And I just watched that rehearsal clip from the original production again and got transported. "Waiting Around for the Girls Upstairs" is pure genius...the whole of the show in one song, staged flawlessly.
And then that Ethel Shutta footage!
It's not just that Ethel Shutta kicks the cat, it's HOW she kicks the cat and what a surprise it is when she kicks the cat and her timing she kicks it.
So watch the way she sings "At my tiny flat it's just my cat" --
(and...KICK!) -- "a bed and a chair," and then watch the butch way she plants her feet when she sings "Still I'll stick it till I'm on a bill..." and then she takes a little jump-step and spreads her hands open across her face and sings joyously "...all over Times Square!"
I never liked that the three songs didn't button for applause but ended in "The Montage." Not only did it rob Ethel Shutta and Fifi D'Orsay (and the couple who did "Rain on the Roof") of their applause moments, it also created an intense competition between Ethel and Fifi for who could steal the most attention at the end of the montage.
I understand why they did it--they didn't want the show to seem like a revue of pastiche numbers--but as a 15-year-old in love with ALL the feisty old broads in the show, I wanted Ethel Shutta to end her song with a big solo finish.
Updated On: 10/14/10 at 05:37 PM