Well, that tech problem is still trying to be resolved, so in the meantime, here's some Dick Van Dyke, with his a capella singing group, the Vantastix, singing "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." The group's performance is a joy, but mostly it's trumped by just watching DVD's enthusiasm and energy.
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After writing about Lionel Bart's first West End musical, I received a note from Karen Harris telling me about the very recent world premiere in London of a long-lost, unproduced musical by Bart, Quasimodo, based of course on Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It was a show that Bart began writing in 1963 -- only three years after he'd written Oliver! The two reviews I found for the show were generally positive, though both thought it was somewhat a work in progress, not surprisingly because...well, it was unfinished and has new material by Chris Bond and Robert Chevara, directed by Mr. Chevara. Both critics praised the score, by and large, which is nice to see, because several of Bart's later post-Oliver! scores were inconsistent. (I've heard four of the "after" shows, and know of two others, Light in the Piazza, which ran for about a week on Broadway, and the huge flop, Twang!, based on Robin Hood, which ended his career after having invested his own money in it.) Jane Shilling of The Telegraph wrote about Quasimodo: "Robert Chevara’s production has the air of a work in progress. The musical numbers are tremendous, with the catchy lyrics and haunting melodies of a composer utterly at ease with his ability to write a hit. And there are tantalising hints of the emotional complexity that would flourish if the narrative were given a little more room to breathe. "At the moment, this feels like an early draft of a much bigger, more ambitious vision. But Lionel Bart would surely have been charmed to know that his musical received its posthumous premiere in the week when the bells of Notre-Dame were restored to the medieval tuning of Quasimodo’s time." For The Guardian, Michael Billingon said, "Bart's native genius was for jaunty comedy, which is why...the first half of Quasimodo works well." He adds, "But, once we get into the thwarted passion of the eponymous bellringer for Esmeralda, my interest started to wane." But the reviewer brings it around back to what he liked most, "The music, however, acquires a lushness as soon as Bart deals with the romantic yearnings of the doomed outsider. Perhaps he identified too strongly with Quasimodo; more likely his talent was simply not for the tragic." I tracked down what they call a "trailer" for the show, though it's more a featurette. I wish they focused more on the songs and show, rather than talking heads, but there's enough of the former to get a sense of the production. The sound oddly has a brief issue about halfway through. I like Stephen Colbert, though don't watch The Colbert Report regularly. However, fortunately I happened to be watching on February 23 last year when he happened to introduce a new sponsor, Wheat Thins. If you don't have a box, get one now. We'll wait. The Colbert Report This is one of my all-time fave Albert Brooks sketches, "Rewriting the National Anthem." I'd only heard him perform it -- I believe it's from his great album, Comedy Minus One -- but this is from the Flip Wilson Show in the early '70s. It's slightly trimmed down and leaves out some funny material, but I suspect he had to cut cut things for time. (The album itself is a gem, notably for one of the most creative things I've come across on a comedy LP. The flip side was a long 15-20 minute sketch on which Brooks performed one of the roles, and you, the listener, performed the other. A script was included, and you read your part. Hence the name of the album.) By the way, at the very beginning of this clip, you hear Flip Wilson introduce him as "Mr. Al-baire Brooks." I suspect that this comes as sort of an homage to one of the funniest comedy bits I've seen on a talk show. It was The Tonight Show, and he was introduced as the famous French mime, "Al-baire Brooooks." He came onstage in the traditional black leotard and painted white face, and the whole time did mimes with great build-ups but were nothing more than the most simplistic things in the world, like, (said in a thick French accent), "And now, I weel do, 'Sitting in a chair.' Or 'Next, I weel perform, 'Walking across zee stage.'" The guest host that night was Sammy Davis, Jr., who they kept cutting to because he was falling out of his chair in laughter. Yes, I know he did that a lot, but given how the audience was roaring, it seemed pretty real. This is from the Q&A part of the Carol Burnett Show. It's awfully fun. She calls on someone from the audience, who asks how someone can get an audition to sing on the show -- and she invites him onstage to give it a go. I have no idea how random the audience questions asked on her show are -- I suspect totally, but I don't know. But even if the producers have an idea who they want to pick beforehand, from audience cards the show itself might give people standing in line, I think that's as far as it goes here. Maybe they knew the guy wanted to sing and knew they'd invite him up -- maybe -- but this doesn't appear like he had any clue, nor what he'd ask to sing. What happens is a joy. A while back, I wrote an piece about the guest conductors at Wrigley Field who lead the crowd in "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" for the 7th Inning Stretch. Some have been wonderful, and some were truly horrific, so I titled it, "Don't Worry If You're Not Good Enough, Just Sing..." Well, since the Cubs are having their first homestand of the season and the guest conductors are back, that got me thinking about the article -- and its title. And that got me thinking about the actual song the title is based on. You've heard it a lot, and Sesame Street has often brought in a medley of celebrities to perform the song, but this is one of the most fun versions of the fun, "Sing." |
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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