A virtual world tour, in two parts.
PLAYLIST
| Selection |
Source |
Performer(s) |
Comments |
| Barcelona |
Company (OC 1970) |
Dean Jones, Susan Browning |
Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Perennial bachelor Bobby finds himself, for a moment, on the brink of a commitment with stewardess April, who must leave on a flight for Barcelona and other points Spanish. The moment passes. |
| Chapultapec
|
A Bag of Popcorn and a Dream (1998) |
Lucie Arnaz |
From an as-yet-unproduced revue by Robert Wright and George Forrest. The song dates from 1943 when Chapultapec Park actually was “three miles out of Mexico City”. |
| In Old Mexico
|
An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer (1959) |
Tom Lehrer |
A tribute to that “magic and romantic land south of the border”. |
| My Beloved Buenos Aries
|
Marcelo Alvarez Sings Gardel (2000) |
Marcelo Alvarez, Carlos Gardel |
Via the miracle of digital technology, the great Argentinean tango singer and composer Carlos Gardel sings a duet with Argentinean tenor Marcelo Alvarez, who wasn’t even a glimmer in had daddy’s eye when Gardel died. Gardel’s contribution was recorded in 1934 (a year before his death), Alvarez’s in 1999. |
| Buenos Aires
|
Evita (OC 1979) |
Patti Lupone, Mandy Patinkin, Company |
Evita has plans to take Buenos Aires by storm. Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Tim Rice. |
| A Foggy Day
|
Let’s Face the Music (1994) |
Fred Astaire |
From the film A Damsel in Distress (1937) which oddly paired Astaire with the non-singing, non-dancing Joan Fontaine. The score is by the Gershwin brothers. |
| London Pride
|
I’ll See You Again (1994) |
Noel Coward, Orchestra conducted by Carroll Gibbons |
Recorded in June, 1941, this is an example of Coward’s quiet patriotism. |
| I’m In London Again
|
Baker Street (OC 1965) |
Inga Swenson, Company |
Irene Adler (“the woman” to Sherlock Holmes) makes a triumphant return to the London stage. Music and lyrics for this "musical adventure of Sherlock Holmes" are by Marian Grudeff and Rayomond Jessel. |
| No Place Like London
|
Sweeney Todd (OC 1979) |
Len Cariou, Victor Garber, Merle Louise |
Music and lyrics by Sondheim. Young Anthony is glad to be back in London; Sweeney Todd has a different perspective. |
| How Are Things in Glocca Mora?
|
Finian’s Rainbow (OC 1947) |
Ella Logan |
Sharon McLonergan longs for her Irish home. Unfortunately, she and her father Finian have immigrated to the USA and find themselves in the state of “Missitucky”. Music for this fable is by Burton Lane, lyrics by E.Y. "Yip" Harburg. |
| Ballyshannon
|
Emily Skinner (2000) |
Emily Skinner, Alice Ripley |
From James Joyce’s The Dead (1999), music by Shaun Davey, book and lyrics by Richard Nelson; yet another nostalgic song about home. Ripley and Skinner were in the original cast. |
| I Love Paris
|
Can-Can (OC 1953) |
Lilo, Company |
The classic valentine to The City of Light, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. Lilo was the star of Can-Can, but the show-stopping Apache dance number of Gwen Verdon (in her first major Broadway role) got most of the attention. |
| You’re in Paris
|
Ben Franklin in Paris (OC 1964) |
Susan Watson, Franklin Kiser, Company |
Janine tries to get Temple Franklin (Ben’s grandson) to shed his inhibitions. Despite some star power (Robert Preston as Franklin), the show lasted only 215 performances; the music is by Mark Sandrich, Jr. and lyrics by Sidney Michaels. |
| Ah, Paree
|
Follies (Concert cast, 1985) |
Solange |
Originally mounted in 1971, Follies is Stephen Sondheim’s tribute to and requiem for the classic musicals of the mid-20th century. This is from an all-star concert version presented at Avery Fisher Hall in New York on September 6 and 7, 1985. It was later broadcast on PBS. |
| Paree
|
Follies, Scandals and Other Diversions (1977) |
Beatrice Lillie |
Recorded 10/31/1935; music by Arthur Schwartz, lyrics by Howard Dietz, from the revue At Home Abroad (1935). As a Parisian grisette, Lillie has some fun at the expense of the sort of song to which Sondheim pays tribute in “Ah. Paree”. |
| Normandy
|
Once Upon a Mattress (Revival cast 1996) |
Jane Krakowski, David Hibbard, Lawrence Clayton, Heath Lamberts |
Music by Mary Rogers (daughter of Richard), lyrics by Marshall Barer. Lady Larkin is determined to run away after a quarrel with Sir Harry. The Jester, the King and the Minstrel offer to smuggle her out to the idyllic-sounding Normandy. This revival starred Sarah Jessica Parker as Princess Winnifred, a role created by Carol Burnett in the original. |
