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41.
BROADWAY MELODIES
Mega musicals have so overtaken
Broadway that it's easy to forget that
there was a time not so long ago when
clever lyrics and exquisite tunes, not
mere spectacle, were the requirements
for success.
That fact shines through luminous-
ly in a series of digitally remastered,
original cast recordings from Sony
Classical called "Columbia Broadway
Masterworks." Five have been released
— (Camelot, My Fair Lady, Cabaret,
Kiss Me, Kate and A Chorus Line) —
with others on tap, including Fiddler
on the Roof and Gypsy.
.
Mixed Media
News Reviews.
Cole Porter was among that rare
breed who could write sterling music
as well as witty words. The seductive
embrace of "So in Love," from 1948's
Kiss Me Kate, is alluring, but the
naughty lyrics to "Brush Up Your
Shakespeare" are positively irresistible:
"If she says your behavior is
heinous/Kick her right in the
— Gail Zimmerman
of a crusade — a crusade to raise the
visibility of a critical healthcare issue,"
said Postmaster General Marvin
Runyon.
Levine, 41, attended Temple
Emanu-El, where his parents, Ethel
Levine Krause and the late Dr.
Edward Levine, were founding mem-
bers. A graduate of Berkley High
Coriolanus."
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"Camelot" is just one in a series of digi-
tally remastered Broadway classics. A live
production of "Camelot,' starring Robert
Goulet, comes to the Fox Theatre Sept.
15-20.
All of the composers of these musi-
cals are Jewish, with the exception of
Cole Porter — who was often told by
his fellow musicians that his music
sounded Jewish.
The recordings are sonically
resplendent, but what makes them so
arresting is the perfect marriage
between music, lyrics and plot. And
speaking of strong unions, who could
imagine a more sympathetic alliance
than that shared by composer
Frederick Loewe and lyricist Alan Jay
Lerner?
In "I've Grown Accustomed to Her
Face," from My Fair Lady, Loewe's
music is rueful and fragile, comple-
mented by Lerner's words of tender
astonishment. And in "If Ever I
Would Leave You," from 1960's
Camelot, when Lerner wrote of "lips
red as flame" and "a face with a luster
that puts gold to shame," we realize
that there sometimes is a very thin line
between lyrics and poetry.
7/31
1998
82 Detroit Jewish News
John Kander and Fred Ebb's
Cabaret is most notable for its title
tune, but there are more interesting,
substantial numbers from the 1966
musical, including the marvelous
opening number, "Willkommen." It
captures the carefree mood of Berlin
before the gathering Nazi storm
clouds irrevocably darkened the
atmosphere.
Listening to Joel Grey again
merely underscores the fact that
no one else could have been more
ideal in the role of the emcee.
Cabaret has four bonus demo tracks
that were dropped from the show, and
the My Fair Lady and Kiss Me, Kate
recordings each contain an additional
selection not included on the original
release.
The only disappointment in the
batch is A Chorus Line, which, unac-
countably, was for many years the
most popular musical in Broadway
history. "One" is a rousing Broadway
number, but most of Marvin
Hamlisch's uninspired tunes fall flat,
including the popular but saccharine
1970s anthem to self-absorption,
"What I Did for Love."
— Reviewed by George Bulanda
STAMP ACT
Former Huntington Woods resi-
dent Andy Levine is getting his licks
in. The New York-based freelance
illustrator's first postage stamp will be
released for public sale on Aug. 5.
The stamp features an abstract
computerized drawing of two inter-
twined figures, hands reaching inside
one another and touching each other's
heart. The words "Organ and Tissue
Donation" and "Share your life ..."
appear beneath the image.
"This stamp is meant to be a part
involved a creation for the United
Nations — a stamp honoring the
African country Djibouti. "I was actu-
ally presented with an award from
[legendary entertainer] Danny Kaye
for that one," said Levine.
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Share -yam ..rte.. ,
Andy Levines postage stamp encourages
organ and tissue donation.
School, he studied at the California
College of Arts and Crafts.
The artist's drawing first appeared
in the gallery section of a computer
arts magazine, where it drew
the notice of U.S. Postal
Service officials. Levine
drew the image by hand,
scanned it into the corn-
puter and painted it on
the computer. "It was an
image that could work for
a lot of things," he said.
Ironically, Levine
received a phone call
from the postal service
letting him know his
image had been select-
ed on the day his own
mother was undergo-
ing open heart
surgery.
Levine's only
other experience in
stamp design
MUSICAL MENAGERIE
I suppose it's called "innovative
marketing," this business of selecting a
number of like works and tying them
up into a package. Classical Zoo
(Telarc CD-80443) is a case in point,
and the likeness they share is that all
the pieces are about animals.
The collection — performed by the
Atlanta. Symphony Orchestra under
conductor Yoel Levi — includes
Rossini's overture from The Thieving
Magpie, Respighi's The Birds (conduct-
ed by Louis Lane), Sibelius' The Swan
of Tuonela and Saint-Saens' Carnival of
the Animals.
If you know Carnival well, there's
every chance that you know it com-
bined with the poetry of Ogden Nash.
This disc features a new set of poetry
by Bruce Adolphe.
It is written in words and about
things (TV, for example) that would
be quickly understood by children of
today.
Oh, one more thing. Did you
notice the name of the narrator for
Carnival? Itzhak Perlman.
How does he do? Simply great. He
catches completely the "newness" of
Adolphe's verses. He has a marvelous
reading voice, and he reads as though
he's talking to kids. Kids will love him.
-- King Durkee, Copley News Service
Celebrate the Detroit Zoo's 70th birth-
day this weekend with this animal-
themed CD of classical favorites.