well, That's Show Biz, 06-30-2024 3-13 Fan Favorites 3
Fan Favorites 3
“Well, That’s Show Biz!”
06-30-2024
You are listening to [Station ID].
Welcome to “well, That’s Show Biz!”. I am your host, Jeremy Freedman, and this is the show that brings you music from Broadway, Movies, and Entertainers along with some anecdotes, information, and commentary all based on a theme.
I asked fans to send me their lists of favorite musicals and I would tailor a show around their lists. This is the third show of this kind which I call Fan Favorites.
The first show on their list was inspired by William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. It was originally supposed to be set in the Lower East Side of Manhattan and feature a Jewish family and an Irish Catholic family during the Easter/Passover season. Eventually, the setting changed to the Upper West Side and dueling gangs, The Sharks and The Jets. From the 1961 film version of West Side Story, we are going to hear “America” and then “Somewhere”. Here’s Fan Favorite West Side Story.
You just heard “America” and “Somewhere” from Fan Favorite West Side Story.
The next show on their favorites list is one that Stephen Sondheim called a story of revenge. Sondheim envisioned it as “a small horror piece”. His frequent collaborator, Harold Prince, was at first uninterested, feeling it was a simple melodrama and not very experimental structurally. However, he soon decided that the show, Sweeney Todd, was actually a metaphor for the Industrial Revolution. Sondheim accepted Prince’s grand large-scale vision knowing that small-scale productions could be done at any time. From Fan Favorite, Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, we will hear “The Worst Pies In London” and “My Friends”.
You just heard “The Worst Pies In London” and “My Friends” from Fan Favorite musical, Sweeney Todd.
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Fans have sent me their list of Favorite Musicals and I have tailored this show around their list. The third show on their list is a musical based on the short stories, “The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown” and “Blood Pressure” both by Damon Runyon. The musical concerned gangsters, gamblers, and all sorts of characters from the New York underground. From Fan Favorite, Guys and Dolls, we are going to hear the title song and “Luck Be a Lady”. Here’s Guys and Dolls.
You just heard the title song and “Luck Be a Lady” from Fan Favorite musical Guys and Dolls.
Before we get to our next break, their fourth Fan Favorite musical is not really a musical per se. It is a 1967 comedy movie with music. The film is about a theatrical producer con man and his accountant who devise a scheme to create the worst possible stage musical, declare a tax loss but keep their investor’s money. Writer and director Mel Brooks would later expand the movie into a hit Broadway Musical in 2001. From the original Film version of The Producers, we are going to hear “Springtime For Hitler” followed by “Prisoners of Love”.
You just heard “Springtime For Hitler” and “Prisoners of Love” from the original film version of Mel Brooks’ The Producers as we listen to Fan Favorites today on “well, That’s Show Biz!”.
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You are listening to “well, That’s Show Biz!” on [Station ID].
I asked fans to send me their lists of Favorite Musicals and I would tailor a show around those musicals. This is the third of those shows which I call Fan Favorites.
The next musical on their list was adapted from T. H. White’s 1958 novel, The Once And Future King and became associated with President John F. Kennedy. The musical about the love triangle between King Arthur, Queen Guenevere, and Sir Lancelot was a favorite of Kennedy’s especially the title sons’s closing lyrics. From the Fan Favorite musical, Camelot, we are going to hear Julie Andrews sing “I Loved You Once In Silence” from the original production and Richard Harris with the Finale from the 1982 London Revival. Here’s Fan Favorite, Camelot.
You just heard “I Loved You Once in Silence” and the “Finale” from Fan Favorite musical, Camelot.
The final two shows on their list are their personal favorites. This next Fan Favorite also happens to be mine. This 1965 musical was adapted from a teleplay, I, Don Quixote which was inspired by the life of author Miguel de Cervantes and his novel Don Quixote about an elderly Spanish gentleman who has lost his mind and thinks he is a knight determined to fight giants and wizards and defend fair virgins. We are going to hear the “Barber’s Song / Golden Helmet” from the original 1965 production. Then we will hear Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio sing “Aldonza” and Brian Stokes Mitchell sing “The Impossible Dream” both from the 2002 Broadway revival. Here is Fan Favorite and mine, Man of La Mancha.
You just heard “Barber’s Song / Golden Helmet”, “Aldonza, and “The Impossible Dream” from the Fan Favorite musical Man Of La Mancha.
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If you would like to help out with a future Fan Favorites show, send me your list of 5-10 of your favorite musicals, stage or film, to wruushowbiz@gmail.com. And if you are enjoying today’s show, contact the station at WRUU.org and let them know.
The first show on their Fan Favorites list, West Side Story, has something in common with this last show. Leonard Bernstein wrote the music for West Side Story at the same time he was writing the score to another musical which was based on Voltaire's 1759 novella Candide. And in fact some of the melodies were exchanged between the two shows. The original Candide was a failure but ultimately a redone script for a later revival proved successful. We are going to hear “The Best of All Possible Worlds” and the Finale “Make Our Garden Grow” from the original production. You may want to crank up the volume to the Finale. Here is Fan Favorite musical, Candide.
You just heard “The Best of All Possible Worlds” and “Make Our Garden Grow” from Fan Favorite musical, Candide.
And that concludes our 3rd Fan Favorites show.
If you would like to hear a show tailored around your favorite musicals, send me your list of 5 - 10 favorite stage or film musicals to 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 each Sunday for “well, That’s Show Biz!” at 1pm EDT on {Station ID} or streaming on-line at WRUU.org. See you next week.
- 1:00pm WRUU-FM by Live
- 1:01pm America by Rita Moreno, George Chakiris & West Side Story Chorus on West Side Story (1961 Motion Picture Soundtrack) [50th Anniversary] (Sony Music Entertainment)
- 1:06pm Somewhere by Jim Bryant & Marni Nixon on West Side Story (1961 Motion Picture Soundtrack) [50th Anniversary] (Sony Music Entertainment)
- 1:09pm The Worst Pies in London by Angela Lansbury on Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Original Broadway Cast) (BMG Music)
- 1:11pm My Friends by Len Cariou & Angela Lansbury on Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Original Broadway Cast) (BMG Music)
- 1:15pm Guys and Dolls (Remastered 2000) by Stubby Kaye & Johnny Silver on Guys & Dolls (Remastered) [Bonus Tracks] (The Verve Music Group)
- 1:18pm Luck Be a Lady by Guys and Dolls Ensemble (1992) & Peter Gallagher on Guys and Dolls (New Broadway Cast Recording (1992)) (BMG Music)
- 1:22pm Springtime For Hitler - (From 'the Producers') by John Morris & Mel Brooks on There's No Business Like Show Business (BMG Entertainment)
- 1:26pm Prisoners of Love - (From 'the Producers') by John Morris on There's No Business Like Show Business (BMG Entertainment)
- 1:31pm I Loved You Once in Silence by Julie Andrews on Camelot (Original 1960 Broadway Cast Recording) (SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT)
- 1:34pm Finale Act Two by Company, Darren Rheault, Richard Harris & Robin Bailey on Camelot (1982 London Revival Cast) (JAY Productions Ltd.)
- 1:39pm Barber's Song / Golden Helmet (Man Of La Mancha/1965 Original Broadway Cast/Remastered 2000) by Irving Jacobson, Gino Conforti, Richard Kiley & The Muleteers on Man of La Mancha (The Verve Music Group)
- 1:42pm Aldonza by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio & Brian Stokes Mitchell on Man of La Mancha (New Broadway Cast Recording (2002)) (BMG)
- 1:45pm The Impossible Dream (The Quest) by Brian Stokes Mitchell on Man of La Mancha (New Broadway Cast Recording (2002)) (BMG)
- 1:51pm The Best of All Possible Worlds by Max Adrian, Barbara Cook, Robert Rounseville & Candide Ensemble on Candide (Original Broadway Cast Recording) (Sony Music Entertainment Inc.)
- 1:54pm Make Our Garden Grow by Robert Rounseville, Barbara Cook & Candide Ensemble on Candide (Original Broadway Cast Recording) (Sony Music Entertainment)