Author: bruceyeko

An incredibly generous Rob Lester has reviewed both of our Broadway By The Year titles. Rob Lester has been reviewing cast albums for 20 years.

You can see the original post over at Talkin’ Broadway.

Our long dry spell, still not fully broken, of being away from being in an audience in a carefree way to feel the electricity of live performances can be relieved to a degree by hearing recordings of artists delivering that magic. Here are a couple of collections of previously unissued recordings from the series of the long-running/but now so long on-hold Broadway by the Year concerts featuring musical theatre singers taking place at The Town Hall in Manhattan’s theatre district. And then something resulting from the sign-of-the-times substitute for such mass indoor gatherings—webcasts, this one featuring singer/pianist Champian Fulton and a terrific brass player who happens to be her father.

When it comes to appreciating the legacy of Broadway musicals, historical perspective isn’t quite everything, but it’s interesting. That context is one reason why the concert series Broadway by the Year was both enlightening and entertaining. For most of the events in its own history, which began when this century began, it focused on productions on the Great White Way seen in a single calendar year (as opposed to the theatre season that includes the latter part of one year and the first month of the next). CDs were released of many of these live, one-night-only events, but not everything in the generous-length evenings could fit on one disc; one companion release called The Broadway Musicals Cut-Outs gathered 15 miscellaneous worthy performances that hadn’t been included on the others. Now, more of those missing-in-action items, culled from half a dozen nights, are seeing the light of day at last, with two volumes getting the ball re-rolling. They’re called Broadway by the Year: Lost on 43rd Street (referencing the location of The Town Hall), and there’s much to be enjoyed on both. Track order is grouped by the relevant year, yet not chronologically so. Each volume has a mix of super-famous fare and lesser known items.

The 16 selections on the issue surveying the years 1945, 1955, 1960, and 1963 offer much variety in style and tone, from razzle-dazzle to sentimental to sly humor. The concert and resulting released album of The Broadway Musicals of 1945 understandably heavily featured the formidable Rodgers & Hammerstein Carousel, so much so that there were still enough numbers remaining from the live show to feature here, too. For some reason, “The Highest Judge of All” was judged to be worth reappearing. (I guess god is in the detail or maybe as poetic justice to be twice released as the song itself is cut from some mountings.) Marc Kudisch was certainly up to the challenge of this assertive piece as the character of Billy Bigelow, and further puts his stamp on the role when he and Christiane Noll do a rewardingly nuanced performance of “If I Loved You”—the whole “bench scene” with its dialogue and many sections. She is also heard to good advantage as the character Carrie for the score’s “When the Children Are Asleep” with Eddie Korbich charming mightily as her Mr. Snow; both have played those roles in productions.

Song and dance man Noah Racey brings his appealing energy and personality to a few showy show tunes. He gets the exultant title number of She Loves Me and the slinky “I’ve Got a One-Track Mind” from the zippy 1945 Billion Dollar Baby (the show, with a score by Morton Gould, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green is one of many that didn’t originally get a cast album in its day, but got its due with a studio recording on the same label that is releasing these live excerpts, Original Cast Records). And he and Sarah Brians exhibit cute chemistry on a list song about behaviors resulting from romantic attraction: “When I’m in Love,” from Steve Allen’s bio-musical about Sophie Tucker.

Also heard in the hearty musical banquet are two songs each from Oliver! and 110 in the Shade (note that the sound quality differs because one was performed “unplugged,” a tradition at the programs). Then there’s that boisterous Cole Porter concoction “The Ritz Roll and Rock” (the unsilky Silk Stockings blast from the coupling of Justin Bohon and Rachelle Rak) and a real-life married couple Sal Viviano and Liz Larsen reveling in each other’s company as “Two Lost Souls” (Damn Yankees). And for a sparkling touch of Christmas, there’s Here’s Love’s double dose of yuletide cheer with, for a change of style, the a capella jazz vocal group Toxic Audio giving the Broadway veterans a break.

Those looking for the more obscure show tunes may be pleased and/or frustrated that three things in that category are rescued, but without their lyrics, in peppy, polished versions by pianist Ross Patterson and his Little Big Band (in truth, the glibly misogynist words for “Treat a Woman Like a Drum,” from the operetta Marinka, are disturbing if taken seriously and deserve a beating themselves). However, Ankles Aweigh’s “Ready Cash” and Christine’s “Happy Is the Word” are, in a word, happy, and I think you’ll be happy to hear them, too.

The excitement of live performances is well captured as we hear the audience’s delight in laughter and grateful bursts of applause at big endings and climaxes in danced sections. One of those unique “live” unplanned moments is caught as laughter erupts when a singer adlibs a line as a winking reference to a partner’s earlier obvious solo line flub. (I won’t give away the surprise here.)

While playing the tracks in the presented order, or any order, might feel random by nature of the “rescue mission” at hand, these Lost treats are welcome, as are those on the other collection issued (so far).

Not included are any of the trademark quips and interesting trivia about the shows from the narration by host/creator Scott Siegel, whose Broadway by the Year programs remain on hold, although he’s more than busy presenting Broadway material at the Manhattan nightclubs Feinstein’s/54 Below and The Green Room 42, as well as his many filmed editions of “Broadway’s Greatest Hits” found online on Youtube. But we look forward to Broadway by the Year resuming live—and more of these belatedly issued concert excerpts, too.

When we hear the audience break into laughter several times during “Adventure” from the 1960 musical Do Re Mi, you can tell they’re tickled by Tovah Feldshuh’s comic timing, facial expressions, and Comden & Green’s jokey, schticky lyric itself as she lurches through Jule Styne’s hamminess-inviting melody, teamed with Eddie Korbich playing the self-deprecating husband. It’s what makes live recordings like those on Broadway by the Year: Lost on 43rd Street 1949, 1953, 1960 so kinetically recall what it’s like to sit in a theatre and react to specific moments a performer is nailing. Another aspect of audience appreciation is for the versatility that can be shown in a short span, such as when this veteran then becomes dignified and dramatic with Camelot’s “I Loved You Once in Silence,” a more mature voice navigating the melody and rueful words. This cornucopia of previously unissued renditions from the Broadway by the Year concerts is a bounty of musical theatre souvenirs that bowed in three specific years.

We’re presented with one or two numbers from each represented show, with the exception of South Pacific, which gets three. This collection includes one sample each from two shows that never got cast albums; they are the ones featured on the CD cover: All for Love’s “The Humphrey Bogart Rhumba,” played by the band; and Carnival in Flanders’s tender “For a Moment of Your Love,” grandly presented in formal manner by Davis Gaines. The release is notable for such serious-minded stalwart leading man performances: Brent Barrett’s “I’ll Never Say No” (The Unsinkable Molly Brown); Robert Westenberg’s “Stay Well” (Lost in the Stars); Marc Kudisch’s “If Ever I Would Leave You” from Camelot, including an madrigal-like introduction you may not know existed; and Scott Coulter’s ardor-drenched “Younger Than Springtime” and Can-Can’s “I Am in Love.”

When Eddie Korbich puts a dash of his own polish on “Put on a Happy Face,” much is owed to the way it first faced Broadway audiences in Bye Bye Birdie. But, contrastingly, this particular cornucopia has a few arrangements that veer more than usual from their original Broadway blueprints, showing how pianist Ross Patterson can be on fire and show his jazz chops with his Little Big Band. It’s refreshing for those who want something beyond scaled-down architecture that gives leeway for personalization and looseness for performers. For example, Debbie Gravitte tears through “It’s All Right with Me” in fun, feisty fashion and Marla Schaffel makes “I Love What I’m Doing” jaunty and playful.

Another female spotlight comes with Lisa Vroman doing Do Re Mi’s “Cry Like the Wind” with utmost seriousness and a glorious high climax. Liz Larsen builds drama and desperation with the title song of Irma La Douce. And Karen Ziemba shines in two duets from Miss Liberty: with Ms. Schaffel as both claim to not care about a guy (“You Can Have Him”); and happy to stroll with a guy (“Let’s Take an Old-Fashioned Walk”), Noah Racey.

There are also group numbers ending up in this catch-all, all from 1949 scores: “Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor” (Irving Berlin’s setting of the poem on the base of the Statue of Liberty for Miss Liberty); two South Pacific pieces (“Bali Ha’i” and “There Is Nothin’ Like a Dame”); and just a few bars of “It’s Good to Be Alive” (from Texas, Li’l Darlin’), which was sung as a perky end-of-show farewell. Host Scott Siegel is heard only here, calling out their names as they entered for bows. Bows are well deserved all around, including one for Original Cast Records label owner Bruce Yeko for arranging to procure from the archives and finally put out these performances from years ago in the year we were all so very much missing—and glad to welcome back—live Broadway music.

 A Doll’s Life
This musical has become one of my personal favorites. Each time I play it it seems to get better. It originally starred Giorgio Tozzi. He was fired and replaced by George Hearn. It played Los Angeles and then came directly to Broadway. It was written by the always wonderful Comden and Green and the talented but unlucky composer Larry Grossman.

It was a tricky project to finance but eventually the money came in and was issued originally as a gatefold LP. It is now on CD with the same mix as the original LP. 

Blues in the Night
This was a three person cast of three blues singers.
The 1982 cast was comprised of Jean Du Shon, Debbie Shapiro, Leslie Uggams, and Charles Coleman.
It featured well known blues songs and had a semi-successful run in a small theater on 43rd and Broadway. 

Cleavage
This was a one performance show by Buddy Sheffield starred the unknown and little appreciated singer Sharon Schruggs. We expect to make the LP into a CD in a short while.

Colette by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones
Colette closed on the road, playing Seattle and one other city. As usualbook problems caused it to close. It later was done at the York theatre and recorded there.
It’s about a famous French author. 

Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?
This is another musical that we sell here at Footlight. Despite the show having a successful tryout in Philadelphia, the New York critics were not at all entertained and the show closed after one performance.
Robert Sher was able to get the show recorded.

Is There Life After Highschool?
by Craig Carnelia
This musical by Craig Carnelia started at the Hartford stage when we saw it and we were quite intrigued with the premise and the score. When it opened in New York it got mixed and negative reviews and even though the show had been backed by Clive Davis of Arista Records, they passed on doing the album. So when I approached Craig Carnelia, he was very happy with the idea of doing the recording and he was very helpful in getting part of the financing. We recorded these songs over a period of time and the show and some of the songs have become favorites amongst high schools, particularly a number called “The Kid Inside”.
Once Craig Carnelia wanted to help me deliver some of the CD’s to the store and I said “How would you feel if I said I wanted to sing one of the songs?”
I was not being serious but he quickly replied “Which song?”
I said I would do The Kid Inside, to which he said “No I would not let you sing The Kid Inside.”

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
This was the first success for Webber and Rice and had a nice run on Broadway and has been revived many times and many places since.

Keystone (Mulcahy and McKeller and McGregor)
This is a musical that closed prior to Broadway. There was a video done for cable television which we would like to try to find at some point.
This was a musical about silent movies. 

Little Johnny Jones (George M. Cohan)
This was done at the Goodspeed opera house where it was quite popular. They replaced Tom Hulce with David Cassidy on Broadway and the show closed after opening night. This was not something that appealed to a general audience.

Little Me (Coleman and Leigh) 
This is a revival which did not in any way measure up to the original. It was done on the cheap and the few new songs were not very good. It closed after a handful of performances without a recording. 

Nine (Murray Yeston) 
We saw this show at a summer reading at the Eugene O’Neill in Connecticut. I remember that the show was done in the round and Katherine Hepburn who had a summer and sometimes winter home nearby was in the audience and i was fascinated to look at her and see what her reaction was.
It actually was then called 8 and a Half which is the title of the Filini movie. It was fully staged and made into a big success by Tommie Tune and had a long run, revival, and even a recent movie. 

Play Me a Country Song by John R. Briggs
This is a show that closed on opening night. It did have Karen Mason in it and that’s the only good thing I can say about it. 

Rock n’ Roll!
The First 5000 Years
This was a tribute to bad rock and roll and it closed quickly. 

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
(de Paul – Mercer – Kasha – Hirschhorn)
This was a musical somewhat based on the terrific movie with Jane Powell and Howard Keel. They had even tried to do it with Powell and Keel but they were a bit too old.
The producers decided to write and actually replace a few wonderful songs from the original movie and this was a big mistake. The best thing about it was David-James Carroll in the Howard Keel role. The Jane Powell role was played by Debby Boone who had a pleasing voice but not the equivalent of Powell. We tried for over a year to put together a cast album. The producers, who thought they could get a movie but could not, put it off and put it off and so no recording was made. 
There is a recording of the english cast however, which we have.

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas By Carol Hall 
Went from off-off-Broadway to off-Broadway to Broadway. I can not think of another show that did that within such a short period of time. Because of Tommie Tune’s clever staging, it had quite a run along with a tour with Alexa Smith and a Dolly Parton-Burt Reynolds movie. 

Your Arm’s Too Short To Box With God
Micki Grant and Alex Bradford
An original black revue that had a reasonably long run.

Bring Back Birdie, the sequel to Bye Bye Birdie, was originally only intended to be done in stock and amateur but the songs turned out so well that they decided that they would move it to Broadway. This was not a good idea. The book certainly had problems with it. They were able to get a top notch star in Donald O’Connor (who had turned down the original) and they brought back Chita Rivera from the original Birdie. But they did not go out of town and at the first preview one of the songs about necrophilia got booed and was cut. Donald O’Connor, at one point when he could not remember lyrics, even gave up and said “Oh, what difference does it make? It’s a lousy song anyway!”
The show thus opened and closed.
Because I had really enjoyed the music, I decided to do a cast album. O’Connor had not wanted to do that and quickly went back to LA. Rex Reed said “Donald, you’ve never had a Broadway cast album. You should really consider doing this!” So Donald came back and he worked really hard, particularly on his tap dance numbers. 

After we finished the recording the book writer, Michael Stewart, who was in a terrible mood said “I was not consulted about what dialogue would be on the album.”
When told we didn’t have dialogue on the album, he said “I want dialogue on the album” just to be ornery. So he wrote what is now at the top of the show – a fairy godmother says something to the effect of how smoothly the story went and that Albert and Rosie had settled into suburbia and had two wonderful children… until now – and then the wonderful overture by Ralph Burns starts. I find this to be wonderful.

Cats came to Broadway and stayed far too long. It ran for 18 years and had many people who went on a regular basis to see it, like you’d go to see a popular movie. 

Chorus Line by Marvin Hamlisch and Ed Kleban came out of people talking about their stories about being Broadway musicals with Michael Bennett at the Public Theatre. It then was turned into a musical and was quite successful off-Broadway so moved to Broadway and had a long run (though not as long as Cats). 

Copperfield by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn was based on the story by Dickens. But unlike Oliver, this did not lend itself to a popular musical. It was sadly lacking in almost every category. It closed after a few performances. 

Dream Girls by Henry Krieger and Tom Eyen tried in Boston and I did not find it to be initially appealing yet some people seem to be cheering for no particular reason… except for maybe the song “I’m Telling You, I’m Not Going” which is loosely based on the story of Diana Ross and the Supremes. It had a long run on Broadway and it was made into a successful movie musical. 

The First (DEMO GOES HERE) by Bob Brush and Martin Charnin was about Jackie Robinson with a book by TV critic Joe Siegel. It starred David Grier as Jackie and Lonette McKee as his wife, Rachel. It had a great song called “There Are Days” that made me want to record the show after it’s few-week run. The music was published by Morris Music and Martin Charnin and I went to talk to the head of Morris to see if they would help in the financing of recording. They declined. I did eventually receive the demo that Bob Brush made from Martin Charnin and I’m happy to be able to share the music and lyrics with you – this is a true Footlight Exclusive! We also recorded a few songs on the Martin Charnin Album “Incurably Romantic”. 

Lena Horne, the Lady and her music, was so good that it actually had a healthy run at the usually unpopular Billy Rose Theatre on 41st street. Lena worked hard doing the previews to get the very best songs and stories and the result was a two year run. 

The Little Prince and the Aviator by John Barry and Don Black – This famous children’s story by the French author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry has been musicalized and performed in many versions through the years. 

John Barry of movie background score fame said this is one of his favorite pieces. Unfortunately the score he wrote was not up to his usual standards. 

This show was solely produced by a lawyer and by the end of the first week the word was not good on the show and the owners of the theatre decided to close the show before it even opened. The lawyer sued and collected the cost of the production which he used later to finance other musicals. But no cast album exists. 

March of the Falsettos by William Finn was a sequel to In Trousers and achieved quite a bit of success compared to In Trousers. 

Marlowe by Leo Rost and Jimmy Horowitz may have been the worst off-Broadway musical of our generation. It was based on Shakespeare’s contemporary. This is a musical about his life and was so amateurish that I could not think of another equally bad musical in all my theatre-going. It starred Chita Rivera’s daughter, Lisa Mordente, who was fairly good at the female lead. It was directed by Lisa’s father, Tony Mordente. It closed opening night and no recording exists.

Merrily We Roll Along by Stephen Sondheim has been talked about in many places. It was based on an unsuccessful play by George S. Koffman from the 40’s and takes place in reverse order so we see the end of the show and then we work our way backwards. Most of the characters were not likable and the show closed quickly. It certainly was not Stephen Sondheim’s fault, as he provided what many feel was his most tuneful score. So through the years it has been revised and revived till it’s performed more than some of Sondheim’s more successful shows.

Pump Boys and Dinettes by Jim Wann was a very lively country-concert type of show and had a moderate run and successful recording.

Sophisticated Ladies by Duke Ellington and various composers started as a book musical in Philadelphia but doing that run it was decided to get rid of the book and to do this as a big glamorous review. This is a very wise choice and Gregory Hines and the cast made a hit show. 

Woman of the Year by Kander and Ebb was the second show that Lauren Becall did as a musical. It was based on a successful Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn movie of the 40’s about a woman sports writer, Harry Gardino. It did well in the Spencer Tracy role and Lauren Becall had almost as big of a hit in this as she did in Applause. The highlight of the show was the song she sang with Marilyn Cooper called The Grass Is Always Greener. It had a successful year or two run but closed after Raquel Welsh and Debbie Reynolds were unable to keep the box office going.

42nd Street was a big hit for David Merrick. The only sad part about the show was that director Gower Champion died just before the opening and David Merrick chose to announce this at the curtain call of opening night.

A Day In Hollywood, A Night In The Ukraine was by Frank Lazarus and Dick Vosburgh. The Day bit was a revue of new songs about Hollywood, including a few written just for New York by Jerry Herman. The Night was a parody of a Marx brothers movie with original songs. This was Tommy Tune’s first show to open on Broadway and it ran for a couple of years.

Barnum by Cy Coleman and Michael Stewart was about the famous P.T. Barnum and opened directly on Broadway and ran for a few years. It originally starred Jim Dale and then Mike Burstyn.

Brigadoon was the first revival of the 50’s musical. It only had a moderate run.

Camelot, another revival, ran for a reasonable amount of time.

Charlie and Algernon was the American title for “Flowers for Algernon” (based on a novel of the same name by Daniel Keyes) which we sell. There was no recording of this not-so-good New York production.

Happy New Year took old Cole Porter songs and tried to make them into a new musical that unfortunately closed the opening night.

It’s So Nice To Be Civilized by Micki Grant was a nice, small revue that was unfortunately placed in the very large Martin Beck Theatre. The show could not succeed partially because the theatre was too big for a small show.

Musical Chairs by Tom Savage is next. This was a show that we recorded primarily for the orchestral arrangements by Dick Lieb. It had some nice stars, the biggest one being Susan Stroman. This was a play about the audience at a musical. Throughout the play, someone is looking for Sally and finally finds her at the end and we meet Susan Stroman as this Sally. The good thing for her is that Scott Ellis was in the show in a bigger part and the two of them shortly thereafter started teaming as choreographer and co-director and that led to her career. The show only ran for a couple of weeks but it does have some nice songs.

One Night Stand by Jule Styne and Herb Gardener. Originally Jule Styne wanted to make Mr. Gardener’s wonderful comedy “A Thousand Clowns” into a musical. Herb said he didn’t see it as a musical but had written a musical and was just looking for the music for it. Unfortunately his musical had little of the same charm that A Thousand Clowns had as it was primarily about a man who is telling us, friends of his in the audience, why he’s about to kill himself. Of course, it’s a musical comedy so he does not at the end (spoiler alert!). Jule Styne wrote a lot of pretty, upbeat songs for a musical somewhat to do with death. After the first preview, which I attended, the producer said to Styne and Gardener that the audience hated the show. There was almost no response at curtain call. To whom Herb replied, “I’m not changing a word.” And so they announced that the show would be closed if it wouldn’t be changed that Saturday after 8 previews and no official opening. I believe it to be the only completed work by a major composer to never officially open anywhere.
Herb Gardener did not attend the cast recording but about 15 years later after Jule Styne had died, he called me in Connecticut and asked if I had 10 copies of One Night Stand on CD. I wondered why he did not introduce himself as Herb Gardener until I asked for his credit card information to complete the transaction and he started to spell his name out for me. When I asked him about the show, he seemed friendly and upbeat.
I told him about the time we had met to discuss recording details with Jule Styne. We had decided not to use the original showgirls (who were much more accomplished as models than singers) and we hired professional singers, not actresses to complete the recording. After this meeting, Herb was going to be married that very day. Jule Styne got up, shook his hand, and gave him a congratulatory spiel about having a wonderful life with his new bride… but as soon as Herb left the large office at Chapel, Jule jumped up, pointed at the door and shouted: “THAT WAS THE MAN THAT RUINED MY MUSICAL!”
When I told herb that story, he said that it was funny because he and Jule were good friends until Jule died. They even talked about doing another musical! But that, my friends, is show business.

The opening (and simultaneously, the closing) night of Onward Victoria by Keith Hermann, Charlotte Ankers, and Irene Rosenberg was a mess especially concerning the plot about Victoria Woodhall, the famous suffragette who wanted to be president of the United States. It was made into a tawdry romance with a preacher and despite what we found to be very attractive songs, it certainly deserved to close the opening night. You can buy it from us here.

Perfectly Frank was a revue about Frank Loesser that had Debbie Shapiro (later Debbie Gravitte). It was a pretty low budget revue of Frank Loesser’s career that just didn’t have any Broadway magic.

Reggae by Michael Butler, the producer of Hair, was sure that Broadway was ready and eager for a reggae musical. On opening night, which was also closing night, he found it was not.

The Music Man came to City Center for a Broadway run and despite Dick Van Dyke in a title role, it did not appeal to an 80’s audience and only ran a couple of months.

Tintypes was a revue put together by Jerry Zaks. It was a collection of period music from the early 1900s and it had a profitable run of 8 or 9 months.

West Side Story came back to the Minskoff and had a few months run but was not welcomed by the critics.

Your Arm’s Too Short To Box With God had a reasonable run.

And that boys and girls, is done.

But Never Jam Today was a musical with music by Bert Keyes and Bob Larimer, lyrics by Larimer, and a book by both Larimer and Vinnette Carroll. This was Vinnette Carrol’s new Broadway musical about Alice in Wonderland. Her previous one closed in Philadelphia so she turned to new writers and actors. However the results were not much better and it closed after a handful of performances with no recording.

Carmelina by Alan Jay Lerner and Burton Lane was my first chance to do a recording with theater legends. I saw this show at a general public performance before the show went out of town. I then went out of town to see the show in Wilmington, Delaware. The show came to New York a few weeks later and got disappointing reviews.
I got a phone call from Chapel Music asking if I’d be interested in recording the show. I indicated that I would if I could record it under my financial terms and was told that that would be possible. I was given the actors’ names and telephone numbers and called everyone to inform them of the proposed recording. When I called Cesare Siepi, I was given an agent’s number. I called the agent and he told me that Mr. Siepi had a contract with the show’s producers that he would get $10,000 if a recording would be made. I told him that if I was Columbia Records and this was My Fair Lady, $10,000 would be fine. I told them that I had an idea of the possible sales of such a show that has so few performances. even with well known writers. and it is not possible to pay $10,000. I asked whether I could talk to Mr. Siepi. and was told that Mr. Siepi does not talk about money. And that was the end of Mr. Siepi.
I sometimes wonder if I had directly gotten ahold of Mr. Siepi if he would have had a different opinion than the agent. Burton Lane suggested Paul Sorvino whom I had worked with on The Baker’s Wife and Paul was quick to agree.
Burton did not get along with the orchestrator Hershy Kay. Burton said that although they disagreed on the way the music was arranged, he felt sure that Hershy would be willing to have the show recorded for a reasonable amount of money. However when I called Mr. Kay and he asked me if Burton was involved (to which I said “yes”), he then said, “If Burton is involved I’m going to charge YOU every penny I can because I hate that man.” I told him that Mr. Lane wasn’t paying me a dime but Hershy Kay didn’t change his tune.
I then met with Burton at his wonderful Central Park apartment – in the San Remo apartments – and suggested that Michael Starobin who had done In Trousers for me, would be a good pick. However, even though Michael Starobin had subsequently orchestrated many important musicals, he had not done so in 1979. I gave Burton a copy of In Trousers and warned him that he would not enjoy the subject matter but hoped that he would listen to the orchestrations. When I came back a week later, Burton indicated that he could not just hear the orchestrations and asked if I didn’t know anybody else. I mentioned Phil Lang who had been very kind and friendly to me but of course this would involve a lot of work and cost ten times as much as Michael Starobin might have requested. Burton didn’t care and just assumed that I would get Phil Lang.
We had to change the keys for Paul Sorvino but in a new orchestration that was not a problem. Burton asked if we could get the orchestra to read through the new arrangements. I told him that there are no rehearsals for recordings and it would cost me expensive union rates to even play through the songs once. But I did tell him that if he let me use a non-union orchestra just to hear the music, I can provide that. He said that would be fine. And we played through the songs and he was very happy.
When I called Paul Sorvino close to the rehearsal, his wife indicated that he was in Italy making a movie. I asked if he would be back by the recording date but as it turned out, Burton gave him the wrong recording date and he would not. Burton told me not to worry and that he would sing the vocals in the studio so that the orchestra would be able to follow a singer and when Paul returned in a week or two he could add the vocals in place of Burton’s.
There had been two songs Burton had not heard an arrangement for because Phil Lang had yet to arrange them. When we came to the first of them he said after hearing the unheard arrangement that those were not his chords. I went to Phil Lang and Phil Lang said that he was under the presumption that he had the freedom to choose the chords that he did and that these chords could not be changed at this recording session so Burton looked angry but just walked away. We then completed most of the recording. We only had a reprise of one of the songs left and like 15 minutes left to record this 2 and a half minute song. The union representative told us not to let Burton stop us when he hears the music because we only if we played it three or four times all the way through we could get a good version for him.
Burton could not stop himself somehow, and we never completed a good take. So I told him that I could not afford the 30 minute minimum overtime fee for the reprise and that it was his fault. He did not feel that way and he threatened me that if I didn’t do the reprise, he would try to stop me from releasing the record. It might have been an empty threat but he had a lawyer and I had none and I had to pay thousands of dollars to record a reprise.
Burton was helpful in working with Paul Sorvino when he added his vocals. But kept saying I needed to bring back the orchestra which I ignored. Eventually he said it in a nasty way and I said the orchestra’s only going to come back if you pay for it. He told me, “I only know about writing music – I don’t know about making records”.
To which I replied, “It’s about writing a check. Which you, as the owner of an apartment in the San Remo, can do if you want to.”
He left the recording studio, the engineer and I finished a few numbers that had not been mixed, and the record came out. I never heard whst Burton thought of it but he asked for two boxes of it so I guess he enjoyed it. It has also become a record that many have thanked me for doing.

Comin’ Uptown by lyricist Peter Udell and composer Garry Sherman, was a black Christmas Carol that took place in Harlem. It starred Gregory Hines who was certainly good in the part of Scrooge. When I met with the composer he wanted to be paid for his arrangements which I was not willing to do so this short run musical was never recorded.

Evita by Weber and Rice was of course a big hit in London and on Broadway with Patti Lupone and has been made into a Madonna movie and been revived many, many times.

Got tu Go Disco was a terrible disco musical. I called up the producer and asked for free tickets and he never got back to me. I felt I should not have to pay to see the show so I went to the theater and asked for the producer. When I saw him, he was holding a stack of tickets and he said “I don’t know who the hell you are but here are two tickets.” The show closed opening night.

Home Again, Home Again by Cy Coleman and Barbara Fried started out of town in Stratford, Connecticut (about 30 minutes away from me) so I saw the world premier. I then read that the show which had gone up to and was now closing in Toronto. So I took a plane and saw the closing performance in Toronto and even came back on the plane with the entire cast. No recording was made but we have a quite an entertaining demo sung mainly by Cy Coleman.

I Remember Mama by Richard Rodgers and Martin Charnin premiered at the Shubert in Philadelphia and I sat a few rows behind Richard Rodgers at the first performance. The show came to town and received bad reviews and appeared to not have any chance of being recorded. I called up the Rodgers and Hammerstein organization and said I would be willing to pay for half of the cost of the show recording and Mr Rodgers or the organization would put up the other $20,000. I was told that Mr. Rogers felt that the recording industry owed him this recording. I said if I had recorded all his hit shows I would feel the same way – but he would not give me a penny. A few months later, an Ohklahoma revival came to Broadway and was a big hit. I asked who was paying to record that show and Mr. Rodgers’ representative said “Oh Mr. Rodgers is.” I then asked why Mr. Rogers would pay for a revival of Oklahoma and not what was likely to be his last show and was told that Mr. Rogers could make money off this one. He died within the year. Luckily the show was recorded by John Yap in England with some of the leads and we now sell that recording.

Peter Allen’s Up in One was pretty much a one man show with a female singer to do duets with him. It was very entertaining and his energy made the evening a wonderful experience but for some reason no recording was ever made.

Peter Pan was a wonderful revival starring Sandy Duncan and ran much longer than the Mary Martin version but no record company seemed interested in recording a new Peter Pan at the time. There were several attempts to do an album but that never happened.

Saravá by Mitch Leigh (Man of La Mancha) and N. Richard Nash starred Tovah Feldshuh. It was a musical based on a Brazilian movie and the only recording that was made was a disco version of the title song. The show closed within a few weeks.

Sugar Babies was a Harry Rigby salute to old time burlesque with old burlesque sketches and Mickey Rooney and Anne Miller. It had a very successful run but was never made into a record until Robert Sher and I recorded the show after the show went on tour.

I saw the world premier of Sweeney Todd by Sondheim at the Uris Theatre. I took my daughter, who was about seven at the time, even though I knew it was probably not going to be something terribly appropriate. I did not know how many people would be killed or how the violence would be portrayed. My daughter at that age fell asleep after about 20 minutes (like in almost every show I took her to) but in this show, whenever there was a murder, a loud whistle shrieked and woke up my daughter. At the intermission we went into the lobby to get a candy for her to eat. I looked around and I did not see any other children. So I said to her, “You may not appreciate this today, but someday you can say that you were the only child who saw the world premier of Sweeny Todd.” My daughter survived and Mr. Sondheim had a big hit which has been revived and made into a movie.

The Grand Tour by Jerry Herman starred Joel Gray and was about a jew and a nazi who, over a period of time, learned to appreciate each other as human beings. This story did not please the critics or the audience and it only ran a few months but the songs on their own are quite nice.

The Most Happy Fella by Frank Loesser was a revival that did not have a really good run, despite a very good performance by Meg Bussart. It had a short run. The producer had made a video of the show when it was in Detroit and we now have that on a DVD.

The Utter Glory of Morrissey Hall by Clark Gessner closed opening night. With the financial assistance of Clark, we made a somewhat popular recording of the cast. It is really an old fashioned operetta done tongue-in-cheek and it stars Celeste Holm. We have now also released the tryout from a college in California on DVD.

They’re Playing Our Song we believe that this has already been talked about in our 1978 blog.

Tricks was a musical from Louisville, Kentucky where it had a brief tryout and should never have come to Broadway. It of course closed opening night.

Whoopee! by Gus Kahn and Walter Donaldson tried out in the Goodspeed Opera House which led to a successful run at the Booth Theatre in New york.