The 1971 Tony Awards were, for me, arguably the great special ever on TV. Produced by Alexander Cohen and written by his wife Hildy Parks, they saluted the 25th anniversary of the Tonys' birth by bringing back the original stars from each of the previous 25 Tony Award-winning musicals, to sing their iconic song for the show. It was quite remarkable. I have a few of them upcoming. (Many have been included in several DVDs promoted as Broadway's greatest hits.) Since I've showed several non-Zero Mostel versions of "If I Were a Rich Man" from Fiddler on the Roof, the award-winner in 1964 (presented in 1965), I figured it would be nice to start with the man himself, Zero Mostel singing the original version of "his" song. You get the sense watching it here that he relished the opportunity to re-create this before his peers. I suspect all the performers that night did, too, especially those from some of the earlier shows, but Mostel really seems to throw himself into it. And the audience seems just as much to revel in seeing him again. From stories I've read, Zero Mostel was tremendous in the show and deserving of his fame for it, but he got bored easily and later on would phone in performances. Whether that's true or not, I don't know -- but it was the same story I heard when he agreed to do a revival tour of the show in the mid-1970s. I saw him do the show in Los Angeles during that tour, and if he phoned in some of the performances (or didn't), he certainly didn't that night. And he was exuberant as he was here in this video. By the way, the role of Tevye, taken from the Sholem Aleichim stories, was originally envisioned for the musical as a small, thin man. When Mostel was hired, though, that concept went out the window and songwriters Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock had to re-envision some of their score. As part of that, they came up with a number that would take advantage of Mostel's larger-than-life vibrancy, and the result was "If I Were a Rich Man." Harnick has said that in researching the show and that particular number, he was quite taken with the Yiddish chanting her heard from cantors and other singers in the Yiddish community. But he was unable to duplicate it himself, try as he might. So instead, the best he could come up with was, "Digguh digguh diddle dum." And so, that's what we have today. For all the wonderful performers who came after, here's the original...
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It's official. We have a record. Yesterday, the most ever "unique visitors' to Elisberg Industries in a day.
And believe me, you are unique. If only because of your quite-evident good taste. And apparent love of articles about razor blades. Hey, I told you that you'd be the second to know. Igor Gsaliva, accounts receivable, is still going through the numbers to get the official count. He's very diligent, making a list, and checking it three times. ("Twice, hah! Santa, if he make a mistake, he don't have to deal with it for a year," Igor always says. "Me, I make a mistake and everything goes screwed up and it builds every day. And I get fired. Who's gonna fire Santa? The little kiddies, they all cry, 'Oh, where's Santa??! Boo hoo.' But who gonna cry, "Where's Igor Gsaliva?" Maybe my mother, but she's from the Old Country, and she cries that every day since I move out.") A few years back, Bill Maher gave one of his "New Rules." This one dealt with a comparison of football and baseball, but was really about economics and Socialism. He explains how all those people who rail against President Obama for being a Socialist, wanting nothing more than to "share the wealth," while at the same time they're cheering wildly for their beloved favorite sport, football, that's become America's Most-Watched Sport in overwhelmingly vast numbers -- they don't understand that one of the reasons for the National Football League's success is the very thing they say they hate about the president. While I, of course, don't agree with Maher's portrayal of baseball as a sport, I think he does make some valid points about the comparison. But the comparison is secondary to the larger topic at end. A couple of days ago, I decided I wanted to listen to one of my Odetta albums. I hadn't heard her in a long time. Then, tonight on the Rachel Maddow Show, she happened to mention Odetta, as well. It was in the context of her having sung at Martin Luther King's March on Washington 50 years ago. If you don't know Odetta, she was a joy. A powerful activist folk singer who often performed without any accompaniment because she didn't need any. You could almost argue that it got in the way. Usually, though, she had a guitar, though she'd performed any way that was needed. I got lucky to see her once in concert, and in a very small environment, at the great Amazingrace Coffeehouse on the Northwestern University campus. The room was packed, and she just exploded her voice throughout the place. Talking, telling stories and singing with joy, agony and power. (You can't write about Odetta without using the word "power" a lot. You can't overuse it.) I was trying to figure out what recording of hers to play here, when I came across something I hadn't seen before. I have a theory that one of my favorite ways to tell if an artist is truly brilliant is if they have it in them to be great at their worst, not just at their best. Here is Odetta at probably her "worst." In comes from 2008. She's 78 years old, in a wheelchair, and months before her death. This should show you how great Odetta was. And why you can't overuse "power." If you want to jump forward, she doesn't start her performance until about the 1:00 mark. And so you know, it doesn't last until 5:32. It ends about 4:35 -- it's just that there's a minute of cheering at the end. And it only stops because she leaves. One song and out. That's all she needed. Y'know, I just decided to have a bonus. This isn't Odetta at her "best" either, or her prime. But it shows perhaps more. On David Letterman's first show back after 9/11, he invited Odetta on as a performer. Here she is with the Boys Choir of Harlem. Together, they sing the spiritual, "This Little Light of Mine." And wash over the room with a powerful joy. The "Whoo-hoo Guy" is back!
For the second time ever -- and this month -- Elisberg Industries has hit 1,000 "unique visitors" in a day. And for the first time, without having Mark Evanier link to an article on the site... And it's only 6:30. People must really like reading about razor blades. All that aside, thanks much to all the people who stop by here on occasion. Or more than on occasion. And thanks to those who've told friends of a website where someone will waste time on things so they don't have to. I do appreciate it, which is why we always keep the refrigerator stocked. If we set a record, you'll be the first to know. Well...okay, the second. I'll be the first. But the main thing that thrills me is how I'm able to get that picture of me in the "1,000" graphic... Usually when there is a huge uptick in visitors around here, it's because Mark Evanier has touched his magic wand and recommended to his blog readers an article I've written. There has been a HUGE increase in visitors here today -- hi, folks! -- but nothing recommended by Mark on his site. Visitation Rights are double today what they've been the past two weeks, the second most here ever at Elisberg Industries, and it's only 4:30 PM in Los Angeles. The best I've been trying figure is that the people at Schick got all excited that someone was talking about their razor blades and have been sending customers this way, perhaps for a free shave. But nope, checking the Stats page, there's nothing that shows visitors being directed here from any other particular website. As a result, my guess is that today, for some reason, people are more bored than usual and looking for something to do. Speaking of the good Mr. Evanier, I'll send some visitors his way. He has a little piece here and a quite wonderful video that's gone viral the past few days of a vocal teacher, Sarah Horn, who got called up by Kristen Chenoweth during her weekend show at the Hollywood Bowl. It's something Ms. Chenoweth seemingly does in her concerts, to find someone in the audience who knows the song, "For Good," from the musical Wicked (that she starred in) and perform the duet with her. This particular performance blows away the audience -- and Ms. Chenoweth, too. Deservedly so. This young woman's career as a vocal coach just exploded. There's a link in Mark's article to very nice article on Broadway World.com that Sharon Horn wrote about her experience -- I read it after watching, but I think it almost might be better to read it first. It sets up the story well, and also makes more clear some words that get lost in the audio. (By the way, the next night the young girl that Kristen Chenoweth called up did a nice job, as well, Kellie McKay, a student at Boston Conservatory. There's a video and article, as well, on Broadway.com here. You can see that Kristen Chenoweth has similar reactions at various points -- though in fairness, both performances deserve nice reactions, even if some of it is prepared. And it's clear that her far-greater response is for Sharon Horn. Deservedly. If you read the first two parts of my friend Michael Katz's article about life at Northwestern University and its woeful college football team, he takes us up to the present day in Part 3 here, which includes some years of actual success. This includes getting in the Rose Bowl and Alamo Bowl -- both of which they lost. (This qualifies as success at NU.)
I was at both games, and they were painful -- the Rose Bowl because it was so close, and the Alamo Bowl because it so wasn't. (losing 66-17 to Nebraska) What particularly stands out from that blowout was not that it was played indoors or that the team got crushed -- but that when the game was FAR out of hand and nearing the end...Nebraska ran a trick play and scored yet another unnecessary touchdown. When I got back home from Texas after game, I watched it again on television -- yes, I know it was a huge loss, but still, it was the beloved Northwestern, and at that point they didn't get in many bowl games -- and it was so comforting to see the national announcers as pissed off as my dad and I had been at Nebraska for running that trick play. I've always considered that a moral victory... It was therefore with amusement that I read a comment in Mike's piece that references the fact that Nebraska, now in the Big Ten, used the same "N" logo as Northwestern, and how his friends at Nebraska say that the "N" stands for "Nowledge." By the way, I can't leave this without noting that last year Northwestern finally won their first bowl game since 1949, 64 years!, when they beat Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl, 34-20. Huzzah. |
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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