And for a Significant Anniversary … By Peter Filichia
I was racking my brains in trying to find the perfect gift for Princeton and Kate Monster’s 20th wedding anniversary.
Princeton, you may recall, proposed to Kate Monster on June 6, 2004, the night that AVENUE Q won Tonys for Best Musical, Best Book and Best Score.
Oh, the two weren’t in attendance at Radio City Music Hall. Tickets to the Tonys were too expensive for a guy with a mere B.A. in English and a young woman who was just getting by on her kindergarten teacher’s salary. So, they watched at home.
However, their lives changed after Nathan Lane announced that AVENUE Q had beaten another musical set in a mythical place. It was enough for Princeton to immediately jump up from the couch and say, “Kate, will you marry me?”
She said “Yes!” with the speed of summer lightning.
So, they married on November 10, 2004, in honor of the 35th anniversary of the debut of one of their favorite TV shows: Sesame Street.
By then, the musical’s nine producers had unanimously agreed that Princeton should train all the puppets for the thousands upon thousands of AVENUE Q productions that have since played on many avenues, streets and boulevards. The exposure from the prize-winning musical also helped to make Kate’s Monstersori School a monster success.
Not bad for a couple that had never even seen a Broadway musical during their poverty-stricken days. But ever since they’ve been in the money – even possessing enough dollars to see Broadway shows (imagine!) – they’ve become rabid fans. So, I knew I should get them something Broadway-centric for their Big Day.
The problem was that according to the Internet, the traditional gift for the 20th anniversary is china, and the modern is platinum.
Okay, I could acknowledge china by giving them the soundtrack to ALADDIN, for that Cole Porter TV musical takes place in that country. The nifty opening song, “Come to the Supermarket in Old Peking” makes that clear.
That platinum was an option didn’t help. Yes, there was a 1978 musical called PLATINUM, but the 33-performance outing couldn’t land a cast album. Although it took place in an “environmental recording studio in Hollywood,” it was no STEREOPHONIC.
Of course, there have been some cast albums that have gone platinum – meaning that they’ve sold upwards of a million copies. But I’m sure that Princeton and Kate Monster already have ANNIE, A CHORUS LINE, MY FAIR LADY and all the others.
And besides, an album or two would seem a measly and all-too-perfunctory gift.
Finally, I smote my head as hard as Arthur Laurents did when Stephen Sondheim asked him, “Who’s doing the lyrics for WEST SIDE STORY?” The perfect anniversary present would be a new, Broadway-centric version of the Mix Tape that was Princeton’s first-ever gift to Kate Monster.
(That meant finding a cassette recorder and a cassette. Well, that’s what eBay is for, and the site came through.)
AVENUE Q fans will recall that Kate Monster was hoping that Princeton’s Mix Tape would be his subtle way of saying that he was romantically interested in her. How deflated she was when she saw that the first three songs merely mentioned friends.
As a way of referencing that, I’m choosing the title song from THE BOY FRIEND, for that’s what Princeton quickly became. Add to that “Old Friends” from MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG, because long-married couples should remain friends. My third choice is “Friends” from SHUCKED, in which two pals admit they’ve had issues, but they will get past them during this song. Nice that the last word is “forever,” which is apt, because AVENUE Q will be around for that length of time.
Princeton next picked a song that at that point only came from movie: “A Whole New World” from ALADDIN (a very different one from the one that Cole Porter wrote). I’m substituting “Beautiful, Beautiful World,” a Bock and Harnick song sung in Eden by an appreciative Adam – that guy to whom we’re all very distantly related.
Taking the place of “My Cherie Amour” – the song that really gave Kate hope – will be “Bonjour, Amour” from GRAND HOTEL. It will not be the only time Maury Yeston will be represented on this tape.
(Here’s betting that you already know what other Yeston work will show up.)
Thinking of a substitute for “I Am the Walrus” wasn’t easy, for no Broadway song mentions that marine mammal or any other. But concentrating on the first two words instead of the animal nicely solved the problem. Cole Porter again came to my rescue with a title which we hope is apt for each member of a long-married couple: “I Am Loved.” (It comes from his underrated OUT OF THIS WORLD.)
“Fat Bottomed Girls” would hardly include Kate, who’s admirably kept her figure these last 20 years. And besides, Kate has long aged out of being called a girl. (Hey, we’re all getting older, and she is, too.)
So, while I could include “How Do You Do, Middle Age?” from THE GIRL WHO CAME TO SUPPER, I’m going with “Woman,” the song added to the 1983 revival of ZORBA. Its cast album is, in fact, the only one on which you can hear this song. Despite its title that indicates the singular, it celebrates all members of the female sex.
Princeton chose “Yellow Submarine,” so I’ll stay in the nautical with “On the S.S. Bernard Cohn,” the showstopper from ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER. If you’ve been denied seeing Barbara Harris because she was stingy with her stage appearances, at least aurally witness what made her so great.
My Side B will have “Stick Around” from ALMOST FAMOUS replacing “Stuck on You.” Instead of “Love Me Do,” let’s have “You Must Love Me” from EVITA. Yes, it was a movie song first, but it is included in the 2012 revival cast album.
And here’s that Maury Yeston reference you’ve been waiting for. Although Kate did like the song from the TITANIC film, here’s betting that once she heard even one song from Yeston’s Tony-winning score, she’ll appreciate his work substantially more. So, I must get on that tape “I Must Get on That Ship.”
“Yesterday” is gone, but ROBERTA’s “Yesterdays” is a fine replacement. Notice that its title, unlike its predecessor, is plural. Yeah, Broadway often gives you a little more – which has turned out to be a bit of a problem. Musical theater songs are usually longer than pop songs, so I am just about out of tape and can’t include any of the other songs to replace Princeton’s original choices.
However, I was glad that I had just enough tape for one more song. Supplanting “Kiss the Girl” was another Cole Porter song, which was the perfect one from his biggest hit.
“Kiss Me, Kate.”
Peter Filichia can be heard most weeks of the year on www.broadwayradio.com. His new day-by-day wall calendar – A SHOW TUNE FOR TODAY – 366 Songs to Brighten Your Year – will be released on October 15, but it is now available for pre-order on Amazon.
