Rodgers and Hammerstein - Musicals from Novel
Gary Nichols
Of my top five favorite Rodgers and Hammersteins Musicals I have read
the following novels:
Anna and The King of Siam - The King and I
Tales of The South Pacific - South Pacific
The Flower Drum Song - Flower Drum Song.
All three are very loosely based on the novel (including Hwangs FDS
-in fact it is more loosely based on the novel (it bears no
resemblence whatsoever) than the original FDS).
I have Not Read:
Green Grow The Lilacs-Oklahoma
Lilliom- Carousel.
Has anyone? If so how do they compare to the story of the musical?
Gary Nichols
A Tsar Is Born
"Gary Nichols" <former_c...@access4less.net> wrote in message
news:krhb00d3gv5i60qnf...@4ax.com...
>
>
> Of my top five favorite Rodgers and Hammersteins Musicals I have read
> the following novels:
>
> Anna and The King of Siam - The King and I
I thought this was a modern redaction of an actual autobiography, nothing is
PRESENTED as fiction.
(Mrs. Leonowens' actual autobiography is rather more rare, as her opinions
of the ignorant heathen Siamese were not PC even in 1950, still less
nowadays.)
> I have Not Read:
>
> Green Grow The Lilacs-Oklahoma
>
> Lilliom- Carousel.
They were plays, not novels.
Puccini once thought of making Liliom into an opera, and Molnar stiffly told
him that he did not want his work remembered merely as the inspiration for
an opera. I guess he got his, huh? Or needed the money by 1945? (Or was he
dead?)
Jean Coeur de Lapin
DgSWEET
>him that he did not want his work remembered merely as the inspiration for
>an opera. I guess he got his, huh? Or needed the money by 1945? (Or was he
>dead?)
He was alive. Oscar Hammerstein was gratified that Molnar was moved by his
adaptation.
Gary Nichols
<Atsarisb...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>"Gary Nichols" <former_c...@access4less.net> wrote in message
>news:krhb00d3gv5i60qnf...@4ax.com...
>>
>>
>> Of my top five favorite Rodgers and Hammersteins Musicals I have read
>> the following novels:
>>
>> Anna and The King of Siam - The King and I
>
>I thought this was a modern redaction of an actual autobiography, nothing is
>PRESENTED as fiction.
>(Mrs. Leonowens' actual autobiography is rather more rare, as her opinions
>of the ignorant heathen Siamese were not PC even in 1950, still less
>nowadays.)
>
>> I have Not Read:
>>
>> Green Grow The Lilacs-Oklahoma
>>
>> Lilliom- Carousel.
>
>They were plays, not novels.
This I did not know. Thanks for the information. I know their
names. Lynn Riggs (Mr) and Ferenc Molnar (Messr). Does this count? :)
Steve Newport
abuse" musical. Oy again.
robert armstrong
although it would be a period piece today. The woman who runs the
carousel mentions that she's using an automobile to power it (what would
power a carousel, steam?).
The play's set in eastern Europe; Julie's cousin with whom they live
after she and Liliom get married runs a photography studio.
The subplot about Julie's silly friend, called Marie here, also getting
married is a bit different from the sharp contrast in Carousel of happy
marriage versus unhappy marriage. Although Julie's marrying for love
seems ill-advised, Marie is so desperate to marry well that she
"settles" for a Jew on the supposition that he has prospects (talk about
your disturbing themes), and the fact that marriage itself will give her
a needed degree of social elevation, even if she considers the man
problematical. It's a comic element, but a grim one compared to the
lighter humor of a 40s musical (not that Hammerstein would shy away from
a controversial topic, however).
The ending of the play does not bode well for Liliom: he returned to do
a good deed in order to earn a parole from Purgatory, and after he hits
the daughter he's taken away and it's assumed he'll be going back to the
bad place. All the same Julie gets in that line about how being hit
doesn't hurt.
It was Hammerstein's expansion of the ending in a plausible way (well,
plausible for a "ghost story") to allow some reconciliation with
Liliom's family that pleased Molnar enough for him to give permission
for the musical to be done after he'd turned down other composers (I
think Gershwin was one).
The script does call for a spooky carnival music theme.
Nichols writes:
>I have Not Read:
>Green Grow The Lilacs-Oklahoma
>Lilliom- Carousel.
>Has anyone? If so how do they compare to the
>story of the musical?
By the way, there's also:
Cannery Row -- Pipe Dream
Wouldn't hurt to read Perrault's Cinderella too.
Bob A
"Aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?"
Elizabeth Rose
Don't forget "Sweet Thursday", the John Steinbeck novel that was the
basis for the R&H flop, "Pipe Dream." I haven't read it, but I know
the plot of Pipe Dream and it seems to have been a pretty bizarre
choice, which didn't work out into a very good show. Good songs
though, of course :)
Elizabeth
John W. Kennedy
> Cannery Row -- Pipe Dream
Not precisely. "Pipe Dream" started as a project to make a musical out
of "Cannery Row", but Steinbeck eventually decided that it wouldn't
work, and wrote a new novel, "Sweet Thursday", a sequel to "Cannery
Row", especially for the purpose of being made into a musical.
The confusion isn't helped by the fact that the Debra Winger movie
called "Cannery Row" is also based on "Sweet Thursday", and not "Cannery
Row".
--
John W. Kennedy
"But now is a new thing which is very old--
that the rich make themselves richer and not poorer,
which is the true Gospel, for the poor's sake."
-- Charles Williams. "Judgement at Chelmsford"
John W. Kennedy
> Don't forget "Sweet Thursday", the John Steinbeck novel that was the
> basis for the R&H flop, "Pipe Dream." I haven't read it, but I know
> the plot of Pipe Dream and it seems to have been a pretty bizarre
> choice, which didn't work out into a very good show. Good songs
> though, of course :)
Actually, Steinbeck wrote "Sweet Thursday" especially so that it could
be made into a musical. But it was intended for Loesser.
Steve Newport
ElB...@webtv.net (robert armstrong)
What a dame! Ya gotta love 'er.
BTC/TAK on ACK
> ... Ya gotta love 'er.
What's so loveable about spousal abuse?
Mila
"Steve Newport" <srrne...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:8071-40...@storefull-3155.bay.webtv.net...
BTC/TAK on ACK
> ... Ya gotta love 'er
Does being abused somehow hurt other animals more than humans, do you
imagine?
Mila
"Steve Newport" <srrne...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:8071-40...@storefull-3155.bay.webtv.net...
ElB...@webtv.net (robert armstrong)
Blueskyfox
news:bu8ko1$o6c$0...@208.28.237.46...
> >> ...Julie... being hit doesn't hurt.
> > ... Ya gotta love 'er.
>
> What's so loveable about spousal abuse?
Ask his wife.
Dan (the Man)
BTC/TAK on ACK
> Ask his wife.
Well, I hope that's not the case... but I do occasionally ask myself
"what's up with that?' when it comes to some people's oft-repeated dismissal
of Bigelow's thrashing of women. I find it particularly strange coming from
those who purport to be anti-animal-cruelty activists... that's only for
species other than Humans I guess. Does that not strike you as odd also?
"What's The Use Of Wonderin?'", I suppose. Maybe we just missed that stop on
the "joy-comedy train" ... think so?
Mila
"Blueskyfox" <blueskyfox@_New_and_Improved_comcast.net> wrote in message
news:Z42dnf8J7sF...@giganews.com...
Steve Newport
From: elizabet...@hotmail.com (Elizabeth Rose) I haven't read
it, but I know the plot of Pipe Dream and it seems to have been a pretty
Good songs though, of course :)
It plays better than ME AND JULIET and ALLEGRO.
Beb11572
>> Ask his wife.
>
>Well, I hope that's not the case... but I do occasionally ask myself
>"what's up with that?' when it comes to some people's oft-repeated dismissal
>of Bigelow's thrashing of women.
I'm not dismissing his thrashing of women, but this point has become overstated
in recent years. I don't believe it was Rodgers and Hammerstein's intention to
write CAROUSEL: THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE MUSICAL. It's an ugly character trait of
Billy's, to be sure, that his inability to deal with frustration leads him to
strike out at those he loves, but it's not what the show is primarily about.
I find it particularly strange coming from
>those who purport to be anti-animal-cruelty activists... that's only for
>species other than Humans I guess. Does that not strike you
Pun intentional or not? :)
Steve Newport
beb1...@aol.com (Beb11572)
dismissal of Bigelow's thrashing>>>
This point has become overstated in recent years. I don't believe it was
Rodgers and Hammerstein's intention to write CAROUSEL: THE DOMESTIC
to strike out at those he loves, but it's not what the show is primarily
about.
Yes, as anyone with a brain knows. (Thrashing?) One also has to ask
"what's up" with two lonely, pissy queens (and card card-carrying GBFs)
who seem to be talking only to themselves these days.
BTC/TAK on ACK
I don't recall saying that spousal abuse was the primary topic of the show.
Yet I find it hard to believe, even in the mid-1940's, that Rodgers and
Hammerstein were unaware of the effect inclusion of this element in the
story would [and should, IMHO] have on audiences. The divorce rate in the US
was at an all-time high at that time [something else I can't imagine they
were unaware of], and people were, from what I've read, examining all of the
things that lead to the disintegration of marriages. One of the more
fascinating, for me at least, aspects of Rodgers and Hammerstein's
[especially Hammerstein's] works was the fact that they did deal, sometimes
more obliquely than others, with the "dark" sides of human nature. I think
it diminishes their artistry to think that such topics were unintentionally
included in their work, or were meant to have less impact than they have on
audiences.
> Pun intentional or not? :)
I guess I could take credit for it... but, unfortunately, it was "not".
Mila
"Beb11572" <beb1...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20040116120039...@mb-m14.aol.com...
Harlett O'Dowd
> From: elizabeth mor...@hotmail.com (Elizabeth Rose) I haven't read
> it, but I know the plot of Pipe Dream and it seems to have been a pretty
> bizarre choice.
> Good songs though, of course :)
> ---------------------------------
> It plays better than ME AND JULIET and ALLEGRO.
M&J, anyway.
Steve Newport
ElB...@webtv.net (robert armstrong)
supposition that he has prospects (talk about your disturbing themes)
Doesn't compare (for the GBFs) with a couple of smacks.....
Harlett O'Dowd
> Liliom, for one difference, is set in its own time, not in the past,
> although it would be a period piece today. The woman who runs the
> carousel mentions that she's using an automobile to power it (what would
> power a carousel, steam?).
yes, carousels were run on steam until at least 1920 or so and
probably through the Depression in may areas. They went faster too.
Early models had many different types of animals (leopards, lions,
ostriches, etc.) and did not have the up-n-down feature one associates
with the modern horse-only models.
> The ending of the play does not bode well for Liliom: he returned to do
> a good deed in order to earn a parole from Purgatory, and after he hits
> the daughter he's taken away and it's assumed he'll be going back to the
> bad place. All the same Julie gets in that line about how being hit
> doesn't hurt.
>
> It was Hammerstein's expansion of the ending in a plausible way (well,
> plausible for a "ghost story") to allow some reconciliation with
> Liliom's family that pleased Molnar enough for him to give permission
> for the musical to be done after he'd turned down other composers (I
> think Gershwin was one).
But that's not entirely true. Like OLIVER TWIST, LILIOM seems to get
a happier ending for its anti-hero (Fagin/Liliom) with each telling.
In the 1930 Fox version with Rose Hobart (who played Julie on stage)
Liliom is forgiven anyway for trying and a train takes him to heaven.
If you want happy domestic violence, there's Fritz Lang's film version
from 1934 (made in France en route to America) where Liliom once again
fails and strikes his daughter. Once again we get the "someone can
hit you hard and it not hurt at all" speech and Julie cries. Her
tears literally tip the scales in Liliom's favor and he is allowed to
enter Paradise.
I imagine Molnar resisted a musical version of his play because he
felt Liliom's redemption would be trivilized in musical comedy terms,
or, like the Puccini attempt - he play would automatically take a back
seat to the musical version. Of course this is what ultimately
happened with CAROUSEL - so one imagines Molnar wanted/needed the
money and, after OKLAHOMA! he had $$s in his eyes when approached
again.
Steve Newport
chris.c...@worldspan.com (Harlett O'Dowd) Fritz Lang's film
version from 1934: "someone can hit you hard and it not hurt at all" and
Julie cries. Her tears literally tip the scales in Liliom's favor and he
is allowed to enter Paradise.
Again, I say: what a (fictional) dame!
Steve Newport
chris.c...@worldspan.com (Harlett O'Dowd) PIPE DREAM plays better
than ME AND JULIET and ALLEGRO.
M & J, anyway.
--------------------
I'd rate ALLEGRO last of all. (Saw it fully staged at ELT.)
Beb11572
>
>I don't recall saying that spousal abuse was the primary topic of the show.
No, you didn't specifically say that; this is a feeling I've had (and voiced)
for quite some time. As of the (latest) Lincoln Center revival, this aspect of
the show has somehow moved from the background to the fore. Whether that's on
stage or simply in our collective perception, but it seems that nearly every
discussion I've heard or read about CAROUSEL, *within the past decade*, has
centered around this part of Bigelow's character.
Yet I find it hard to believe, even in the mid-1940's, that Rodgers and
>Hammerstein were unaware of the effect inclusion of this element in the
>story would [and should, IMHO] have on audiences. The divorce rate in the US
>was at an all-time high at that time [something else I can't imagine they
>were unaware of], and people were, from what I've read, examining all of the
>things that lead to the disintegration of marriages. One of the more
>fascinating, for me at least, aspects of Rodgers and Hammerstein's
>[especially Hammerstein's] works was the fact that they did deal, sometimes
>more obliquely than others, with the "dark" sides of human nature. I think
>it diminishes their artistry to think that such topics were unintentionally
>included in their work, or were meant to have less impact than they have on
>audiences.
I don't recall saying that the topic was unintentionally included; just that
this was one aspect of the show, not the whole show. If Hammerstein had
intended the domestic violence issue to be primary, would he not have had us
see The Slap for ourselves? Instead, he merely tells us about it; Julie
confides to Carrie, almost in passing, "he hit me last Friday." Blink and it's
gone.
Steve Newport
beb1...@aol.com (Beb11572)
every discussion I've heard or read about CAROUSEL, *within the past
decade*, has centered around this part of Bigelow's character.
Trendy, trendy, trendy.
-----------------------------------
beb: I don't recall saying that the topic was "unintentionally
included"; just that this was one aspect of the show, not the whole
Friday." Blink and it's gone.
Right. Why is something so obvious, so difficult (for some) to
understand?
robert armstrong
>play because he felt Liliom's redemption would be
>trivilized in musical comedy terms, or, like the Puccini
>Of course this is what ultimately happened with
>CAROUSEL --
I disagree on the first count. The second, that Liliom took a "back
seat" to Carousel, is largely true, but in the long run Carousel
provoked sufficient curiosity about the original play that Liliom is
still discussed, read and performed after eighty-plus years.
>so one imagines Molnar wanted/needed the money
>and, after OKLAHOMA! he had $$s in his eyes
>when approached again.
Molnar told Hammerstein that the reason he consented was because he
liked H's handling of the scenes with the daughter.
>...there's Fritz Lang's film version from 1934 ...Julie
>cries. Her tears literally tip the scales in Liliom's
>favor and he is allowed to enter Paradise.
Don't forget the 80s film comedy The Heavenly Kid, where the "Liliom"
character offers his soul in exchange for another chance. The twist is
that, in doing so, he shows that he cares more for another person than
he does for himself, and he enters the platform for trains bound
"Uptown" on a heavenly escalator!
Steve Newport
ElB...@webtv.net (robert armstrong)
original play that Liliom is still discussed, read and performed after
eighty-plus years.
Yep. He made a good choice.
Matthew Winn
Newport) wrote:
> -----------------------------------
> beb: I don't recall saying that the topic was "unintentionally
> included"; just that this was one aspect of the show, not the whole
> show. Julie confides to Carrie, almost in passing, "he hit me last
> Friday." Blink and it's gone.
> ------------------------------------
> Right. Why is something so obvious, so difficult (for some) to
> understand?
I think it's because most people hear "there's domestic violence in
the show" so they go in looking for that and ignoring all the parts
of the show which don't back their preconceived ideas about the
character. It's odd, actually, because the second half of the show
doesn't make sense if you assume that Billy really is a wife-beater.
The current UK tour goes the "Billy's a bastard" route and the book
falls apart. Four years ago the same production company did a tour
with a different director who got it right, and it was a completely
different show. That earlier production made it clear that Billy was
horrified by what he'd done and in so doing provided justification for
the events of the last quarter of the show. The current tour just
makes his actions in the second act appear out of character, as if R+H
discovered they'd backed themselves into a corner so they gave their
main character a personality change to get themselves out. It comes
across so strangely that it could almost be Liliom as written by Ben
Elton, except that nobody swears like a trooper.
--
Matthew
[If replying by mail remove the "r" from "urk"]
Harlett O'Dowd
chris.c...@worldspan.com (Harlett O'Dowd) PIPE DREAM plays better
than ME AND JULIET and ALLEGRO.
--------------------
M & J, anyway.
--------------------
I'd rate ALLEGRO last of all. (Saw it fully staged at ELT.)
I wouldn't. Light years ahead of PD & M&J. From FDS on down I agree with
the number of performances equally quality.
Steve Newport
From: *@matthewwinn.me.urk (Matthew Winn) <<<this was one aspect of
the show, not the whole show. Julie confides to Carrie, almost in
passing, "he hit me last Friday." Blink and it's gone.>>>
------------------------------------
looking for that and ignoring all the parts of the show which don't back
their preconceived ideas about the character. It's odd, actually,
because the second half of the show doesn't make sense if you assume
that Billy really is a wife-beater. The current UK tour goes the
"Billy's a bastard" route and the book falls apart. Four years ago the
same production company did a tour with a different director who got it
right, and it was a completely different show.
And the current tour is probably turning people off to the piece the way
the Audra revival did.
Steve Newport
Re: Rodgers and Hammerstein - Musicals from Novel
ccon...@REMOVESPAMmindspring.com (Harlett O'Dowd) ALLEGRO: Light
years ahead of PD & M&J.
We're never going to agree on this. I'd rate MERRILY above the messy
ALLEGRO.
Biff McKeldin
O'Dowd says...
Actually I'd rank ALLEGRO above FLOWER DRUM SONG--oh not, perhaps, in execution,
but in honesty. FDS has a synthetic quality to it (however, I do like the
show--alot) that makes it seem run-of-the-mill. For all its pretentions,
there's a core of truthfulness running through ALLEGRO that makes it very moving
to me. And as inspirational anthems go the blissfully underplayed "Come Home"
is that rare oxymoron: an honest tear jerker. Listening to it makes me realize
what it might have been like to hear "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "Climb Ev'ry
Mountain" before overexposure turned them into parodies. Yeah, ALLEGRO is a
mess--but, to me anyway, a glorious mess.
Biff
remove VERTIGO from return address to respond privately
Beb11572
>is that rare oxymoron: an honest tear jerker. Listening to it makes me
>realize
>what it might have been like to hear "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "Climb
>Ev'ry
>Mountain" before overexposure turned them into parodies.
I don't know that "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" ever got to that point, but to think
of "You'll Never Walk Alone" as brayed annually by Jerry Lewis ...
(Who one year gave it a rest, substituting a special-material version of "The
Soliloquy"...)
Steve Newport
From: beb1...@aol.com (Beb11572)
Think of "You'll Never Walk Alone" as brayed annually by Jerry Lewis ...
(Who one year gave it a rest, substituting a special-material version of
"The Soliloquy"...)
In which he sang "a skinny-lipped LAAYDEE?...."
Gary Nichols
I would love to see both the 1930 and 1934 versions. Any idea where I
can get them on VHS or DVD?
BTW speaking of 'OZ' I found a DVD of what the notes say is the
'original' movie 'The Wizard of OZ'. Silent made in 1925. One of the
stars is a very young 'Oliver N. Hardy'. And yes I know that the N
stands for Norville. :)
The story is very different than Judys movie.
Thanks
Gary Nichols
Biff McKeldin
says...
>
>
>I would love to see both the 1930 and 1934 versions. Any idea where I
>can get them on VHS or DVD?
Apparently the 1934 Fritz Lang/Charles Boyer version of LILIOM is to be released
on DVD by KINO on March 16.
robert armstrong
>BTW speaking of 'OZ' I found a DVD of what the
>notes say is the 'original' movie 'The Wizard of OZ'.
>Silent made in 1925. One of the stars is a very young
>'Oliver N. Hardy'. And yes I know that the N stands
>for Norville. :)
>The story is very different than Judys movie.
I suspect it's older than 1925, probably a duplicate listing of the 1921
version given in the IMDb. I watched about half of it on "educational"
TV in the late 60s. Host of the show also said that this version was the
"original," although we know that Oz films (under the auspice of author
Baum himself) go back at least as far as 1910. Perhaps this was the
first feature-length, or the first by the title Wonderful Wizard of Oz
(I suspect that all these films have been retitled over the years in
order to beg comparison to the '39 classic -- note that the word
"Wonderful" is dropped, apparently copying the Judy version).
Story line seemed to confuse Dorothy's character with that of the
princess Ozma from Baum's stories. Dorothy becomes a switched-at-birth
version of Ozma, who is still hidden from evil forces until she's able
to ascend the throne, but as the adopted niece of Uncle Henry and Aunt
Em in Kansas (Ozma's guardian was a bad witch, who perfected the
disguise by turning the princess into a boy named Tip, then later back
into a girl -- ouch).
"Babe" Hardy is in it, but the film focuses primarily on comedy star
Larry Semon (also director), who is farmhand in Kansas who disguises
himself as Scarecrow. Babe is Farmhand/Tin Man.
That element, of the three hired hands becoming the Scarecrow, Tin Man
and Lion respectively, is interesting because it became the plot choice
for the '39 movie. Also the story is told by a storyteller, so that it
carries a disclaimer that it may not really have happened (rather Henry
James, isn't it), much as the fantasy part of the '39 movie is a dream
sequence.
Part about Uncle Henry disliking Dorothy so much, as a segue for
explaining that she's not really related to him, is particularly
disturbing. Neither film is entirely satisfying to children as a
faithful treatment of Baum's story, though the '39 movie is an artistic
success in ways difficult to enumerate here.
Steve Newport
ElB...@webtv.net (robert armstrong)
princess Ozma from Baum's stories.
Anybody remember when they did THE LAND OF OZ (Baum's first sequel) on
SHIRLEY TEMPLE'S STORYBOOK? I wonder if those tapes still exist. A truly
magical TV series in my memories.
Steve Newport
Re: Rodgers and Hammerstein - Musicals from Novel
pretentions, there's a core of truthfulness running through ALLEGRO that
makes it very moving to me. And as inspirational anthems go the
blissfully underplayed "Come Home" is that rare oxymoron: an honest tear
jerker. Listening to it makes me realize what it might have been like to
hear "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" before
overexposure turned them into parodies. Yeah, ALLEGRO is a mess--but, to
me anyway, a glorious mess.
I will say it did work better concertized as an early Encores! than in
the full staging I saw.
Steve Newport
ElB...@webtv.net (robert armstrong)
and Lion respectively, is interesting because it became the plot choice
faithful treatment of Baum's story, though the '39 movie is an artistic
success in ways difficult to enumerate here.
Stothart, Harburg, Arlen, Garland, Morgan, Lahr......
robert armstrong
>>to children as a faithful treatment of Baum's story,
>>though the '39 movie is an artistic success in ways
>>difficult to enumerate here.
>Stothart, Harburg, Arlen, Garland, Morgan, Lahr......
Stothart is a little sticky for me: I discovered recently that the
opening piece he named Trouble at School, under the apparent pretense
that he'd written it himself, is in fact a 19th-century composition
called The Happy Farmer, by Robert Schumann!
Steve Newport
terms of brilliant underscoring and incidentals.
Parterrebox
> The '39 WIZARD is for me, the movie musical equivalent of SHOW BOAT
"Munchkins all work in the Em'rald City,
Munchkins all work while the Winkies play..."
=============
parterre box
www.parterre.com
Jon A Conrad
>Stothart is a little sticky for me: I discovered recently that the
>opening piece he named Trouble at School, under the apparent pretense
>that he'd written it himself, is in fact a 19th-century composition
>called The Happy Farmer, by Robert Schumann!
But that fact would have been known to any professional musician, and in
those days to a vast number of amateurs who'd had a year or two of piano
lessons ("The Happy Farmer" was/is one of the first "real" pieces a young
piano student plays). There was never any pretense that it's original
Stothart. It was the style of the time to quote familiar classical pieces
in this sort of underscoring. There are other examples in THE WIZARD OF OZ
itself: Mendelssohn later for Toto's run, and probably others I'm
forgetting now. But this was never a secret.
Jon Alan Conrad
Department of Music
University of Delaware
con...@udel.edu
Parterrebox
It seems to me there are a few measures of "Night on Bald Mountain"
interpolated into the scenes in the Witch's palace.
=============
parterre box
www.parterre.com
Blueskyfox
news:20040119121813...@mb-m07.aol.com...
>
> "Munchkins all work in the Em'rald City,
> Munchkins all work while the Winkies play..."
"Oh, listen, sister,
I love yo' slippers, man,
And I can't tell yo' why.
There ain't no reason
Why I should love brogans,
It must be somethin' that the Wizard done plan...
Apes got to fly, fish got to smelt,
I got to have those shoes 'fore I melt--
Can't help wantin' those shoes of yours.
Tell me they're ruby, tell me they're glam,
Call me a booby (I know that I am),
Can't help wantin' those shoes of yours."
Dan (the Man)
Steve Newport
From: con...@intention.nss.udel.edu (Jon A Conrad) There was never
any pretense that it's original Stothart. It was the style of the time
to quote familiar classical pieces in this sort of underscoring. There
--------------------------------------
And it's all brilliant.
John W. Kennedy
> BTW speaking of 'OZ' I found a DVD of what the notes say is the
> 'original' movie 'The Wizard of OZ'. Silent made in 1925. One of the
> stars is a very young 'Oliver N. Hardy'. And yes I know that the N
> stands for Norville. :)
It's not "the original"; there is at least one older, not to mention
"The Patchwork Girl of Oz", "His Majesty the Scarecrow of Oz", and
several others, by L. Frank Baum's own "Oz Film Manufacturing Company".
> The story is very different than Judys movie.
And it's a good deal more different from the book than the 1939 version
is. Nevertheless, the Larry Semon/Dorothy Dwan (she was his wife at the
time) "Wizard" is -- interesting.
--
John W. Kennedy
"But now is a new thing which is very old--
that the rich make themselves richer and not poorer,
which is the true Gospel, for the poor's sake."
-- Charles Williams. "Judgement at Chelmsford"
John W. Kennedy
> I suspect it's older than 1925, probably a duplicate listing of the 1921
> version given in the IMDb.
No, it's 1925 all right.
> I watched about half of it on "educational"
> TV in the late 60s. Host of the show also said that this version was the
> "original," although we know that Oz films (under the auspice of author
> Baum himself) go back at least as far as 1910. Perhaps this was the
> first feature-length, or the first by the title Wonderful Wizard of Oz
> (I suspect that all these films have been retitled over the years in
> order to beg comparison to the '39 classic -- note that the word
> "Wonderful" is dropped, apparently copying the Judy version).
The original publisher of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", George Hill,
overexpanded, and went bankrupt. Eventually, the book went to
Bobbs-Merrill, who reissued the book as "The New Wizard of Oz", trading
on the reputation of the Broadway blockbuster of 1903 (Chicago, 1902).
I forget the exact year, and don't have my usual references to hand, but
this would have been 1904 or so. The "New" remained officially part of
the book's title at least into the 50's, when the copyright ran out.
Isn't anyone going to comment on "Rastus", played by "G. Howe Black"?
John W. Kennedy
> Listening to it makes me realize
> what it might have been like to hear "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "Climb Ev'ry
> Mountain" before overexposure turned them into parodies.
I'm old enough to say, yes, they were mighty songs in their day.
> Yeah, ALLEGRO is a
> mess--but, to me anyway, a glorious mess.
I think Agnes DeMille was right to say that OH2 had lost the thread by
trying to make an entire bildungsroman of it. But it has its moments --
"They are smart little sheep..." always hits me like a hammerblow.
Noel Katz
play it's very effective. I think the original run may have been shortened by
lack of spectacle (plus ca change,,,)
The R & H musical that had, originally, too much spectacle for its own good was
Me and Juliet. So much of the score stands up well today: there's a funny
comedy song (Intermission Talk) and a couple of charming duets (It's Me, That's
the Way It Happens). Hammerstein even plays with clever rhymes of words like
mongoose, gambit, playwrights and eyelash.
Seems to me "Me" is a good league better than Pipe Dream, where R & H were
truly out of their element. Here, the comedy songs don't land and, on the
original cast album, some tempos are deadly: Susie Is a Good Thing takes
forever. The much stronger Everybody's Got a Home But Me only begins to fly
when taken at a brisker pushbeat clip. And about The Happiest House on the
Block, the less said the better!
Karan
< Seems to me "Me" is a good league better than Pipe Dream, where R & H were
truly out of their element. Here, the comedy songs don't land and, on the
original cast album, some tempos are deadly: Susie Is a Good Thing takes
forever. The much stronger Everybody's Got a Home But Me only begins to fly
when taken at a brisker pushbeat clip. And about The Happiest House on the
Block, the less said the better! >>
Ah, but...."All At Once You Love Her" and "The Next Time It happens" are
wonderful songs!
And I have a soft spot for "All Kinds of People" because there is a verse about
armadillos, (I have been collecting them for 30 years {armadillos, not songs
mentioning armadillos} - hence my screen name) and you just don't find too many
Broadway musicals that mention armadillos.
Rmadl...@aol.com(KARAN)
"Dreams are portable. I carry mine with me." - Nick Knight
td
chris.c...@worldspan.com (Harlett O'Dowd) Fritz Lang's film
version from 1934: "someone can hit you hard and it not hurt at all" and
Julie cries. Her tears literally tip the scales in Liliom's favor and he
is allowed to enter Paradise.
---------------------------------------
Again, I say: what a (fictional) dame!
And again I say: what a FICTIONAL dame!
It's as plain as the nose on your face, the key word is "fictional;" I have
never found LILIOM or CAROUSEL to condone the 1980's slang of wife-beating.
It doesn't exactly condemn it either. Both scripts deal with a "fictional"
love, a love so intense that even a "hit," lashed out most likely in anger,
cannot kill.
We never see the "hit" that Julie refers to onstage; whereas in KISS ME,
KATE - we DO witness an actual whipping, and yet, KMK is not thought of as
KISS ME KATE: THE EX-HUSBAND BEATS HIS EX-WIFE MUSICAL.
You can't have this BOTH WAYS: CAROUSEL, being a musical, is rooted in a
fictional time and place. Take away the fiction, then you have to take away
the music, which would leave you with Farrah Fawcett and Paul LeMat in THE
BURNING BED. (Which, though, based on fact, is fictional by the mere token
that it is a scriped, filmed PERFORMANCE) and yadda - yadda - yadda.
You want realism in a musical? It cannot exist.
td
Blueskyfox
news:400c872d$1...@news.nauticom.net...
>
> And again I say: what a FICTIONAL dame!
> It's as plain as the nose on your face, the key word is "fictional;" I
have
> never found LILIOM or CAROUSEL to condone the 1980's slang of
wife-beating.
> It doesn't exactly condemn it either. Both scripts deal with a
"fictional"
> love, a love so intense that even a "hit," lashed out most likely in
anger,
> cannot kill.
> We never see the "hit" that Julie refers to onstage; whereas in KISS ME,
> KATE - we DO witness an actual whipping, and yet, KMK is not thought of as
> KISS ME KATE: THE EX-HUSBAND BEATS HIS EX-WIFE MUSICAL.
> You can't have this BOTH WAYS: CAROUSEL, being a musical, is rooted in a
> fictional time and place. Take away the fiction, then you have to take
away
> the music, which would leave you with Farrah Fawcett and Paul LeMat in THE
> BURNING BED. (Which, though, based on fact, is fictional by the mere
token
> that it is a scriped, filmed PERFORMANCE) and yadda - yadda - yadda.
> You want realism in a musical? It cannot exist.
What about "Marvin Hits Trina" in MARCH OF THE FALSETTOS? Can you deny the
realism of that moment of the show?
Also, your comparison of KISS ME, KATE with CAROUSEL doesn't hold water.
KMK is a highly comic situation which takes place within the show within the
show. The audience never believes for a minute that "Kate" is in danger.
The fact that the blow Julie has received *isn't* seen on stage, in a show
that isn't a comedy, would make it much worse in the audience's imagination.
You might as well be comparing Ricky accidentally giving Lucy a black eye on
I LOVE LUCY with Stanley slapping Stella in STREETCAR.
Dan (the Man)
Parterrebox
show
But surely the piquant touch in the comedy is that Fred may well *actually* be
striking Lilli, in the guise of Petruchio's violence to Katharina.
=============
parterre box
www.parterre.com
John W. Kennedy
> Anybody remember when they did THE LAND OF OZ (Baum's first sequel) on
> SHIRLEY TEMPLE'S STORYBOOK? I wonder if those tapes still exist. A truly
> magical TV series in my memories.
Yes. It turns up at Int'l Wizard of Oz Club (http://www.ozclub.org)
conventions from time to time. Curiously, it has the clappers.
John W. Kennedy
> Stothart is a little sticky for me: I discovered recently that the
> opening piece he named Trouble at School, under the apparent pretense
> that he'd written it himself, is in fact a 19th-century composition
> called The Happy Farmer, by Robert Schumann!
But anybody knows that. Even as I child I knew it. He must have meant
it as a recognizable allusion.
Beb11572
>KATE - we DO witness an actual whipping,
He doesn't whip her (though he threatens her with the crop later when she tries
to exit the stage); he spanks her.
and yet, KMK is not thought of as
>KISS ME KATE: THE EX-HUSBAND BEATS HIS EX-WIFE MUSICAL.
Because, if anything, it's actually KISS ME KATE: THE EX-WIFE STARTS THE
VIOLENCE BY BEATING HER EX-HUSBAND MUSICAL.
Of course, what we need here is Liza Minnelli and David Gest...
John W. Kennedy
> on the
> original cast album, some tempos are deadly: Susie Is a Good Thing takes
> forever.
I think -- I say, I think -- that two dynamite actresses on stage would
produce a different effect than hole-in-the-wall monaural sound alone.
Stephen Farrow
They'd have to scotch-guard the set. And give plastic ponchos to
everyone in the first three rows.
Stephen
--
He was evil, people died, now he bakes. It's a thing.
Gary Nichols
The scene looking out the witchs window with the flying monkies going
by still gives me the creeps.
Gary Nichols
Blueskyfox
> > KMK is a highly comic situation which takes place within the show within
the
> show
>
> But surely the piquant touch in the comedy is that Fred may well
*actually* be
> striking Lilli, in the guise of Petruchio's violence to Katharina.
True. And he could probably get away with actually striking her in some
fashion (though not with extreme violence), but again, that would add to the
comic element of the scene.
Still, you can't compare what happens here between Fred and Lilli with what
happens between Billy and Julie in CAROUSEL.
Dan (the Man)
td
the
> show
>
> But surely the piquant touch in the comedy is that Fred may well
*actually* be
> striking Lilli, in the guise of Petruchio's violence to Katharina.
Which is the way that i've always read that moment.
td
td
"Blueskyfox" <blueskyfox@_New_and_Improved_comcast.net> wrote in message
news:RqWdncsGe8O...@giganews.com...
Oh yes, we can.
Because we SEE IT, it's funny to you; because we don't, it's WIFE BEATING.
td
td
"Beb11572" <beb1...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20040119223930...@mb-m16.aol.com...
and thank you for adding some much needed levity.
td
Blueskyfox
>
> Because we SEE IT, it's funny to you; because we don't, it's WIFE BEATING.
Uh, yeah. That pretty much sums it up.
Dan (the Man)
Beb11572
You're welcome! :)
td
"Blueskyfox" <blueskyfox@_New_and_Improved_comcast.net> wrote in message
> Dan (the Man)
Yes, because the moment anything becomes a MUSICAL, reality goes out the
window. Theatricality comes in.
Marvin hits Trina ONSTAGE, once.
Billy hits Julie OFFSTAGE once; hits Louise once ONSTAGE (albeit he is in
spirit form).
Marvin = wifebeater?
Billy = wifebeater?
Decide.
td
td
btw, beb, how ARE you?
td
Steve Newport
From: parte...@aol.com (Parterrebox) "Munchkins all work in the
Em'rald City, Munchkins all work while the Winkies play..."
I can't remember. Do they ever say "Winkies" in the MGM version?
Steve Newport
Juliet"-- "It Feels Good." M&J's "The Big Black Giant" is also
pretentious. In terms of actually restaging it-- PIPE DREAM has the
advantage of being a straightforward book musical in the familiar R & H
style. It also has a longer score than the other two in terms of number
of songs. Unlike ALLEGRO, there's no Greek chorus that disappears for
large sections of the show. Unlike ME AND JULIET, it doesn't have an
Overture in the middle of Act One, or a play within a play that is an
avant-garde "dance opera." (Or a recycled Jud Fry dropping objects from
the catwalk.) I have no doubt that, as written, PIPE DREAM would be more
likely to hold an audience's attention today. Especially one coming to
see a Rodgers & Hammerstein show.
Steve Newport
jwk...@attglobal.net (John W. Kennedy) <<<Anybody remember when
they did THE LAND OF OZ (Baum's first sequel) on SHIRLEY TEMPLE'S
STORYBOOK? I wonder if those tapes still exist.>>>
conventions from time to time. Curiously, it has the clappers.
I beg your pardon.
Steve Newport
From: rmadl...@aol.com (Karan)
wonderful songs! And I have a soft spot for "All Kinds of People"
Don't forget "Sweet Thursday" and "The Man I Used to Be." I love this
cast album-- and that includes Traubel-- and especially William Johnson.
Steve Newport
die.
Steve Newport
beb1...@aol.com (Beb11572)
KISS ME KATE: THE EX-HUSBAND BEATS HIS EX-WIFE MUSICAL.
Because, if anything, it's actually KISS ME KATE: THE EX-WIFE STARTS THE
VIOLENCE BY BEATING HER EX-HUSBAND MUSICAL.
".....she had it comin.' She only had herself to blame.."
Noel Katz
Except in Our Wedding - The Musical, in which bride, groom, officiant, their
relatives and attendants sang exactly what they were feeling and the ceremony
resulted in a real marriage. Check it out...
Steve Newport
PAINT YOUR WAGON-- the movie.
td
LOL
td
td
"Noel Katz" <noel...@aol.comedian> wrote in message
news:20040120080302...@mb-m05.aol.com...
> >You want realism in a musical? It cannot exist.
>
> Except in Our Wedding - The Musical, in which bride, groom, officiant,
their
> relatives and attendants sang exactly what they were feeling and the
ceremony
> resulted in a real marriage.
It is a THEATRICAL, ergo, FICTIONAL device for people to burst into song.
(No that there's anything wrong with that), still it is not realism, nor
naturalism, but theater and theatrics.
td
td
I hope they didn't get it from RandyGal.
td
BTC/TAK on ACK
BEATING.
> Uh, yeah. That pretty much sums it up.
I, also, think there's a difference [though I find it difficult to explain],
but I'm not sure I quite agree, Dan, with overt/covert being it. I do
believe you're on the right track thinking one "can't compare what happens
here between Fred and Lilli with what happens between Billy and Julie in
CAROUSEL" or Stanley and Stella in STREETCAR... Somehow an on-stage spanking
[through the layers of a period costume] witnessed by fellow players and [an
assumed] audience does, for me also, bring up different images than that
which we've come to define as spousal abuse.
Beb suggests "KMKTEX-WSTVBBHEX-HM". 1948, of course, was a bit too early for
such a "marathon title"; they didn't appear until the early '60s. But, while
I'm not sure that "who started it" excuses the escalated violence [I
suspect, actually, that's part of the irony in his suggestion], Fred and
Lilli being combatants on a "level playing field somewhat [slightly, IMO]
mitigates the violent aspects of the characters' interactions leaving the
door open to comic resolutions of their differences. I seems to me that
Billy and Stanley share character-flaws very different from Julie and
Stella's; Fred and Lilli's are very similar. Ultimately the Billy/Julie and
Stanley/Stella relationships must, because of the power inequities, implode
and diminish the spirit of the characters [the "stuff" of a tragedy]; Fred
and Lilli explode with each other in ways that are unpredictable, but, in
the end, spiritually enrich both characters.
All "negative" behaviors are not, it seems to me, equal. To act as if they
are is, at best, unrealistic. Occasionally, when thinking through such
matters, I look at another, unrelated, issue for "enlightenment". For
example, to my way of thinking there is a huge difference between the use of
animals as a food source [I assume God designed the teeth and digestive
systems of carnivores the way She did for a reason] and, say, for the
testing of cosmetics, as "fashion accessories", or even, perhaps, for
scientific research [although I, personally, have serious reservations about
the necessity of much of such research]. So, as we [I, at least] draw a line
between what is "acceptable" and what is not in that area, we need to set
[perhaps arbitrary] thresholds in others. The tragedy/comedy aspect does not
really, of course, apply to the human/other animals interactions.
Mila
"Blueskyfox" <blueskyfox@_New_and_Improved_comcast.net> wrote in message
news:McmdnbQimvv...@giganews.com...
Steve Newport
<<<in Our Wedding - The Musical, in which bride, groom, officiant, their
relatives and attendants sang exactly what they were feeling>>>
Still it is not realism, nor naturalism, but theater and theatrics.
----------------------------------
Or in this case, surrealism? Like OZZIE AND HARRIET.
Steve Newport
<<<THE LAND OF OZ (Baum's first sequel) on SHIRLEY TEMPLE'S STORYBOOK?
from time to time. Curiously, it has the clappers.>>>
-----------------------------------
"Clap o' yo' hands, slap 'o yo' thigh."
Harlett O'Dowd
Damn - you beat me to it. That, I think is the crux of the issue.
The audience feels Kate/Lili "deserves" a "comic" spanking.
Julie is usually played so mousy we are lead to believe (like the
gossiping townspeople) that Billy hit her "for no good reason." Only
later do we "understand" Billy and where he's coming from - issues and
all.
Some modern people can't get their brains and emotions past the common
townspeople attitude in CAROUSEL and make the emotional journey R&H
want you to take.
By a similar token, many people couldn't get past the "Fatal
Attraction" element of PASSION and take the emotional journey Sondheim
& Lapine wanted the audience to take.
Blueskyfox
>
> It is a THEATRICAL, ergo, FICTIONAL device for people to burst into song.
> (No that there's anything wrong with that), still it is not realism, nor
> naturalism, but theater and theatrics.
What about people on stage who speak in iambic pentameter? Or in the
rhythms of David Mamet? Or in Tennesee Williams' tortured Southern
dialects?
And what exactly are you talking about, anyway? Initially in your
discussing of CAROUSEL, I thought you were talking about depicting the
realities of life on stage, but now you seem to be dragging in the notions
of Realism and Naturalism, which are modes of theatre presentation. Which
is it?
Dan (the Man)
John W. Kennedy
>
> From: parte...@aol.com (Parterrebox) "Munchkins all work in the
> Em'rald City, Munchkins all work while the Winkies play..."
> -------------------------------
> I can't remember. Do they ever say "Winkies" in the MGM version?
I don't recall the word ever being heard, but it's in the script.
--
John W. Kennedy
"But now is a new thing which is very old--
that the rich make themselves richer and not poorer,
which is the true Gospel, for the poor's sake."
-- Charles Williams. "Judgement at Chelmsford"
Stephen Farrow
When dealing with a piece of theatre, is it really possible to separate
the two concepts?
Stephen
--
I don't think the forces of darkness are even trying.
Karan
Oh I agree. I love the CD. I also saw a wonderful revival of Pipe Dream last
year at 42nd St. Moon...
And , to bring this back to the original topic, I've always loved the novel it
came from...Sweet Thursday, that is, not Cannery Row.
Rmadl...@aol.com(KARAN)
"Dreams are portable. I carry mine with me." - Nick Knight
Steve Newport
way She did
because She was on the Rag?
Steve Newport
From: jwk...@attglobal.net (John W. Kennedy) <<< Do they ever say
"Winkies" in the MGM version? >>>
I don't recall the word ever being heard, but it's in the script.
Okay, so who decided saying "winkies" was a no-no?
Steve Newport
From: rmadl...@aol.com (Karan)
<<<I love this cast album-- and, yes, that includes Helen Traubel-- and
especially William Johnson.>>>
--------------------------
topic, I've always loved the novel it came from...Sweet Thursday, that
is, not Cannery Row.
I like them both, and wish 42nd St. Moon would record more of its shows.
Karan
<< wish 42nd St. Moon would record more of its shows. >>
As do I. It's a wonderful company.
I was just reading about a production they did of a 1934 Jerome Kern- Oscar
Hammerstein II show called "Three Sisters."
I Won't Dance is originally from this show...
John W. Kennedy
>
> From: jwk...@attglobal.net (John W. Kennedy) <<< Do they ever say
> "Winkies" in the MGM version? >>>
> -------------------------
> I don't recall the word ever being heard, but it's in the script.
> --------------------------
> Okay, so who decided saying "winkies" was a no-no?
No-one, as such. I said the word was in the script, not that it was in
the dialog.
Steve Newport
Re: Rodgers and Hammerstein - Musicals from Novel
chris.c...@worldspan.com (Harlett O'Dowd) <<<if anything, it's
actually KISS ME KATE: THE EX-WIFE STARTS THE VIOLENCE BY BEATING HER
blame.." >>>
-----------------------------
Damn - you beat me to it. The audience feels Kate/Lili "deserves" a
"comic" spanking. Julie is usually played so mousy we are lead to
believe (like the gossiping townspeople) that Billy hit her "for no good
-----------------------------
SRN: Like many perceptive and complex women, Julie understands.
-----------------------------
townspeople attitude in CAROUSEL and make the emotional journey R&H want
you to take. By a similar token, many people couldn't get past the
"Fatal Attraction" element of PASSION and take the emotional journey
Sondheim & Lapine wanted the audience to take.
SRN: In the latter case some Take Home Tunes might have helped, but I
agree. Oh, how I hated FATAL ATTRACTION. (With or without the European
ending.) And don't get me started on the Bunny.
Steve Newport
From: rmadl...@aol.com (Karan)
<<<I wish 42nd St. Moon would record more of its shows.>>>
----------------------------
I was just reading about a production they did of a 1934 Jerome Kern-
Oscar Hammerstein II show called "Three Sisters." I Won't Dance is
originally from this show...
With the pre Dorothy Fields Hammerstein lyric. I'm foggy on this one,
but I think it originally featured Stanley Holloway and excerpts from it
are on the marvelous Monmouth-Evergreen Lp "Jerome Kern in London."
Steve Newport
dialog.
---------------------------
Ah, okay!
Karan
<< As do I. It's a wonderful company.
I was just reading about a production they did of a 1934 Jerome Kern-
Oscar Hammerstein II show called "Three Sisters." I Won't Dance is
originally from this show...
-----------------------------
With the pre Dorothy Fields Hammerstein lyric. I'm foggy on this one,
but I think it originally featured Stanley Holloway and excerpts from it
are on the marvelous Monmouth-Evergreen Lp "Jerome Kern in London." >>
Rmadl...@aol.com(KARAN)
John W. Kennedy
> jwk...@attglobal.net (John W. Kennedy) <<<Anybody remember when
> they did THE LAND OF OZ (Baum's first sequel) on SHIRLEY TEMPLE'S
> STORYBOOK? I wonder if those tapes still exist.>>>
> ----------------------------------
> conventions from time to time. Curiously, it has the clappers.
> -----------------------------------
Yes, yes, yes, very funny joke.
Ha.
Ha.
Ha.
But since I seem to be the only person here who's seen the thing lately,
perhaps I should add that it has Agnes Moorhead as Old Mombi, and
Jonathan Winters as "General Nikidik" (a character created as a
substitute for the original General Jinjur, to avoid offending
feminists, I suppose, even though it was 1960). Agnes Moorehead got her
role in "Bewitched" as a direct result. Glinda was Frances Bergen, and
Arthur Treacher Nikidik's butler, "Graves".
Karan
<< From: srrne...@webtv.net (Steve Newport) >>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
From the 42nd St. Moon website:
"Three Sisters"
as reviewed by in Variety Magazine, November 27 - December 3, 1995 by Dennis
Harvey
In 1934, Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II ventured overseas to create
"Three Sisters". The original production featured U.K. faves Adele Dixon,
Stanley Holloway, Esmond Knight and beloved U.S. comedienne Charlotte
Greenwood. It also evidently sported an onstage Thames (complete with boats and
geese), among other spectacle elements.
Though the musical won praise for its beautiful score, Brit crix took umbrage
at Yanks crafting such an English show. Audiences followed suit, and a U.S.
transfer failed to follow that disappointing 72-performance run at Theatre
Royal Drury Lane. The score subsequently disappeared (some individual songs
preserved via recordings and published sheet music); a final production script
surfaced just this year in the London Censors Office archives.
S.F.'s 42nd St. Moon Productions has won a devoted following in the last few
years for its "Lost Musical Series" of semi-staged revivals, and their current
salvage effort may be this group's most notable coup to date in reviving
materials. "Three Sisters" is still just a partial reconstruction. But what has
survived is very charming. This drama-with-songs seems more in line with the
fabled team's earlier "Show Boat" - while hardly an epic, innovative or
consequential - than their more frivolous '30s vehicles.
Hammerstein's book is unusually complex and melancholy for the period. It
traces the romantic travails suffered over a few years in the lives of
itinerant photographer Will Barbour's three daughters. Tiny, the eldest,
anticipates a placid married life with dullish fiancee Eustace, but she's
waylaid by antic St. busker George. His partner Gypsy is a serial Romeo
distracted from the chase by youngest sis Mary. Only middle sib Dorrie wants
out of this scrape-along, carnival-to-circus lifestyle. Her social ambitions
attract attention from upper-crust dreamboat Sir John. The rediscovered text
ran an impossible 200 pages, necessitating cuts here (including an epilogue).
In 42nd St.'s version, the narrative runs at a pleasant, leisurely pace until
Act 2 when various last-minute conflicts and resolutions provide little
climatic satisfaction. Still, there's a real sincerity and sweetness to the
"Three Sisters" storyline, one that largely bypasses mawkish sentiment.
But the prize here is Kern's extant music. This material was ideal for his way
with a wistful ballad, and several are gorgeous: Gypsy's "Now That I Have
Springtime," Tiny's lullaby "Somebody Wants to Go to Sleep" and Eustance's
disarmingly plain "Hand in Hand." (Another memorable ditty, "When I've Got the
Moon," is the sole interpolation here, taken from an unproduced
Kern-Hammerstein film of the same period.) Other numbers include several bows
to English music hall styles and the anthemic "You Are Doing Very Well." Only
"Lonely Feet" and "I Won't Dance" went on to lasting fame via reuse in later
projects. Five tunes are presumed permanently lost; musical director Sam
Schieber has written a serviceable melody for one (the soldiers-in-drag novelty
"The Gaiety Chorus Girls"), using Hammerstein's original lyrics. Elsewhere, his
from scratch choral arrangements are quite beautiful. As usual with 42nd St.
efforts, Greg MacKellan's bare-bones interp scarcely dampens the work's appeal.
The cast is vocally and dramatically assured. Barbara Bernardo contributes
suitably modest choreography. There would be numerous hurdles to jump should
any enterprising group attempt a full staged "Three Sisters". But after 60
years wait, the effort might be worth it.
Steve Newport
jwk...@attglobal.net (John W. Kennedy) <<<Anybody remember when
they did THE LAND OF OZ (Baum's first sequel) on SHIRLEY TEMPLE'S
STORYBOOK? I wonder if those tapes still exist.>>>
----------------------------------
Yes. It turns up at Int'l Wizard of Oz Club (http://www.ozclub.org)
who's seen the thing lately, perhaps I should add that it has Agnes
Moorhead as Old Mombi, and Jonathan Winters as "General Nikidik" (a
character created as a substitute for the original General Jinjur, to
avoid offending feminists, I suppose, even though it was 1960). Agnes
Moorehead got her role in "Bewitched" as a direct result. Glinda was
Frances Bergen, and Arthur Treacher Nikidik's butler, "Graves".
Wasn't Shirley in it, too? What about Wally Cox? Or am I confusing this
with another episode? (There was one I remember loving called "The Land
of Green Ginger" about a flying oasis.)