Happy Birthday, Ethel Merman!
Happy Birthday, Ethel Merman!
philcrosby
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/17/04
#0Happy Birthday, Ethel Merman!
Posted: 1/16/06 at 4:54pm
Peter Filichia says it best in his column.
http://www.theatermania.com/content/news.cfm/story/7466
Who could ask for anything more?
#1re: Happy Birthday, Ethel Merman!
Posted: 1/16/06 at 5:00pm
Happy Birthday Ethel!
I just watched Alexander's Ragtime Band, and she's amazing. Pipes of steel!
~And let us try, before we die, to make some sense of life~
bwayondabrain
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/05
#2re: Happy Birthday, Ethel Merman!
Posted: 1/16/06 at 5:53pm
thatd be awesome to hear ethel belt the happy birthdasy song...
happy birthday, ethel! :)
hypertruffle
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/22/05
#3re: Happy Birthday, Ethel Merman!
Posted: 1/16/06 at 6:42pmHappy Birthday to the late legendary Ethel Merman! I love hearing her on the Gypsy and Call Me Madam cast recordings.
"The cynicism you refer to, I acquired the day I discovered I was different from little boys!~All About Eve
#4re: Happy Birthday, Ethel Merman!
Posted: 1/16/06 at 6:43pmMy disco album has been playing all day...
#5re: Happy Birthday, Ethel Merman!
Posted: 1/16/06 at 10:40pm
am i the only person who despises ethel merman?
she like breaks the basic rules of singing..and her voice isn't even all that great..its just loud and obnoxious.
"No two shows are alike in the making. Each show is a living
piece of your life in a small unreal world with its own character
and integrity; its own new set of memorable experiences and
incredible happenings. You begin to love and adapt to its strangeness.
Dreams harden into substance. Values come into focus. You wish
it would never end. The dream world vanishes like mist before a
rising sun; part of you vanishes with it. And back you land in the
real world with a thud- fogged, uneasy, jittery, difficult to get
along with. There is only one cure. A new show. A new, small
unreal world; new visions, experiences, incredible happenings.
Again you love it, adapt to it, wish it would never end.
But end it does. Another part of you vanishes.
That's show business."-Anonymous
#6re: Happy Birthday, Ethel Merman!
Posted: 1/17/06 at 1:30am
There's no law that you have to like anyone! LOL!
Understand though that when Ethel Merman came on the scene most ingenues had small voices that could barely be heard above the orchestra and when she let loose with "Sam and Deliliah" in GIRL CRAZY the audience went crazy. She inspired a new type of heroine for the musical stage and she pretty much dominated Broadway from 1930 through 1970. Even her one (financial) flop HAPPY HUNTING ran a year. Today's stars are a different breed. They have mics now and can pull down the performance because even a melanchloy murmer can be heard everywhere. Also today's performers skip performances ona whim,, dash off mid-run to do movies and TV shows. Merm stayed with her shows to the end of their runs. She was brassy and sassy and funny and projected an image of complete confidence. "Why should I be nervous?" she demanded "I know my lines!" She was part of a very different Broadway, one that is long gone. We'll never see a star like her ever again.
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks."
Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com
#8re: Happy Birthday, Ethel Merman!
Posted: 1/17/06 at 2:01am
Happy birthday, Merm!
Man, I gotta get my hands on that disco album.
Videos