When I came across this video, I didn't at all recall having seen it, which surprised me because it was the opening of the 1994 Tony Awards. And it's lively and very entertaining, with extensive production numbers for four musical revivals then-playing on Broadway -- Grease, She Loves Me, Damn Yankees and Carousell. (Damn Yankees has one of the most fun scores ever in Broadway, and unfortunately they chose what is to me the least interest, one that's basically a dance number. And I don't care for those on TV, I just don't think they translate well. Fortunately, the cast here is so exuberant that the number at least is more fun than usual.) The beginning of the sequence requires a slight explanation, because at first I missed the point of the jokes, which were getting good laughs. But then I realized what it was. The actor is Victor Garber, and in 1994 he was playing the role of the Devil in that revival of Damn Yankees. So, that's who he's playing here, which puts the jokes in proper perspective. Also, happily, to tie the scenes together, he sings original lyrics to one of the fun songs in the show, "Those Were the Good Old Days." But then, as I watched this whole production number, surprised I didn't remember it, something happens around the 12-minute mark that kicked it. And I did remember that. If you're a theater buff, it's a tremendous treat. I was going to going into a background explanation so it would be clear what was going on, but that would give the surprise away. Fortunately one of those who arrives gives a little speech, so it all will be absolutely clear. I will only add one thing -- most espcially if you know theater history, this is a great moment, and involves in a certain way one of the probably half-dozen most legendary figures ever in Broadway that brings the audience to its feet, roaring. It's a simple moment, but even if you don't know theater history, I think most anyone will be able to appreciate it when the cast member says something that...well, let's just say that involves birthdays that brings down the house.
0 Comments
This doesn't qualify as a unknown holiday song, though it's a cousin. Consider it a reasonably-known holiday song that isn't known as being by its well-known holiday composer. This is what I mean. It's well-known that Johnny Marks wrote the wildly-fmous song "Rudolph the Red-Rednosed Reindeer," which was of course used as the basis for the holiday classic TV special. And for that special, he also wrote what become another big Christmas hit song, "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas." Now, having written two major Christmas songs that are traditional favorites is highly impressive. But -- did you know that before the TV special he had actually written what is now a third, popular Christmas song, as well? This third song was not included in the Rudoplph TV special, I suspect, because he only wrote the music for it. And the opening credits read "Music and Lyrics by Johnny Marks." This one didn't qualify. The lyrics though weren't by a fellow-collaborator, but rather adapted from a poem -- albeit by another fellow, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It had previously been set to music in the late 18th century (by English organist John Baptiste Calkin -- don't worry, it won't be on the test), but when Marks wrote his own music for the poem in the 1950s, that's the one that has now become the version most-heard today. The song is "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." (Having said that most people don't know that the music is by Johnny Marks, I suspect that almost as many people don't know that the words are by Longfellow...!!) For that matter, having said that the song is not in the TV special, I should toss in a little twist and clarify things by noting that, actually, it sort of is -- the music, at least. Near the very beginning of the show, as Sam the Snowman is introducing us to the tale, if you listen carefully you can hear Johnny Marks' music to "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" playing as underscoring. But here's the full song. There are a lot of recordings, but since we're talking about "Rudolph," we might as well use the recording by Sam himself, Burl Ives. Three popular Christmas standards by Johnny Marks. Not shabby. But for fun, and as proof that I'm not lying about this -- here's the opening of the "Rudolph" TV special and if you listen closely to the underscoring, you will hear "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." It comes in at at the 3:21 mark. (Or perhaps that should be "Marks.") And continues for about half a minute. The special doesn't start until 2:23. Needless-to-say, feel free to jump forward... (For TV history buffs, you might enjoy the video that precedes the show, since this appears recorded off the air and includes the promos of the time.) You probably didn't know the song was there. But now, when you watch the special next year -- you will. This is one of my two favorite stories from Mark Evanier on his website. And if you know Mark Evanier and the incredibly wonderful stories he's told on his website for 16 years (he just celebrated the anniversary), you know that that's speaking volumes.
This is his heart-achingly beautfiul and sometimes even funny tale about crossing paths with Mel Tormé at the Farmers Market in Los Angeles during Christmastime, and "The Christmas Song" that Tormé co-wrote. The story is a gem on its own, but I'll only add one thing that on a personal level makes it stand out even more.. It's that Mel Tormé went to high school at Hyde Park High in Chicago with my mother. I got to meet him once when we were filming The Naked Gun 2-1/2, and briefly chatted with him about it. (He had a small cameo appearance in the film, dancing with Priscilla Presley until, to his annoyance, Leslie Nielson cuts in.) I recall him being very pleasant -- saying, among other things, "Your mother must be much too young to have gone to high school with me.") Yes, as stories go Mark's if MUCH better. But then, Mark's story is MUCH better than most. Do yourself a favor, go read it. And if you've read it before, or even many times (as I have), go read it again because it's just just about as wonderful. You can find it here. Today we have a bit of a combination holiday song for the Fest. It fits well into our category of good holidays you don't know, but has a twist. And so we end up with a totally unknown, yet hugely-well-known and wonderful. How can that be, you ask??! I'll post it here before, but will explain.
This is a song, "Pine Cones and Holly Berries," from the musical, Here's Love, by Meredith Willson, who of course wrote "The Music Man." The show is based on the classic film, Miracle on 34th Street. And though the musical wasn't terribly successful, it didn't flop and had a respectable run of 334 performances in 1964. "Pine Cones and Holly Berries" is sung by Laurence Naismith who plays Kris Kringle. It's very charming and is make a lovely Christmas holiday song, though is unknown. Now, as you may recall, Meredith Willson likes counterpoint. He used it a great deal, to much good effect in The Music Man, most notably with "Lida Rose" sung counter to "Will I Ever Tell You?", but also famously with "Pick-a-Little, Talk-a Little," sung in counterpoint with an already-existing song, "Goodnight, Ladies." Well, he used the technique again in Here's Love. He created "Pine Cones and Holly Berries" to be sung counter to an already-existing, very famous Christmas song, written in 1951 -- one which (I think most people will be shocked to learn) he himself wrote. Since it was his own song, he was able to use it in the Broadway score. And when I say it's very famous and completely well-known -- trust me on this. I won't tell you want it is, though, so you can have the fun of discovering it when it comes in halfway through. And yes, famous as it is, it's written by, of all people, Meredith Willson, author of The Music Man. The counterpoint, famous song is performed by Janis Paige and -- are you ready? -- Fred Gwynne! Not the sort of fellow you think of for Broadway musicals, but he's actually quite a good singer. Although he utterly hated being typecast for his most famous TV role, since it almost ruined his career (I worked with him on the movie, Pet Sematary, and we briefly talked about that), I feel compelled to identify him in this context for the sheer incongruity of it, as yes, 'Herman Munster,' whose TV series came along soon after this musical. (You have to listen closely to hear him among the two other voices, but if you focus, his counterpoint is quite clear and comes in at the 1:15 mark..) By the way, since the counterpoint song is so famous (and again, it really is), I'm surprised that no one -- as far as I know -- has recorded this version with "Pine Cones and Holly Berries." They make a wonderful combination. For that matter, I'm surprised "Pine Cones and Holly Berries" has become a common holiday song, considering its pedigree. So, here then is a lovely, sweet Christmas song you don't know, sung in counterpoint to an extrexemely famous one you do, both by Meredith Willson. Over on his website, my pal Mark Evanier has an amusing piece here where he comments here on a list that was published about 100 Things Every Angelino Should Do Once in Los Angeles. Given that he's lived his entire life in Los Angeles and only done 16 of those things makes his commentary all the more entertaining.
I bring this up because of #41 on the list, which means I won't ever be able to do all 100 even if I tried. It was "Avoid James Woods." I've worked on two movies with Jimmy -- as he said to call him. One was his Oscar-nominated performance in Salvador, that Oliver Stone directed. The other was a movie it's likely none of you saw, The Boost, based on a novel by, of all people, former Nixon-speechwriter Ben Stein. (No, Stein didn't come to the set when I was there.) It was basically about a yuppie couple (his wife played by Sean Young) whose life plummets when they start using cocaine. (For the sake of timelines to those who keep track of such things, this was before the very public and bizarre mutilated-doll and lawsuit contretemps he and Ms. Young soon later had, in which the FBI and police also got involved.) I have lots of stories about Salvador, an odd and reasonably-enjoyable time, filmed largely around Cuernevaca, Mexico, and perhaps I'll write about at some point (like when we used the Mexican Army as extras, and they showed up two hours late). Not so many about The Boost, though the few I have I probably won't write about at some point. I got along fine with Jimmy, and had some interesting, pleasant conversations with him. We even flew back to Mexico City together on what was not much more than a prop jet. Though he wasn't someone I'd care to stay in touch with, and I'm quite certain he'd feel the same about me, not that he has any clue who I am at this point. He's a bright guy -- he attended MIT in political science (specializing in defense analysis, my notes say), though left before graduating, so perhaps he missed the important parts that would have filled in the holes -- however he not only struck me as conservative at the time we crossed paths, but has since become so deeply off-the-ledge, hate-filled nasty that he's now to the right of Atilla the Hun. He was a lively storyteller, and even quite jovial at it when he was in the mood to be so, occasionally telling rambunctious, if awkward stories, if awkward ones at his own expense. Though while others would be laughing uproariously, I sometimes would feel uneasy, most notably during a memorable tale about a run-in he had with someone he once let board at his house, as I thought, "Hmm, gee, I know he gets points for telling stories ridiculing himself, but this really make him look sort of...well, really, really bad." "When he was in the mood" is the operative phrase. Let's put it this way -- being able to detect "the mood" is the starting point for Woods survival. To be fair, it was incredibly easy to detect "the mood;" there wasn't any subtlety or risk of uncertainty, pretty much the same way it's easy to detect a gurgling happy baby in your arms and a growling mountain lion furiously racing at you. And besides, he was generally in good spirits -- as I said, I got along with him just fine. Even if I did have to sit outside his trailer for an interminably long time on The Boost one early-evening, as I waited endlessly for our scheduled meeting, before he finally was able to pop out and ask me to come back later. The challenge was always knowing what switch might be turned that would quickly change the former into the latter. Ultimately, from those two limited but close-at-hand experiences, I think that Point #41 is a pretty good one. And given the nasty, mean-spirited, crazed-anger of many of his rage-filled political statements these days, it is highly recommended for most people. Alas, it's out of my own hands at this point, having now not-avoided him on two movies. Though if taken on a case-by-case basis, as in "Avoid James Woods in the future when given the opportunity," there's still hope... Though this isn't unknown given its legendary status, it still falls far under the wire as far as widespread awareness goes. And holiday recordings just aren't holiday recordings without Stan Freberg's classic "Green Chri$tma$." It's still funny and pertinent about the commercialization of the holiday after over 60 years. And just plain wonderful. |
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
Archives
May 2024
Categories
All
|
© Copyright Robert J. Elisberg 2024
|