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Gee, But It's Good to Be Here: Stage Door Releases "Lost Broadway 1956-57"

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For the second volume in its Lost Broadway series of 2-CD sets, the U.K.'s Stage Door Records label has turned its attention to the years 1956 and 1957.  Musical hits during the 1956-1957 and 1957-1958 seasons included Bells Are Ringing, Li'l Abner, West Side Story, and The Music Man, but Stage Door's attention doesn't lie with those smashes but rather with the largely-forgotten, but certainly worthy, shows that haven't received nearly as much love over the years.  Like the first volume (which looked back to 1961), this edition features original cast performances on CD 1 and pop covers and rare interpretations on CD 2 from (primarily) the same shows.

As the track listing proves, 1956 and 1957 boasted a number of boldface names on and offstage.  Some were superstars at the time, and others' biggest successes were still to come.  But familiar names represented on this set include Ethel Merman, Sammy Davis, Jr., Chita Rivera, Lena Horne, Mel Brooks, Gwen Verdon, Leonard Bernstein, Barbara Cook, Eartha Kitt, and even (future Dame) Maggie Smith.  The featured musicals, with their writers and original runs indicated, are:

  • Happy Hunting (Howard Lindsay/Russel Crouse/Matt Dubey/Harold Karr) (December 6, 1956 - November 30, 1957)
  • Mr. Wonderful (Will Glickman/Joseph Stein/Jerry Bock/Lawrence Holofcener/George Weiss) (March 22, 1956 - February 23, 1957)
  • New Faces of 1956 (Various Writers) (June 14, 1956 - December 22, 1956)
  • Jamaica (Fred Saidy/E.Y. Harburg/Harold Arlen) (October 31, 1957 - April 11, 1959)
  • Simply Heavenly (Langston Hughes/David Martin) (August 20, 1957 - October 12, 1957)
  • Shinbone Alley (Mel Brooks/Joe Darion/George Kleinsinger) (April 13, 1957 - May 25, 1957)
  • Copper and Brass (David Craig/Ellen Violett/David Baker) (October 17, 1957 - November 16, 1957)
  • New Girl in Town (George Abbott/Bob Merrill) (May 14, 1957 - May 24, 1958)
  • Candide (Lillian Hellman/Richard Wilbur/John LaTouche/Dorothy Parker/Leonard Bernstein) (December 1, 1956 - February 2, 1957)
  • Time Remembered (Jean Anouilh/Patricia Moyes/Vernon Duke) (November 12, 1957 - June 28, 1958) (*)
  • Shangri-La (James Hilton/Jerome Lawrence/Robert E. Lee/Harry Warren) (June 13, 1956 - June 30, 1956)
  • Rumple (Irving Phillips/Ernest G. Schweikert/Frank Reardon) (November 6, 1957 - December 14, 1957)

(*) This play featured incidental music.

The first disc boasts 27 tracks performed by original cast members like Merman, Rivera, Cook, Horne, and Kitt; most of these recordings have been previously available on CD.  But there are a handful of bona fide rarities here, like both sides of a Decca single from Dick Williams (Andy's older brother) preserving his role in the short-lived Copper and Brass or a couple of tracks from Vernon Duke's incidental score to the play Time Remembered.

Disc Two has more gold in the form of rare (and often offbeat) cover versions from an era where the Broadway stage was still defining the sound and style of popular music.  Sammy Davis, Jr., star of Mr. Wonderful, shows up not only with the pop version of that show's "Jacques D'Iraque" but with tunes from Copper and Brass and Rumple.  Mel Tormé does "Mr. Wonderful."  Jaye P. Morgan and country legend Eddy Arnold duet on "Mutual Admiration Society" from Happy Hunting, and other stars include Lena Horne (with a couple of pop renditions from her star vehicle Jamaica), Carmen McRae, Eddie Fisher, Margaret Whiting, Ocie (later O.C.) Smith, and Maurice Chevalier.

Stage Door promises a 12-page booklet with additional information on these lost musicals and their associated recordings.  This set is made possible via current U.K. public domain laws.  Look for this rarities-packed collection now in the U.K. and tomorrow in North America at the links below!

Various Artists, Lost Broadway: 1956-1957 (Stage Door Records STAGE 9064, 2019) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

CD 1 - ORIGINAL BROADWAY CAST RECORDINGS

  1. GEE, BUT IT'S GOOD TO BE HERE - Ethel Merman, Company

(from 'Happy Hunting')

  1. MUTUAL ADMIRATION SOCIETY - Ethel Merman, Virginia Gibson

(from 'Happy Hunting)

  1. HAPPY HUNTING- Ethel Merman, Company

(from 'Happy Hunting')

  1. I'M AVAILABLE - Chita Rivera

(from 'Mr. Wonderful')

  1. MR. WONDERFUL - Olga James

(from 'Mr. Wonderful')

  1. TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT - Sammy Davis, Jr.

(from 'Mr. Wonderful')

  1. HURRY - Amru Sani [LISTEN]

(from 'New Faces Of 1956')

  1. ONE PERFECT MOMENT - Maggie Smith

(from 'New Faces Of 1956')

  1. THE WHITE WITCH OF JAMAICA - John Reardon, Inga Swenson

(from 'New Faces Of 1956')

  1. PUSH DE BUTTON - Lena Horne

(from 'Jamaica')

  1. AIN'T IT DE TRUTH - Lena Horne

(from 'Jamaica')

  1. LEAVE DE ATOM ALONE - Josephine Premice

(from 'Jamaica')

  1. SIMPLY HEAVENLY - Marilyn Berry

(from 'Simply Heavenly')

  1. LOOK FOR THE MORNING STAR - Anna English

from 'Simply Heavenly')

  1. GOOD OLD GIRL - Claudia McNeil

from 'Simply Heavenly')

  1. TOUJOURS GAI - Eartha Kitt

(from 'Shinbone Alley')

  1. A WOMAN WOULDN'T BE A WOMAN - Eartha Kitt

(from 'Shinbone Alley')

  1. DON'T LOOK NOW - Dick Williams

(from 'Copper And Brass')

  1. YOU WALKED OUT - Dick Williams

(from 'Copper And Brass')

  1. IT'S GOOD TO BE ALIVE - Gwen Verdon

(from 'New Girl In Town')

  1. LOOK AT 'ER - George Wallace

(from 'New Girl In Town')

  1. DID YOU CLOSE YOUR EYES - Gwen Verdon, George Wallace

(from 'New Girl In Town')

  1. IT MUST BE SO - Robert Rounseville

(from 'Candide')

  1. GLITTER AND BE GAY - Barbara Cook

(from 'Candide')

  1. MAKE OUR GARDEN GROW - Robert Rounseville, Company

(from 'Candide')

BONUS TRACKS

  1. AGES AGO - Tony Travis, Vernon Duke

(from 'Time Remembered')

  1. TIME REMEMBERED - Tony Travis, Vernon Duke

(from 'Time Remembered')

CD 2: COVERS AND RARITIES

  1. TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT - Mel Torme

(from 'Mr. Wonderful')

  1. JACQUES D'IRAQUE (Pop Version) - Sammy Davis, Jr.

(from 'Mr. Wonderful')

  1. NEW FANGLED TANGO - Maurice Chevalier

(from 'Happy Hunting')

  1. MUTUAL ADMIRATION SOCIETY - Jaye P. Morgan, Eddy Arnold

(from 'Happy Hunting')

  1. I'M A FUNNY DAME - Eartha Kitt

(from 'Happy Hunting')

  1. SHANGRI-LA - Buddy Greco

(from 'Shangri-La')

  1. LISTEN TO THE SOUND OF MY LOVE - Buddy Greco

(from 'Shangri-La')

  1. SECOND TIME IN LOVE - Margaret Whiting

(from 'Shangri-La')

  1. LOST HORIZON - Ocie Smith

(from 'Shangri-La')

  1. SCRATCH MY BACK - Lola Dee, Rusty Draper

(from 'New Faces Of 1956')

  1. APRIL IN FAIRBANKS - The Hi-Lo's

(from 'New Faces Of 1956')

  1. IT MUST BE SO - Larry Kert

(from 'Candide')

  1. COCOANUT SWEET (Pop Version) - Lena Horne

( from 'Jamaica')

  1. PUSH DE BUTTON (Pop Version) - Lena Horne

( from 'Jamaica')

  1. PRETTY TO WALK WITH - Fay DeWitt

( from 'Jamaica')

  1. TAKE IT SLOW, JOE - Fay DeWitt

(from 'Jamaica')

  1. YOU WALKED OUT - Jeri Southern

(from 'Copper And Brass')

  1. COOL CREDO - Sammy Davis, Jr.

(from 'Copper And Brass')

  1. ALL DRESSED UP AND NO PLACE TO GO - Sammy Davis, Jr.

(from 'Rumple')

  1. IN TIMES LIKE THESE - Tommy Leonetti

(from 'Rumple')

  1. WISH - Al Hibbler

(from 'Rumple')

  1. HOW DO YOU SAY GOODBYE? - The Four Aces

(from 'Rumple')

  1. RED LETTER DAY - Richard Hayes

(from 'Rumple')

  1. THE FIRST TIME I SPOKE OF YOU - Richard Hayes

(from 'Rumple')

  1. COAX ME - Carmen McRae

(from 'Rumple')

  1. IT'S GOOD TO BE ALIVE - Carol Lawrence

(from 'New Girl In Town')

  1. LOOK AT 'ER - Tony Martin

(from 'New Girl In Town')

  1. DID YOU CLOSE YOUR EYES - Eddie Fisher

(from 'New Girl In Town')

  1. SUNSHINE GIRL - Eddie Fisher

(from 'New Girl In Town')

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Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song and beyond, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with labels including Real Gone Music and Cherry Red Records, has released newly-curated collections produced and annotated by Joe from iconic artists such as Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Spinners, Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Meat Loaf, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Liza Minnelli, Darlene Love, Al Stewart, Michael Nesmith, and many others. Joe has written liner notes, produced, or contributed to over 200 reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them America, JD Souther, Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, BJ Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, Petula Clark, Robert Goulet, and Andy Williams. Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray. Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

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