The Musical Congress

For some reason, I'm just in a "Congress Mood" today.

A song popped into mind, so I thought I'd post it here.  It's from the musical, The Rothschilds, written by Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock, who wrote Fiddler on the Roof.  The song is titled -- "Have You Ever Seen a Prettier Little Congress."

To be fair, it has nothing to do with the U.S. Congress.  Rather the story takes place in Europe, during the time of Napoleon.  However, surprisingly, there actually are a few overlaps with today, most notably a passage which caught my attention, being a reference that hearkens to our current "echo chamber" where ditthoeads get their marching orders from what passes as news and repeat it all back as fact, without thought or any personal attempt at insight.

The singer here is Keene Curtis, who won the Tony Award as Best Supporting Actor for playing a series of different characters in the show, repeatedly showing up as various antagonists.  You would most recognize him from Cheeers, when he joined the cast late in a semi-recurring role as John Allen Hill, the completely bald-headed owner of the restaurant above the bar.