Neil Posted December 6, 2014 Report Share Posted December 6, 2014 (I always try to add a new comment to an existing thread instead of starting a new one. I can't believe we don't have a thread specifically for "Wildy") I listened to the entire Wildcat album in the car on a road trip. Always been one of my favorites. I collected Original Broadway Cast albums (and later CDs of course). My favorite era is mid- 50s to about 1966 when Broadway started to go a different direction (downhill IMO). What impressed me this time abound about Wildcat is the wonderful fidelity of the sound. RCA and Columbia were the two main OBC issuers. RCA had just come up with "Living Stereo" and for a time, had quality over Columbia. I think Wildcat is the best-sounding album of a Broadway show up to that time. (I'm talking about quality/fidelity). Secondly the orchestrations are absolutely superb, made all the more exciting by the "Living Stereo" recording. I usually skip past the non-Lucy numbers, but "Corduroy Road" is really a great number. Orchestration of note: the repeated horn blasts between the phrases that begin with "Corduroy Road, the highway to hell"....."the whiskey is rotten and so is the smell...". I'm not sure what a Corduroy Road was, however, and why they're singing about it. And in 1912 in a small town in New Mexico, just what do yo do with the oil after you drill a gusher? Reading the liner notes of the plot as a kid, I thought it was possible they killed off Wildcat at the end because (paraphrasing) "Joe is desperate to get Wildcat off the soon to explode derrick and confesses that he loves her. Just then, the derrick explodes and blows in a gusher." They didn't actually say Wildcat got off the derrick before it exploded! The one thing Wildcat lacks is a good "11:00 number" for Lucy. My interest in the songs descends (slightly) as the show goes on. Though "What Takes My Fancy" is out of order, being a close 2nd favorite after "HLMO". WTMF is why Broadway musicals were invented. The orchestration adds to the excitement. I believe Wildcat is the only show with an overture that retains a number ultimately cut from the show, the title tune. Published scores for productions kept it in and both songs were permanently deleted. Don't know why "Wildcat" wasn't re-inserted. If the cut was made to lighten Lucy's workload, why not have the townspeople sing it TO her. For the record, "That's What I Want" was cut first and then "Wildcat": I would have guessed the opposite. They were both gone by New Years 1961. Am thankful they both made the OBC recording Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryCarter Posted December 8, 2014 Report Share Posted December 8, 2014 I didn't realize that "That's What I Want for Janie" was cut before the "Wildcat" number. Although "That's What I Want" is Lucy's only number that's a complete solo, it seems like the less vocally taxing and I can't imagine there being any difficult choreography for this number. I think this number is Lucy's best vocally on the cast recording. "That's What I Want for Janie" is a very important song for the show. Musicals typically have a "want" song for the main character and this is a good one because it shows that Wildcat's motivation is to help Janie. The semi-staged production of Wildcat I saw a few years ago got permission to include "That's What I Want for Janie," but did not include the title number. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irene Kampen Tripp Posted December 8, 2014 Report Share Posted December 8, 2014 Wildcat and Want for Janie were cut?? Why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvsbway Posted December 8, 2014 Report Share Posted December 8, 2014 I know one was to lighten Lucy’s singing load. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Posted December 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2014 I'll check my notes but I'm pretty sure I'm right in that "Janie" was cut before "Wildcat". (Looked through Playbills). Always thought the "Janie" cut was strange too for the same reason. There's a perfect place in Act 2 for a tearful reprise of "Janie". Everyone is mad at her or deserted her. In the production I saw, Wildcat is on stage for the entire "Tall Hope" but is doing nothing. (Why not let Lucy rest off stage?). However since she's part of the stage action, it would have been effective to have her do the "Overhead, the stars are....." (forgot rest of lyrics) counterpoint melody adjusted to her key with the men singing the main melody. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted December 9, 2014 Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 I'll check my notes but I'm pretty sure I'm right in that "Janie" was cut before "Wildcat". (Looked through Playbills). Always thought the "Janie" cut was strange too for the same reason. There's a perfect place in Act 2 for a tearful reprise of "Janie". Everyone is mad at her or deserted her. In the production I saw, Wildcat is on stage for the entire "Tall Hope" but is doing nothing. (Why not let Lucy rest off stage?). However since she's part of the stage action, it would have been effective to have her do the "Overhead, the stars are....." (forgot rest of lyrics) counterpoint melody adjusted to her key with the men singing the main melody. You're a regular David Merrick, aren't ya? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeySanJoaquin Posted December 9, 2014 Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 You're a regular David Merrick, aren't ya? Well...not a regular one but he'll do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Posted November 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2015 On 60 minutes last night they had a feature on the new Broadway musical smash "Hamilton" with a score that is hip-hop and rap. ****SIGH**** Is this the Broadway music of the future? Are the rousing entire-company brassy show-stopping musical numbers a thing of the past? Why couldn't "Hamilton"'s title song be like "Wildcat"? "Who's the face on the ten-dollar bill? ALEX (chorus)" ZANDER HAM'LTON! Who's the guy Aaron Burr wants to kill? ALEX ZANDER HAM'LTON!!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvsbway Posted November 9, 2015 Report Share Posted November 9, 2015 I think it has less to do with the music but a muti-ethnic cast and telling an old story in a brand new way. I've heard a few songs and can't make out much, but I hate rap. Alligence is much more a Bway show then On Your Feet is just a big jukebox show with a bit more plot than most. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freddie2 Posted November 9, 2015 Report Share Posted November 9, 2015 I set my standards far too high going into Hamilton. Frankly, I don't get it either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvsbway Posted November 10, 2015 Report Share Posted November 10, 2015 From what I'm reading on the Bway boards you have some campers in your group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeySanJoaquin Posted November 10, 2015 Report Share Posted November 10, 2015 Well...maybe "Hazel" will turn things around! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Posted November 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2015 Well...maybe "Hazel" will turn things around! With a singing/dancing Don Defore and a chorus line of chunky, middle-aged maids high kicking to the title tune, how could it miss? On the 60 minutes piece, the composer/lyricist/star was talking about his painstaking efforts to write intricate rhymes within the raps of "Hamilton". Well, fine.....but if the presentation of "Hamilton" is like other shows I've seen recently, the singers are so over-amplified that you can't really hear the words. The production I saw of "Rent" was particularly hard to understand. And with most rap, the words are spit out so rapidly that you can tell there's an internal rhyme (or more likely NEAR rhyme) and maybe it's clever but as a whole incomprehensible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Posted April 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 Here's the way ya spell it, chum B-U-X-O-UM-UM-UM I apologize for the misogyny....but would Mamie have it any other way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted April 15, 2016 Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 With Frank Lovejoy croaking less than three months later, I think the real action might be at Paint Your Wagon. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Posted April 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 i especially like the line in the ad "in Lucille Ball's fun hit" I mean you never saw "Dorothy LaMour in Carol Channing's fun hit "Hello Dolly"" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mot Morenzi Posted April 15, 2016 Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 Here's the way ya spell it, chum B-U-X-O-UM-UM-UM I apologize for the misogyny....but would Mamie have it any other way? Everything about this cracks me up; from the "air-conditioned" Meadowbrook Dinner Theatre to Mamie being sold by Lucy's name. Thanks for sharing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Posted April 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 And the price! Dinner show and dancing "From" $5.95! I assume that includes dinner. And dancing? Do they get audience participation for the El Sombrero number? I didn't know they were using "from" in ads that far back. The same person who invented "from" must have also invented "co-pay" (which begat the one that really gets under my skin: "co-insurnace"). When you think of it, "from $5.95" makes no sense grammatically, yet we all know what it means: You ain't-a gettin' much of a meal for $5.95, probably stale bread sticks left over from the "lunch show". Martha Raye, Gale Storm, Peggy Cass, Dorothy Loudon: so MANY women did Wildcat but Mamie is the youngest one I've head of. "It isn't her lips.....it sure ain't her hips"......Mamie's Wildy: it's somewhere in between. I don't know if other "flop" shows had this much after-Broadway life. Pretty impressive that it's still a draw over a year after it closed. Lotus, I want you to do a little research down under. There was an Australian production mounted but I don't know who the star was. Since Carole Cook did the official Aussie tour of "Hello Dolly", maybe Mary Wickes did Wildcat. Carole toured Australia for a YEAR in 'Dolly'! How many big cities are there in Australia? (I was sick the day my geography class covered Australia). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mot Morenzi Posted April 15, 2016 Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 Lotus, I want you to do a little research down under. There was an Australian production mounted but I don't know who the star was. Since Carole Cook did the official Aussie tour of "Hello Dolly", maybe Mary Wickes did Wildcat. Carole toured Australia for a YEAR in 'Dolly'! How many big cities are there in Australia? (I was sick the day my geography class covered Australia). Max was able to uncover some information. It launched in Australia in 1963, produced by Garnet H. Carroll. Toni Lamond starred and Gordon Boyd played Joe Dynamite. You can find some info on this website: https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/17391 I haven't checked out Helly, Dolly specifically, but the major cities theatre productions tend to tour are Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Hobart and Adelaide. New Zealand cities like Auckland are often included on these tours, and more famous titles tend to move on to Asia as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryCarter Posted April 15, 2016 Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 Max was able to uncover some information. It launched in Australia in 1963, produced by Garnet H. Carroll. Toni Lamond starred and Gordon Boyd played Joe Dynamite. You can find some info on this website: https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/17391 Very interesting! Thanks! Toni Lamond is the sister of Helen Reddy and the mother of current Broadway star Tony Sheldon. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mot Morenzi Posted April 15, 2016 Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 Max just made an incredible discovery: Sadly, it doesn't appear anything ever came of this. Live stage recordings were extremely rare in those days. If it was recorded, it never received a commercial release, and will probably remained locked in a vault for some time. Most Australian cast recordings that were released on LP have never even been re-released. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeySanJoaquin Posted April 16, 2016 Report Share Posted April 16, 2016 Max just made an incredible discovery: Sadly, it doesn't appear anything ever came of this. Live stage recordings were extremely rare in those days. If it was recorded, it never received a commercial release, and will probably remained locked in a vault for some time. Most Australian cast recordings that were released on LP have never even been re-released. Cool Brian! Thanks Max! So Brian do you have any used record stores or Goodwill-type thrift stores over there to look for this possibly-released, long out of print gem?? Ya never know what'll turn up in places like that, you know?? Start digging!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mot Morenzi Posted April 16, 2016 Report Share Posted April 16, 2016 Cool Brian! Thanks Max! So Brian do you have any used record stores or Goodwill-type thrift stores over there to look for this possibly-released, long out of print gem?? Ya never know what'll turn up in places like that, you know?? Start digging!! I'm sure I can find a vintage music store somewhere in the city, absolutely, but this title definitely never got released (probably never even recorded). Max was able to check the EMI catalogue's archive and there wasn't a trace of it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesiluGower Posted May 1, 2016 Report Share Posted May 1, 2016 I found an LP copy in excellent condition, cover and everything. It would look awesome framed. I almost keeled over when I was flipping thru albums in an antique shop a few days ago. I thought I would never find a copy. So excited 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeySanJoaquin Posted May 2, 2016 Report Share Posted May 2, 2016 I found an LP copy in excellent condition, cover and everything. It would look awesome framed. I almost keeled over when I was flipping thru albums in an antique shop a few days ago. I thought I would never find a copy. So excited Congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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