well, That's Show Biz, 05-26-2024 3-8 Memorial Day

Memorial Day

“Well, That’s Show Biz!”

05-26-2024

• You are listening to [station ID].

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• 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 along with some anecdotes, information, and commentary all based on a theme.

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• Tomorrow is Memorial Day and this is the first time I have used Memorial Day as a theme. For today’s show, we will hear songs associated with war. Some will be sad and moving but some will also be satiric and irreverent. Those songs are not meant to dishonor those who fought and died protecting our freedoms. But rather to honor their sacrifice by hoping that no one else should have to risk their lives to protect our freedoms.

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• We are going to start off with Ben Vereen and the original Broadway cast of Pippin singing “Glory”. Then, in the film For The Boys, Bette Midler plays fictional actress and singer Dixie Leonard through the years who entertains American troops with her comedy partner, Eddie Sparks, played by James Caan. We are going to hear her singing the Beatles tune “In My Life” for the troops in Vietnam. And we will conclude with the sailors from South Pacific singing “There Is Nothin’ Like a Dame”. This version is from the Carnegie Hall South Pacific Concert and you will hear Alex Baldwin as Luther Billis and Reba McEntire as Nellie Forbush. Here’s “Glory” from Pippin.

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• You just heard “Glory” from Pippin, “In My Life” from the movie For The Boys, and “There Is Nothin’ Like a Dame” from South Pacific as we celebrate Memorial Day today on “well, That’s Show Biz!”.

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• <PSA>

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• Our theme today is Memorial Day, which is tomorrow, and we will open our 2nd set with “Do Not Fight the Storm” from the Broadway cast album of Allegiance. Allegiance features and tells the story of actor George Takei’s family who were forced to live in an internment camp during World War II. Then we will hear the satirical song from Tom Lehrer, “We Will All Go Together When We Go”. And we will conclude this set with John Savage singing “Where Do I Go?” from the film version of Hair.  Here’s “Do Not Fight the Storm” from Allegiance.

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• Our theme today is Memorial Day and you just heard the songs “Do Not Fight the Storm” from Allegiance, Tom Lehrer’s satirical “We Will All Go Together When We Go”, and “Where Do I Go?” from Hair.

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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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• Tomorrow is Memorial Day and we are playing songs from shows associated with war and remembrance. First up in this set, we have “War Is a Science” from the 2013 revival of Pippin. Next we are going back to South Pacific as Lt. Cable and Ens. Nellie Forbush sing about “My Girl Back Home”. This is from the film version. Then another satirical song from Tom Lehrer, “So Long, Mom”. And we will end the set with John Cullum singing “Meditation” from Shenandoah, a show that takes place during The Civil War. Here’s “War Is a Science” from Pippin.

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• You just heard “War Is a Science” from Pippin, “My Girl Back Home” from South Pacific, Tom Lehrer’s satirical “So Long, Mom”, and “Meditation” from Shenandoah as we listen to songs for Memorial Day today.

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• <Other Show Promo>

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• <Donation Copy>

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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 are enjoying today’s show, contact the station at WRUU.org and let them know.

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• We’ve been listening to songs for Memorial Day today, and we have heard songs based on shows about war. For this next set, we are going to start off with “Momma Look Sharp” from the musical 1776 about the writing of the Declaration of Independence. In this song, a soldier describes what it was like for mothers to go to the battlefields looking for their sons who had fallen in the battle. And we will close this set with “The Flesh Failures / Let the Sun Shine In” from Hair. but don’t go anywhere as we have one last performance after this set.  Here’s “Momma Look Sharp” from 1776.

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• You just heard “Momma Look Sharp” from 1776 and “Flesh Failures” from Hair.

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• And now to close out the show, Judy Garland was close friends with President John F. Kennedy. At the time of his assassination, she had a television show on CBS. Even though she was in mourning, CBS insisted that she still do the show. She wanted to sing The Battle Hymn Of The Republic in honor of the President. CBS told her not to sing it and that in a few weeks people will have completely forgotten about Kennedy. She sang the song anyway, saying “This is for you Jack”. Although CBS edited out that dedication when the show aired, they left the song in and television history was made. Here’s Judy Garland with “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”.

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• You just heard Judy Garland with “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” in honor of President John F. Kennedy. And that concludes our Memorial Day show.

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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. And don’t forget to tell your friends to join us every Sunday at 1pm on [Station ID] or streaming on-line at WRUU.org. See you next week.