What are Your Favorite Rodgers & Hammerstein Lesser Known Songs?- Page 4

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 11/18/15 at 7:12pm

fashionguru, I have a copy of the published libretto of NO STRINGS, but have no way to scan it for you.

 

Trust me, you aren't missing a thing. I find it so dull as to be nearly unreadable. No wonder they put the musicians on stage! They needed to use it for something!

 

The gimmick of the show (in addition to the lack of strings) is that the interracial nature of the relationship between the leads is never mentioned. So what to talk about instead? Apparently, nobody figured that out.

 

That being said, I rather like the album. Richard Kiley and Diahann Carroll were wonderful singers.

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 11/18/15 at 7:35pm

jv92, I never thought about the Sondheim-Lapine fusion in that light. That is incredibly beautiful and filled with serendipity at its finest. It reminds me of the plot of "Once," only with less romantic tension. I hope such good fortune will come my way!

[H.Higgins]

Posted: 12/12/15 at 8:30pm

Is there a recording of the Encores "Music in the Air" production?

[Tom5]

Posted: 12/12/15 at 8:41pm

Rodgers wrote both the music and lyrics for "I Have Confidence" for the film version of The Sound Of Music after Hammerstein died. It was (of course) an excellent creation, but not quite of the same quality as the rest  of the score. I found that the entire score of his later "Do I Hear A Waltz" to be of equal quality to "I Have Confidence" and which I very much enjoyed, but not quite on a par with his great works. One of the big problems with that musical is the book was incredibly dull and Sondheim later complained that he was dissatisfied with his own lyrics for it for that reason. But it was still, in my opinion, an excellent Rodger's score and likely his last noteworthy one.

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 12/13/15 at 1:52am

The only Letter to the Editor of a newspaper I ever wrote was on the occasion of Rodger's death. He died on December 30, 1979 and his death, coming right before New Year's Eve, seemed to me to draw very little of the attention that it deserved.

 

Then about two days later I read a column on Rodgers by Ellen Goodman, the female columnist for the Boston Globe who was syndicated to Long Island Newsday. To me, that column completely damned him with faint praise and revealed how shallow she was.

 

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19800104&id=Cj1PAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jQIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6371,3207808&hl=en

 

Looking back at it now, it doesn't seem so awful, although I must remind myself that she didn't write the headline and that the column doesn't really support the headline. I probably went near ballistic over the unfavorable comparison to John Lennon. The two are not comparable. Lennon was a poet who put his singular lyrics into a lot of fair to forgettable melodies and some very memorable non-melodic vehicles such as "Strawberry Fields" and "The Walrus." I don't think that he was interested in melodies much and found good old rock and roll to be plenty enough. Two of my favorite Lennon songs are his rocking cover of Chuck Berry's "Rock and Roll Music" and the later "Ballad of John and Yoko."

 

But consider the number of different vocalists who have performed and/or recorded different Rodgers' songs. Thousands or tens of thousands. Lennon's songs are listened to lots but covered rarely. 

 

And this: "Some Enchanted Evening" will never go into the annals of great classics. "The King and I" is not "Aida." Rodgers was a workaday artist and he knew it.

 

Read. Discuss. 

 

Thousands of artists will be singing and recording "Some Enchanted Evening" a hundred years from now. "Bali Ha'i" is an amazing and complex work. Aside from the small number of opera lovers, who knows anything about Aida? An aria or two.

 

I think the fundamental flaw in the column is the thesis that Rodgers was not a great artist, as evidenced by the fact that composing was a lot of hard work for Rodgers, with the implication that great artists don't crack a sweat. In most cases, very untrue.

 

My letter was not, of course, published. Just as well.

 

 

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 12/13/15 at 11:53am

Ol blue eyes

Rodgers was a genius and this column does not do justice

the ny times came through much better:

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0628.html

[broadwaybabywannabe2]

Posted: 12/14/15 at 9:56am

the score i really sing a lot to myself to get through the day is FLOWER DRUM SONG...and the two songs i love the most..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAMxCNn_ZmY...'A HUNDRED MILLION MIRALCES"...and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fbsdflbTT8 "YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL"...enjoy these film versions

Posted: 12/14/15 at 11:23am

It Might as Well Be Spring

Don't Marry Me

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 12/20/15 at 12:36am

It's amazing how an individual performer and arrangement can totally transform how you connect with a song.

That performer for me last week was  laura Osnes, who absolutely owns all things rodgers and hammerstein and anything else she wants to sing....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNQqKP-zk

"If I loved you" Carousel- i never heard this song truly until this version by her and steven Pasquale

this version of Carousel must have been incredible.......

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 12/27/15 at 1:57am

I love this board!

thank you posters for turning me on to Pipe Dreams Encores 2012 recording...

just listened all the way through (2x)....Laura Osnes, Will Chase, Leslie Uggams and some fantastic orchestrations make for a really lively and thoroughly entertaining score with very memorable standouts songs and performances...WOW!

My favorite songs include:

Everybodys got a home but me

Sweet Thursday

The Man I used to be

All at Once you love her

Will You Marry Me

The Next time it happens

Are ALL FIRST RATE R&H songs at a level with some of their very best

 

 

[The Other One]

Posted: 12/27/15 at 7:19am

I prefer the OBCR of PIPE DREAM in many ways, although nearly all of the songs are heard in edited form, but the Encores production was a gem I will always be grateful to have seen.  My only complaint about the recording is that the gorgeous Spanish intro to "All At Once You Love Her" was not included.

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 12/27/15 at 10:29am

thanks The Other One

Ive never heard the obcr, and will check out the spanish intro and rest of the recording

How was Laura Osnes live in Pipe Dream??? Ive become enthalled with her voice and performances!

[The Other One]

Posted: 12/27/15 at 12:55pm

You are welcome!

 

The OBCR is heavily edited.  The Spanish intro to All At Once You Love Her and the additional verses to many other songs, particularly Suzy Is A Good Thing, came as wonderful surprises when I heard them sung at Encores.  The 1955 cast has a more operatic/legit sound than any cast you will hear today, including the Encores cast of Pipe Dream.

 

I am going to link some of the original cast's versions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN8WNSosWIA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwQpUMW1-6A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKzm1dnIL_E

 

Laura is one of contemporary Broadway's greatest singing actresses and sounded beautiful live.  Her voice is lighter and airier than Judy Tyler's, the original Suzy, but it's a matter of opinion which one you prefer.  I think Judy's huskier sound worked better for a character who had been around the block, so to speak, but as I said Laura sang beautifully and they are both wonderful.

 

By the way, broadwaysfguy, the original cast did a few numbers on the Ed Sullivan show during the run of the show on Broadway.  You might be able to see them in action if you search around for it.  The episode is available on DVD and also features the cast of I Love Lucy.

Updated On: 12/27/15 at 12:55 PM

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 12/27/15 at 1:53pm

thanks other one

i think thats why i love the encores and other newer revivals because the more operatic versions from the 40s and 50s dont connect as well for me!

[JayG 2]

Posted: 12/27/15 at 2:14pm

Next Time It Happens

No Strings

Love Look Away

Moon in My Window

Thank You So much

[JayG 2]

Posted: 12/27/15 at 2:16pm

One more; Like  a God

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 12/27/15 at 2:52pm

Little known fact: Julie Andrews was up for the role of Suzy originally but went into MY FAIR LADY instead.

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 12/28/15 at 1:50am

I heard Julie tell that story. She auditioned for Richard Rodgers (Don't know what role) and afterwards he went up to her and took her aside and asked her if she had auditioned for any other roles. She said yes, she had auditioned for the role of Eliza in My Fair Lady. Rodgers told her  that if she was offered the role of Eliza then she should take it, otherwise he thought that he would be able to use her.

 

Recently I found a recent interview with Barbara Cook concerning her performances in Rodgers and Hammerstein shows. She had played most of the major roles, but had not initiated any. She spoke of Rodgers with respect and admiration. She might have been holding back, but, based on the rest of the interview, it doesn't seem like she holds back very much.

 

http://www.nycitycenter.org/Home/Blog/October-2014/Barbara-Cook-Interview

 

Laura Osnes was perfectly cast as the Princess in Cinderella. She has been the Princess of Broadway for the last seven or so years. Young and pretty, with a sweet soprano, and always radiating warmth and good cheer. I missed her in South Pacific when she twice took over for Kelli O'Hara. Succeeding in that role must have been very good for her confidence, if it needed any boosting.

 

I saw her in Anything Goes, where her duet with Colin Donnell of Cole Porter's "It's Delovely" was a highlight second only to the tap extravaganza that ended the first act. On Youtube the two of them sing the duet in a couple of different venues. I also saw her in the October, 2014 City Center gala singing "It Might As Well Be Spring" and "The Lady is a Tramp." Also at City Center she was in the extended Encores theatricalization of the 1950s MGM musical The Band Wagon, which had starred Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse with screenplay by Comden and Green. It introduced "That's Entertainment" and re-introduced from an old Broadway revue "Dancing in the Dark."

 

Here is Laura with Brian Stokes Mitchell and Tony Sheldon doing the well-known comic "Triplets" number from The Band Wagon"

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYz1hVTs-rY

 

It was thought that this two week Encores presentation was looking for a transfer to Broadway. If so, although a lot of fun, it didn't get the notices for Broadway. I was surprised when Laura was cast as Julie in Carousel because I just couldn't imagine her being as tragic as Julie had to be.

 

I am awfully verbose.

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 12/28/15 at 1:54am

hi JayG 2 welcome to the board...looking just for rodgers and hammerstein on this thread...

Next time it happens is a great song from Pipe dream...great choice!

Like A God from Flower drum interesting song...

others while great songs were rodgers only after hammersteins death

No strings from no strings was rodgers only

Moon in my Window and Thank you so much both

from do i hear a waltz also rodgers only/sondheim

 

 

[jbomb]

Posted: 12/28/15 at 3:22am

"How Can Love Survive" from THE SOUND OF MUSIC and "Come Home" from ALLEGRO are my two favorites.   I believe that Rodgers continued to write beautiful melodies after Hammerstein passed.  Listen to "Elizabeth" from REX and "You Could Not Please Me More" from I REMEMBER MAMA and hear the evidence.

 

[ducdebrabant]

Posted: 12/28/15 at 11:23am

My favorite is "Boys and Girls Like You and Me"-- cut from OKLAHOMA.  I agree with others who like "So Far" a great deal, and with the fans of "You Are Beautiful."  I would also add "When the Children Aree Asleep" from CAROUSEL.  I can't believe some of the songs some of us are calling "lesser known," though.  "It Might as Well Be Spring"?  Seriously?

Updated On: 12/28/15 at 11:23 AM

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 12/28/15 at 11:35am

hi ducdebrabant

thanks for your share

Boys and Girls like You and Me has been a favorite of mine as well.

I was used to judy garlands version but recently stumbled across Frank's

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCv8vZTfzUM

A great many of the posters are younger and/or havent had broad exposure to Rodgers & Hammerstein so I see these threads as educational and understand that "Lesser known" means something different to different people based on how much of a classic musical fan they may be....

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 12/28/15 at 7:46pm

Wow, just got around to listening the R & H gem "So Far"  with Donna Mckecknie

from the 1996 state fair cast recording...outstanding and heres the link!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=timiQU9vpzo

 

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 12/28/15 at 7:52pm

ol blue eyes

thanks for the background and stories (i like them)

Laura Osnes definitely rocks