With a Very Little Bit of Luck
In the past, I've posted a bunch of songs from the musical Minnie's Boys, about the life of the Marx. Bros. The score by Hal Hackady and Larry Grossman is very good -- but apparently it had issues with the book and a leading lady who had presence but couldn't sing, and the show flopped. It's had some revivals over the years around the country, though not much, and so anything I've posted has just been audio from the original cast recording. (That said, one song, "Mama, A Rainbow" was a bit of a breakout hit, and has had many recordings and videos.)
One of my favorite songs comes late in the show, when the boys' act trying to make it in vaudeville has hit hard times, and they sing a number called "Where Was I When They Passed Out Luck." Before the show opened on Broadway in 1970, I recall seeing the four actors playing the Marx Bros. on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, where they sang the song, and it was wonderful. I believe that Groucho may have been a guest that night -- and one of the things he said about the show was that the actor playing him, Lewis J. Stadlen was "even better playing me than me." (It's worth adding that Stadlen went on to have a long career, including playing 'Max Bialystock' on Broadway as a replacement in The Producers, the original Broadway production of Neil Simon's Laughter on the 23rd Floor, and a recurring role on The Sopranos as 'Dr. Fried')
It's a great performance on the cast album, but unfortunately I can't find that Tonight Show appearance. However, I do have video of the song done in a revival of sorts.
In 2003, there was a concert reading of the musical, directed by Walter Willison (who was in the Richard Rogers-Martin Charnin musical starring Danny Kaye, Two by Two).
Since they're not in costume, it helps to know which character is singing though it will probably be clear from their individual verses. But for the record, the order performed is Groucho, Zeppo, Harpo and Chico. (As you watch them in the video, from left to right that's -- Stephen Brockway [Chico], James Donegan [Zeppo], Gary Littman [Groucho], and Jamison Stern [Harpo].
Though the original cast from Broadway is stronger for my taste, this is still an extremely good performance. I only have one quibble with one small change. In the original, near the end of the song -- as each brother has a short repeat response to their earlier verse -- Harpo sings a sarcastic, "Ha-ha ha." But in this version, the director gave that line to all the brothers. I think it has more impact when Harpo gets to sing his line alone.
That aside, it's great to see video of the show, even in a concert rendition. And with such a good performance.
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