Stopping the Show

In the past, I’ve posted half-a-dozen songs or so from a 1982 TV special where Broadway performers recreated their original numbers from shows they starred in, some rare stuff – like Jerry Orbach singing “Try to Remember”  from The Fantasticks, Anthony Perkins singing “Never Will I Marry” from Greenwillow and Glynnis Johns and Len Cariou doing the scene surrounding "Send in the Clowns" from A Little Night Music.  But the other day I was checking out something related to one of those songs I had on the site…and discovered the entire special online – and it’s a full hour and 45 minutes!!  (Why that odd time, I don’t know – my best guess is that the few breaks are far enough apart that comes across as perhaps a PBS special.)

It’s called Showstoppers: The Best of Broadway, hosted by Tom Bosley, who unfortunately doesn’t sing anything on the show from Fiorello!, despite winning a Tony Award for it.  (Though he does join in one song for a few verses.  He also tells a wonderful story in the first part of the show about an apprentice he worked with earlier in his career -- before introducing him, now a big star.) 

The full special is tremendous. One caveat -- the video image is a little washed out and fuzzy, especially if you watch it expanded on a big Smart TV.  I thought it was fine, but a friend who is more sensitive about such things had a hard time with it.  However, I've embedded it belong and, being a much smaller image, the picture is sharper.  Either way, the content is remarkable.

(If you do watch it with the YouTube app on a Smart TV, search for "Showstoppers The Best of Broadway," and you should find it.

This is a concert that was done at the LaMirada Theatre in Southern California in 1982.  In addition to Tom Bosley hosting, the performers include Barry Bostwick, Len Cariou, Nell Carter, Glynis Johns, Mary Martin, Donna McKechnie, Ethel Merman, Robert Morse, Jerry Orbach, Chita Rivera, Alexis Smith, Ray Walston, and the American Dance Machine, recreating several production numbers.  I'm not usually a fan of dance.numbers on TV, but the ones they show here are terrific and fit perfectly.

And here's the run-down.  As you can see, this is pretty special.

1. Everything's Coming Up Roses--Ethel Merman (Gypsy)

2. Quadrille--the American Dance Machine (Can-Can) 

3. Get Some Cash for Your Trash--Nell Carter (Ain't Misbehaving)       

4. You Could Drive a Person Crazy--Donna McKechnie, Pamela Myers, Susan Browning (Company)

5. You Made Me Love You--Debbie Reynolds (Irene)  

6. Try to Remember--Jerry Orbach (The Fantastics)  

7. Shriner's Dance--Chita Rivera and the American Dance Machine (Bye Bye Birdie)

8. Summer Loving--Barry Bostwick and Carol Demas (Grease)

9. Sleeping Bee--Diahann Carroll (House of Flowers)

10. Never Will I Marry--Anthony Perkins (Greenwillow)

11. All for the Best--Stephen Nathan and David Haskell (Godspell)

12. Mean to Me--Nell Carter (Ain't Misbehaving)

13. I Believe in You--Robert Morse (How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying)

14. Could I Leave You--Alexis Smith (Follies)

15. Charlie's Place--Donna McKechnie, Wayne Cilento, and the American Dance Machine (Over Here)

16. Little One New York--Chita Rivera and the American Dance Machine (Tenderloin)

17. Pretty Woman--Len Cariou (Sweeney Todd)

18. Send in the Clowns--Glynis Johns and Len Cariou (A Little Night Music)

19. Those Were the Good Old Days--Ray Walston (Damn Yankees)

20. They Say It's Wonderful--Ethel Merman (Annie Get Your Gun)

21. Lullaby of Broadway--Jerry Orbach and the entire company