I was going to post this on Mothers Day, but the video I was trying to embed -- for reasons which I'll explain below -- wouldn't work. And try as I might, I just couldn't get it embedded. However, yesterday, I figured out a way to get it done! And rather than wait a whole year for next Mothers Day, I decided to post it today, as a bonus of sorts. Because I've been trying for years to get this posted. And now, I can. O huzzah! This is a terrific song written for the original Broadway production of Bye Bye Birdie, but never saw the light of day. The problem was that Kay Medford, the actress hired as the guilt-inducing mother of Albert (the character played by Dick Van Dyke), was a wonderful performer but couldn't sing, so they cut the song. And the same thing happened for the movie version with Maureen Stapleton. However years later when the did the remake for television in 1995, Tyne Daly had starred on Broadway in the musical Gypsy, and sang very well -- and was a big TV name, having starred for a long time in the series Cagney and Lacey. So, the song was put back in, not only because it was so good, but also I'm sure to give the actress more to do which would attract her to the part. And it's since been put back in the official version of the stage show where it is now performed in college, high school and community theater productions -- "A Mother Doesn't Matter Anymore." Alas, there is no video of the TV movie scene available on YouTube. So, for years I only posted the audio recording. And also some community theater videos -- but those weren't what was needed, not just for the performances (which were fine, but not Tyne Daly -- but even more, didn't have the great, whimsical orchestration of the TV film which I dearly love. It has a sort of honky-tonk feel to it, and a wonderful, albeit brief use of a clarinet solo as counterpoint). But good news! Though there is still no video of the scene on YouTube, the TV movie got repeated on television couple months ago -- something that is very rare, in fact I don't believe I've seen it in 30 years. However, if I recall correctly, TCM was airing a day filled with very good TV movies. So, I recorded a video of the song on my mobile phone. The quality isn't A+, but I think it's pretty good and a joy to finally include with this years Mothers Day tributes, however belated. In this TV production, Tyne Daly sings it her son played here by Jason Alexander. The problem I had posting it is because the file size was too big for the Weebly platform (that runs this website) to handle. It kept freezing halfway through the upload process. But I found online software that will compress a video's size. The quality is slightly degraded, but I checked it out, and it looks pretty close to what I originally recorded. And so, finally, after all this time -- and a five-day added delay -- here 'tis.
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This is one of my favorite songs about mothers -- and one of the littlest known, I'd think. It's from an unsuccessful musical, Juno, that opened in 1959 and only ran for 16 performances. But it had a pretty interesting pedigree. The show is based on the famous Irish play, Juno and the Paycock (an Irish pronunciation of "peacock") written by Sean O'Casey, and was adapted as a musical by Joseph Stein -- who in a few years would write the book for Fiddler on the Roof. And it had music and lyrics by Marc Blitzstein (a protege of Kurt Weill), who had adapted The Threepenny Opera for its off-Broadway debut, and wrote the score to The Cradle Will Rock for Orson Welles. (The story surrounding that production was made into the film, Rocking the Cradle, made my Tim Robbins.) And Juno starred Shirley Booth. Shirley Booth is probably best-remembered for starring in the sitcom, Hazel, which won her two Emmy Awards playing the housemaid, though she also won a Tony Award and later an Oscar for starring in the powerful drama, Come Back, Little Sheba. She wasn't a great singer, but she stole the stage musical version of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, in a supporting role. (It's later been suggested that this was, in part, the reason for that show's short run. She was so wonderful in the musical that it changed the focus of the show, and the balance of the tender story was off.) Later, she was in another flop musical, playing the Mother Superior in Look to the Lilies, a stage version of Lilies of the Field. Alas, Juno didn't last on Broadway. .But it did have several interesting songs. And most notably for me is this one -- "Song of the Ma." Last year, Broadway lyricist Sheldon Harnick passed away at the age of 99. But that means today him on the 100th anniversary of his birth. It's a notable occasion for the good fellow who won a Tony Award for Fiddler on the Roof, a Tony and Pulitzer Price for Fiorello!, and such other musicals with Jerry Bock as She Loves Me, The Apple Tree, The Rothschilds, Rex (with Richard Richard Rodgers), and the opera Captain Jinks and the Horse Marines -- and much more. As I've mentioned here, I interviewed Sheldon years ago when I was a student at Northwestern, and he returned to campus as Homecoming Grand Marshal. I then made a radio documentary from it for the school radio station, WNUR, and two decades later finally tracked down his address through a mutual friend to send him a copy. And when I told my mother after all that time that I finally found someone who knew where Harnick lived, she said, "Oh, you mean, Aunt Joan?" I was floored. I never had any idea that they grew up together and even went to college together. Though. no, she didn't have his address. When I sent him the radio documentary though and explained my further connection, he sent a handwritten note back, and the first line was, "OH, MY GOD!!! JOAN SERED!!! (which was her maiden name. And yes, this is the Aunt Joan who I wrote about here five Januarys ago for her surprise 90th birthday party. Happily, she's still going strong.) Though they've periodically crossed paths over the many decades, I was able to get them together 14 years ago when we all saw a production of his show She Loves Me at the Writers Theatre in Glencoe, Illinois. (And yes, this was the production I've written about several times that starred Jessie Mueller before she left for Broadway and won a Tony Award for starring in the musical Beautiful.) But enough of all that. On with the show. Here's a wonderful, hour-long interview with Sheldon Harnick at the Kennedy Center when he was 90, and you'll see he's vibrant and entertaining. Know too that this isn't just an interview, but includes several of his songs from wonderful performers. And here's one of my favorite of his lesser-known songs, "In My Own Lifetime," from The Rothschilds, which starred Hal Linden who won the Tony Award as Best Actor. Harnick writes poetically and richly with the simplicity of almost everyday language, which is his hallmark. Years ago, when I made that aforementioned radio documentary for the college station, I ended it with this song -- which I preceded with a clip of Harnick talking about how he'd like people to listen to his songs and say, "Yeah. Yeah, that's true." And we'll end our celebration with this video from when Harnick was 94. singing absolutely wonderfully one of his classics (in fact, I think one of the best interpretations I've heard of the song), "Do You Love Me?" from Fiddler on the Roof with Judy Blazer. And I suspect Ms. Blazer is thrilled to be performing this with the song's lyricist. All the more so since it was promoting the opening of a revival of the show. A few years back, Disney celebrated "25 years of Disney on Broadway." In honor of the occasion, The View had six actresses, who originated on stage the roles that began as Disney movie characters, performing a medley of songs from their shows. These are Susan Egan (Belle in 'Beauty and the Beast'), Heather Headey (Nala in 'The Lion King,' and Aida in 'AIDA'), Ashley Brown (Mary in 'Mary Poppins'), Merle Dandridge (Kala in 'Tarzan'), Caissie Levy (Elsa in 'Frozen') and Patti Murin (Anna in 'Frozen'). It's very entertaining, and all are wonderful. One thing, though, stands out to me -- while all the other actress get up from their stools and walk downstage to sing their individual numbers, only Heather Headley (who I've posted many videos of and raved about) stays where she is, and calmly performs her song while sitting. And further, despite just sitting, blows everyone away. overflowing with texture, standing only to join everyone for the finale. While I'm admittedly biased, the user comments on the YouTube site overwhelmingly single out the same thing and agree with me. The James Corden late-night show might be gone, but browsing around YouTube, I cane across one of his “Crosswalk” The Musical” productions that I hadn’t seen or posted before. This was the Crosswalk version of Frozen, and it features all the films stars who provided voices -- Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Josh Gad & Jonathan Groff. There are some goofy twists in it, and it’s pretty fun. When tracking down that last video I posted of the wonderful Theodore Bikel, recreating the “To Life” number, complete with dialogue in Yiddish, with Fyvush Finkle who did Fiddler on the Roof with him years earlier, I also came across this. It’s Bikel at a concert or some event, recreating “If I Were a Rich Man.” Two things stand out in his rendition. The first is that he performs it faster than most. (Whether that’s how he did it in the show or not, I don’t know.) And the other is that he sings it looking up, not out to the audience like most other do. And eventually I realized that it’s because, in the context of the song – which begins with him saying, "Dear God. You made many, many poor people. I realize, of course, that it’s not shame to be poor. But it’s no great honor, either. So, what would have been so terrible if I had a small fortune.” And so, Bikel makes the very interesting choice to sing the entire song looking up at God. It’s very good. |
AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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