Wrong Note Rag

Wonderful Town (CD 1999)

Kim Criswell, Audra McDonald, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group cond. by Sir Simon Rattle

From a recording of the complete score of this overlooked Leonard Bernstein gem from 1953. Lyrics are by the husband and wife team of Betty Comden and Adolph Green.

Serenade

The Student Prince (LP 1963)

Jan Peerce, Giogio Tozzi, Chorus and Orchestra conducted by Franz Allers

From a recording of selections from the Sigmund Romberg - Dorothy Donelly operetta The Student Prince of Heidelberg (1924) which bucked the then-popular trend for fast-moving, up-to-date musical comedies by running for 608 performances. It has been revived twice and filmed twice, and remains a popular piece.

Carried Away

On the Town (CD 1961)

Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Orchestra cond. by Leonard Bernstein

From a studio re-creation of the of the 1944 original with members of the original cast, which included Comden and Green, who wrote the book and lyrics. Comden played Claire de Loon, a normally reserved woman who, as the song says, sometimes gets "Carried Away".

Hook's Waltz

Peter Pan (OC 1954)

Cyril Ritchard

Given that a total of seven composers and lyricists put this together, it's surprising what a hit it has become - due largely to the 1955 broadcast of the show on NBC. This song was written by Broadway veteran Jule Styne with lyrics by Comden and Green

I Won't Grow Up

Peter Pan (OC 1998)

Cathy Rigby

From the most recent revival, which played the Fox a few months ago. Music by Mark Charlap, lyrics by Carolyn Leigh

Shy

Once Upon a Mattress (OC 1959)

Carol Burnett, Joe Bova, and Ensemble

Premiered May 1959, directed by George Abbott. Book by Jay Thompson, Marshall Barer & Dean Fuller; music by Mary Rogers; lyrics by Marshall Barer. Mary Rogers was Richard Rogers’s daughter; she went on to write a 1977 musical for Walt Disney, based on her children’s book Freaky Friday, with Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster playing a mother and daughter who switch bodies for a day.

Happily Ever After

Out on Broadway (OC 1996)

Quenten Schumacher

Originally from Once Upon a Mattress. This performance puts a gay spin on it.

Rookie in the Ring

My Favorite Year (OC 1992)

Lanie Kazan (reprising her role from the film as Belle Steinberg Carroca, Benjy’s mom from Brooklyn)

One of the most unusual love songs you’ll ever hear. Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, music by Stephen Flaherty, and book by Joseph Dougherty. This 1992 musical is based on the 1982 film comedy starring Peter O’Toole and directed by Richard Benjamin

Liner notes: When My Favorite Year opened on December 10, 1992, it was the first new American musical to be presented at the Vivian Beaumont Theater by Lincoln Center Theater, and the third show by Ahrens and Flaherty to be produced in five years (the other were Lucky Stiff and Once on this Island, which both premiered at Playwrights Horizons in NYC).

Buffalo Nickel Photoplay, Inc.

Ragtime (OC 1998)

Peter Friedman

The Flaherty and Ahrens hit from 1998. Tateh, the Jewish immigrant, explains how he parlayed his ability to create "moving picture books" into a fortune.

If My Friends Could See Me Now

Sweet Charity (OC 1966)

Gwen Verdon

Music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields (1905 - 1974), daughter of comedian Lew Fields of the famed vaudeville team Weber and Fields. She wrote lyrics and books for many Broadway shows, but Sweet Charity is probably her biggest hit. She also wrote lyrics for many memorable Hollywood musicals in the 1930s.

Big Spender

Fosse (OC 1999)

Company

Originally from Sweet Charity. Fosse (which opens a one-week run at the Fox on 3/21) is a musical revue based on the choreography of Bob Fosse. The dances were re-created by Chet Walker and Ann Reinking with Gwen Verdon as Artistic Advisor.