Sundays with Sullivan: The June Edstravaganza
- Jun 7
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 22
And once again, we have performances of Broadway musicals that were happily archived on 23 years of the Ed Sullivan Show – many, if not most of them that would have been otherwise lost. As I’ve noted, all the compilations in this 12-part series were put together by Jim Berg. And for now, unless I come across more, this is our second-to-last collection.
We open with a continuation from the end of last month's compilation of Cyril Ritchard doing another number with some clever lyrics that zip by very fast from, this time I’m sure (after being slightly uncertain last month), a made-for-TV musical, Aladdin – with a score by Broadway legend Cole Porter.
Next, we have edited excerpts from the famous, long sequence from Camelot, all in full costume, that Sullivan did as part of a tribute to Lerner & Lowe, which I believe I’ve posted before. With the box-office just fair after moderate reviews, the morning after this long performance, there were lines around the block at the theater where Camelot was playing. This starts with Robert Goulet singing his signature number from Camelot, “If Ever I Would Leave You.” And then Richard Burton as ‘King Arthur’ explains to Julie Andrews how he became King Arthur. This is followed by the two of them in mid-performance of “What Do the Simple Folk Do?”
From a later episode, we again get Robert Goulet singing “If Ever I Would Leave You,” this time though without costume, but in a nice business suit.
Next up is a wonderful treat. It’s Chita Rivera performing her famous “Spanish Rose” number from Bye Bye Birdie with full choreography. (For those who only know the song from the movie, the set-up for the number is completely different for this performance, done solo without any other “drunken lodge” cast members and somewhat different lyrics.)
This is followed by a wonderful, semi-oddity. From Meredith Willson’s The Unsinkable Molly Brown, we get to see Tammy Grimes with what is my favorite number from show the show, the great anthem, “I Ain’t Down Yet.” What's semi-odd is that the introduction to the number is nothing from the show, the arrangement is more “jazzy,” and she’s not in costume. But it’s a joy, nonetheless, and great to have a record of her performance.
And we end the compilation with one of those Sullivan treasures – a very long sequence from a lesser-known Broadway hit whose original performances would otherwise be lost. This is the first part of what is (in full) a remarkable 26-minute excerpt from the 1960 musical Do Re Mi starring Phil Silvers and Nancy Walker, with music and lyrics by Jule Styne and Comden & Green. (In fact, it’s the first 26 minutes of the show!) The show ran for a year, 400 performances, and the score includes the breakout hit, “Make Someone Happy” -- which is not in this collection, but we did post cast member Nancy Dussault singing it in an earlier compilation – as well as the comedy classic “Adventure,” and one of Broadway’s most famous “11 o’clock numbers”, the soul-bearing “All of My Life.” (In 1999, the Encores! organization did a limited-run, concert revival with Nathan Lane in the lead.) This collection here is the opening eight minutes of the show, with a minute into the next scene before the video gets cut off. But we’ll have the remaining 18 minutes in the next compilation.
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