well, That's Show Biz, 10-01-2023 2-27 Based on Books

Based on Books

“Well, That’s Show Biz!”

10-01-2023

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• Welcome to “Bwell, That’s Show Biz!”. I am your host, Jeremy Freedman, and each week I bring you music from Broadway, Movies, and Entertainers along with some anecdotes, information, and commentary all based on a theme.

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• October is National Book Month and there have been many shows that have been based on books. Some of those books are famous and some are obscure. For today’s show I have selected songs from shows based on some of the more famous books.

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• We are going to start off with a show based on a novel by Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy’s Progress. We are going to hear “Consider Yourself” from the original production of Oliver!. Ragtime, based on the novel of the same name by E.L.Doctorow, told the story of three groups of people during the early part of the 20th century: African Americans, upper-class suburbanites, and Eastern European immigrants. We are going to hear the song “New Music”. Then, we are going to hear “River in the Rain” from Big River based on Mark Twain’s  Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. And finally, based on Miguel de Cervantes’ epic novel of Don Quixote, we are going to hear “Man of La Mancha (I, Don Quixote)”. Here’s “Consider Yourself” from Oliver!.

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• You just heard “Consider Yourself” from Oliver!, “New Music” from Ragtime, “River in the Rain” from Big River - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and “I, Don Quixote” from Man of La Mancha as we begin National Book Month today on “well, That’s Show Biz!”

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• <PSA>

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• October is National Book Month so our theme today is musicals based on famous books. We are going to open our second set with another show based on a book by Charles Dickens which was not completed during his lifetime. The Mystery Of Edwin Drood allowed the audience to try to figure out what happened to the title character with different ending songs based on the outcome of an audience vote at each performance. Betty Buckley played the youthful lad and we are going to hear her and Howard McGillin sing the song “Two Kinsmen”. Next we will hear from a show based on James Michener’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel Tales of the South Pacific which combined several stories from the book. We are going to hear Ezio Pinza sing “This Nearly Was Mine” from the original production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific. And finally we are going to hear Alan Cumming and company sing the opening song, “Willkommen”, from the 1998 revival of Cabaret which was based on the play I Am a Camera which was adapted from the semi-autobiographical novel, Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood. Here’s “Two Kinsmen” from The Mystery Of Edwin Drood.

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• You just heard “Two Kinsmen” from The Mystery of Edwin Drood, “This Nearly Was Mine” from South Pacific, and “Willkommen” from Cabaret as we celebrate the start of National Book Month on this edition of “well, That’s Show Biz!”.

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• <Underwriting>

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• You are listening to “well, That’s Show Biz!” on [Station ID]

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• October is National Book Month so we are listening to songs from shows based on famous books. Much children’s literature has been turned into musicals so this third set is going to focus on some of them. First up is a show based on L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. We are going to hear Andre DeShields sing “So You Wanted to See the Wizard” from The Wiz. Then from the musical based on Roald Dahl’s book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, we are going to hear “Pure Imagination”. Then, Frances Hodgson Burnett’s novel, The Secret Garden, is one of her favorite novels and is a classic of English children’s literature. We are going to hear “The Girl I Mean to Be”. And finally in this set is another musical based on a Roald Dahl story. We are going to hear “When I Grow Up” from the original production of Matilda the Musical.  Here’s The Wiz.

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• You just heard “So You Wanted to See the Wizard” from The Wiz, “Pure Imagination” from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, “The Girl I Mean to Be” from The Secret Garden, and “When I Grow Up” from Matilda the Musical, all shows based on children’s books.

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• If you would like to assist with a future show, you can send me your theme and song suggestions to wruushowbiz@gmail.com and if you are enjoying today’s show, contact the station at WRUU.org and let them know. Be sure to include your hometown.

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• And now to conclude our celebration of National Book Month,  we are going to start with a musical based on The Once And Future King, about King Arthur and the Knights of The Roundtable by T. H. White. We will hear Richard Burton sing the title song from Camelot. Next, the musical Alice By Heart is inspired by Lewis Carroll’s novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. We will hear “Down the Hole”. Then, based on Voltaire”s satire Candide, we are going to hear Barbara Cook sing one of the most challenging son’s for a soprano, “Glitter and Be Gay”. And finally, from Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables, we will hear “I Dreamed a Dream”.  Here’s Camelot.

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• You just heard the title song from Camelot, “Down the Hole” from Alice By Heart, “Glitter and Be Gay” from Candide, and “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables as we complete our look at musical based on books for National Book Month.

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• If you would like to help out with a future show, send your theme and song suggestions to me at wruushowbiz@gmail.com. And if you enjoyed today’s show, contact the station at WRUU.org and let them know. Please include the town that you are listening from. See you next week.