Replies: 47 Unseemly Comments
Favorite Orchestrators:
Robert Russell Bennett, Jay Blackton (Jacob Schwartzdorf), Ralph Burns, Bill Byers, Hershy Kay, Peter Matz, Sid Ramin, Don Sebesky, Hans Spialek, Michael Starobin, Jonathan Tunick, and Don Walker.
I love Cybill Shepherd. She might make a good Follies Phyllis somewhere…
Posted by freedunit @ 06/18/2002 09:42 AM PST
More later. but I'll go with Robert Russell Bennett. Phillip Lang, Jonathan Tunick and Ralph Burns and Jim Tyler.
And it's tough to distinguish sometimes between brilliant arrangements and brilliant orchestrations-- not for you pros of course but for me. In which case I'd ahve to sart naming a whole new bunch of people.
I'll be back later. Need to jump in the shower (let's not start THAT again, shall we)
Posted by Kerry @ 06/18/2002 10:08 AM PST
Just wanted to wish Kerry Butler a very happy birthday...
more later,
Craig
p.s. Is there ANYONE finer than Tunick?
Posted by Craig @ 06/18/2002 10:56 AM PST
Robert Russell Bennett and Hans Spialek orchestrating Rodgers; Jonathan Tunick orchestrating Sondheim; Hershy Kay orchestrating Bernstein; Ralph Burns orchestrating Kander; Phil Lang orchestrating Herman.
Posted by Philip Crosby @ 06/18/2002 11:30 AM PST
Kerry, great selection of Philip J. Lang. I did not intend to overlook him myself. I love his orchestrations of Mame and 42nd Street. Have a good jump in the shower. When you are through, there is cake.
Craig, yes, Carolina and Robert Russell Bennett. I love Bennett’s use of the harp, but among is talents Tunick is great at making four instruments sound like forty…
Posted by freedunit @ 06/18/2002 11:38 AM PST
Oh.. forgot to mention. To a particular (and specific) reader of this board who kicked my tush in Backgammon last night... I demand a rematch!
Posted by Craig @ 06/18/2002 11:39 AM PST
“is” = his
I did not mean to post the way Alfred P. Doolittle speaks.
Posted by freedunit @ 06/18/2002 11:45 AM PST
Alfred P. Doolittle? Heck, I though you were going for Alfred E. Newman - What, Me Worry?
Posted by Craig @ 06/18/2002 11:53 AM PST
I knew you would get us back quickly to coprophilia…
Posted by freedunit @ 06/18/2002 11:54 AM PST
Me? How in tarnation, carnation, aspiration, confligration, flobotinization did I get us back to that?
Posted by Craig @ 06/18/2002 11:58 AM PST
Hey Everybody!
The reviews are in on the Reprise! production of FOLLIES at the Wadsworth Theatre in L.A. Just go to http://calendarlive.com and click on the second item in the center of the screen.
ALSO: Don't forget to tune in PBS tonight for the filmed-for-TV production of THE WOMEN with the original Broadway revival cast!
Posted by Donna - Cabaret West @ 06/18/2002 12:34 PM PST
The original Roundabout Theatre Company revival cast of The Women, yes, but sans le barbu de Jennifer Tilly. I saw the production; better to rent the motion picture…
Desperation, persperation, inspiration, deviation, coprophiliation.
Posted by freedunit @ 06/18/2002 12:50 PM PST
Or perspiration…
Posted by freedunit @ 06/18/2002 12:55 PM PST
Freedunit's review of The Women was much too kind.
Posted by Robert Armin @ 06/18/2002 01:09 PM PST
well, I agree about The Women....I saw it last October and it really made me appreciate how well written the movie is....the only bright spot was Jennifer Coolidge as Edith -- very funny performance!
also, since Mr Bakalor hasn't gotten around to posting the links for this week's radio show, I will post them here:
Stan & Kirsten's Website
http://www.stanandkirsten.com/
LML Music
http://www.lmlmusic.com/
Amazon Link to Purchase "A Quiet Thing"
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005U8HK/qid%3D1023939884/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F0%5F1/102-5238461-4391310
Posted by Donald @ 06/18/2002 01:23 PM PST
For more than twenty years I have admired the work of Cynthia Nixon. I think she is a wonderful actress who did well with a thankless role. Nixon delivered terrific performances in Angels in America… and Indiscretions, and I very much look forward to her portrayal of Sally Tally. Of course, Mary Louise Wilson is wonderful in every show in which she appears. I am very fond of Kristen Johnston, but I thought she was miscast. Jennifer Coolidge is a talented comic actress and a very warm, funny presence; I look forward to seeing her again. I am even a fan of Jennifer Tilly—enough so to wonder what she might be able to accomplish with a strong, able director. Tilly was terrific in Bullets Over Broadway. If Hallie Kate Eisenberg were to retire now, I would consider it a great service to the arts and to this country, and I would give thanks. As for The Women, better to rent the movie…
Posted by freedunit @ 06/18/2002 01:44 PM PST
Oh, happy happy day. I am back from The Beach, where it was rainy and sandy and generally disgusting. Especially for the lack of computers/email/drivel. In response to yesterdays topic, I'd pick Liz Callaway, Judy Kuhn, and Audra MacDonald.
In response to today's topic, I must admit that I can't think of any that haven't been mentioned, so I'll just concur.
;)
Posted by Lolita @ 06/18/2002 02:09 PM PST
Leonard Bernstein. Yes?
Posted by William F. Orr @ 06/18/2002 03:21 PM PST
That was very tricky -- making us all believe you were writing from home when you were actually in Fabulous Las Vegas. I never gamble or gambol, because I've always got a kid or two with me when I go there.
Posted by Laura @ 06/18/2002 03:31 PM PST
Never gambled. Gamboled rather too much when I was younger--but I loved every minute of it!
I was camping from Wisconsin to California many years back with my French friend and her husband. The campground we stopped at in Nevada had slots, much to my surprise.
My friend said she'd never gambled in her life, but she put in a quarter, pulled the handle, and out came $ 5.00! What did she do? She pocketed it and swore never to gamble again, but to always tell people she made 9,900% profit gambling.
Posted by William F. Orr @ 06/18/2002 03:50 PM PST
Oh -- and please explain the origin of the phrase ?You sir, are an oleaginous ort and a poop?.
Posted by Laura @ 06/18/2002 03:58 PM PST
WFO, your friend may have sworn to “tell people she made 9,900% profit gambling,” but her profit was 1,900%.
Posted by freedunit @ 06/18/2002 04:09 PM PST
I think from now on, there should be no more trivia questions involving Tony Award winners. No, from now on, all of the trivia questions should revolve around Tony RANDALL. Lulu has decreed it so.
Why, oh WHY is Love at First Bite still not available on DVD? Or Scavenger Hunt? Or Cold Turkey? Or any of those other nutty, zany, seventies comedies that I love so? Get them out there, people, on the double! C'mon, get the lead out!
(Don't mind me, I'm just in a crummy mood today.)
Posted by Lulu @ 06/18/2002 04:31 PM PST
freedunit:
Sorry, pal, the arithmetic was mine. I've only had PhD in math for thirty years. That'll teach you not to trust the experts. 8-)>
Posted by William F. Orr @ 06/18/2002 04:52 PM PST
By the way, I have the Chandler/Benton CD. I love it. It's great.
OK. That's three posts I've made today.
Posted by Laura @ 06/18/2002 05:32 PM PST
You see, you see - it is possible to have both quality and quantity. This is more like it - I'm jiggy with it. Let's keep it up, although perhaps "it" is tired and wants to go night night. Why should we keep "it" up if "it" wishes to sleep? Who are we to say nay to "it"? I shall have the full details on my rather long meeting with Miss Cybill Shepherd and also with my seemingly successful meeting with a Broadway Producer.
Of course I should have mentioned the great and unique Ralph Burns.
Posted by bk @ 06/18/2002 06:13 PM PST
I positively ADORE Cybill!
I think that her cd, "Talk Memphis to Me" is quite a fine album, and it gets heavy play in my cd-changer!
I know that it isn't Wednesday - it is Tuesday, so it MUST be Belgium - but, does your meeting with Miss S. concern a new recording?
Posted by td @ 06/18/2002 06:44 PM PST
Ralph Burns wrote wonderful orchestrations. I detested his work on a motion picture oddly entitled A Chorus Line, but then there were no worthwhile elements of that film, and as far as I am concerned, officially it never happened. I love everything he did for Fosse—I wish “Beat Me, Daddy, Eight to the Bar” had been recorded—and I love his work on New York, New York and even the little-known In the Mood, which I saw only because a friend was in it. His work with Doug Besterman, who is himself a talented orchestrator, on Thoroughly-Millie is the best element of the production, and I was touched by Besterman’s Tony tribute to him. Burns’ charts for Little Me; Do I Hear a Waltz?; Chicago; and especially Funny Girl are among my very favorite ever.
Now I am so curious what Broadway Producer was seemingly successfully met and why…
Lulu, may I be the first to guess the answer of the trivia question? Is the answer Tony Randall?
Posted by freedunit @ 06/18/2002 06:47 PM PST
I happened to see the production of The Women playing tonight on Channel 13 when it played at the SELWYN Theatre (I won't stoop to calling it that flying bird name). Anthony, my partner, had not seen it and wanted to watch it even though he knew I "did not care for it" to be polite. Imagine my relief when he confirmed my view of the miscast, mishapen mess that was the Women. He stopped watching at intermission. He wanted to reach through the television and pull out what remains of Jason Alexander's hair for his less than stellar hosting duties. Ah, well. On to other topics. I have been to Las Vegas twice, once on a drive through with my family on the way to California in the early 70s. It was about 3:00AM and you could read the newspaper in the car by the lights on the strip. The second time was when I worked for Nickelodeon. I was sent there for the NABET conference to appear as DangerMouse! Going to Las Vegas in the late summer to appear in a furry rodent suit was not the best way to see the city. Even though I was in the hotel most of the time it was so hot I nearly passed out once. It was soon after that I gave up my career as a full body costume actor. No more head pieces with football helmets built inside! No more feet the size of two football players! For me, a theatre company and a brush with bankruptcy. Oh, well, it's all part of my memoirs. I actually would like to go back to Las Vegas just once as a normal person, not in a car with 6 people or carrying my mouse suit through airport security, to see what it's like. Even though I know it's changed enormously from the mid 80s.
Posted by Ben @ 06/18/2002 07:09 PM PST
Who orchestrated "Gypsy"? I can't find my album or the right books? He definitely has to be added to my list (unless he's already on it). I reviewed various shows on record, and with the stuff I really like, the same names keep coming up over and over and over again.
Posted by Kerry @ 06/18/2002 07:39 PM PST
Sid Ramin and Robert Ginzler.
Posted by freedunit @ 06/18/2002 07:54 PM PST
Oh my dear, dear Bruce Kimmel San,
I'm am so, so sorry this comes too late, but I just ran Cybill Shepherd San's name through my numerology software, and guess what? It said,
"WILL ALWAYS HAVE SUCCESS WITH MEN NAMED BRUCE"
If I'd only known in advance, you could have told her :-(
But not to worry. More of my own personal chi is on the way.
Glowingly,
Your Sushi
Posted by Sushi Tomoto from Kyoto @ 06/18/2002 08:04 PM PST
Perhaps I should have included Ginzler, too, in my list for Bye, Bye, Birdie and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.
Ben, of course, you are correct The Women was performed at the Selwyn Theatre. Why ever would someone call the Selwyn Theatre after a flying bird or any other name for that matter? The Selwyn is the Selwyn is the Selwyn, and Mamma Mia! is at the Winter Garden Theatre, which was built as the American Horse Exchange, but has been the Winter Garden Theatre since 1911.
Posted by freedunit @ 06/18/2002 08:05 PM PST
Thank you, freedunit. I owe you yet another piece of cake.
Oh, and I'll have to add Hershy Kay (to my list for his work on "Chorus Line" and "110 in the Shade").
Posted by Kerry @ 06/18/2002 08:24 PM PST
WFO, I am very sorry about your arithmetic. You may have had a Ph.D. in math for thirty years, but you are incorrect. Perhaps the Ph.D. has worn out. By the way (BTW), I do trust the experts. Your friend’s five dollars ($5.00) jackpot on a one-quarter dollar ($0.25) gamble is a profit of four and three-quarters dollars ($4.75), or one thousand nine hundred per cent (1,900%) of the original investment. Had the one-quarter dollar gamble yielded a jackpot of twenty-five dollars ($25.00), the twenty-four and three-quarters dollars ($24.75) profit would have been one of nine thousand nine hundred per cent (9,900%). I regret to inform that I am unavailable as a tutor.
Posted by freedunit @ 06/18/2002 08:25 PM PST
May I just add (or subtract) that Mathematics was my worst subject. However, I know just enough to know that I came home a Vegas winner - not by much, but something is better than nothing.
Sid Ramin and Robert Ginzler were fantastic (I believe both worked on the film of West Side Story - along with the marvelous Irwin Kostal, if I remember correctly. Of the more recent sorts, I also am fond of Bill Brohn.
Posted by bk @ 06/18/2002 09:05 PM PST
Well, I see my beard got enjambed to the next line in my most recent post. The smiley should have looked like this:
8-)>
complete with beard and glasses.
Posted by William F. Orr @ 06/18/2002 09:19 PM PST
The so-called “emoticon” was not the error.
Posted by freedunit @ 06/18/2002 09:26 PM PST
freedunit, freedunit, freedunit:
I was not pulling rank. I was pointing out that even my PhD did not prevent me from making egregious errors.
More egregious was typing "quarter" instead of "nickel" which confused all the calculations.
Bruce:
Math isn't much help in most Vegas games, not even blackjack.
But a former classmate of mine has made quite a pile over the years as a consultant to the High Rollers. That's the way to do it, work on commission and bet someone else's money.
Bill
Posted by William F. Orr @ 06/18/2002 09:49 PM PST
“The first rule of gambling is never bet your own money.”
“What’s the second rule?”
“NEVER BET YOUR OWN MONEY.”
[A comedian who recently used the line gets no credit, because he stole it himself…]
Posted by freedunit @ 06/18/2002 10:09 PM PST
A late post and nothing new to add. Difficult to imagine a Sondheim score without the work of Jonathan Tunick. I forgot to hunt out triva responses this week. Worse. I gave the correct answer to the wrong question a few weeks back.(Henry Sweet Henry - which I thought met all the requirements!) I am now about to play my old recording (1979) of Richard Rodney Bennett - A Different Side Of Sondheim. This wonderful column has a way of jogging memory cells. I think Ralph Burns had somehting to do with "Lucky Lady" too. (From memory there was a BK allusion to the recording in a Real A column. Maybe it was "New York New York". Must dig out those old records.
Loved Cybill on TV. Christine Baransky (sorry about the spelling)was wonderful and the guy who played Ira was worth watching the show for. Loved the younger daughter's character as well.
And no post from Michael Shayne today. Good Grief.
Posted by Tom from OZ @ 06/18/2002 10:35 PM PST
Blackjack without the knowledge of math is like producing an album without any cash...
never gonna happen and if it does, it's gonna be ugly!
Posted by Craig @ 06/18/2002 11:03 PM PST
I like Jonathon Tunick. Absolutely amazing. Just listen carefully to his work in Follies and Into Woods.
Posted by Michael Shayne @ 06/19/2002 04:13 AM PST
Have to add William David Brohn to the list of the best orchestrators working today.
Being married to a harpist, I have to love any orchestrator/arranger who writes a good harp part. ;-)
Posted by Dave @ 06/19/2002 09:07 AM PST
Dave-
Just have to ask.. Have you EVER had a disagreement with your wife and said "stop harping on me?"
Posted by Craig @ 06/19/2002 09:25 AM PST
I knew you would take us back to coprophilia again…
Robert Russell Bennett wrote wonderful harp parts for Annie Get Your Gun. Didn’t Irving Berlin write a song “Who Do You Love, a Harp?”
Posted by freedunit @ 06/19/2002 10:13 AM PST
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Posted by awo;eufhq3;iebg @ 04/25/2003 08:54 AM PST