An Evening With Ethel Merman (BBC--1965)

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An Evening With Ethel Merman (BBC--1965)

Posted: 8/1/13 at 10:27pm

Have you got 55 minutes to spend to with Ethel Merman in her prime?

An Evening With Ethel Merman (BBC--1965)

Then spend it here. Merman's 1965 appearance at London's Talk of the Town, televised on the BBC.

Song list:

1. Overture
2. I'm Just a Lady With a Song
3. I Got Rhythm
4. This Is It
5. A Lot of Livin' to Do
6. That Old Feeling
7. Introduction
8. Doin' What Comes Natur'lly
9. Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries
10. You're the Top
11. Anything Goes
12. Small World
13. Everything's Coming Up Roses
14. Gee, But It's Good to Be Here
15. I Get a Kick Out of You
16. Alexander's Ragtime Band
17. They Say It's Wonderful
18. Make It Another Old-Fashioned, Please
19. Eadie Was a Lady
20. I Got Lost in His Arms/They Say It's Wonderful
21. Blow, Gabriel, Blow
22. There's No Business Like Show Business

.

An Evening With Ethel Merman (BBC--1965)

Updated On: 8/1/13 at 10:27 PM

An Evening With Ethel Merman (BBC--1965)

Posted: 8/1/13 at 10:33pm

What kind of man would I be if I didn't...

This sounds like a dream, thanks for posting

An Evening With Ethel Merman (BBC--1965)

Posted: 8/1/13 at 10:34pm

In her autobiography, modestly entitled "MERMAN," she quotes the esteemed cultural critic Kenneth Tynan's Sunday Observer review of her Talk of the Town appearance:

Style is the effortless projection of substance, the hammer that releases the chime, the seamless blending of instrument with purpose; and Merman, with her background of classic shows written for her by Gershwin, Cole Porter and Irving Berlin, is the strutting incarnation of style in American musicals....

Miss Merman celebrates herself and us; sans pathos or rabble-rousing. The big room rocks to her; we rise to her indomitable simplicity and wonder, as our palms steam with applause, what there ever was about Callas that we deemed worthier of our tears.

An Evening With Ethel Merman (BBC--1965)

Posted: 8/2/13 at 12:42am

Wow. Wow. Thank you, my friend PalJoey for posting THIS. I'm going to carve out an hour this weekend to watch this.

I love how, on this busy board right now, there are two threads celebrating a woman who's been dead almost 30 years. You just can't teach what she 'had.'

"You either have it... or you've had it."

An Evening With Ethel Merman (BBC--1965)

Posted: 8/2/13 at 5:25am

PalJoey

Thanks for this link, I shall spend 55 minutes tonight with a large glass of red and enjoy An Evening with Ethel Merman.

zamedy

Thank you for your link too,on the other thread. I look forward to seeing the Tonys performance too, tonight.

I just read Ethel Merman: A Life - always liked her but was never 100% sold on her voice - SORRY!!! - however, after reading the biography and falling a little in love with her, i have been listening to snippets and I am slowly liking her voice more and more.

This is what's great about this board, finding long forgotten clips and appreciating Stars who need appreciating.

An Evening With Ethel Merman (BBC--1965)

Posted: 8/2/13 at 7:08am

Thanks, PJ!!!

Art has a double face, of expression and illusion.

An Evening With Ethel Merman (BBC--1965)

Posted: 8/2/13 at 12:58pm

Thanks for posting this! It is great! I just watched it. It's always nicer in here when people are sweet and share like you PJ.

I Can Has Cheezburger With This?

An Evening With Ethel Merman (BBC--1965)

Posted: 8/2/13 at 3:25pm

Aw, shucks.

An Evening With Ethel Merman (BBC--1965)

Posted: 8/2/13 at 4:39pm

Wow, amazing! Thanks so much PJ!

#10

An Evening With Ethel Merman (BBC--1965)

Posted: 8/2/13 at 5:28pm

Another thank you. What a treasure.

#11

An Evening With Ethel Merman (BBC--1965)

Posted: 8/2/13 at 5:33pm

I was already in heaven after watching the Tony awards clip and now I'm completely over the moon. Thank you so much for posting this.

'Our whole family shouts. It comes from us livin' so close to the railroad tracks'

#12

An Evening With Ethel Merman (BBC--1965)

Posted: 8/2/13 at 6:51pm

I posted this video on YouTube. You can read about it and check out other Merman rarities (including live audios from the '30s and '40s) on my new blog.

This is the Merman post: http://jacksonupperco.com/2013/07/10/merman-rarities/

Merman > LuPone > Rodgers > Paige > Foster

#13

An Evening With Ethel Merman (BBC--1965)

Posted: 8/2/13 at 7:07pm

Pal Joey and jackson, there really are no words to convey my gratitude for these clips. I think I've made it clear in the other thread that Merman was a national wonder!

(And thanks also to She Who Will Not Be Named who taught me to burn a CD from a You Tube clip!)

OH, AND LET ME ADD that when I saw her in CALL ME MADAM the following year she did a full five minutes in 1, trying to "learn" to walk in a dress with a train--it was as funny as any bit I've ever seen! "Fine low comedian" I believe Sondheim called her.

***

I'm only at the first commercial break, but people might like to know that while she sings hits from her other shows, she ACTS the two numbers from GYPSY. It's a rare glimpse into just how good she must have been as Mama Rose!

Updated On: 8/2/13 at 07:07 PM

#14

An Evening With Ethel Merman (BBC--1965)

Posted: 8/2/13 at 9:58pm

GavestonPS, what do you mean by "she did a full five minutes in 1"?

It's funny. Even some of her 'critics' that didn't exactly love everything about her were/are smart enough to acknowledge that she was like no other. Sondheim, for all his comments about her ("fine low comedian," "the singing dog"), even said in an interview that her performance as Madame Rose in GYPSY was one of the best he's ever seen ("And of course, Ethel was thrilling in GYPSY). I was also pleasantly surprised after reading Arthur Laurents' autobiography how generous he was with his comments. Did he think she was the smartest or best actress ever? Of course not. But he was quite kind overall, acknowledging how she commanded every room, every night on stage.. and how her delivery of some key lines in GYPSY was unparalleled.

#15

An Evening With Ethel Merman (BBC--1965)

Posted: 8/2/13 at 10:30pm

Doing a scene or number "in one" denotes such action done in front of a curtain or drop close to the front of the stage. The scene described is wonderful and done to a fare-thee-well in the film, with Merman describing the train of her gown as "the super chief".

Well-well-well-what-do-you-think-of-that-I-have-nothing-here-to-pay-my-train-fare-with-only-large-bills-fives-and-sevens....

Updated On: 8/2/13 at 10:30 PM

#16

An Evening With Ethel Merman (BBC--1965)

Posted: 8/2/13 at 10:32pm

zamedy, "in 1" is an old term for the area downstage of the first set curtain (not the show curtain but the first curtain that shows a scene). Often that first set curtain was something general (such as palm trees for SOUTH PACIFIC) so that many different scenes could be played in front of it.

This is all before computerized wagons and the like, so if you look at Rodgers & Hammerstein librettos, you'll find they are written so that a short scene, song or reprise can be performed downstage or "in 1" while a full set is erected behind the curtain.

Their shows are written to be in 1, full stage, in 1, full stage, in 1, etc.

In CALL ME MADAM, Merman played an Oklahoma oil heiress who was made ambassadress to a small European duchy. (The character was modeled after Pearl Mesta, who became ambassadress to Luxumbourg.)

The character is being presented to the duke and duchess at a formal ball, so she has to wear a dress with a very long train. In 1 (i.e., before the DS curtain) Merman practiced walking in the dress while the full stage was set up for the ball behind the curtain.

She tries to kick the train out of her way, trips over it several time, does several minutes of very funny business and then--when the ballroom set is ready--she finally picks up the fabric and throws it over one elbow, announcing, "If this is a train, it must be the Super Chief!"

(You'll have to trust me that that was a very funny line in 1952, when train travel was still common. It was still funny enough in 1967.)

And with that, the "in 1" curtain rose and the entire cast was on stage and the ball in progress.

Does this make sense? If not, the problem is mine and I'll try again via PM.

I apologize for using specialized jargon. Before everything was automated and run by computers, "in 1" was a very common expression.

Updated On: 8/2/13 at 10:32 PM

#17

An Evening With Ethel Merman (BBC--1965)

Posted: 8/2/13 at 10:33pm

I should have known justoldbill would explain it better and in 1/10 the words!

Thanks, bill.

Updated On: 8/2/13 at 10:33 PM

#18

An Evening With Ethel Merman (BBC--1965)

Posted: 8/2/13 at 10:48pm

Jackson Upperco! Thank you, thank you, thank you, for dipping into my collection to bring us some treats (to quote you)!

Those of us who comb YouTube and other sites for scraps and morsels are grateful to you for giving us feasts.

#19

An Evening With Ethel Merman (BBC--1965)

Posted: 8/2/13 at 10:57pm

From the YouTube page of the wonderful, wonderful, WONDERFUL Jackson Upperco, a RARE (!) full clip of Merman and Bob Hope re-creating "It's De-Lovely," their famous duet from Red, Hot and Blue:

http://youtu.be/QAtoWsbWU4M

#20

An Evening With Ethel Merman (BBC--1965)

Posted: 8/2/13 at 11:11pm

UP IN ONE was the name of Peter Allen's Broadway outing.
Thanks for the post and clips.

#21

An Evening With Ethel Merman (BBC--1965)

Posted: 8/2/13 at 11:43pm

You're very welcome! These things are meant to be shared and enjoyed!

Merman > LuPone > Rodgers > Paige > Foster

#22

An Evening With Ethel Merman (BBC--1965)

Posted: 8/3/13 at 11:56am

GavestonPS, to this casual theater-goer, your explanation and description of "in 1" was much more understandable and clearer than the one offered by justoldbill. You also added several other bits of information that made for a better appreciation of Ms. Merman's performance. Thanks for your input! Whenever I see your name come up on this message board, I know it will be a comment worth my time reading.

#23

An Evening With Ethel Merman (BBC--1965)

Posted: 8/3/13 at 1:46pm

You are so very kind, Len! Especially since some people here find me long-winded--no doubt with considerable justification!

I think justoldbill's post and mine work well together, which is why I didn't go back and edit mine after I saw his.

When done well, the "in one/full stage" system kept a show moving and still allowed for very elaborate, full-stage settings.

I mentioned the "Super Chief' scene because they could have given Merman another reprise to sing in one while they set up the ball. But instead they gave her a fancy dress with a long train and let her go to work!

It was a great example of how she wasn't "just" a singer!

#24

An Evening With Ethel Merman (BBC--1965)

Posted: 8/4/13 at 1:27pm

Thank you so much for sharing my links and making this the most popular week yet on my new blog!

http://jacksonupperco.com/2013/07/10/merman-rarities/

If anyone hasn't yet taken the time to explore the site, or at least the Merman post, here's one of my favorite videos... perhaps the best interview Ms. Merman ever gave... with Gene Shalit in early 1983: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp0LpaAHSdc

Enjoy!

Merman > LuPone > Rodgers > Paige > Foster

#25

An Evening With Ethel Merman (BBC--1965)

Posted: 8/4/13 at 2:08pm

Since I posted the video here, I've noticed it on a few people's FB pages

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