Sundays with Sullivan: The February Edstravaganza
- Feb 1
- 3 min read
Once again, we have another compilation of musicals from the 23 years of The Ed Sullivan Show, a remarkable archive of the original casts of Broadway shows that would otherwise be lost. As always, to give full credit, these videos were compiled by Jim Berg.
(I try to post these on the first Sunday of every month. If you miss any, just do a search for the word "Edstravaganza".)
We begin by concluding the video that got cut off at the end of the previous compilation. This Anthony Newley finishing "Nothing Can Stop Me Now," and then going into the hit song "Who Can I Turn To?" from the musical The Roar of the Greasepaint -- The Smell of the Crowd. Worth noting in his performance of the latter is that it makes fully clear that, contrary to all other pop music recordings of the song, it is not a love song sung to a woman, but rather a man at a low point in his life, a bit lost, looking up to heaven for help from God.
Hallelujah, Baby has an odd history. It won the 1968 Tony Award for Best Musical - but when it came time to put on a performance for the Tony Award, they had to get the cast back together, because the show had closed, after 293 performances. In fact, it won five Tony Awards, including Best Actress in a Musical for Leslie Uggams. She sings two songs here, "Being Good" and the title number.
While this clip of Mame is from the original production, it's not the original cast. Rather, it's Jane Morgan who was the third replacement. But the song "It's Today" is an enjoyable one and a lively production number.
Zorba is probably my favorite of the lesser-known Kander & Ebb musicals (who wrote Cabaret and Chicago, among many others). Unfortunately, it was hindered by an unfair problem -- its two leads, Herschel Bernardi and Maria Karnilova starred together on Broadway in Fiddler on the Roof as 'Tevye' and 'Golde." (She was in the original cast, he was the first replacement.) Both shows were written by Joseph Stein. And both shows took place in Eastern Europe. So, Zorba got looked at as if it would be just like Fiddler - and it was not at all. But audience's expectations hurt the show, which had only a fair run of 304 performances. (Interestingly, years later, a revival of the show was done with Anthony Quinn and Lila Kedrova repeating their famous film roles, and the movie's director Michael Cacoyonnis director the stage musical, and Zorba had a very successful tour of the country - where I saw it in Los Angeles -- and a solid return to Broadway.) Here, we get to see the musical's original cast with Herschel Bernardi performing the opening song and an enthusiastic production number.
Husband and wife Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé starred in the musical Golden Rainbow. So, officially they're the "original cast" here - though their appearance is just singing the title song. (The show had a big hit to come out of it for Sammy Davis, Jr., "I Gotta Be Me.")
Promises, Promises, which starred Jerry Orbach, is based on the Billy Wilder classic - and Oscar-winning Best Picture, The Apartment. (It's also the second musical I ever saw actually on Broadway.) The number here, "Turkey Lurkey Time," is a ridiculous song with insipid lyrics and doesn't advance the plot or define character one inch, but it's a lively dance number.
We only see a few seconds from Look to the Lilies before the compilation cuts off. But I've posted it here before - and the next compilation with have the full sequence again.
Comments