Musical Theater Treasures: "High Society"
Here we have another entry in that collection of musical theater treasures I mentioned the other day, true gems that I had collected and forgot what was in the file of them I had put together, which I explained how they came about here.
This is from the 1998 Broadway production of High Society, the stage adaptation of the Cole Porter movie musical that starred Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Grace Kelly – which was based on the movie and play, Philadelphia Story. The movie only had about six songs, so they added a bunch of other Cole Porter numbers to fill out the show.
What makes this such a treasure to find is that it’s a full scene and song that features its young supporting actress – Anna Kendrick, at age 12. In fact, not only was she in the show, but she got a Tony nomination for Best Featured Actress in a musical. (And won the Broadway World Award.)
The scene has to be explained in context, or else it will seem too weird. The female lead, Tracy Lord (played by Melissa Erico) is getting married, and two gossip journalists want to report on the wedding since the family is fabulously wealthy. Tracy doesn’t want them there, nor does her little sister (played by Anna Kendrick). So, the sisters decide to give the reporters exactly what they want – two overly-spoiled, rich brats, and they put on an over-the-top pretentious "performance," which leads to them singing one of the interpolated Cole Porter songs, “I Love Paris.” So, just know, they’re trying to be utterly annoying and ostentatious here.
(By the way, a while back, I posted a hilariously wonderful video that Anna Kendrick did at the same time as part of a PBS special about Broadway. I saw it live, but had no idea who the little girl was. But the number was so funny and clever I always remembered it. And later put two-and-two together. If you want to see it, highly recommended, the link is here.)
But first, here is High Society with Melissa Errico – and 12-year-old Tony nominee Anna Kendrick.
Comments