Best Cy Coleman Score

[Lovinbroadway2]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 4:56am

I haven't listened to enough to know, but what do you think?

[tazber]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 8:35am

For me it's a 3 way tie between City of Angels, Twentieth Century, and Sweet Charity.

But honestly there isn't a Coleman score I don't love. I even enjoy The Life and Welcome to the Club (score-wise).

[ddenoff2]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 8:42am

Wait til you hear "Up Close and Musical" (also known as "Like Jazz") - Cy's final original show score in collaboration with Alan & Marilyn Bergman. "Book" by Larry Gelbart. Performed in LA at the Mark Taper Forum in 2003-2004 starring…Lillias White, Patti Austin and Jennifer Holliday.

We hope to bring it to Broadway!


Updated On: 2/20/15 at 08:42 AM

[JayG 2]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 9:12am

The aforementioned Twentieth Century and Sweet Charity... and I would add
Little Me and Wildcat, both of which are a lot of fun..

[tazber]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 9:23am

I have been DYING to hear Like Jazz, or Up Close and Personal.

Good luck bringing the Broadway production to Broadway!

[Queen of the Night]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 9:26am

I've always really liked "Barnum".

[ggersten]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 9:46am

Coleman is such a wealth of riches - but I think City of Angels is my favorite. Can't say what is "best" - because the music has to fit the story. For example, compare "Big Spender" (Sweet Charity) to "My Body" (The Life).
Or compare the slower, less "jazzy" introspective songs: "Where Am I Going" (Sweet Charity), "Never Met a Man" (Will Rogers Follies) "Funny" (City of Angels) "Colors of My Life" (Barnum)

[jv92]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 11:06am

LITTLE ME is my favorite, though much of its delight lies in the brilliant lyrics of Carolyn Leigh. Still I think the release of "Other Side of the Tracks" is about as thrilling as a driving up-tempo can get and that the score is filled with fun and spontaneity.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 11:07am

I refuse to answer on the grounds it might incriminate me- meaning I like them all and cannot pick just one.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 11:30am

best score, Sweet Charity.
best show, City of Angels.

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 12:32pm

I too would have trouble picking just one as the "best," but I too have a special sweet spot for LITTLE ME. The exact moment jv92 cites is one of my favorite cast album moments ever and the score as a whole is just amazing.

[Fantod]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 12:53pm

Little Me, Wildcat, and Sweet Charity are my favorites.

[Cesare2]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 2:05pm

Coleman had a few shows that either closed out-of-town or were only done regionally. I remember seeing "The Great Ostrovsky" starring Bob Gunton in at the Prince in Philadelphia. (It was about a Yiddish theater star, like Bob Merrill's "Prince of Grand Street.") There was also that show with Wendy Wasserstein. Anyone see "Home Again, Home Again"? It starred Dick Shawn. (Lisa Kirk was also in it, but her character was eliminated during the Toronto tryout.) The book was by Russell Baker. It was supposed to open at the Hellinger, but closed in Toronto. I think Coleman had also written a musical with Bruce Vilanch called "13 Days to Broadway" inspired by the "Home Again, Home Again" tryout.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 2:07pm

A couple of good songs came out of Welcome To The Club

[mamaleh]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 2:09pm

Best score: SWEET CHARITY
Honorable Mention: LITTLE ME (and almost ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY)
Best song (not from B'way, though): "Witchcraft"

[darquegk]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 2:13pm

I've always loved Little Me, in all three of its incarnations. I don't know how much of the revisions to the score in 1998 were Coleman's work, but the opening number ensemble version of the title song has some of the best men's jazz harmony material in musical theatre, and an arrangement in the style of Coleman's own jazz work. It's a nice tip of the hat to a great Jazz standard writer in a show that doesn't have much in the way of stylistic through-line anyway.

[jkstheatrescene]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 2:15pm

Sweet Charity, City of Angels and The Will Rogers Follies

(And I like most of Barnum and The Life)

[MCfan2]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 2:28pm

I'd go with Barnum.

[Tom5]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 2:31pm

On youtube "Garbo Talks animation" It's Coleman's title score for that film and it's a gem.

[MOUSTACHA]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 3:19pm

Best Score (Artistic): On the 20th Century
Best Score (Received by Public): Sweet Charity
Best Show: City of Angels

Cy is often not included in the "greats" by the average public theatre goer (i.e. Mr. and Mrs. Grand Rapids). For those better versed, he really is one of the best. I suggest jumping on spotify and listening to some of his work: http://ibdb.com/person.php?id=4929

Updated On: 2/20/15 at 03:19 PM

[tazber]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 3:55pm

Thanks for all the info Cesare2!

I had no Idea he had all those shows. I did know about 13 Days to Broadway(and I LOVE "You There in the Back Row" - maybe one of my favorites).

I also love his solo jazz work.

Updated On: 2/20/15 at 03:55 PM

[altonido]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 5:28pm

A forgotten Cy Coleman project that did happen (disastrously, so I'm told):

"Grace," about Princess Grace and Prince Rainier of Monaco.

Opened Oct. 25, 2001, Grace Theatre, Amsterdam, performed in Dutch.

Music-Cy Coleman
Book and lyrics-Seth Gaaikema
Arrangements-Don Sebesky
Choreography-Pat Birch
Scenery-Eugene Lee

With Joke de Kruiff as Grace, Ernest Daniel Smid as Rainier, and Rob van de Meeberg as Alfred Hitchcock.

There is an unreleased, two-CD live recording, which also includes a studio sampler.

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 6:12pm

"Home Again, Home Again" is a terrific score. The songs are fun and bouncy. They're a bit generic (with lyrics by Barbara Fried who is a greaat big quesion mark in the history of theatre), but it sounds like the show was too.

Listening to them, I'm always amazed that none of them got reused in other shows. Or in movies or as TV show theme songs. He was such a fount of melody that he never had to.

Here is the eleven o'clock number from "Home Again, Home Again" sung by Bea Arthur at the end of her TV variety special from 1980.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7BfG094kiHU

[jv92]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 6:41pm

Great minds think alike, Mr. Nowack!

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 7:38pm

Since I discovered the ease of downloading from iTunes, I've been having something of a Cy Coleman orgy. I now realize he is one of my favorite composers from the post-R&H era.

I certainly understand the arguments for SWEET CHARITY (a score I already knew and loved), but I think my vote for "very best" goes to LITTLE ME.