The Miller's Son on Tonight Show - Question

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/11/14 at 6:41pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n5WI9ZvjeI&feature=youtu.be

Is this Petra's actual costume?

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 3/11/14 at 7:22pm

No that's not a costume she wore in the show...

Here is a link to a photo of her singing the song in the musical

http://www.backstage.com/advice-for-actors/standing-ovation/jim-wilhelm-on-djamin-bartlett-in-a-little-night-music/

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/11/14 at 7:28pm

Thanks! It looked a tad Sound of Music especially with the forest setting (though I appreciated that they used birch trees...)

[HorseTears]

Posted: 3/11/14 at 7:50pm

Woah. ALNM performed on the Tonight Show? Is this from the tour company or the Broadway company?

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/11/14 at 9:19pm

That's the original Petra--not sure if she toured, but I don't think she did. And it's three months after the Broadway opening, so...

Was Tonight Show still on the East Coast then?

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/11/14 at 9:26pm

The Tonight Show moved to Burbank in 1972.

EDIT: Really great to see this, BTW!

Updated On: 3/11/14 at 09:26 PM

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/11/14 at 9:34pm

Odd then! Unless they filmed her bit in NY?

And yeah, I hadn't known about the performance before--looks like it was just uploaded.

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/11/14 at 9:36pm

It could have been taped separately ... or they could have flown her out to L.A. and back in time to miss just one show and let her understudy go on.

Updated On: 3/11/14 at 09:36 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/11/14 at 11:40pm

I remember being excited to see this in 1973 but I don't remember what the circumstances were. There was no such thing as home video recording then. If you wanted to immortalize something, you put a portable cassette recorder in front of the TV speaker and made a difficult-to-listen-to audio recording that you then listened to until the cassette tape snapped from the strain.

But it was a year or so later that my Aunt Sally got the very first Betamax recorder known to Riverdale, Westchester or Greater Bergen County New Jersey and began recording Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas, and Johnny Carson shows that featured her favorite performers, as well as PBS miniseries.

That said, I am amazed at the quality of this clip.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 12:19am

Viva Aunt Sally!

[HorseTears]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 2:11am

Seeing "The Millers Son" performed on the Tonight Show must have been quite puzzling to the audience. Other than "A Weekend in the Country", it's probably the closest Night Music has to a showstopper, but it must have seemed quite bizarre out of context.

[D2]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 8:31am

And there's also this from the same night:
Glynis Johns "Send In The Clowns"

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 9:24am

I would think the Miller's Son is one of the few songs in the show that works without context.

[tazber]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 10:01am

I agree with Phyllis. It's always been the only song (besides Clowns) that I thought could work completely separate from the show.

Funny anecdote:

During the show's run a few years ago a younger poster who had just discovered the show
was very perplexed as to who the Miller's were and why Petra was marrying their son.

I thought that was cute.

[Up In One]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 11:47am

Love the brass heavy orchestrations, it's Company meets Night Music! The original production relied on strings and woodwind instruments. It's obviously the same orchestration , the tonight show wasn't going to change out its band for one number.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 11:56am

Am I wrong, or is what she wearing something that would have been somewhat...fashionable in 1973?

That said, she is really quite beautiful...and I think no one has touched her version of the song. Gorgeous, rich voice, uncomplicated delivery and everything you need to know about her character is happening in her eyes. Just perfection.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 12:04pm

LOVE these! Thanks, so much for posting!

Yes, Robbie, both of those dresses were fashionable back then. Those nightgown dresses were all over. They were worn to prom, etc. (I had older siblings, I aint THAT old).

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 12:06pm

I think it's actually kind of 70's peasant chic. And she kind of reminds me of a less affected Katharine Houghton. Was anyone at the Standing Ovations when Ms. Bartlett sang Miller's Son sounding almost exactly the same as she did in 73? Magnificent.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 12:09pm

D. Jamin was actually a replacement. The original Petra didnt have the vocals for "The Miller's Son" and was fired, but she was supposedly stunning in the role.

I agree that this is the definitive version.

Does anyone remember who the first Petra was? I did a quick search and came up with nothing.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 12:23pm

Garn Stevens (Stephens?), the original Jan from Grease.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 12:36pm

I wish I could remember Johnny Carson's set-up for these clips, but I think it was just "Here from the New York production..." with no explanantion of the "set" or D'Jamin's outfit.

Glynis's performance of "Send in the Clowns" was the first time the American public-at-large experienced the song. Frank Sinatra's recording came out a few months later, and then Judy Collins's recording came out two years later.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 12:38pm

Am I wrong in thinking that this all came about because the Tonys that year didn't feature performances from a bunch of the nominated musicals? Or was that the Follies year?

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 1:01pm

It was both years, I believe.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 1:22pm

Wait...two years without featuring performances from major Sondheim shows????

Who produced those Tonys? After Eight?

[HorseTears]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 1:59pm

Ha!