ALW's song and dance ?

You can never count Mr. Webber out when it comes to revivals of his works, even if the work isn't especially acclaimed.

If he wants it, it'll happen. Maybe not right away, but eventually.

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Wouldn't you have been about 4 when it was on B'way?

There is an updated version that played Washington DC (with Alice Ripley) and in London with Denise van Outen

I wish Alice had recorded it as it would have been awesome

There are so many woman who I would love to hear perform this:

Audra McDonald would be AMAZING

and I have to admit I think Linda Eder would be pretty good at it too... but then again I love Linda.

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Didn't Charlotte do it also?

And I have to say that would be creapy if her brother did the dance and she did the song... lol lol

But they have updated it a bit....

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Nope. Miss d'Amboise was only in the dance ensemble, along with her brother, Chris. Denise Faye/Pasqual was also in the dance ensemble, as was Scott Wise, Cynthia Onrubia and the late Gregory Mitchell.

Miss d'Amboise's first 'acting' role was playing Chris in CARRIE two years later in 1988. Before that...she was only in dance ensembles.

Maureen Moore was Bernadette's standby, by the way.

Updated On: 10/26/07 at 12:24 PM

Is there a connection between the musical SONG & DANCE and the motion picture SLAVES OF NEW YORK? In both properties Bernadette plays an aspiring hat designer.

Having seen SONG & DANCE on Broadway first, I was actually surprised when Bernadette's character Eleanor in SLAVES OF NEW YORK was also a hat designer. Odd and peculiar and delicious.

I believe that Bernadette left SONG & DANCE early to film SLAVES OF NEW YORK.

And to answer your original question, morosco -- nope, there is no connection between the 2 projects.

The recording of Sarah Brightman singing the song "Tell Me On A Sunday" that you really ought to hear is the one she did in 1995 for her "Surrender" album. Full orchestra, and she absolutely NAILS the "Don't run off in the pouring rain..." lines. That recording is what got me into Tell Me/Song & Dance. I have most of the recordings available, even one in German by Gitte Haenning, and I'm actually thinking about putting together a fansite.

The cast recording of "Song & Dance" with Brightman was just re-issued on CD this past summer. The Really Useful Group outdid themselves with the packaging. They kept the original artwork from the LP release, and even added a libretto booklet that has the "Song" lyrics. Each page has a different graphic that sort of goes along with the song. There's a map of Manhattan, NYC skylines, palm trees, subway stations, an American flag, and my favorite... a "park that's covered in trees" for the song "Tell Me On A Sunday" to name a few.

My only problem is that while everything else is in brilliant color, the inside of the booklet is in black and white and would be stunning to see in color. It just looks out of place.

I'm hoping that since they took the time to do such a nice job on the CD re-issue, they'll get around to re-issuing the video on DVD. Keep your fingers crossed!

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Updated On: 10/26/07 at 08:29 PM

I'd like them to take Act 1 (or Tell Me) and produce it off-Broadway. Perhaps at the Lortel. I think it playing in the Village would be cool.

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BrodyFosse,

I think you are confusing two of Bernadette's projects. She left Into the Woods early to film Slaves of New York. This is why she was not in ITW at Tony time and it is suggested this also contributed to her not being nominated. Peters came into the show late and only signed on for 6 months because she was already scheduled to do Slaves. This all happened in 1989. Song and Dance was 1985-1986. Bernadette left Sunday in the Park With George at the end of her contract to start rehearsals for Song and Dance. But then she was in Song and Dance for a year.

Well, Encores! doesn't do that kind of concert, though that is something that sounds great for an Actor's Fund Benefit performance a la FUNNY GIRL.
It is not the kind of show Encores! would do, it is also rather recent for them, but I just think seeing Jane Krakowski (who has already been part of an Encores! before) doing the show for only a handful of performances (I doubt her voice would survive an eight-days/week long run) would be heavenly.

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Just to clarify, the "updated" version that played London with Denise Van Outen and the DC version are only the first act of Song and Dance, entitled Tell Me on a Sunday (also the title of the newest recording featuring Van Outen). The second act of Song and Dance features only dancing (with a tiny bit of chorus singing in the finale), entitled Variations, and is rarely ever performed. The music incorporates Webber's own variations on a theme of Paganini mixed with variations on themes introduced in Tell Me on a Sunday. There are a few recordings of Variations released on classical labels, the best of which I think is the London Philharmonic.
Variations and Aurora

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