The Surprising Greenwillow

As I've mentioned, one of the things that I love is to hear actors singing who you wouldn't expect to sing.  Ever expect it.  And not just making a vanity recording (though those are good), but starring in a Broadway musical.  And we have another one today. 

How's about we add Anthony Perkins to the list.  Yes, the star of Psycho.

This was a very real, very legitimate musical, Greenwillow.  The score was by Frank Loesser, who wrote Guys & Dolls and the Pulitzer Prize-winning How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. The story was quite pastoral, perhaps too pastoral for audiences, even in 1960, since the show only ran 97 performances.

(Fun Side Note:  The musical was directed by George Roy Hill, who went on to direct the films Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting.)

The score of Greenwillow isn't Loesser's best.  (Sorry, I must say it -- lesser Loesser.)  But there are some very nice songs in it, and Anthony Perkins does a surprisingly good job with it, a little shaky but quite solid.  And even hits some impressive notes.  It's worth mentioning that this wasn't even his only musical.  He also starred in an "experimental" musical written for television by, of all people, Stephen Sondheim, Evening Primrose.  (Fun Side Note 2:  years later, Sondheim and Perkins teamed up again to write the enjoyable mystery-thriller movie, The Last of Sheila.  Worth checking out if you haven't seen it.)

So, with all that out of the way now, this is "Never Will I Marry," sung by Anthony Perkins from Greenwillow.  BUT -- as a bonus!

I was going to embed the audio from the original cast recording, but when I went looking for a graphic of the album cover (above), I discovered a video of Anthony Perkins re-creating the same song for a PBS special, Best of Broadway!  It's introduced by Tom Bosley.