Kander and Ebb Saw The Future

[A Director]

Posted: 12/25/16 at 10:57pm

Back in 1975, Kander and Ebb wrote this little ditty for Chicago.  The lyrics neatly sums-up Trump's campaign and how he will govern as long as he stays in office.

Give 'em the old razzle dazzle
Razzle Dazzle 'em
Give 'em an act with lots of flash in it
And the reaction will be passionate
Give 'em the old hocus pocus
Bead and feather 'em
How can they see with sequins in their eyes?

What if your hinges all are rusting?
What if, in fact, you're just disgusting?

Razzle dazzle 'em
And they;ll never catch wise!

Give 'em the old Razzle Dazzle

BILLY AND COMPANY
Razzle dazzle 'em
Give 'em a show that's so splendiferous

BILLY
Row after row will grow vociferous

BILLY AND COMPANY
Give 'em the old flim flam flummox
Fool and fracture 'em

BILLY
How can they hear the truth above the roar?

COMPANY
Roar, roar, roar!

BILLY AND COMPANY
Throw 'em a fake and a finagle
They'll never know you're just a bagel,

BILLY
Razzle dazzle 'em
And they'll beg you for more!

BILLY AND COMPANY
Give 'em the old double whammy
Daze and dizzy 'em
Back since the days of old Methuselah
Everyone loves the big bambooz-a-lah

Give 'em the old three ring circus
Stun and stagger 'em
When you're in trouble, go into your dance

Though you are stiffer than a girder
They'll let you get away with murder
Razzle dazzle 'em
And you've got a romance

COMPANY(The same time as BILLY's)
Give 'em the old
Razzle Dazzle

BILLY
Give 'em the old Razzle Dazzle
Razzle dazzle 'em
Show 'em the first rate sorcerer you are
Long as you keep 'em way off balance
How can they spot you've got no talents?
Razzle Dazzle 'em

BILLY AND COMPANY
Razzle Dazzle 'em
Razzle Dazzle 'em

And they'll make you a star!



 

[theatreguy12]

Posted: 12/26/16 at 1:29am

Except their lyrics could be used to describe every politician who ever lived and governed. On both sides of the aisle.  At almost anytime in history. 

There was nothing about foreseeing the future.  They were seeing it as being alive and well, all around them, even back then.  

Don't kid yourself. Politicians have that special talent of placing those sequins on the eyes of their constituents.  Some just happen to be red; some are blue.  It's all the same.

The voters on one side of the aisle will always see it as being a problem on the other side of the aisle, while totally ignoring that same razzle dazzle emanating from their own side of the aisle. It's called selective observing.

[UncleCharlie]

Posted: 12/26/16 at 1:34am

Back in 1975, the country had just come through Watergate. Think that might have had any influence on them writing that song?

[kdogg36]

Posted: 12/26/16 at 8:46am

theatreguy12 said: "The voters on one side of the aisle will always see it as being a problem on the other side of the aisle, while totally ignoring that same razzle dazzle emanating from their own side of the aisle. It's called selective observing."

I'm a libertarian who has officially hated leaders from both major parties for my entire adult life. Trust me, there is something singularly evil about Trump that puts him in an entirely different realm from the typical awful politician.

 

[adamgreer]

Posted: 12/26/16 at 9:16am

Cabaret seems a much more prescient Kander and Ebb show right now than Chicago. 

[MadonnaMusical]

Posted: 12/26/16 at 10:31am

If you really think about it, people's biggest complaint about Clinton was that she DIDN'T give em the ole razzle dazzle. People were begging her to give them razzle dazzle and she insisted on giving them facts, and plans. 

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 12/26/16 at 11:12am

I made a return trip to Chicago after the election and for some reason, it was actually "Class" that really struck me hard. I was in my usual first row seat and I actually got really sad after the first verse:

Whatever happened to fair dealing
And pure ethics
And nice manners?
Why is it everyone now is a pain in the Ass?
Whatever happened to class?

Class.
Whatever happened to Please may I
And Yes thank you
And How charming?
Now every son of a bitch
Is a snake in the grass
Whatever happened to class?

[darquegk]

Posted: 12/26/16 at 11:49am

There's a streak of not quite conservatism, but fatalism through Kander and Ebb. Their shows are full of radical, transgressive figures in the face of oppression, but the ultimate message (and maybe this comes from their Fosse association) is that the good guys/the righteous inevitably lose and the bad guys/the hypocritical will inevitably win. You can stick up for your ideals and get them rubbed in your face, or you can give up, give in and succeed.