Replies: 102 Unseemly Comments
Well, BK, you have your days of the week right -- but now your months are off. Or perhaps you are wishing for nice spring weather instead of this summer heat.
Posted by Laura @ 07/29/2003 07:56 AM PST
My favorite song from The Master is all If Love Were All, but I also love Sail Away, Someday I'll Find You, A Room With a View, I'll See You Again. He really did write terribly beautiful, romantic ballads that I feel, still today, are under-appreciated.
Posted by Drumm @ 07/29/2003 08:00 AM PST
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HAPGOOD!!!
I'm embarrassed to say that I don't know from Noel Coward songs. :-\ I know I should, but I don't.
Posted by Jason @ 07/29/2003 08:06 AM PST
From one Leonian to another, Happy Birthday, Hapgood! May your fondest birthday wishes come true.
Posted by Susan @ 07/29/2003 08:22 AM PST
Gimme an H! H! You got that H you got that H!
Gimme an A! A! You got that A you got that A!
Gimme a P! P! You got that P you got that P!
Gimme a G! G! You got that G you got that G!
Gimme 2 O's! 2 O's! You got 2 O's you got 2 O's!
Gimme a D! D! You got that D you got that D!
What does that spell? Hapgood!
Happy 17th my dear!
And I too haven't got the slightest clue if I like Noel Coward songs, so sorry.
Posted by Sarah @ 07/29/2003 08:32 AM PST
First
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HAPGOOD
Second, topic of the day concerns one of my absolute favorite theatrical personalities. I adore Noel Coward and his work. As Drumm said, I think he is under-appreciated. I fell in love with his work when I did a production of Hay Fever, oh so many years ago, playing Simon Bliss. I started listening to his music and reading his plays. I think my absolute favorite song has been mentioned already, If Love Were All, but there are so many others to choose as well.
Mad Dogs and Englishmen
Mrs. Worthington (Don't Put Your Daughter on the Stage) hysterically funny song about youngsters being pushed into performing by their parents
Why Do the Wrong People Travel?
There Are Bad Times Just Around the Corner
I Went to a Marvelous Party
I'll Follow My Secret Heart
These are just some of his wonderful songs. If you can find a copy of Cowardy Custard (I mentioned it last week) grab it. Oh, Coward is also a very good revue. Oh, Coward was on Broadway and Coward Custard was a London production. If I remember correctly, DR Tom from Oz saw CC. I envy him. Both records are only on vinyl as far as I know but they are chock full of wonderful work, both songs and pieces of Coward's writing.
Posted by Ben @ 07/29/2003 08:37 AM PST
Where did the term "chock full" come from? Sometimes I wonder these things, and I figure that someone here will know the answer, so I'm putting it up for discussion rather than go on wondering.
Posted by Jason @ 07/29/2003 08:48 AM PST
According to www.m-w.com (Miriam-Webster Dictionary Online), chock probably comes from the Old English term for choke. Therefore, according to their explanation, choke-full is the same as being full to the limit.
Posted by Jason @ 07/29/2003 08:55 AM PST
Make that Merriam-Webster. Ha! the irony of misspelling the name of a dictionary.
Posted by Jason @ 07/29/2003 08:55 AM PST
Regarding Noel Coward, I love the title song and all of Stritch's songs for SAIL AWAY (especially "Why Do The Wrong People Travel") but I think the rest of the score (especially the numbers for the younger couple) are not up to the Stritch songs. I prefer the Coward comedy songs to the operetta songs.
If you think the prices at the LA Feinsteins are steep, check out the NY Feinsteins. I have never been there but I think it's $50 cover and $50 minimum for the likes of Susan Lucci who has played there a couple of times.
BK, in my comments on CAMP I admitted it was full of cliches and stereotypes but said that the kids are so winning that I didn't mind them as much as I might in a less well made film. Without giving too much away, when you see the scenes from everything from DREAMGIRLS to VIRGINIA WOLFF to COMPANY you will be totally entertained. DR Jay also posted about it last week and loved it as much as I did. The LA reviews may have been mixed, but the NY ones were not. The Times liked it and it got 3½ Stars in the Post, 3 Stars in Newsday and 2½ Stars in the Daily News. In fact the only other movie opening last Friday that got better reviews was SEABISCUIT (is a sea biscuit a snack for Nemo?).
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 07/29/2003 09:18 AM PST
Happy Birthday Happy (Hapgood)!!
I'm not really familiar with Coward's songs, but I do like the entry in Coward's diary after he saw "A Star is Born" (leastways, I think that's the film he was referring to). He apparently thought that Judy Garland, though immensely talented, did tend to wear out her welcome by stretching each number to the breaking point. He loved her at the beginning of one number, but by the time it finally ended, a benumbed Coward wrote that he vehemently "wished dear Judy was at the bottom of the sea."
Posted by Lulu @ 07/29/2003 09:24 AM PST
Hmmmmm...BK got me so curious with his description of "Lauren Whatever's" plastic surgery that I went to imdb and looked up "Day of the Dolphin." And lo and behold...no Lauren in sight! Who on earth is this poor woman whose face is unnaturally taut today? I must know, dammit, I must!
I do see that legendary Second City crazy Severn Darden is in the film. Interesting.
Posted by Lulu @ 07/29/2003 09:29 AM PST
I should clarify that there is nobody listed under the name of Lauren in the cast list of "Day of the Dolphin." The closest thing is Leslie Charleson. Is that maybe the one BK is thinking of?
Posted by Lulu @ 07/29/2003 09:31 AM PST
Favourite Coward:
If Love Were All
You Were There
Play, Orchestra, Play
Nina
Don't Put Your Daughter On the Stage, Mrs. Worthington
Posted by Charles Pogue @ 07/29/2003 09:36 AM PST
A couple of neat Coward comedy songs----"I Like America"(Beatrice Lillie sang it in one of his revues)and his parody of Cole Porter's "Let's Do It".
Posted by mark rothman @ 07/29/2003 09:49 AM PST
Oops (spoo, spelled
backward) - I didn't have
Leslie's name in front of me
and I meant to fix that and I
forgot to - yes, Leslie
Charleson.
And I will, of course, wait until I
actually see Camp before
forming an opinion of my own
and I will see it with an open
mind despite my reservations.
I'm sure I will enjoy it.
Posted by bk @ 07/29/2003 09:50 AM PST
Have you ever had one of those days at work where the longer you look at the computer screen, the more tired you become and it gets increasingly more difficult to keep your eyes open? I'm having one of those days. Part of the problem is that the numbers I'm reading off these sheets are a size 7 point, which is TINY! I have 150 pages of this to get through. I'm gonna need spectacles after this! I am proud of myself, though, for resisting the free soda in the kitchen. I've had nearly 2L of water so far today. Woohoo!!
Posted by Jason @ 07/29/2003 09:56 AM PST
Leslie Charleson is indeed in "Day Of The Dolphin" as her one attempt to break away from soaps. She was on a couple before she made the film and has been on GENERAL HOSPITAL for the past quarter century as Dr. Monica Quartermaine, heart surgeon, breast cancer survivor and unfaithful wife of Dr. Alan Quartermaine played by Stuart Damon of IRMA LA DOUCE, DO I HEAR A WALTZ and the Leslie Ann Warren CINDERELLA. Off screen she rides horses a lot and excess exposure to the sun may be more responsible for the way she looks today rather than plastic surgery.
By the way, the one review of CAMP I am waiting to see is The Sondheim Review, a publication that worships Sondheim and has no sense of humor. For those DRs who "came in late", they returned BK's SONDHEIM ALBUM because they felt that Dame Edna made a mockery of "Losing My Mind" (a very funny recording). Wait until they hear that and a couple of other Sondheim songs in CAMP... yet their God appears in the film meaning he approved of the renditions of his songs (as he did of Dame Edna). He even suggested they replace the originally scripted "Fifty Percent" with "The Ladies Who Lunch", one of the comic highlights of the film. So will these Sondheim scholars mock the film because the songs are not treated with respect or will they be hypocritical because Sondheim gave the songs his blessing?
And speaking of magazines, have any of you seen the quarterly "Show People" which has been out for a year now? Is anyone really interested is seeing the houses of the stars? Does anyone need a theatre magazine that has such an early deadline that they had Hilary Swank on the cover as star of MIRACLE WORKER, "currently playing on Broadway". Patrick Pacheo wrote an interesting weekly column when he was at Newsday but he is clearly out of touch with what a good theatre magazine should be. But then we have lost "Theatre Week", "In Theatre" and "Show Music" over the last few years so maybe there are not enough readers to make a good theatre magazine viable.
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 07/29/2003 09:58 AM PST
Jason---
Can you increase the size of the type while you working on it and then decrease it to the original size when you are done? There are some programs you can do that in. Or how about printing it out in a larger size and check it out on a hard copy that is easier to read?
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 07/29/2003 10:01 AM PST
WEL: I only have one hard copy of the list, and like I said, there are 150 pages of it. I would have no idea where to go or who to ask to re-print it. Basically, I'm going through this print out and adjusting shipping and handling fees from two years ago that we still haven't been paid for, so they made the font size very small so they could fit more on each page. There are about 20 accounts on each sheet, and each account number is about 8 digits long, so you can imagine how tiring it is for my eyes. Oh well...at least I have a job, right? I'm just glad they had something for me to do that didn't involve filing. :-)
Posted by Jason @ 07/29/2003 10:06 AM PST
Another fun Coward comedy song is Green Carnations, from Bittersweet (1933). The song is about gay life in the times of Oscar Wilde, where high society gay men reportedly wore green carnations.
"Faded boys, jaded boys, womankind's gift to a bulldog nation. And in order to distinguish us from ordinary chaps, we all wear a green carnation."
Posted by Ben @ 07/29/2003 10:06 AM PST
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HAPGOOD
On the subject: Probably my favorite Coward songs are MAD DOGS AND ENGLISHMEN and A ROOM WITH A VIEW, because we used both of them in the production of "Present Laughter" that I did. They built this beautiful fake white baby grand for me to play on stage while I sang (music from offstage), and even my mother was impressed with my playing.
Off the subject: I finally heard Elaine Stritch's version of I'M STILL HERE, which I expected would blow me away. Instead, I was less than impressed. Still, the best version I have ever heard is Nancy Walker's, although the actress who played it in Seattle's production of "Follies", (which George mentioned yesterday) did a wonderful job as well.
Posted by TCB @ 07/29/2003 10:23 AM PST
Jason - Run down to a drugstore at break and pick up a pair of those really cheap "cheaters", which are really nothing more than magnifying glasses in frames. Save your eyesight.
Posted by TCB @ 07/29/2003 10:27 AM PST
Yes, I'm a New Yorker. Born right across the street from Gracie Mansion.
Speaking of eponymous things, I've never been to Katz's, although I passed it all the time when doing theatre on Ludlow Street. Fine & Shapiro on West 72nd made a good corned beef sandwich, I think.
As to Sir Noel's songs. I don't think he's overrated or underrated; his rating is just about right. I'm fondest of Come the Wild Wild Weather. Some years ago my sister and I put together a video montage of family photo albums, and we sang the song for its soundtrack. (Also on the soundtrack, a jazzy Love Is Here To Stay and the Carpenters' Sometimes, by the Mancinis - father & daughter) If only our folks had stayed together, it would have been wonderful.
Of the comedy songs, I prefer Nina. But I prefer Bernstein and Markell's Nina song to Noel's
Posted by Noel @ 07/29/2003 10:45 AM PST
Happy Birthday, Dear Hapgood!
Posted by Laura @ 07/29/2003 10:59 AM PST
The latest update of Talkin' Broadways Upcoming CDs lists 8/26 for "Jeepers Creepers 2". First of all, is this a second volume and if so when was the first released?
Their listing lists the singers that have previously been mentioned but the link to "iclassics" to pre-order classifies it as an "Original Motion Picture Soundtrack".
Is "2" the BK produced for "Scarlett Street" CD or are there two different CDs? Will we be able to order the BK one on this here site? And what happened to the "Kritzerland" limited edition CD?
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 07/29/2003 11:13 AM PST
Just looked up some photos of Leslie, and I'd couldn't really see any signs of a poorly done lift; that said, the heavy kohl eyeliner completely encircling her eyes does a lot to age her.
Where is Bobbi Brown when you need her??
Posted by Lulu @ 07/29/2003 11:25 AM PST
Felicitations of the day, Hapgood!
BK - what's this about JC2 vs JC "One"????? And is the 8/26 release date a firm one?
Posted by Phil @ 07/29/2003 11:33 AM PST
Hapgood -- DUDE! -- Happy Birthday!
(Just think, according to social scientists, you're one year away from being at your sexual peak!!!!!)
Just got "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" on DVD. Great memories of that film.
Watched "From the Terrace" last night -- wonderful, involved soaper with cut-above performances by Newman and Woodward and a magnificent score by Elmer Bernstein (a score available on CD in limited quantities through Film Score Monthly).
Coward: The Physician, Parisian Pierrot, Someday I'll Find You
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 07/29/2003 11:37 AM PST
Thank you Jason, Susan, Sarah,
Ben, Lulu, TCB, Laura, and Phil for
the birthday wishes!
One small thing-I am 18, not 17. 18
has so many more possibilities than
17! I could go out and-vote! Yes!
Or something like that.
I adore Mr. Noel Coward! His plays
are favorites of mine (Private Lives is
one of the most penetrating portraits
of a dysfunctional relaionship that
I've ever seen, and it is also
hilarious. Hay Fever is simply
hysterical, and the Tonight at 8:30
plays are gorgeous.) but his songs
are wonderful. I love most of the
already mentioned ones, but I have
a special fondness for a few others: I
saw "Shadow Play", a one-act
musical that he wrote, at the Shaw
Festival, and absolutely loved it. The
entire score is a gem, but "You Were
There" and the "In Pink..." snatches
of music are particularly good. I also
have a disc of him singing "The Girl
Who Came to Supper", which is a lot
of fun, particularly a song called
"Long Live the King, If He Can", a
comment on the difficulty of surviving
being monarch in the Balkans.
Unfortunately, the show was out of
town when President Kennedy was
assassinated, so the number did not
survive.
Posted by Hapgood @ 07/29/2003 11:51 AM PST
And thank you Ron!
(And what irony that my sexual peak
comes NOW, when I'm not using it.)
Posted by Hapgood @ 07/29/2003 11:52 AM PST
DR Laura: Watch your mailbox. :-)
Posted by Jason @ 07/29/2003 12:01 PM PST
Hapgood - Never fear. You still have until midnight tonight before your sexual energies will begin to wane!
Posted by TCB @ 07/29/2003 12:05 PM PST
Possibly until noon tomorrow, if you were born late in the day!
Posted by TCB @ 07/29/2003 12:08 PM PST
TCB, if I remember correctly, Karen Morrow sang the song in Seattle's "Follies." She was great!
"If Love Were All" is probably my favorite Noel Coward song. I have the cast album to "Oh, Coward!" but I've never listened to it. A friend of mine wants me to make a CD of it for him, so I'll finally listen to it.
Posted by George @ 07/29/2003 12:25 PM PST
I knew that I could somehow contribute to today's topic! I'm here at MTI, where we, of course, license OH, COWARD! and we, of course, have a recording of it on CD. Two CDs, in fact. Its a transfer from the LPs, apparently, but it is on CD. I might take it home with me and make a copy for myself, should any of you be interested.
Posted by Jason @ 07/29/2003 12:34 PM PST
You are correct, George. I try not to let my mind function when I am at work, so trying to remember back a couple of years would have really taxed my brain. Thank you. She was breathtaking wasn't she?
Posted by TCB @ 07/29/2003 12:35 PM PST
Hapgood, Happy 18th. I have one question:
WHY ON EARTH DID YOU PLAY RUSSIAN ROULETTE??!?!?
That *would* cause stress, wouldn't it. I would have fainted when it was my turn. Which I suppose is a good thing, because it almost 100% assures NOT blowing my brains out.
So congrats on making it to 18! :)
Posted by Sarah @ 07/29/2003 12:36 PM PST
Someone might want to
straighten out ATC re Jeepers
Creepers. Yes, it most likely
will be available at the end of
August (no definitive date
though), no it is not Jeepers
Creepers II which is what they
link to - JC II is a soundtrack
on VS and has nothing to do
with us. In other words,
someone go tell them they
need to get their factoids
correct. Our album will ONLY
be available from the SS
website for the first six
months, then it will be
available elsewhere.
Posted by bk @ 07/29/2003 12:38 PM PST
After that first six months, will it be available HERE?
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 07/29/2003 12:47 PM PST
How did I miss reading that Hapgood played Russian roulette?
Posted by TCB @ 07/29/2003 12:50 PM PST
I clicked on his name, which then brought me to his Diaryland site, where he wrote about having played.
Posted by Sarah @ 07/29/2003 12:58 PM PST
I sent an e-mail to the Talkin' Broadway New Release site with the correction (I CCed BK on it). They usually update every Tuesday so if it's still wrong next Tuesday I'll contact them again.
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 07/29/2003 01:08 PM PST
Lulu, I don't know what photo
you saw of Miss Charleson,
but all you'll need to do is look
at her interview on the Dolphin
DVD to see how many face
lifts and botox treatments
she's had - it's painfully
obvious.
Posted by bk @ 07/29/2003 01:14 PM PST
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DR HAPGOOD
Mr. Conductor if you please....
Hooray for Hapgood,
Hapgood can be trusted,
Friend of the well-adjusted
Hooray for Hapgood,
Play a part with Hapgood,
Miracles start with Hapgood,
Gladden your heart with Hapgood
Join the parade with Hapgood!
No one's afraid with Hapgood!
Follow your star with Hapgood!
Know who you are with Hapgood!
Throw in your lot for Hapgood!
Everyone's hot for Hapgood!
Posted by Michael Shayne @ 07/29/2003 01:27 PM PST
For those of you who don't have Trio, click my name for your chance to see a program that more than lives down to its reputation.
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 07/29/2003 01:37 PM PST
Good afternoon!
Happy Birthday, Hapgood!
Noel Coward songs: "Don't Put Your Daughter On the Stage," "Sail Away," "Nina," "If Love Were All." And many others I can't remember right now...
*I once recorded the incidental music for a production of Design For Loving. It was lots of fun. We used not only Coward songs, but also some other songs from the period. And we multi-tracked it, so I sounded like Ferrante & Teicher, well, Simbulan & Simbulan.
Auditions went well this morning for Camelot. It was so nice seeing everyone again, and Baayork Lee still amazes me with her energy and spirit! -And the ballet combination - WOW! I'm playing shows tomorrrow, but I'll be back Thursday for the call-backs. The turnout was on the smallish side, but the quality was pretty good.
-And one woman did sing, "Sail Away," this morning.
Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 07/29/2003 01:42 PM PST
I didn't PLAY Russian roulette-oh
god!-it was the name of a show that I
was in! It was a new play, written
and drected by a classmate who had
never done either, with only 3 weeks
of rehearsal, and the dress
rehearsal from hell. The titular game
was at the center of the plot. (It took
place in a mental hospital and/or
heaven, and the doctors were
angels: gives you some idea of the
show.
Thanks also to Michael Shayne and
Jose!
(But Jose, the show is Design for
Living, nor Loving.)
Posted by Hapgood @ 07/29/2003 02:04 PM PST
*wipes forehead*
That's a relief :) If you had played, I would have called you an idiot and smacked you upside the head. Not that I could do that throuh a computer, but you get the idea.
Posted by Sarah @ 07/29/2003 02:07 PM PST
Hapgood Birthday, Happy....er, Happy Birthday, Hapgood!
DR Ron, Cole Porter wrote "The Physician," not Noel Coward.
Favorite Noel's: "Sail Away," "Together with Music," "If Love Were All," "I'll Follow My Secret Heart." In fact, I took out THE NOEL COWARD ALBUM on CD to play yesterday but never got around to it. Maybe tonight or tomorrow.
I taped a South Bank Show that spent the hour in tribute to Noel Coward, and it was wonderful. I rewatch that show often. I loved Noel Coward. I know the video of TOGETHER WITH MUSIC with Mary Martin and Noel was available from DRG at one time. I need to order it if it's still available. The soundtrack is pure joy.
Posted by Matt H. @ 07/29/2003 02:25 PM PST
DR Hapgood - Thanks for the correction... Hmmm... I wonder if it was a Freudian slip on my part? ;-)
-Well, the "i" and the "o" are right next to each other...
Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 07/29/2003 02:33 PM PST
Did you know that Noel Coward recorded Mad About the Boy for the HMV label and they never released it. How daring that was.
I stage managed a production of Oh! Coward! many moons ago. What a pleasure that was. Many of the songs mentioned already are some of my favs. Another one is Matelot. Also daring for its time 1945. It was supposed to be about a Mother's Love.
Matelot, Matelot,
Where you go
My thoughts go with you
Matelot, Matelot.
When you go down to the sea
As you gaze from afar
On the evening star
Wherever you may roam,
You will remember the light
Thro' the winter night
That guides you safely home.
Tho' you find
Womankind to be frail,
One love cannot fail, my son,
Till our days are done,
Matelot, Matelot.
Where you go my thoughts go with you,
Matelot, Matelot
When you go down to the sea.
But...........
Matelot is a French word for a young sailor and when that is known and that Graham Payne (who was Coward longtime lover/companion) introduced the song makes it tres intersant.
Posted by Michael Shayne @ 07/29/2003 02:49 PM PST
And how could I forget: a Very, Very, Very (that's three verys) Happy Birthday to Dear Reader Hapgood! (And, having read only your latest Diaryland entry, I too, am glad that you didn't really play Russian Roulette!)
Posted by George @ 07/29/2003 02:52 PM PST
Happy birthday Hapwood.
Hard to top "If Love Were All"
but these are some other favourites:
Come The Wild Wild Weather
I've Been To A Marvellous Party
Mad About The Boy
London Pride
I'll Follow My Secret Heart
There Are Bad Times Just Around The Corner.
I Wonder What Happened To Him
I'll See You Again.
Things to do SOON: Transfer Cowardy Custard to CD.
A few years ago a pile of CDs were stolen form our house (including my entire Sondheim collection)- one favourite I have never been able to replace was a Coward/Porter collection with Paul Jones and Elaine Delmar. Does anyone know this delight. (It may have only had an English release).
Posted by Tom Guest (from OZ) @ 07/29/2003 02:53 PM PST
DR Tom from Oz
A gay burglar imagine that! He knew which cds to take!
Posted by Michael Shayne @ 07/29/2003 02:58 PM PST
Have mentioned this before but one of my favourite theatrical memories was seeing Dame Maggie Smith in "Private Lives" in London 1973.
And I forgot "Matelot".
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 07/29/2003 02:59 PM PST
The burglar also took every pop music CD with an artist beginning with "B". How does that fit in?
"Boys II Men", "Beach Boys" . It figures! Come to think of it that includes "Shirley Bassey" too.
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 07/29/2003 03:06 PM PST
First off, let me wish a
BELATED HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DEAR READER SUSAN
as I was horribly remiss, not to mention t&e and also e&t and bitch-slapworthy all weekend.
And now on to
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR READER HAPGOOD!
You are 18. Lots of us would trade everything we own for what you have. Enjoy!
Noel Coward:
"If Love Were All" tops everything, followed by "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" in his own inimitable rendition.
"Sail Away", "The Piccola Marina", and Tessie O'Shea's entire set from The Girl Who Came to Supper, not to mention Florence Henderson's condensed version of the entire Coconut Girl show from the same show.
btb (by the bye in Internet Lingo), I believe the song "Sail Away" was actually from an earlier Coward show, but he used it in the eponymous show. Anyone have the details?
Posted by William F. Orr @ 07/29/2003 03:52 PM PST
Happy B-Day Hapgood! Here's hoping your sexual peak is much less of a peak and more of a high plateau.
Now THAT would be a weird birthday card message.
Posted by Emily @ 07/29/2003 03:54 PM PST
I was never at a party where they honored Noel Ca'ad.
Posted by Once a lady, now a tramp @ 07/29/2003 04:08 PM PST
DR William Orr: "Sail Away" was from "Ace Of Clubs" 1950.
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 07/29/2003 04:28 PM PST
DR William Orr: "Sail Away" was from "Ace Of Clubs" 1950.
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 07/29/2003 04:28 PM PST
I was hoping for 4 of a kind. will have to try my luck with a pair of Aces I guess.
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 07/29/2003 04:29 PM PST
Oh, and let us not forget the scene in The Magic Christian where the blonde woman at the ship's bar who sings "Mad About the Boy" to Roman Polanski turns out to be Yul Brynner in drag.
And the divoon Sharon McNight (who sings the title song on BK's new album) has a wonder rewrite on her "Songs to Offend Practically Everybody" album. Rick Crom wrote her "Don't Say He's Going through a Stage, Mrs. Worthington"--clearly the lady is in denial about her son't sexuality.
Posted by William F. Orr @ 07/29/2003 04:29 PM PST
Thank you, Dear Reader Tom. Isn't this group a wealth of information?
Back when I was a young math professor I had a particularly inept student in one of my classes who inspired me to write "Don't Say You're Majoring in Math, Mr. Vermicelli". No, I did not sing it for him, and the lyric is alas lost.
Posted by William F. Orr @ 07/29/2003 04:46 PM PST
I've interviewed Noel Coward.
Posted by Elaine Stritch @ 07/29/2003 04:52 PM PST
In one of my three robberies while I lived in Naples, Italy (oh! yes! crime was rampant), my stereo gear was stolen, including my new CD player and one CD...."Barbara Cook's Disney Album."
Sitting in a pile next to that had been George Michale and a bunch of other popular CDs.
I was most distraught over the loss of the Cook -- and had to wait weeks to replace it (via mail order).
My first robbery was the worst -- all my camera gear, stereo stuff -- anything and everything that was convertible to both AC and DC voltage. Stuff got left behind, of course.
I later invested in transformers and everything I bought to replace my stolen goods had U.S. specs ONLY. In the second robbery, I never ascertained that much of anything had been taken...they simply turned out every drawer, emptied every closet and box...left it all on the floor for me to pick up and put away.
My third robbery was external. My Citroen Deux Cheveaux (Maroon and black with chorme trim, and a dove grey interior)was removed from my locked garage and locked drive...both locks PROFESSIONALLY cut. Never heard a thing.
Fortunately, I was insured. And it only took a year to get it all settled.
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 07/29/2003 04:56 PM PST
Yes, while other boards have a
dearth of information, we've
got a wealth of information and
that is why we will soon be the
most popular site on all the
Internet.
Posted by bk @ 07/29/2003 04:56 PM PST
Tom from OZ wrote:
"Have mentioned this before but one of my favourite theatrical memories was seeing Dame Maggie Smith in "Private Lives" in London 1973."
And one of my great disappointments was learning I had missed "Private Lives" in London in November 1973!!!
I obviously missed Tom, as well!
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 07/29/2003 04:58 PM PST
Ooh! OOH!
And I can tie both events together (the Naples robbery and the 1973 missed event in London).
When I went to London in November 1973, I took my first "good" camera -- a Minolta ST101 -- and took my very first pictures while in London. They all came out extremely well.
When I was robbed in Naples, Italy in 1988, that same Minolta ST101, plus about $3,000 in lenses, was stolen.
It's harsh to miss Maggie Smith and Robert Stephens in "Private Lives," but it's worse when someone steals your memories!
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 07/29/2003 05:03 PM PST
Stritch! You used to babysit Coward.
Posted by Bea Arthur @ 07/29/2003 05:05 PM PST
Just checked my old programmes Ron and I had forgotten seeing Vanessa Redgrave in "Design For Living". Did I miss you there too? Maybe I missed you at "Relative Values" with Margaret Lockwood. All London in 1973. And "Cowardy Custard". I had a great year. (even if I missed you).
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 07/29/2003 05:11 PM PST
In 1973 I was negative 14 years old. I missed you all too, :)
Posted by Sarah @ 07/29/2003 05:44 PM PST
In 1973 I was minus 10.
I'm surprised we didn't see each other on the playground, Sarah.
:)
Posted by Emily @ 07/29/2003 05:52 PM PST
Happy Birthday Hapgood,
The best is yet to be.
If Love Were All is also my favorite Noel Coward song. I first heard it on Broadway's Fair Julie - and Julie Andrews' version remains the one I love most.
Posted by Dan-in-Toronto @ 07/29/2003 05:53 PM PST
Dear Readers Sarah and Emily: My, what a lot you've missed. We'll do our best to get you up to speed. ;)
BK: I don't think I'll buy the DVD just to see the be-botox'd and lifted face of an actress I'd never heard of before today. Looks like I'll have to take your word for it. :)
Posted by Lulu @ 07/29/2003 06:13 PM PST
You may want to imitate Noel Coward.
You'll get more laughs by sayin' What the hay.
Posted by Johnny Mercer @ 07/29/2003 06:16 PM PST
Lulu---
Just check out GENERAL HOSPITAL tonight on SoapNet and you'll see her. Looks like possibly a little work but not that much.
WFO---
Since you teach arithmetic, do you get searched at airports for weapons of math instruction? [Remember - no groaning at Haines His Way]
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 07/29/2003 06:53 PM PST
Our board may have a dearth of information but we have a Darth of Vader.
Posted by George Lucas @ 07/29/2003 06:57 PM PST
All you minus-people...you were all in the Guff at the time. Same thing as a playground, I'd imagine!
Tom from Oz: Nope, you missed me and I missed you all over the FERSHLUGANAH City of London!!
I did manage to take in "That's Entertainment" at the Dominion Theater. I couldn't even get tickets for "The Mousetrap" while I was there...THAT's how pathetic I was!
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 07/29/2003 07:07 PM PST
HAPPY NATAL DAY, HAPGOOD!!!!
Finally, someone mentioned my personal favorite Noel Coward song, and he's the Aussie!
"London Pride" is my fave. Love the lyrics. . .there are quite a few verses which are rarely performed as well. It is featured on an Andrea Marcovicci cd, in its abbreviated form, and it's also one of the few tracks of Andrea's that I'm immensely fond of.
Posted by td @ 07/29/2003 07:38 PM PST
WEL:
ROTFL, LMAO, LOL, and other Internet Lingo echoes of risibility.
Quite good, and I hadn't heard that one yet.
Posted by William F. Orr @ 07/29/2003 07:44 PM PST
More thanks to: WFO, Tom From Oz,
Emily, td, Dan-in-Toronto, George,
and Matt H., who have given me
birthday wishes. I feel such love at
this site. And Emily: I would be
thrilled if I got a birthday card with
your inspiring message on it. If the
plateau can last until...50, at least
that would be good. (Of course, all of
our distinguished readers maintain
unlimited potency until their deaths.
Which usually happen next to their
husbands.) (Yes WFO, WEL, Tom
from OZ, SWoodyWhite, Kerry and
the esteemed MusicGuy, I'm talking
about you!)
I looked at www.born-today.com for
those who share my birthday. They
include Peter Jennings, Dag
Hammarskjold, and (ugh) Benito
Mussolini. The list of those who died
on my birthday is even more
impressive: Robert Schumann,
Gertrude Stein, Vincent van Gogh,
Mama Cass, Luis Bunuel, and David
Niven.
I had a party before tonight's
rehearsal, and then crashed midway
through because of the MASSIVE
amounts of sugar that I consumed.
No cake, but we did have a large
decorated chocolate chip cookie.
And Myles brought brownies.
Posted by Haogood @ 07/29/2003 08:06 PM PST
You know Mama Cass would not have died on this today if only she would have given Karen Carpenter her ham sandwich.
Posted by MDS @ 07/29/2003 08:50 PM PST
Why didn't you call me Ron? I could have arranged the tickets.The Mousetrap was IMHO not a good play - just a tradition! Too easy to see the end! I lived in London for most of that year and probably went to the theatre 5 times a week! It was affordable then.I got to see "Gone With The Wind", "The Card" and "Gypsy" with AL and "Applause" with LB. What a year. Also saw Deborah Kerr, Ingrid Bergman and Glenda Jackson, Alec Guiness, Kenneth Moore and so many stars of stage and screen - what a year to remember.
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 07/29/2003 09:36 PM PST
Louie B (LB) Mayer was in "Applause" in London?
Posted by TCB @ 07/29/2003 09:49 PM PST
Note to DRs Kerry and MusicGuy, who are now in NYC: You missed a really swell storm tonight! Lots of booming thunder and cracking lightening. And RAIN!!
Posted by Laura @ 07/29/2003 10:34 PM PST
No TCB. It was LaVern Baker in "Applause" and Arthur Lyman in "Gypsy".
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 07/29/2003 11:25 PM PST
If anyone is interested, there is a great interview on BBC Radio 3 with Julia McKenzie. Click on my name to go to the Web site. The interview was taped live during a Cardiff conference on Musical Theatre. You will get to hear her sing Bosom Buddies from Mame and all sorts of other great stuff.
Posted by Ben @ 07/30/2003 05:42 AM PST
Whoops, wrong field. Sorry about that. Try it again with this e-link. When you get to the Web site click on Listen to the latest edition.
Posted by Ben @ 07/30/2003 05:44 AM PST
For God's sake, I did NOT choke to death on a ham sandwich. I am so tired of this rumor being trotted out. For the record, I died of a massive heart attack. Get a good chuckle out of THAT, why don't you.
Posted by Mama Cass @ 07/30/2003 06:01 AM PST
There is an excellent interview with Michelle Pawk in today's New York Times. Unfortunately , I can't post a link because you need to be registered with the Times to read their articles which means you have to be willing to get a lot of spam from them on a regular basis. However the paper is sold nationally so you should be able to find it.
One question: the interview implies that she "lives with" John Dossett with whom she has a son. I was under the impression they were married. Are they?
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 07/30/2003 06:12 AM PST
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/30/arts/theater/30PAWK.html
Posted by NY times link @ 07/30/2003 06:26 AM PST
A word to the wise: if you choose to register with the NY Times to read the above link, take the time first to create a Hotmail account specifically for that purpose. I registered with NY Times awhile ago and my spam increased tenfold (no exaggeration) immediately afterward. I concluded that they probably sold my information to a ton of other spammers. If you create an e-mail account specifically to receive the spam that will result from giving NY Times your address, it won't be quite as much of a bother.
Posted by Lulu @ 07/30/2003 06:34 AM PST
I do want to say that I'm registered with the Times (they probably hate me because I only buy the paper on the weekends now) and I get no spam from them at all. I get a boatload of spam from all sorts of sources and in all my varied e-mail addresses, but I have never, in the entire time I've been registered w/NY Times, received a single piece of e-mail that I have not asked to receive. I would know if they sent me spam or exchanged my address because of the manner in which I registered. I'm quite happy with my registration at NY Times. This, by the way, is not a paid endorsement, just MHO :-)
Posted by Ben @ 07/30/2003 06:40 AM PST
Fair enough, Ben, maybe it was just a coincidence that my spamload increased greatly right after I registered. It's true that I didn't receive spam from nytimes.com, persay; but because I got so much right after registering (and I hadn't registered anywhere else using that address), I put 2 and 2 together. I thought I came up with 4, but maybe what I wound up with was 5, after all. :)
Posted by Lulu @ 07/30/2003 07:08 AM PST
Good morning, one and all. Just wanted to say hi and to let you know that I've just enjoyed a good dose of Ms. Donna Summer's greatest hits and now I'm throughly enjoying some Barry Manilow. I do so wish that more people would give these singers more of a chance. Donna Summer had/has an incredible voice, and as for Barry...well, he DID write the songs.
Posted by Jason @ 07/30/2003 07:42 AM PST
Her name is Lola
She was a showgirl
With yellow feathers in her hair
And a dress cut down to there
She would merengue
And do the cha-cha
And while she tried to be a star
Tony always tended bar
Across the crowded floor
They worked from 8 'til 4
They were young and they had each other
Who could ask for more?
Posted by B.M. @ 07/30/2003 07:50 AM PST
Her name is Lola
She was a showgirl
With yellow feathers in her hair
And a dress cut down to there
She would merengue
And do the cha-cha
And while she tried to be a star
Tony always tended bar
Across the crowded floor
They worked from 8 'til 4
They were young and they had each other
Who could ask for more?
Posted by B.M. @ 07/30/2003 07:51 AM PST
Her name is Lola
She was a showgirl
With yellow feathers in her hair
And a dress cut down to there
She would merengue
And do the cha-cha
And while she tried to be a star
Tony always tended bar
Across the crowded floor
They worked from 8 'til 4
They were young and they had each other
Who could ask for more?
Posted by B.M. @ 07/30/2003 07:51 AM PST
Her name is Lola
She was a showgirl
With yellow feathers in her hair
And a dress cut down to there
She would merengue
And do the cha-cha
And while she tried to be a star
Tony always tended bar
Across the crowded floor
They worked from 8 'til 4
They were young and they had each other
Who could ask for more?
Posted by B.M. @ 07/30/2003 07:52 AM PST
Wow! Lola did the merengue and the cha-cha a lot, apparently. Nice to see you read the posts, Barry. Now, can you tell us why you did COPACABANA: THE MUSICAL? Couldn't you leave well enough alone?
Posted by Jason @ 07/30/2003 07:57 AM PST
