Topic: THE PRISONER OF SECOND AVENUE (Read 23530 times)

bk · « **on:** May 25, 2004, 12:00:37 AM »

Well, you've read the notes, you have divined their divine meaning, you know both topics, so walk the walk, talk the talk and most importantly, post the post.

Charles Pogue · « **Reply #1 on:** May 25, 2004, 12:10:16 AM »

Can't say I'm a big fan of either Jerry Lewis or Jerry Herman. I Won't Send Roses for Herman...and I guess THE NUTTY PROFESSOR, though truth be told I probably haven't seen a Jerry Lewis movie since I was 14...it was probably The Nutty Professor.

bk · « **Reply #2 on:** May 25, 2004, 12:18:04 AM »

Welcome seven GUESTS. We're talkin' about The Two Jerrys.

George · « **Reply #3 on:** May 25, 2004, 12:37:34 AM »

Third Post! Huzzah...sort of.

Anyway, I'm not really a fan of Jerry Lewis. I certainly have nothing against him, unlike other people here in Olympia. Here's the story that was told to me: years ago, when Olympia Beer was still its own independent brewery (long before Hamm's and then Miller bought it), Olympia Beer was a corporate sponsor for Jerry's MDA Telethon. Jerry himself came to town to tour the brewery, but when he was here, he complained a lot about little things, like when there actually was trash in the trash cans.

I don't know if that was true, but I've heard it from different people over the years. I personally have nothing against him, and take the story with a grain of salt. But there it is.

As for Jerry Herman songs (yes, it's long, but I do like Jerry Herman songs):

Before the Parade Passes By
Bosom Buddies
Gooch's Song (I love Andrea McArdle's version)
I Am What I Am
I Don't Want To Know
If He Walked Into My Life
I've Never Said I Love You
A Little More Mascara
Look What Happened to Mabel
More and More/Less and Less (from The Grand Tour)
Show Tune
Song on the Sand
Tap Your Troubles Away (I really like the way Rita Moreno sang it on "Jerry Herman's Broadway at the Hollywood Bowl")
Time Heals Everything
Wherever He Ain't (especially the arrangement from "Jerry Herman's Broadway at the Hollywood Bowl" sung by Florence Lacey, Karen Morrow and Lorna Luft!)

George · « **Reply #4 on:** May 25, 2004, 12:42:24 AM »

And speaking of Jerry Herman, Playbill.com has THIS article about Mame!

George · « **Reply #5 on:** May 25, 2004, 12:52:29 AM »

I posted this on the technical board to test it, but:

Click on the smilie face! I just wanted to know if this would work with smilies...and it does!

Tomovoz · « **Reply #6 on:** May 25, 2004, 01:16:50 AM »

Favourite Jerry Lewis movies:
The Delicate Delinquent
The Nutty Professor
Artists And Models
Scared Stiff
Three Ring Circus
Rock-a-bye Baby

Favourite Jerry Herman:
I Won't Send Roses
If He Walked Into My Life
Look Over There
The Best In The World
I'll Be Here Tomorrow

elmore3003 · « **Reply #7 on:** May 25, 2004, 02:31:54 AM »

Good morning, all! The crunch begins again, so every night till I finish this deadline will be just a bit less sleep. I was not ready for a 5:00 am wake up this morning, but I'm up!

I saw Jerry Lewish films so long ago that I remember next to nothing about them except things like Shirley MacLaine in a bat (?) costume in ARTISTS AND MODELS, and bits of SCARED STIFF.

Jerry Herman songs:
Put On Your Sunday Clothes
Open A New Window
Look What Happened to Mabel
Time Heals Everything
Tap Your Troubles Away
Marianne
I Don't want to Know
I've Never Said I Love You

Dan-in-Toronto · « **Reply #8 on:** May 25, 2004, 04:29:10 AM »

Favorite Jerry Lewis movies: Hollywood or Bust, Artists and Models; Delicate Delinquent, Geisha Boy.

A longer list for Jerry Herman:

Open a New Window
And I Was Beautiful
Put on Your Sunday Clothes
I've Never Said I Love You
Time Heals Everything
I Won't Send Roses
I Don't Want to Know
Let's Not Waste a Moment
It Only Takes a Moment
Song on the Sand
It's Today
Hello Dolly

Jrand74 · « **Reply #9 on:** May 25, 2004, 04:49:18 AM »

Hmmmmmmmm....DRJOSE that was a shocking story you posted about the understudy you know - but probably not uncommon. All I can say is that your friend must have been a really good actor to scare the other guy into NOT missing a performance.

MAYA is here....she is the new HHW GOD....get somebody to type this.

What a great time it must have been at THE NUTTY PROFESSOR....with Jerry Lewis' credit missing!!!! Was there any comment made on that? "Hey, Laaaaaadyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy."

Favorite JL movies/bits includes:

THE ERRAND BOY - when he is watching the camera during the filming of a scene.

THE LADIES MAN - all of his scenes with Helen Traubel and Kathleen Freeman, particularly the "Person to Person" type show.

SCARED STIFF - when he is impersonating Carmen Miranda.

ARTISTS & MODELS - when he is shown as the result of too much comic book reading.

All of his scenes with Dean are pretty funny - although I didn't like it much when they went for pathos. That was my major problem with THE GEISHA BOY and CINDERFELLA.

And of course he was Itchy McRabbit in LIL ABNER....LOL.

For a change of pace, his performance in THE KING OF COMEDY was on the money!

Jerry Herman - I love MY BEST GIRL, and the big title numbers MAME and DOLLY, and WE NEED A LITTLE CHRISTMAS and BEFORE THE PARADE PASSES BY!

Jrand74 · « **Reply #10 on:** May 25, 2004, 04:50:49 AM »

Here is your Allison Hayes Picture of the WeeK!

Just an ordinary day around the house.

Matt H. · « **Reply #11 on:** May 25, 2004, 04:50:51 AM »

I'm not a Jerry Lewis fan at all; a little of him goes a long way, but I have liked a couple of Dean-Jerry pictures: SCARED STIFF and PARDNERS.

I love Jerry Herman music, and every show has numbers I could listen to over and over.

My favorites are "If He Walked Into My Life," "Lovin' You," "I Don't Want to Know," "It Only Takes a Moment," "Look Over There."

Matt H. · « **Reply #12 on:** May 25, 2004, 04:51:44 AM »

BK, I'm in a similar fix. Not having the street repaved, but I'm stuck here waiting for the A/C repairman to arrive, and who knows when that will be!

Matt H. · « **Reply #13 on:** May 25, 2004, 05:01:19 AM »

I have the MAME soundtrack on LP and really had no thought of buying the CD release as I've always thought the sound was flat and lifeless, and of course Lucy just abominable to my ears.

That gorgeous, expansive sound on the MAME cast album is one of the real jewels in Columbia's cast album catalog. MAME may not have won Jerry Herman a Tony, but the cast album won the Grammy that year as Best Show Album, and it richly deserved the prize. (Funny, but Herman's two other BIG Broadway hits did not win the cast album Grammy the years they were eligible, though Jerry did win the Best Song Grammy for "Hello, Dolly.")

Noel · « **Reply #14 on:** May 25, 2004, 05:02:05 AM »

The idea expressed, yesterday, that there's something depressing about Broadway stars taking the subway home got me thinking...

When I was very young and first saw A Chorus Line, I boarded the 104 bus and there was the woman who'd played Morales. It was a revelation. Like many a teen, I placed my Broadway stars on a pedestal, but here, seeing one on her way home from work, was proof that they're just folks, like everybody else, with a job to do, and, after they do it, they take public transportation home.

Nowadays, I'm less fond of the 104 since it's far too slow, but I like it when the shows are letting out: it's still full of happy people reading their playbills and normal people on their way home from work - entertaining them.

Besides, the subway is often faster than taxis.

My Best Girl

Ben · « **Reply #15 on:** May 25, 2004, 05:08:46 AM »

I, too, am not a fan of Jerry Lewis. I don't remember the last time I saw a JL movie (with or without Dean).

My favorite Jerry Herman song is Time Heals Everything. I also love Kiss Her Now and I Don't Want to Know.

DR CP, it's hard to tell who will take the Best Actor Play Tony. I do think Frank Langella is a real contender. There is some talk that Kevin Kline will win for Falstaff. I regret that I missed the production. It was a limited run and I never got around to getting tickets. It's a very tight race this year. It could be any of them. Plummer for his amazing Lear and also the fact that he's doing one of those "final" kind of roles. Not that he's retiring but you do Lear usually in the latter years of your career. Kline, as I mentioned, was almost universally hailed as a great Falstaff (in pictures I didn't even recognize him). Beale could win just for the sheer brilliance of his performance. Langella is wonderfully different from what he usually does and even though the play is a bit weak and predictable, his performance, and the lovely Jane Adams, both stood out. Their long scene in the second act could have been uncomfortable, but it was touching and moving and beautifully done. I must say, Jefferson Mays in I Am My Own Wife was stunning. An amazing performance of depth and beauty. I saw the show twice, both times at Playwrights Horizons and both times was mesmerized by his talent. That's my take on Best Actor in a Play.

Dan (the Man) · « **Reply #16 on:** May 25, 2004, 05:30:05 AM »

HEY, LAAAAY-DEEE!

I sitting here thinking of my favorite Jerry Lewis movies and I keep coming up with a longer and longer list. But if I had to narrow it down, I'd say my favs are The Nutty Professor, closely followed by Cinderfella and The King of Comedy. I don't have a clear recollection of any of the Dean Martin movies at the mo'.

As for Jerry Herman, I'm going with "I Won't Send Roses". ANd special mention for whatever material he supplied for A Day In Hollywood/A Night In The Ukraine, which I think is one of the most underappreciated shows of the 80s.

Ben · « **Reply #17 on:** May 25, 2004, 05:33:56 AM »

BTW, Dan-in-Toronto, thanks for the beautiful remembrance in your newspaper. Also, thanks Panni for putting in the link.

Ben · « **Reply #18 on:** May 25, 2004, 05:34:53 AM »

Dan the Man, I agree, ADIH/NITU is a wonderful, underappreciated show. It was running when I moved to NY and I saw it more than once (sometimes only the second act because of that well know but little talked about phenomenon called Second Acting whereby destitute actor-types walk in after intermission and wait for the lights to go down and then slip into an empty seat). Maybe it's not done as often because you need a good Groucho?

Ben · « **Reply #19 on:** May 25, 2004, 05:37:40 AM »

I Am My Own Frenzy. Is there a Hainsie/Kimlet award for that?

BEEKAY · « **Reply #20 on:** May 25, 2004, 05:54:01 AM »

My first musical was Mack and Mabel, so of course I revelled in Look What's Happened to Mabel, I won't send roses, Tap your troubles Away, Time Heals Everything etc. The small company I was with in Leongatha (pronounced the way it's spelled) is in Eastern Victoria Australia.
The guy who taught the choreography and took the lead dancer for Tap Your Troubels Away was dancing on a coffee table after opening night, fell off it and wrecked his knee, so the show had to go on with just the chorus girls and lead lady dancer going solo. She did a fabulous job for her first tap dancing routine! Also our Mack lost his voice, and we had a professional guy who arrived back from London two days before the opening night who took on Mack for us, as he had recently played the role in NY.NY.

Dan (the Man) · « **Reply #21 on:** May 25, 2004, 05:56:31 AM »

Quote from: Ben on May 25, 2004, 05:34:53 AM

Dan the Man, I agree, ADIH/NITU is a wonderful, underappreciated show. It was running when I moved to NY and I saw it more than once (sometimes only the second act because of that well know but little talked about phenomenon called Second Acting whereby destitute actor-types walk in after intermission and wait for the lights to go down and then slip into an empty seat).

That's how I saw Barnum so many times. The St. James always seemed to be the easiest theatre to second-act (as far as milling around the standing room space, that is), though I wonder if it's been as easy since The Producers.

Quote

Maybe it's not done as often because you need a good Groucho?

Isn't there some big legal issue with the Marx Brothers estate? Something along the lines that the show can't use the Marx Brothers' images in any advertising nor use the "A Night In The Ukraine" as part of the title?

td · « **Reply #22 on:** May 25, 2004, 06:00:21 AM »

First, my favorite Jerry Herman song (which has already been mentioned) is "Marianne."
Since it hasn't been mentioned, I'll say that "You, I Like" is my next favorite Jerry Herman song.
Only last year, I spent a magnificent evening in the presence of Don Pippin, Paige O'Hara, Karen Morrow, Jason Graae and the man himself, Jerry Herman performing an evening of Herman material. When you've got Jason singing "You, I Like" and Karen performing "I don't want to Know;" as well as Paige doing the MACK & MABEL songs - - - your're in heaven. Ms. Morrow's delivery of "Shalom" was another high point of the evening.

Jerry Lewis: I like THREE ON A MATCH, THE NUTTY PROFESSOR, CINDERFELLA and ROCK-A-BYE BABY very much.
With Dean, I like ARTISTS AND MODELS and the one with Corinne Colvert. . . .

Dan (the Man) · « **Reply #23 on:** May 25, 2004, 06:08:37 AM »

DR BEEKAY, I think that Mack & Mabel is one of those B'way failures that really does deserve a second chance. I've loved it ever since my senior year high school class performed it. I disagree with the experts like Mandlebaum who say that the book and/or subject matter is unworkable--I think it's a pretty solid book. And the score is one of the best around!

If it were revived, I would hope that they would cast someone a little off-kilter as Mabel instead of going for the obvious. The role calls for a good physical commedianne and not just someone who can belt out the songs. Anyone have any ideas?

Stuart · « **Reply #24 on:** May 25, 2004, 06:16:00 AM »

I don't believe I have ever seen a Jerry Lewis film, so there will be no comments from me on that subject.

Jerry Herman is another story. Favorite songs include, but are not limited to:

The Independance Day Hora
Sunday Clothes
Before the Parade Passes By
It Only Takes a Moment
Just Leave Everything to Me
Love is Only Love
It's Today
Mame
Loving You
Bosom Buddies
That's How Young I Feel
If He Walked Into My Life
I've Never Said I Love You
I Don't Want to Know
Kiss Her Now
And I Was Beautiful
Time Heals Everything
Wherever He Ain't
Marianne
I'll Be Here Tomorrow
Song on the Sand
I am What I am
Look Over There
Avenue A
Mrs. Santa Claus

OK, I like Jerry Herman. Alot.

Stuart · « **Reply #25 on:** May 25, 2004, 06:17:17 AM »

Quote from: Dan (the Man) on May 25, 2004, 06:08:37 AM

If it were revived, I would hope that they would cast someone a little off-kilter as Mabel instead of going for the obvious. The role calls for a good physical commedianne and not just someone who can belt out the songs. Anyone have any ideas?

Alix Korey comes to mind, though she might be a bit....well, of a certain age, at this point.

Stuart · « **Reply #26 on:** May 25, 2004, 06:18:43 AM »

Mini-frenzy here, but it seems that somewhere along the line I have become a Full Member.

No comments from the peanut gallery, or those of us still waiting for that shirtless A/C repairman.

Ben · « **Reply #27 on:** May 25, 2004, 06:24:25 AM »

No comments on DR Stuart, but I will mention another ascension into the heavens. DR Dan-in-Toronto has joined us on the clouds (504 posts so far).

singerdreamer · « **Reply #28 on:** May 25, 2004, 06:26:32 AM »

Good morning all. Once again, I'm running late for school.. but I decided to post anyways.

Umm yesterday someone asked what theatre company I was involved with. The answer- Music Theatre of Idaho. Oh the joys of living in Idaho. Really, it is a pretty good company though, so if any of you are ever in Boise, try to catch a show! www.mtionline.org. Well.. gotta go get ready. 3 more days of school left. I think I can I think I can....

William E. Lurie · « **Reply #29 on:** May 25, 2004, 06:27:35 AM »

I must agree with the DRs who are not big on Jerry Lewis. I liked him when I was a kid, but no longer find him very funny. I guess you have to be French.

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Author Topic: THE PRISONER OF SECOND AVENUE (Read 23530 times)

Ben

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