Profile for Junior Babcock

I saw the original production in tryouts in Boston. (It was trying out at the same time "Mame" was trying out down the street.) My favorite show for many years following. I loved the music, especially Tessie O'Shea, Shanni Wallis, and the comic staging of "Why would anyone want to get married". It had the lush, authentic choral melodies and feel of Wales. Today it lives on my iPod where I listen to it regularly. I find myself waking up singing "What a good day is Saturday" many Saturday morni...

I saw it last night, too. I'm not a theater professional - have seen 200 or so shows on and off B'way, but whatever - I was trendsfixed by the total experience. I was seated in the third row of the orchestra but i felt enveloped in the action as if I were on the stage. Most of the cast were amazingly interactive with the audience, including eye contact and singing directly to - and sitting down beside - many seated in the on-stage and in orchestra seats. The score is mesmerizing and enchantin...

I saw it - for free, with the original cast. The second act, that is. Back in the day when you could mingle with the smokers outside the theatre during intermission and then enter with them and take any vacant set. The night I "second acted" THEYRE PLAYING OUR SONG there was only standing room left. Great second act!

Saw WAITRESS at last Wednesday's matinee. I was not prepared to like this show as much as I did. I was totally immersed in the story. It moves. It is funny/sad/warm/likeable/shocking/engaging, all at the same time. I hope that Broadway audiences will give it a chance. Dakin Matthews in a supporting role is wonderful. Thank you to Diane and A.R.T. for giving birth to a small, wonderful show.

For many years the old clock on the marquee of the Amsterdam Theatre was stopped at 2:53. Can anyone tell me the exact day that the old clocked stopped? And, was it AM or PM? The stopped clock was an iconic image of Forty Second Street before Disneyfication.

1974 revival of "Good News." I know there was a pirated version out there somewhere because I once had the LP. Foolishly sold it when I for rid of my LP's. ??

She was clearly unwell at her last performance - the Wednesday matinee. I am sure that all of us in the audience were just praying that she would be able to make it through to the end of the show. (She is in only a couple of scenes at the very end of the second act.) I can say that she had a big smile on her face at the curtain call and seemed to enjoy being danced around the floor after the finale. I can only think that she must have insisted on going out there on stage Wednesday afternoon e...

George M Cohan has had his name on two theaters already.

OK, here's one. "If it wasn't for Jews, fags and gypsies there would be no theater." True or false? Or some other direct quote from Mel Brooks' "To Be or Not to Be" 1983 film.

APOCALYPTIC VAUDEVILLE, current state ART, Cambridge.

"I never really think the performances on the Tonys are great if you're watching on TV because they are meant to be seen live on stage. I just saw Something Rotten a few days ago, and the performance on the Tonys vs performance in the show...Night and Day difference!!" The same could be said for the Finding Neverland number. The actual scene at ART in Cambridge was mind boggling. On the stage of the RCMH and with television close ups, the whole effect of the scene was lost. There were so many...

A TIME FOR SINGING - Tessie O'Shea HOW NOW, DOW JONES - "Anthony" Roberts and Bernda Vaccaro sing "Live a Little" GOOD NEWS - wonderful score, despite changing he dexDe to the 30's GREY GARDENS - listen to it regularly PRETTYBELLE and DEAR WORLD - both for Angela Lansbury

My favorites, of the ones I saw: COME SUMMER GOOD NEWS (Revival) HER FIRST ROMAN HOME SWEET HOMER REX MOLLY SMILE LATE NITE COMIC MAIL

I am working on a book about the musicals of the 21st century. I am looking for memorable songs that came from an unsuccessful Broadway musical. By that I mean a song that was more than "serviceable," one that might someday be recognized as a musical standard or even one heard at auditions, familiar to a general audience outside of its connection to the show in which it originated. Suggestions?

I think that the MY FAIR LADY London cast was in Stereo, whereas the American cast was Mono. I remember buying the American cast album on 45 RPM then buying the London cast album on LP because it was in Stereophonic Sound.

It seems to me that the dramatic intensity of the tale of "Anastasia" lies in its mystery. Was she or was she not Grand Duchess Anastasia? We now know that NO, she was simply a fraud, or crazy. Anastasia was murdered in 1917 with the rest of her family. When original source material was developed, for the play and movie, that simple fact was not known. Now it is. Mystery over.

It may be hard to believe but THE SOUND OF MUSIC was not thought of too kindly by the New York Times. I seem to remember the reviewer wrote something to the effect that the show was "not only too sweet for words, it was too sweet for music."

Too Damn Hot

For years after it closed there was a sign on the 46th street side of the Edison Hotel announcing OH CALCUTTA.

Allah Be Praised! Opened at the Adelph Theatre, April 20, 1944. Book and lyrics by George Nason, Jr. Music by Baldwin Bergensen, and Don Walker. With Joey Faye, Sid Stone, Jack Albertson and Patricia Morrison. Produced by Alfred Bloomingdales. Directed by Robert G. Gordon and Jack Small. Burlesque musical about a land-lease Persian harem and a U.S. senator's sister who wants to join up. Closed after 20 performances.