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March 2005: That's Entertainment
That's Entertainment
Howard Deitz, Arthur Schwartz; arr. Russ Robinson
Excerpts from
Chicago
Fred Ebb and John Kander
Razzle Dazzle
arr. Ed
Lojeski
Mona Lisa
Jay Livingston, Ray Evans; arr.
Ed Lojeski Soloist – Jim Owen
As Time Goes By
Herman Hupfeld;
arr. Jim Raycroft
Life Is Happiness Indeed
lyrics – Stephen
Sondheim
INTERMISSION
Medley from Little Shop of Horrors Howard Ashman, Allan Menkin; arr. John Higgins Little Shop of Horrors Somewhere That’s Green Dentist! Suddenly Seymour Little Shop reprise
Soloists – Sonja
Handeland, Jeff Pierce
Medley from Bye Bye Birdie Lee Adams, Charles Strouse; arr. Mac Huff Bye Bye Birdie The Telephone Hour Put On a Happy Face A Lot of Livin’ to Do Kids! Soloists - Meredith Selfon, Shawna Shapiro , Lee Huffmann, Frank Trujillo, David Williams
1. Let Me Entertain You Together All I Need is the Girl Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend Just In Time Soloists – Gordon Buck, Pam Younghans, Kelly O’Hallaran, Debra Nielsen
2. Three Coins in the Fountain Make Someone Happy People Soloists – Debra Nielsen, Frank Trujillo
3. I’ve Heard That Song Before Don’t Rain On My Parade Everything’s Comin’ Up Roses Soloist – Meredith Selfon
Welcome to “That's Entertainment”, a program of wonderfully entertaining medleys from the world of Broadway and Hollywood. We invite you to sit back, relax, and enjoy, for as our opening theme song (from the 1953 movie musical The Band Wagon) reminds us, "the world is a stage, the stage is a world of entertainment!" A wholesome story of murder, greed, corruption, exploitation, adultery, and treachery in the vaudeville world of the “Roaring Twenties”, Chicago opened on Broadway in 1975, but gained greater fame from a 1996 revival and an award winning film version in 2002. Our combination of three of its most popular tunes captures the sultry ragtime flavor of the era and the musical. The second set contains a few of our favorite old romantic movie ballads in tasty contemporary jazz arrangements. Mona Lisa first appeared in the utterly forgettable 1950 wartime drama Captain Carey, U.S.A. (where it was sung only in Italian to warn the heroes of the approaching Nazis). It became a big hit after the velvety recording by Nat King Cole released later that year. Ironically, Cole himself initially didn’t much care for the song and reluctantly released it only as a "B" side. From the 1965 movie The Sandpiper (one of many Elizabeth Taylor/Richard Burton star vehicles of the day) comes the beautiful The Shadow of Your Smile, here in a marvelously cool Gene Puerling arrangement. The timeless As Time Goes By was intertwined throughout the Humphrey Bogart/Ingrid Bergman classic Casablanca (1942), though it was only sung one time in the movie, in response to Bergman’s request, "Play it once, Sam, for old time's sake." Leonard Bernstein’s brilliant and wildly eclectic musical/operetta Candide has a long history of multiple writers, revisions, and revivals since its original conception by the composer and playwright Lillian Hellmann in 1953 and its debut three years later. Based on the 1759 novella by French Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire, it’s a biting comic satire skewering naïve optimism and complacency of both the religious and humanistic variety. The four skillful choral arrangements by Robert Page performed here capture the essential outlines of the crazily complex plot. Youthful Candide, the object of his affection, Cunegonde, and her brother Maximillian revel in the joys of their carefree upper class life in Life is Happiness Indeed. They have learned from their tutor and mentor Dr. Pangloss that whatever happens in life, all is for the best in The Best of All Possible Worlds. Unfortunately, such optimism is sorely tried when Candide and friends are beset with all manner of misfortune, war, injustice, and human vice, including the apparent murder of his beloved Cunegonde, leaving Candide to lament the meaningless folly of This World. After several more mishaps around the world, Candide eventually discovers Cunegonde still alive, and following the latest philosophy of Dr. Pangloss, they pledge simply to love one another, work hard, and Make Our Garden Grow. Originally a B-grade monster movie in 1960, Little Shop of Horrors became an off-Broadway musical in 1982 and has been a cult classic ever since. It’s the story of a downtrodden nerd, Seymour, who works in a flower shop on Skid Row doing menial tasks and dreaming of shop assistant Audrey. Audrey fantasizes about a comfortable middle-class life in the suburbs, but remains under the thumb of her boyfriend, a sadistic dentist. All that changes when Seymour discovers an exotic plant that turns out to have an insatiable appetite for human blood and a penchant for singing rhythm and blues! As the victims multiply, the botanical carnivore grows ever larger and true love is finally found in this gleefully gruesome tale. The 1960 musical Bye Bye Birdie is a campy look at mythical rock-’n-roller Conrad Birdie, whose agent decides to stage one last publicity stunt after Birdie is drafted into the Army (the whole scenario obviously drawn from the real-life situation of Elvis Presley). Their plan is to hold a contest to find Birdie’s biggest fan, who will get to kiss the star live on the Ed Sullivan Show. The lucky girl turns up in boring Sweet Apple, Ohio, where teenagers go through the normal rituals of idolizing pop stars, gossiping on the phone, and going steady, while parents predictably rue the moral collapse of the younger generation. Our program closes with a tribute to the music of Jule Styne in this centennial anniversary year of his birth. Styne enjoyed a long and distinguished career as a composer and producer for film and Broadway that lasted from 1934 until 1993, one year before his death. Mac Huff’s delightful medley showcases some of Styne’s greatest hits from the stage and screen:
All I Need is the Girl / Everything’s Coming Up Roses
from Bells Are Ringing (1956) – Just in Time
from
Three Coins in the Fountain
(1954) –
Three Coins in the Fountain
from Funny Girl (1964) – People / Don’t Rain on My Parade from Youth Parade (1942) – I’ve Heard That Song Before
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