well, That's Show Biz, 07-03-2022 14 Americana

Americana

“Well, That’s Show Biz!”

7-03-2022

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• Welcome to “well, That’s Show Biz!”. I am your host, Jeremy Freedman and each week I showcase music from Broadway, Movies, and Entertainers based on a theme. I also try to add some anecdotes, information, and Commentary. Tomorrow is July 4th, Independence Day, so today’s theme is Americana music based on American history, culture, and ideals.

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• The musical 1776 was a fairly accurate account of the creation of the Declaration of Independence. Although it took creative license over some of the historical facts, the basic details are there. In the song, “The Egg”, while Congress is debating the wording of the Declaration’s draft by Thomas Jefferson, Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and John Adams discuss what they have created. The musical Oklahoma! uses Oklahoma statehood as the backdrop for its love story.  The song, “The Farmer and the Cowman” illustrates one historical aspect of the settling of the American west. This is from the 2019 Revival of Oklahoma!. The Spitfire Grill was an off-Broadway musical based on the movie of the same name about a run down diner in a small Wisconsin town and a woman who decides to restart her life working at the Grill. The show can be seen right now to July 10th at the Savannah Repertory Theater. We will hear "The Colors of Paradise" from The Spitfire Grill.  And finally, The Music Man is a delightful slice of Americana and there may be no musical style showcasing Americana more than that of the barbershop quartet. From the movie version of the musical, The Music Man, we have the barbershop quartet, The Buffalo Bills, and Shirley Jones with the song Lida Rose / Will I Ever Tell You?. And finally in this set, we have the song “America” from the original movie version of West Side Story. We start with “The Egg” from 1776.

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• You are listening to “well, That’s Show Biz!’ and you just heard “The Egg” from 1776, “The Farmer and The Cowman” from Oklahoma, “Lida Rose / Will I Ever Tell You” from The Music Man, and “The colors of Paradise” from The Spitfire Grill as we celebrate Americana.

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• <PSA>

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• We are celebrating America today on “well, That’s Show Biz!” and what is more American than Broadway and the movies.  We have a trio of show biz songs up next.  First up, In the musical 42ns street, the director of a new musicalJulian Marsh, played by Jerry Orbach, tries to convince young newcomer Peggy Sawyer to stay in New York and take over the lead in his show. He lures her with  the terrific “Lullaby of Broadway”. Irving Berlin wrote the classic show business tune, “There’s No Business Like Show Business” for his musical Annie Get Your Gun. We are going to hear from the original cast. And finally, George M. Cohan was a prolific entertainer, playwright, composer, actor, and producer during the first half of the 20th century. George M! was the broadway musical based on his life. We are going to hear Joel Grey as Cohan singing “Give My Regards to Broadway”. Here’s “Lullaby of Broadway” from 42nd Street.

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• <Underwriting>

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• You are listening to “well, That’s Show Biz!” on [station ID]. You just heard "Lullabye of Broadway" from 42nd Street, "There's No Business Like Show Business" from Annie Get Your Gun, and "Give My Regards to Broadway" from George M. Our theme today is Americana in celebration of July 4th. What is more American than teenagers gossiping on the phone. “The Telephone Hour” from the movie version of Bye Bye Birdie clearly demonstrates this phenomenon. Next, Mary Martin as nurse Nellie Forbush, sings how she’s as corny as Kansas in August in the song “A Wonderful Guy” from South Pacific. We will follow that with William Warfield singing about “Ol’ Man River” from the 1951 movie version of Show Boat. And we are going to end this set with the song “Freedom” from Shenandoah, a musical that takes place during the American Civil War. Here’s “The Telephone Hour” from Bye Bye Birdie.

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• <PSA>

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• We are celebrating July 4th today on this Americana themed edition of “well, That’s Show Biz!” and you just heard “The Telephone Hour” from Bye Bye Birdie, “Wonderful Guy” from South Pacific, “Ol’ Man River” from Show Boat, and “Freedom” from Shenandoah.

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• My name is Jeremy Freedman and if you would like to contact me with your theme and song ideas, you can email me at wruushowbiz@gmail.com. And please email the station at wruu.org and tell them how much you enjoy the show.

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• Now for our final set, we already heard Joel Grey as George M. Cohan singing “Give My Regards to Broadway” from the show George M!. But the classic version of Cohan is by James Cagney in his Oscar winning performance as the entertainer in the movie Yankee Doodle Dandy. We are going to hear Cagney and company with the title song, “Yankee Doodle Dandy”. In New England, Summertime clambakes are a truly American treat. From the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Carousel, we are going to hear “This Was a Real Nice Clambake”. Next, it was unsure if the Declaration of Independence would ever get signed as the southern colonies were holding it up over the issue of slavery. William Daniels as John Adams actually predicted how the Declaration would be celebrated through history and sings about it in the song “Is Anybody There?” from 1776. And we are going to conclude with Robert Preston and the original broadway cast of The Music Man singing “Seventy Six Trombones”.  Here’s James Cagney and “Yankee Doodle Dandy”.

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• You just heard James Cagney as George M. Cohan singing “Yankee Doodle Dandy”, The Carousel Ensemble with “This Was a Real Nice Clambake”, William Daniels as John Adams singing “Is Anybody There?” from 1776, and Robert Preston with “Seventy Six Trombones” from The Music Man as we conclude our Americana Celebration. If you would like to email me your theme suggestions write to me, Jeremy Freedman, at wruushowbiz@gmail.com. And if you enjoy the show, write to the station at WRUU.org and send them an email. See you next week.