in for Betty Buckley who fell ill during the 1995 revival. Her brief appearance as this famous film diva on stage brought her great acclaim and gave us a very memorable rendition of the song “With One Look.” Even though Paige is a small lady (1.5m) she packed more than enough punch for this enigmatic and strong female lead, earning her the full-time role in the following year. Ms Paige is a true example of big explosives coming in small packages.
4. “Anything Goes” from Anything Goes
Paige saw the 1987 Broadway Production of Anything Goes starring Patti LuPone and knew she needed to bring the show to London. Co-producing it with Tim Rice, Paige secured her part in the role of Reno Sweeney and played opposite Howard McGillin. Looking at Paige’s performance of the titular song, one can easily understand why this show brought her a third Olivier Award nomination. With a glint in her eye, crisp and clear intentions and fire in her belly, Paige owns the stage and shows why she is one of the West End’s most beloved leading ladies.
3. “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” from Evita
Earning the spot in the titular role of the first production of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Evita, Elaine Paige, who was then still quite unknown, shot herself into the limelight. Receiving critical acclaim for her performance and her first Olivier Award, Paige was set on her journey of West End stardom. Her performance of “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” will always remain her beautiful and impactful introduction to the West End.
2. “I Know Him So Well” from Chess
In 1984, Tim Rice and Abba’s Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson created the concept album of the hit musical, Chess. Paige originated the role of Florence Vassy in this 80s rock musical singing opposite Barbara Dickson. The two of them recorded and released the duet “I Know Him So Well” which continued to hold the number one position in the British singles charts for four weeks! This not only speaks to the genius of the score of Chess but also the mastery in which Paige and Dickson sang this beautiful song.
1. “Memory” from Cats
Finally, we come to the pièce de résistance, “Memory” from Cats. Arguably the most memorable performance of Paige (pun most definitely intended) and one which touched the hearts of millions of people and makes you understand why she is known as “The First Lady of British Musical Theatre.” Paige, of course, originated the role of Grizabella in Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats and has since remained the standard to which this role is upheld. Watching the 1998 recording of this song, you can’t help but embrace the tears that this beautiful ballad brings to your eyes and Paige’s truthful performance just seals the deal.
Elaine Paige had several other outstanding performances like Anna in The King and I, Mrs Lovett in Sweeney Todd, Carlotta in Follies and many more. She truly is the queen of the West End and has earned the title rightfully so.
Are you a fan of Elaine Paige and want to be heard? Share your most memorable moments from Ms Paige’s career in the comments section below.
Bob Bingham as Caiaphas in the film of Jesus Christ Superstar
March 2022 at Musical Cyberspace is all about songs with people’s names in the title.
“This Jesus Must Die”, from Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Jesus Christ Superstar, is a creepy little song sung by creepy little men with voices on extreme opposites of the male vocal range. The choice works perfectly to dramatise the moment in which Jesus’ fate is sealed. What also makes sense in a powerful way are the political reasons why Jesus was to be killed. The Bible is very clear on the spiritual reasons, so the shift in perspective away from the traditional narrative offers new layers of understanding to the Christ story. It’s perhaps not the type of song one “enjoys,” but it works like gangbusters in the context of the show.
Given that it has such a specific plot function, “This Jesus Must Die” isn’t one that has a range of recordings outside of the various productions of the show. Thus, the playlist below offers a range of extracts from cast albums and productions of Jesus Christ Superstar.
Keen to share your thoughts on “This Jesus Must Die?” within the context of modern musical theatre classic? Head on to the comment box at the end of this post.
Nancy Walker and Harold Lang in Look Ma, I’m Dancin’!
Welcome back to the site! Why don’t you stay for the night? I could show you my favourite obsession…. Well, it isn’t The Rocky Horror Show. That’s not a forgotten musical. On the other hand, Look Ma, I’m Dancin’! is, one that is so charming that it would be churlish not to shine the spotlight on it here.
Look Ma, I’m Dancin’! is a show that is little more than a footnote on the careers of a whole bunch of entertainment industry legends. Composer-lyricist Hugh Martin had already been nominated for two Academy Awards for his contributions to Meet Me in St Louis and Good News. Book-writers Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee would go on to write the Broadway classic, Mame. Producer-director George Abbott was in the middle of his extraordinary career, while co-director and choreographer Jerome Robbins would go on to help create a string of Broadway classics like West Side Story, Gypsy and Fiddler on the Roof, having already had significant success with On the Town.
While the show wasn’t a great hit, at least it didn’t flop. Although it closed within six months after 188 performances at the Adelphi Theatre in New York, it turned a small profit. Listening to the delightful cast recording makes one wonder why the show has slipped into obscurity because if it has nothing else, Look Ma, I’m Dancin’! has the most wonderful score. There are a number of high points: the characterful tour de force “Gotta Dance,” the hilarious novelty song “I’m the First Girl,” and the jaunty “Shauny O’Shay” among them. Every song is charming and the performances from Harold Lang, Nancy Walker, Sandra Deel and Bill Shirley are fantastic. And yet, Martin felt that the songs he wrote didn’t represent his best efforts and were – in his words – ‘OK.’ He attributed this to his knowledge that he had written some great tunes upfront and that he ‘relaxed a little’ when writing the rest. See the liner notes from the cast album for more details on that.
One also wonders how the Lawrence and Lee book landed? With some autobiographical elements contributed by Robbins, who had already pitched his original ideas to Arthur Laurents, the show follows the wacky misadventures of an heiress who uses the money from the Milwaukee brewery she has inherited to produce a ballet for herself. This puts her on a collision course with an egotistical dancer and choreographer, who is helping to shake up the ballet in his own way. It does recall the joyous comic nonsense of shows from the twenties, so were Lawrence and Lee not able to tailor the free-wheeling content to the taste of audiences in the late 1940s? Would Laurents have brought things together in a way that would have propelled Look Ma, I’m Dancin! to the status of other musical comedy classics? Or was Look Ma, I’m Dancin’ a casualty of the post-Oklahoma! push for integration?
Whatever the reason, it’s a pity this show hasn’t been rediscovered, even if only for a staged concert or something of that nature. If you haven’t listened to the score before, catch some of the highlights in the playlist below – then share your thoughts in the comments section. You won’t regret it!
Mirrors are powerful symbols in Tommy. Just what can he see in them?
March 2022 at Musical Cyberspace is all about songs with people’s names in the title.
The Who’s Tommy features several name songs, but none is as simple and all the more interesting for that than “Tommy, Can You Hear Me?” This is especially true in The Who’s original version of the song, which transports its listeners to – please forgive me, Pete Townshend – the summer of ’69. Those guitars just take you back in time.
When it comes to the stage show from the 1990s, the song is sung by some local lads as they accompany Tommy back from the street to his home after a doctor’s appointment. The kicker comes when the 10-year-old Tommy appears in the mirror, echoing the calling of his name. It’s a super moment that pays off well theatrically. This is somewhat different from the rendition of the song in the 1975 film in which Ann-Margaret, who plays Tommy’s mother, shows just how willing she was to give it her all, even more so as the number escalates into “Smash the Mirror.”
If you’re keen to share your thoughts on “Tommy, Can You Hear Me?”, then head on to the comment box at the end of this post. Feel free to browse through the playlist of various versions of the number as you do!
Viviane Blaine and Sam Levene in the original Guys and Dolls.
March 2022 at Musical Cyberspace is all about songs with people’s names in the title.
“Adelaide’s Lament” is a fantastic character piece. Crafted by Frank Loesser for the 1950 musical Guys and Dolls, the song helps to define precisely who the character is, an insecure, neurotic showgirl with pretensions to intellectualism, and it does so in a way that makes us simultaneously laugh and feel sympathetic for her. Vivian Blaine put an indelible stamp on the song as its original performer and, many recordings of the show later, it’s only Faith Prince that offers any real competition for a definitive reading of the song.
There is, of course, a range of takes on the song on studio albums, from concerts and on social media challenges, including performances by the likes of Barbra Streisand, Jessie Mueller and Megan Mullally. Check some of those out in the playlist below.
Keen to share your thoughts on “Adelaide’s Lament”? Is there a particular version to which you’re married? Head on to the comment box at the end of this post.
The original Broadway cast of Sweeney Todd. Attend their tale.
March 2022 at Musical Cyberspace is all about songs with people’s names in the title.
Written by Stephen Sondheim as the theme tune for Sweeney Todd, “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd” is a moody piece of work that establishes the milieu against which the action takes place. It’s also a great conceptual piece that tells the audience what the show will be about. While the song appears on most recordings of the show, the performance of the tune as captured by the original Broadway cast tops the bill. It’s truly effortless and organic and therefore, the one that is the most thrilling.
“The Ballad of Sweeney Todd” also has a number of reinterpretations, including Lea Delaria’s jazzy take on the number, Eleri Ward’s folk-indie interpretation and Dee Snyder’s thrilling metal adaptation of this piece. Take a scroll through the YouTube playlist below to enjoy a range of different iterations of the song.
Keen to share your thoughts on “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd?” What’s your favourite recording? Head on to the comment box at the end of this post.
Three iconic Jerome Robbins shows: Gypsy, West Side Story and Fiddler on the Roof
Today is the anniversary of the opening of Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, the great revue showcasing iconic numbers from shows that Jerome Robbins either directed or choreographed. Jerome Robbins’ Broadway won six Tony Awards, including a fifth Best Director nod for Robbins himself, and ran for 633 performances. To commemorate this anniversary, this week’s Saturday List takes a look at the five best Robbins shows, all of which were featured in this iconic production.
5. The King and I
The King and I is one of those classics that sits on the edge of a knife. In a world where we recognise the damage that colonialism has done to people in countries around the globe, a show that tells the story of a king who is resisting colonialism might seem like an easy win. The thing is that The King and I tells King Mongkut’s story from the perspective of Anna Leonowens, a British woman whose political influence makes it seem like she’s doing the job from the inside. Bartlett Sher did a fantastic job of walking the treacherous path of putting this show on in a twenty-first-century context, but it is difficult to get away from what is woven into the writing. Still, the score from Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II gives us some classic Broadway songs, of which the choreography-driven showpiece “The Small House of Uncle Thomas” is seen in Jerome Robbins’ Broadway alongside “Shall We Dance?”
4. On the Town
On the surface, On the Town is what they call a bop, but it is a musical comedy from the 1940s that packs a punch even today in a world that continues to be torn apart by war. With Jerome Robbins’s own ballet Fancy Free serving as a basis, Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden and Adolph Green fashioned a show that doesn’t show the audience any of the major events of World War II. Nobody dies. There isn’t a great battle on stage. And yet, the sense of the war permeates every second from the joyous “New York, New York” through the plaintive “Some Other Time,” both of which are showcased in Jerome Robbins’ Broadway. The way it reflects so much about the world through inference is pure genius.
3. Fiddler on The Roof
I’m sure there are some of you, dear readers, who will have qualms about Joseph Stein, Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick’s masterpiece ranking only third on this list, but what is a show queen to do when three such legendary shows as these appear in one body of work? Fiddler on The Roof is great because it just works anywhere and everywhere. It doesn’t matter whether you’re Jewish or not, because the story is universal and resonates beyond its cultural specifics because of the integrity with which it handles that very specificity. Jerome Robbins’ Broadway revisited some of the high points of this show in an extended sequence consisting of “Tradition,” “The Dream,” “Sunrise, Sunset” and the “Wedding Dance.”
2. West Side Story
West Side Story, which was showcased in an extended sequence in Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, is a landmark musical. It was a show that brought Broadway up to the minute in 1957 and even though we look at it now through a different lens, where we acknowledge its shortcomings in not being created with an authentic Puerto Rican perspective, it remains a piece of theatre that has a great deal to teach about prejudice and systemic racism. Beyond that, it is just so moving, with the marriage of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim’s perfectly deepening moments set up in Arthur Laurents’s book. Is it possible today not to start weeping for Maria as soon as the opening bars of “Something’s Coming” strike up?
1. Gypsy
It’s not difficult to place a show in the top spot because Gypsy, quite simply put, is a perfect show. Arthur Laurents’s book perfectly crafts a legend around the story about ‘Madame Rose… and her daughter, Gypsy,’ while Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim punctuate it with one of the greatest scores ever written for a musical, period. Every number achieves something in this show and it gave us both “Some People” and “Rose’s Turn!” In Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, we are treated to “You Gotta Get a Gimmick,” a great comic number in which Mazeppa, Electra and Tessie Tura teach Louise everything they know about stripping. Something wrong with stripping? Well, maybe there’s something wrong with your bumper!
Robbins was, of course, involved in many other shows that haven’t made this list. The Ethel Merman extravaganza Call Me Madam and the joyous Bells are Ringing. There are also several shows on which he worked, uncredited, as a show doctor and instances like The Pajama Game, which he co-directed, with George Abbott and Bob Fosse doing the heavy lifting. There’s also Peter Pan, perhaps more famous as a television production than a Broadway show, as well as the minor pieces, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, High Button Shoes and Billion Dollar Baby. But if we’re really going for an honourable mention here, that goes to Look Ma, I’m Dancin’!, which offers one of the most charming forgotten scores of the 1940s. How about rediscovering that show for a revival today?
Any thoughts you’d like to share about Robbins’ work? Head on to the comments section and sound off!
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