well, That's Show Biz, 09-11-2022 24 Lerner & Loewe

Lerner & Loewe

“Well, That’s Show Biz!”

9-11-2022

• You are listening to [station ID]

• 
  

• <Underwriting>

• 
  

• Welcome to “well, That’s Show Biz!”. I am your host, Jeremy Freedman and each week I bring you music from Broadway, Movies, and Entertainers with some anecdotes, information, and commentary thrown in. Today’s show is all about the collaboration between lyricist Alan J. Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe. 

• 
  

• As a duo, their collaboration spanned the years 1942 to 1960 and then 1970-1972 with the creation of 9 musicals. After a chance meeting at a club in New York City, the two quickly worked on two musicals that flopped, Life of The Party and What’s Up?. Their third show, The Day Before Spring, got favorable reviews and lasted about a year.

• 
  

• But it was their fourth show in 1947 that hit it big.  Brigadoon is the story of two American tourists from New York City who stumble upon the magical village of Brigadoon while on a hunting expedition to the Scottish Highlands. The village of Brigadoon only appears for a day every 100 years. Since opening in 1947, Brigadoon has had many revivals and a film version starring Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse. In 1957, a studio cast recording came out with Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy. Here from that album are the opening numbers, “Brigadoon / Vendor’s Calls / Down On MacCannachy Square” as the lifting fog reveals a new day in Brigadoon. We will follow that with “I’ll Go Home with Bonnie Jean” from the 2017 New York City Center cast recording. And we will conclude this set with Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy singing “Almost Like Being in Love”.  Here’s “Brigadoon”.

• 
  

• We are looking at the collaborations of Lerner & Loewe on “well, That’s Show Biz!” and you just heard the title song to “Brigadoon”, “Down on MacCannachy Square”, I’ll Go Home With Bonnie Jean”, and “Almost Like Being in Love” from their first hit show Brigadoon.

• 
  

• Their next show, Paint Your Wagon, opened in 1951 to mixed reviews although it was still successful and led to a movie version in 1969 with additional songs by Andre Previn with permission by Frederick Loewe who had retired. The musical takes place during the California Gold Rush with the movie having a very different plot. We are going to hear two songs from the 2015 New York City Center Encores! Production, “I’m On My Way” and “They Call the Wind Maria”.

• 
  

• You just heard “I’m On My Way” and “They Call the Wind Maria” from Lerner & Loewe’s Paint Your Wagon

• 
  

• We are looking at the collaborations of Lerner & Loewe today on “well, That’s Show Biz!”. In 1956, Lerner & Loewe had their greatest musical success with a play based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion. My Fair Lady starred a young Julie Andrews as Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle and Rex Harrison as Professor Henry Higgins who, on a dare, takes on a mission to refine Eliza so she may pass as a lady. My Fair Lady set the record for the longest run of any Broadway Musical up to that time. Here’s Julie Andrews and Company from the original cast recording with “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” as we meet Eliza for the first time. We will follow that with Norman Leo Butz as Eliza’s father from the 2018 revival singing “With a Little Bit of Luck”.

• 
  

• <Underwriting>

• 
  

• Continuing with Lerner & Loewe’s greatest collaboration, My Fair Lady, we are going to hear “Hymn to Him” from the 2018 revival followed by the original Henry Higgins, Rex Harrison, singing “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face” as he realizes he has fallen in love with Eliza who has left him.

• 
  

• From Lerner & Loewe’s greatest collaboration, My Fair Lady, you just heard “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly”, “With a Little Bit of Luck”, “Hymn to Him”, and “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face” as we examine their works on “well, That’s Show Biz!” on [station ID].

• 
  

• In 1958, Lerner & Loewe collaborated on the film Gigi. The first preview was a disaster so they rewrote it and re-shot it using their own money and that version went on to win 9 Academy Awards, the most for a film up to that time. From Gigi, here is Maurice Chevalier with “Thank Heaven For Little Girls” and then with Hermione Gingold singing “I Remember It Well”.

• 
  

• <PSA>

• 
  

• You just heard “Thank Heaven For Little Girls” and “I Remember It Well” from Gigi as we look at the collaborations of Lerner & Loewe on this edition of “well, That’s Show Biz!”. If you would like to help the show with theme suggestions, you can email me, Jeremy Freedman, at wruushowbiz@gmail.com. And if you enjoy the show, please contact the station at WRUU.org and tell them.

• 
  

• In 1960, Lerner & Loewe created the musical Camelot based On T.H. White’s novel The Once And Future King about King Arthur, his Queen Guenevere, and her romance with Sir Lancelot. Loewe had previously said that this would be his last show before his retirement. From the original production, we are going to hear Richard Burton as King Arthur sing the title song “Camelot” and then Robert Goulet as Lancelot sing “If Ever I Would Leave You”. Then we will hear the song “Guenevere” from the movie soundtrack as Guenevere is sentenced to death for adultery and Arthur hopes that Lancelot will show up to rescue her. Here’s “Camelot”.

• 
  

• You just heard the title song of “Camelot”, “If Ever I Would Leave You”, and “Guenevere” from Lerner & Loewe’s final stage production Camelot. But that was not the end of their collaboration. In 1974, Frederick Loewe came out of retirement to join Alan J. Lerner in writing the score for the movie version of the classic children’s novella The Little Prince. The movie was not successful but here is Richard Kiley from the movie singing the beautiful and moving title song, “Little Prince”.

• 
  

• You just heard “Little Prince” from Lerner & Loewe’s final collaboration The Little Prince. If you would like to contribute to future shows, you can send me theme suggestions to wruushowbiz@gmail.com. And please tell the station at WRUU.org how much you enjoyed today’s show.