A SWEET SUCCESS
Bless John Simpkins for giving Sweet Smell of Success another chance. The gifted director, who also teaches at NYU, staged a revival of the 2002 musical on campus two years ago. On Sept. 12, with Marvin Hamlisch being inducted in the NYU Hall of Fame, Simpkins felt that another revival of his 2002 musical was […]
Coward, The Lion of Musical Theater
The original cast album of Cowardy Custard is a must for the very young and the very old. The two-disc set of the 1972 London revue features selections and snippets from more than five dozen songs and sketches by Sir Noel Coward (1899-1973). The songs are mostly arranged as medleys, which allow a listener a […]
Second-Acting Show Music
F. Scott Fitzgerald famously said that “There are no second acts in American lives.” For many of us, there are no second acts when we listen to original cast albums. We get up in the morning and put on a favorite recording. Chances are that if it’s from The Golden Age, we’ll hear a rousing […]
Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy – in Happier Times
As of June 25, 2013, the world was divided into two parts. One part consisted of people who couldn’t wait to read Shirley Jones: A Memoir. They wanted to know everything the actress was willing to tell about her adventures with sex, drugs and musical comedy. Until the book’s publication, they’d always assumed that Jones’ […]
Global Forgiveness Day on Record
Some of you may have noticed that I did a column on August’s minor holidays the first and second weeks of the month – but haven’t done one since. Why? I took a holiday. But here we are with the final minor holiday of the month. Perhaps it should be a major one. August 27: […]
