Vocal Selections from "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue"

While I have the vocal score in my possession, I do not have this gem which must be some sort of collector's item. I find it amusing that a show that played seven performances and folded without a cast album would publish vocal selections, especially since Mr. Bernstein went on to recycle elements of his score into future works. (Bernstein and Lerner made the arrangement with Music of the Times Publishing in November 1974 to publish their collaborative effort). I'm assuming there aren't many copies of this available, though I did locate several in the NYPL catalogue. Unfortunately if you're looking to perform the "Duet for One," that 26 page behemoth has been left out. But there are other hits from the show you can sing around the piano in your living room: "Bright and Black" - "Pity the Poor" - "The President Jefferson Sunday Luncheon Party March" - "The Red, White, and Blues" - "Take Care of This House" - "Seena" - "We Must Have a Ball."

Opera en el Mercado

Much like that exuberant display of The Sound of Music in the Antwerp Station in Belgium last year, an opera company in Valencia went guerrilla theatre on an unsuspecting group at the largest covered market in Europe. This took place about two months ago and it took that long for it to come to my attention. Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, a new opera center in Valencia, sent some of their singers out to promote their season. The opera singers were disguised as employees, and burst into song for the crowd. Fragments of Verdi's La Traviata were sung culminating in that perennial favorite "Brindisi," with the singers handing out glasses of champagne to and dancing with the amused bystanders. It's not as polished as some of the other videos of this ilk, but it's hard not to be charmed by the joy being shared by this group of strangers.

Truth be told, I'd actually look forward to food shopping if I had Renee Fleming selling me a canteloupe. Enjoy:

Is It a Crime...?

-to have wanted Grey Gardens to sweep the 2007 Tony Awards?

-to admire every actress who has starred in Gypsy on Broadway and not play favorites?

-to prefer William Warfield's rendition of "Ol' Man River" to Paul Robeson's?

-to want the original production of Follies - sets, costumes, staging - brought back every year or made part of the NYCO repertory?

-for Encores! to stick to their original mission? (More Juno, less Birdie)

-to want a cast album for every musical that opens, regardless of whether or not the show is any good?

-to dislike the British megamusicals?

-for actors to be cast by hard work, discipline and auditions rather than a reality TV series?

-for a musical to be wholly original?

-to admire both Jerry Herman and Stephen Sondheim?

-for a contemporary non musical play to sustain a three year run?

-to prefer integrated musicals over interpolated musicals?

-to delineate between a revue and a jukebox musical?

-to gently correct people when they mistakenly use the term "Broadway soundtrack" instead of "Broadway cast album/recording"?

-to televise the Tony Awards ceremony in a different Broadway house each year?

-for Colony to gouge their prices so?

-to close a cash cow that's become an industry joke?

-to disapprove of the internet surcharges and service fees when purchasing theatre tickets?

-for the exemplary Jan Maxwell to star in a critical and financial smash on Broadway?

-for the original orchestrations to be respected rather than discarded (I'm talking to you, Roundabout)

-for the Times Square Church to vacate the Mark Hellinger Theatre?

-for a Broadway house to be named for Oscar Hammerstein II?

-to allow more than three minutes for a Best Musical and Revival of a Musical nominee to perform on the Tony telecast?

-to enjoy the new pedestrian friendly Times Square?

-to listen to an overture, entr'acte and exit music uninterrupted by conversation?

-for individuals to turn off their goddamn cell phones, blackberries and iPhones while a show is in progress? (oh wait, it is...)

-for Encores! (or some other group) to present an annual concert series of Broadway flops for us to see how and why they failed?

-to have a hit show play the Lyceum Theatre?

-for contemporary musical theatre composers to write pop scores that aren't unhealthy to sing?

-to have the Drama Desk Awards aired on PBS again?

-for Off-Broadway theatre to get as much love as Broadway?

-to grab a lamppost and then sing "Sweet Adeline"?

Gwen Verdon - "Walk It Out"

Someone with a lot of time on their hands realized that a vintage clip of Gwen Verdon dancing to "Mexican Breakfast" on 1960s TV synced up with the rapper Unk's single "Walk It Out." Reading the commentary, people are discussing how Beyonce emulated these steps. Homage or thief? You decide...

Here's the original:



Here's the remixed video:

This is just awesome...

One of the unexpected joys of today. Some Julie Andrews flavored guerrilla theatre at the Central Station in Antwerp, Belgium. (Thanks, Kari!)

Addendum: Turns out this was done on the morning of March 23, 2009 sponsored by a local station that's hosting a reality show to cast Maria in a new production of the musical. It borrows from the popular T-Mobile ad done in Liverpool and in my humble opinion is far more entertaining.

Times is Hard...

In case you've been curious about the goings-on in my neck of the woods:

The economic crisis is leading desperate people to desperate measures. A financial planner was arrested and charged after robbing a Peekskill bank at knifepoint this week. Here's where the bizarro comes in:

"Police said that Solomon was wearing a Groucho Marx mask, consisting of glasses, fake busy eyebrows and a fake mustache, when he entered Trustco Bank lobby in a Welcher Avenue shopping plaza a few minutes after its 9 a.m. opening on Jan. 16 and robbed the bank at knifepoint."

I wonder if this is the first time this stock disguise has ever been used in such a crime...

My Own Limerick

My friend Miles has an uncanny ability to create a limerick off the top of his head. Well, I now have the distinct honor of being the subject of my very own. Here it is:

There once was a man from Westchester
Whose ambitions did fever and fester
He drank his White Russians
With the best of the lushes
And proceeded to pluck out his chest hair!

Shalom Aleichem

Amusing factoid from my live feed: A reader from Bat Yam, Tel Aviv arrived on my blogpost "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue - a synopsis of sorts" from google.co.il by searching for "Duet for One First Lady of the land lyrics." It was so random and amusing I felt I just had to share. It's nice to see that people from around the world are dropping by for a visit. And for such entertaining reasons!

Pop Quiz

If any musical theatre enthusiast is in the mood for a bit of a challenge, give the quiz in today's Peter Filichia column a try.

Tagalicious by Sarah

1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog. Sarah was my tagger.

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog - some random, some weird.

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog.

4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

5. If you don't have 7 blog friends, or if someone else already took dibs, then tag some unsuspecting strangers.

Ok.... here goes...

1. I became an Eagle Scout at 15. Not that I really wanted to be in Scouts, but it was a family thing to do, so I just went along for the ride. My brother, also a Rhodes scholar, is one too. (He's the one with the doctorate in archaeology who teaches in Singapore and makes documentaries with a baby on the way... and room for a pony).

2. In high school, I earned money by subbing as an organist/pianist/soloist for local churches.

3. I've been to 50 states. Hit the 50th (Hawaii) when I was 15. Seems like it was a monumental year, huh?

4. I have dual citizenship. US & Ireland. Again... 15...

5. I am the only person in my entire family with blue eyes. My father and brothers are all hazel. My mother has grey.

6. I once wrote a letter to the Pope when I was in fourth grade. I got a response from the US office of the Vatican when I was in fifth grade. I still have the letter, though I'll admit I was disappointed that John Paul II couldn't find the time to write a personal letter to an impressionable, parochial 10 year old. And you wonder why I fell out with the Catholic Church... (However, nuns are still my among my all-time favorite people).

7. Here's chalking one up to my undeserved sense of vanity: Although I've pretty much accepted it, there is still a part of me that resents the fact that I'm short.

Aaaaand, tag you're it:

1. Roxie, who should be the next Rosalind Russell over at Stage Left, House Right.
2. The delightful author and playwright Marc Acito fills up on the banquet of life with The Gospel According to Marc.
3. The madcap newcomer/theatre enthusiast Dorian presenting In the Dorian Mode in Nova Scotia.
4. Matt over at You're Welcs: The Ramblings of Matty B, documenting his undergrad theatre studies in the Midwest.
5. Kari, our own Tina Fey, keeping us amused with her wit and style at Persistent Cookie.
6. So deadpan he could serve as Elaine Stritch's standby for At Liberty: Miles at What Fresh Hell Is This?
7. Ken Davenport, theatre producer extraordinaire at The Producer's Perspective.