Lerner & Loewe

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 10/28/04 at 2:02am

I'm in a musical theatre class and I have to do a presentation on Lerner & Loewe.
(My partner's last name is 'Varley' by the way)

Anyway.

If anyone has any esoteric knowledge (*ahem* MargoChanning, Mary_Ethel, magruder, Jose, etc.) on the pair and their work, please pass it along so I can get an A.

[dano]

Posted: 10/28/04 at 10:10am

You may know that Richard Rodgers worked with several lyricists, most famously, Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II. Other lyricists he worked with include Charnin, Sondhiem, Harnick, and even himself.

He attempted to work with Lerner. Rodgers was to do the music for Lerner's "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever". Lerner had such terrible writer's block during this period that Rodgers eventually gave up on him. Burton Lane ended up doing the music.

Hope this helps a bit.

[Matt_G]

Posted: 10/28/04 at 10:26am

What exactly do you need to know about them, Flowery?

[Unknown User]

Posted: 10/28/04 at 10:30am

My favorite story has to do with their creative partnership - which like many was likened to a 'marriage'. Alan Jay Lerner had eight wives (there's a reason he had such romantic notions in his books and lyrics) and Frederick Loewe married once. Similarly, while Alan worked with different composers, Frederick only ever really worked with Alan. It was said that Loewe would patiently wait til Alan was finished with his current 'dalliance' to come back home and write with him.

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 10/28/04 at 10:43am

Thanks guys! Great stuff!


-Matt_G-
We have to do a 30-minute presentation in which we discuss their contribution to musical theatre. We have to each sing a song (or part of a song) from one of their shows, and play 2 additional songs. And we have to write a ten page paper on them.
Basically, any information I can get would be helpful. I've been doing a little reading up, so I know the basics (shows they wrote and whatnot), but the obscure facts can spice things up.

So far, the only things presented have been Minstrelsy and Its Predecessors, Burlesque, Revue, Comic Opera, Opera Bouffe, Operettas, and Vaudeville. I believe today we start getting into some of the composer-based presentations, so hopefully then I'll have a better idea of what we should include.

[WOSQ]

Posted: 10/28/04 at 10:59am

Hie thee hence to the library or some similar establishment to find Alan's book "The Street Where You Live".

Key shows are:
Brigadoon (pretty much an original script)
My Fair Lady (which is as near to perfect as you're going to get period)
Camelot (warts--no pun intended--and all)

Alan was known for witty lyrics full of inner rhymes. Take a look at the done-to-death On the Street Where You Live (which is a lovely song written to cover a scene and costume change!) and marvel at its effortlessness.

Fritz was Viennese and had melody in his veins. Listen to those melodies. Even such throw-aways as I Loved You Once in Silence which I think was written on the road to give Julie Andrews a solo in the second act.

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 10/28/04 at 11:25am

Don't forget Gigi and Paint Your Wagon

I'm having trouble finding an L&L song to sing in my range.
(damn Julie Andrews and her 4 octaves.)
I think I might do a tenor song (like "On the Street Where You Live" ) rather than trying to transpose something and find a pianist.

Updated On: 11/1/04 at 11:25 AM

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 10/28/04 at 11:27am

Despite the inspirational songs Lerner and Loewe wrote like "Get me to the Church" and "What do the Simple Folk Do?” Lerner was NOT a nice man.

Lerner was an egotistical, vain, self-centered man who LOVED control and power.

(In inner theater circles, Loewe was referred to as "The Nice Tall One" and Lerner "The Little Son of a Bitch.")

Although L&L shared an office in Manhattan, Loewe NEVER went there because Lerner DOMINATED the place--always on the phone trying to make deals to keep the L&L name prominent in the public eye.

The situation came to a head in 1947, when BRIGADOON opened. Lerner was so jealous of the accolades Loewe got from the critics regarding his score THAT HE STOPPED SPEAKING TO LOWE ON A PERSONAL LEVEL--he would only discuss business with his partner until Lowe’s death 41 years later.

Lerner didn't exactly mellow with age--when he worked with Charles Strouse on the musical Dance a Little Closer in 1983, he said that one of Strouse’s tunes was sh*t in front of THE ENTIRE COMPANY.

Yep, that was the lyricist of "Wand’rin’ Star "and "Hurry, It’s Lovely Up Here."


Shatters a few illusions, doesn't it? :)

Updated On: 10/28/04 at 11:27 AM

[WOSQ]

Posted: 10/28/04 at 11:47am

Gigi is first and foremost a film. The stage production creaks.

Paint Your Wagon has a good score, but the book sags.

Do "Show Me" from My Fair Lady. Its a helluva fun song to act and sing especially if you use your partner as an 'unsuspecting' prop. In the 60s Lainie Kazan, in her bombshell phase, did Show Me as a slow sexy song filled with innuendo.

Two stories that will not help you one iota with your presentation. Both came to me decades ago from a man that I went to college with whose late father worked for Alan and Fritz in a mangerial capacity.
--Paint Your Wagon's first performance out of town (Philly, I think), the scrim at the top of the show, instead of flying out so the male chorus could come down in one and sing the title song, came down and folded neatly on the floor until the pipe was about 4-6 feet from the floor. The men didn't know what to do so some waited, some crawled under and some went over the pipe. Those who did the last were then cascaded onto the floor when the pipe went up. The orchestra did not stop and while this disaster was going on everybody kept singing.

I have told that show lost 'momentum' at that point and was sort of doomed from then on.

--He was about 6 or 7 and remembers sitting with his father in the old Lamb's Club at lunch while his father tried to talk Alan into doing Gigi on stage first. MGM wanted them and Gigi went to the movies.

[judy_in_disguise]

Posted: 10/28/04 at 12:09pm

The Earth and Other Minor Things from Gigi is pretty, and an easy sing.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 10/28/04 at 12:11pm

If you've got some boom to your voice, you might also want to check out ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER. Great score!

[Plum]

Posted: 10/28/04 at 3:17pm

Silly Sueleen.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/28/04 at 7:31pm

On A Clear Day was another great score totally emasculated when it became a movie like Forum & Molly Brown

This should come back as an Encores offering & than have a full fledged revival

Updated On: 10/28/04 at 07:31 PM

[magruder]

Posted: 10/28/04 at 10:51pm

On a Clear Day has already been performed at Encores! with Kristin Chenoweth as Daisy Gamble. Peter Friedman, Brent Barrett and Roger Bart were also in the cast. Very good score, of course, but it's a pretty slapdash piece of writing.

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 11/1/04 at 8:01pm

*bump*


(sorry about this. but you guys are just so darn helpful. and a way better resource than books.)

[Unknown User]

Posted: 11/1/04 at 8:41pm

~ff~

What exactly is the point(s) of your presentation?

What material are you covering?

How are you presenting it?

Is your presentation oral or written? In either case, what are the limit paramenters?

How much research have you already completed?

When it your presentation due?

The answers to these are helpful to aid in giving you information that suits your purposes.

Many thanks, J.

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 11/1/04 at 10:02pm

J.

This is for a partner presentation for my "Acting for Musical Theatre" class.

Our presentation is both oral and written.

My partner and I have to write a 10-page paper on "Lerner & Loewe". That's the only information we were given. I assume we are to focus on their contributions to musical theatre. We also have to give a 35-minute "multi-media" presentation on them, and provide the class with at least 2 pages worth of handouts. We must each sing a song written by Lerner & Loewe, and play recordings of 2 additional songs from their works.

My partner and I have completed the basic research regarding the musicals they created as a team (and Lerner's side works) and we know a bit of (uninteresting) biographical material.

We are presenting on Thursday, so we have plenty of time to finish up, but frankly our presentation is pretty dry. (and I still don't know what I'm going to sing. I think I'll probably end up doing "On the Street Where You Live", as it's actually in my range and the lyrics aren't tricky.)

Many thanks,
~ff~

[Marc Shaiman]

Posted: 11/1/04 at 10:06pm

how about one of my favorites "I LOVED YOU ONCE IN SILENCE" (from CAMELOT and not too rangy). It's a heart breaker!

[Marc Shaiman]

Posted: 11/1/04 at 10:08pm

or another incredibly moving song "THERE BUT FOR YOU GO I" from Brigadoon. Another 'simple' and not too rangy heart breaker Updated On: 11/1/04 at 10:08 PM

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 11/1/04 at 10:22pm

re: POLisPOL's NEW VIDEO! MY FAIR LADY IN 1mb!
Posted On:7/17/04 at 01:25:45 AM

LOL!
coming soon.... my fair lady with flowery friend as Eliza Dolittle!


Hey Pol... Wanna do me a favor?



Hehe, j/k. But do you still have that video, and may I use it in my presentation? It's "multi-media", you know...

[NYadgal]

Posted: 11/2/04 at 1:00am

...and my all time favorite IF EVER I WOULD LEAVE YOU...

(although it requires a little more range)

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 11/3/04 at 11:42pm

*one last bump before the deadline... really sorry guys... love you all!*