Buddy Picture
One of the especially-fun songs in Jerry Herman’s musical Mame is the number “Bosom Buddies,” which was originally sung by Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur. I’ve seen a lot of other duets perform it, and it’s always enjoyable – though none really have the texture of that first version on the original cast album. They’re very good, but the song is helped by the context of the show, two truly old friends praising and dishing the other. One version comes pretty close, which I posted 11 years ago, with two great opera divas – Marilyn Horne and Frederica Von Stade – since not only are they great singers, but they do bring at least a long personal history together as dear friends. (It’s a joy to watch, and you can see it here.)
Wonderful as that version is (and it’s quite wonderful), it still doesn’t have the performance of original. As it happens, there is video of that original, sort of. Back in 1987, when Angela Lansbury was one of the hosts of the Tony Awards, Bea Arthur was a presenter – and so someone had the brilliant idea to team them up again, and re-create the number. Complete with the charming, original choreography. (Someone had a lot of brilliant ideas with the Tonys that year, because there were a bunch of special things in the broadcast – and I’ll be posting some in the days ahead. Watch this space…)
I did post this reteaming for “Bosom Buddies” previoiusly, though the clip didn’t include the enjoyable introduction. But I came across the full broadcast, and decided to spend some time trimming the number out, so that I could include the whole thing.
And so, here is “Bosom Buddies” with the originals, Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur. Showing how it’s done.
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