Michael Kidd at his absolute best NEW PHOTO

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. Michael Kidd's energetic choreography is simply delicious. Such a shame his name is never mentioned along the likes of Bob Fosse, Jerome Robbins and Michael Bennett. His unique and athletic choreography always was his own... and totally recognizable.

Dolores Gray -- I'm blessed to be one of the few who knew of her work and was enamored with her in every capacity. She was a musical comedy gem, on stage AND on screen. One word always epitomized her: glamour.

True, buy GUYS AND DOLLS was a big in 1950, an even bigger hit in 1992, has a much beloved score, and is frequently done by community theatres so the title has commerce.

DESTRY was not a big hit, doesn't have a much beloved score and has hardly been seen or heard from since it closed in 1960.

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frontrowcenter, you and I agree on many - if not most - things, but this time, I must point out there is wonderful work in "Destry Rides Again."

Let's look at the score (I have my copy onscreen, thanks to the amazing https://broadwayscoresandsheetmusic.blogspot.com/

1) The overture is one of the best of the late 50s work of Phil Lang, mixing old-fashioned Amewrican country a la cowboy and indian movies and Broadway.

2)Bound For Bottleneck is pure Max Brand. It sounds like it came straight out of a John Wayne movie. Sets up the film-to-stage adaptation perfectly and cuts an eternity of exposition out of the show.

3)Hoop de Dingle is one of those great "the words mean nothing" songs and yet it again is great character exposition for Wash.

4)Tomorrow Morning is a lyrical wonder. It perfectly sets up Destry, introduces Andy Griffith and shows that there is a very, very clever man behind the cornpone drawl. (Plus the patter song at the end is marvelously menacing and shows the people of Bottleneck - if they take the time to listen and think - that they have one hell of a sheriff here.

5) Ballad of the Gun has a haunting melody and is a wonderful piece of marshal music (no pun intended) and a pretty decent history lesson. I used the line "Drew eight over aces and was sitting pretty, McCall blew his brains out in Deadwood City" to help answer a question on Jeopardy.

6)I Know Your Kind and Anyone Would Love You are beautiful Rome ballads. The guy really knew how to write love songs. The first is as steamy as hell and the second has a haunting melody.

7)Every Once in a While - you have to let the chorus loose and you could do far worse than this little ditty (and this show had a BIG chorus. Plus, the melody really makes the overture move at a nice clip. Great utility song and just fun to sing.

Fair Warning - the FOURTH ballad for Dolores Gray in the first act and it's a ripper. The orchestra pumping out that latin beat behind her - and she was LOUD, they are clearly losing the battle. THAT's how you end an act, with a fair warning to the hero. (Although, in reality, Destry gets the great act end when it becomes clear to the audience, as he's loading his gun, that there will be one hell of a gunfight in Act Two.

9) Are You Ready Gyp Watson is one of the funniest comedy numbers in Broadway History. The mock mocking sermons and Gyp's inappropriate replies "And that was my seventh gun!" "Shut up Gyp, ain't you got no respect for the dying?"

10) Not Guilty is a throwaway song - with wonderful harmony work.

10)Only Time Will Tell is another tongue-twister for Griffith whit a fine melody to boot. In fact ALL these songs have fine or haunting melodies. Harold Rome really cranked out lovely music.

11)That Ring on Your Finger was I suppose planned to be the pop hit. But by the time the show hit Broadway, pop hits were coming from other sources.

12) I say Hell is one of the best ballads I have ever heard. I ofter recommend it as an audition peice when someone wants a weepie. I could listen to that song for hours (and I did wear out a 33rpm doing that).

The show ran 472 performances which was a good, solid medium-sized hit in the late 50s. Seven hundred was considered a big hit and over a thousand was a rarity. It then toured all over the continent and over to Europe.

So all in all, I'd say it COULD stand a revival PS, the highlight of the show, scenically, was Oliver Smith's two-story saloon set which occupied most of backstage. The gunfight at the end is JUST like the movie and was wildly greeted each night, including guys falling from the second level.

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I missed seeing the original because my folks wanted to see Gypsy (I guess I did okay there after all) but the show has become one of my favs. I even have a few of the programs from the tour, including Toronto.

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Updated On: 3/22/09 at 02:01 AM