Asking for the Right Booth
The other day, on Mothers Day, I noted when posting “Song of the Ma” sung by Shirley Booth that she had been in several musicals, one of which was Look to the Lilies, based on the classic movie Lilies of the Field. The show had a very short run, though the score was by two legends – Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn.
On a whim, I decided to search and see if there were any songs from it on YouTube. And as it happens, the show had an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show with two numbers performed. The first is when the character of Homer Smith, played by Al Freeman Jr, meets the nuns and their Mother Superior (played by Shirley Booth), and they sing “Gott is Gut.” And that leads into what I’m sure was the musical’s version of the famous “Amen” number in the movie – here called “Follow the Lamb.”
As a bonus, of sorts, this is the audio of the title song from the show which Shirley Booth sings, recorded from the audience during a performance – along with some dialogue between her and Al Freeman Jr. Unfortunately, the sound is awful, and it’s hard to make out most of the lyrics. (Basically, they’re about the lessons we can learn from them.) But it’s too rare a find – and has nice music – to not include here.
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