Happy Mothers Day 2022
This is a terrific song written for the original Broadway production of Bye Bye Birdie, but never saw the light of day. The problem was that Kay Medford, the actress hired as the guilt-inducing mother of Albert (the character played by Dick Van Dyke), was a wonderful performer but couldn't sing, so they cut the song. And the same thing happened for the movie version with Maureen Stapleton. However years later when the did the remake for television, Tyne Daley had starred on Broadway in the musical Gypsy, and sang very well -- and was a big TV name, having starred for a long time in the series Cagney and Lacey.. So, the song was put back in, not only because it was so good, but also I'm sure to give the actress more to do which would attract her to the part. And it's since been put back in the official version of the stage show where it is now performed in college, high school and community theater productions -- "A Mother Doesn't Matter Anymore."
Alas, there is no video of the TV movie scene. I did come across a lot of videos from local productions, but the original simply has the best vocal performance and best music arrangement. And the others, while fine and enjoyable, still don't compare. So, that's how we're going to
As a bonus though, I did find a partial version of the song from a very good 2016 production of Bye Bye Birdie put on by the acclaimed Goodspeed theater company in Connecticut. For some reason, they only posted the last two minutes of the song, but that's better than nothing. And it includes some of the dialogue within the number, as Albert tells his mother that he's finally getting married. I also find the performance more "angry" than melodramatic and slyly manipulative, which is how the character is pretty much always played (as you could hear in Tyne Daly's rendition) -- but it still works well. Because this is a song that's so intentionally over-the-top that it can stand up to pretty much anything...
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