Steve Lawrence, a king among easy-listening crooners who rocketed to fame in the ’50s and ’60s as half of the duo Steve and Eydie, died Thursday at age 88. Lawrence died at home in Los Angeles, and the cause of death was complications from Alzheimer’s disease, according to a spokesperson for the family, Susan DuBow.
Lawrence’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis had finally put an end to his touring career in 2019, after a run in the public eye that spanned six and a half decades.
Lawrence was preceded in death in 2013 by his wife, Eydie Gormé, with whom he enjoyed nearly unparalleled success as a performing couple during their heyday as touring artists and TV stars in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s. The couple had continued to tour together through 2009.
His colleagues began to weigh in Thursday. “Steve was one of my favorite guests on my variety show,” Carol Burnett said,...
Lawrence’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis had finally put an end to his touring career in 2019, after a run in the public eye that spanned six and a half decades.
Lawrence was preceded in death in 2013 by his wife, Eydie Gormé, with whom he enjoyed nearly unparalleled success as a performing couple during their heyday as touring artists and TV stars in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s. The couple had continued to tour together through 2009.
His colleagues began to weigh in Thursday. “Steve was one of my favorite guests on my variety show,” Carol Burnett said,...
- 3/7/2024
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
Steve Lawrence, the charismatic Grammy- and Emmy-winning crooner who delighted audiences for decades in nightclubs, on concert stages and in film and television appearances, died Thursday. He was 88.
Lawrence, who partnered in a popular act with his wife of 55 years, the late Eydie Gormé, died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease, a publicidst announced.
With his boyish good looks, silky voice and breezy personality, Lawrence broke into show business when he won a talent competition on Arthur Godfrey’s CBS show and signed with King Records as a teenager. The singer chose to stay old school and resist the allure of rock ‘n’ roll.
“It didn’t attract me as much,” Lawrence once said. “I grew up in a time period when music was written by Irving Berlin and Cole Porter and George and Ira Gershwin and Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein and Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart and Sammy Cahn and Julie Stein.
Lawrence, who partnered in a popular act with his wife of 55 years, the late Eydie Gormé, died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease, a publicidst announced.
With his boyish good looks, silky voice and breezy personality, Lawrence broke into show business when he won a talent competition on Arthur Godfrey’s CBS show and signed with King Records as a teenager. The singer chose to stay old school and resist the allure of rock ‘n’ roll.
“It didn’t attract me as much,” Lawrence once said. “I grew up in a time period when music was written by Irving Berlin and Cole Porter and George and Ira Gershwin and Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein and Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart and Sammy Cahn and Julie Stein.
- 3/7/2024
- by Chris Koseluk
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Tl;Dr:
John Lennon said The Beatles’ “Yesterday” didn’t reflect his attitude towards life. He explained why the past interested him. He had no interest in reforming The Beatles and felt he couldn’t recreate them.
John Lennon wasn’t interested in the past. For example, he criticized a famous lyric from The Beatles’ “Yesterday.” Notably, “Yesterday” was not as popular in the United Kingdom as it was in the United States.
John Lennon flipped a line from The Beatles’ ‘Yesterday’ on its head
The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono features an interview from 1980. In it, John discussed his feelings about nostalgia. “I never went to high-school reunions,” he said.”My thing is, out of sight, out of mind. That’s my attitude toward life.
“So I don’t have any romanticism about any part of my past,” he said.
John Lennon said The Beatles’ “Yesterday” didn’t reflect his attitude towards life. He explained why the past interested him. He had no interest in reforming The Beatles and felt he couldn’t recreate them.
John Lennon wasn’t interested in the past. For example, he criticized a famous lyric from The Beatles’ “Yesterday.” Notably, “Yesterday” was not as popular in the United Kingdom as it was in the United States.
John Lennon flipped a line from The Beatles’ ‘Yesterday’ on its head
The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono features an interview from 1980. In it, John discussed his feelings about nostalgia. “I never went to high-school reunions,” he said.”My thing is, out of sight, out of mind. That’s my attitude toward life.
“So I don’t have any romanticism about any part of my past,” he said.
- 8/6/2023
- by Matthew Trzcinski
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
The single features renowned musicians Aaron Parks, Joe Sanders, and Brian Blade.
04 August 2023 – Joshua Redman has released “Baltimore,” the second single to be revealed from the acclaimed saxophonist’s forthcoming Blue Note debut where are we due out September 15. One of two instrumental tracks on the album, “Baltimore” was written by the classically influenced songwriter Gabriel Kahane and is given a transcendent performance by Redman’s quartet featuring pianist Aaron Parks, bassist Joe Sanders, and drummer Brian Blade.
where are we is a musical journey across the United States of America that also marks Redman’s first-ever album with a vocalist—the dynamic young singer Gabrielle Cavassa—who is featured throughout as heard on the album’s lead single “Chicago Blues,” a mash-up of Count Basie’s “Goin’ to Chicago” with Sufjan Stevens’ “Chicago.” Redman will be touring the project across the U.S. and Europe following the album’s release.
04 August 2023 – Joshua Redman has released “Baltimore,” the second single to be revealed from the acclaimed saxophonist’s forthcoming Blue Note debut where are we due out September 15. One of two instrumental tracks on the album, “Baltimore” was written by the classically influenced songwriter Gabriel Kahane and is given a transcendent performance by Redman’s quartet featuring pianist Aaron Parks, bassist Joe Sanders, and drummer Brian Blade.
where are we is a musical journey across the United States of America that also marks Redman’s first-ever album with a vocalist—the dynamic young singer Gabrielle Cavassa—who is featured throughout as heard on the album’s lead single “Chicago Blues,” a mash-up of Count Basie’s “Goin’ to Chicago” with Sufjan Stevens’ “Chicago.” Redman will be touring the project across the U.S. and Europe following the album’s release.
- 8/5/2023
- by Music Martin Cid Magazine
- Martin Cid Music
Paul Simon and Bob Dylan are contemporaries who have often been compared. Simon didn’t like Dylan’s personality, but he admired his music, at least in the 1960s. By the early 1970s, though, just over a decade into Dylan’s lengthy career, Simon said he thought Dylan had stopped being great. He shared his opinion on the other artist’s music.
Bob Dylan and Paul Simon | Larry Hulst/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Paul Simon liked Bob Dylan’s early music
Like many people, Simon took note of The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, the album that lifted Dylan to prominence.
“I thought that second Dylan album, Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, was fantastic,” he told Rolling Stone in 1972. “It was very moving. Very exciting.”
Simon said that even some of his own early songs didn’t hold up for him. Dylan’s did, though.
“Well, you can go back and pick out five...
Bob Dylan and Paul Simon | Larry Hulst/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Paul Simon liked Bob Dylan’s early music
Like many people, Simon took note of The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, the album that lifted Dylan to prominence.
“I thought that second Dylan album, Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, was fantastic,” he told Rolling Stone in 1972. “It was very moving. Very exciting.”
Simon said that even some of his own early songs didn’t hold up for him. Dylan’s did, though.
“Well, you can go back and pick out five...
- 1/31/2023
- by Emma McKee
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Paul Simon ranked Paul McCartney highly as a songwriter. He admired McCartney’s work from the Beatles and his solo career, and he ranked him higher than nearly all of his contemporaries. Still, not every McCartney song was a success in Simon’s mind. There was one that he found particularly odious, even describing it as “garbage.”
Paul McCartney and Paul Simon | Express/Express/Getty Images; George Rose/Getty Images The ‘Sound of Silence’ artist had a problem with political music
While many of Simon’s contemporaries released political songs, he wanted to primarily focus on his craft, not any other causes.
“First of all I think, if a musician is serious about his music, his obligation should be to become as fine a musician as he could,” he told Rolling Stone in 1972. “This country has a tremendous lack of people who are good in what they do, including musicians.
Paul McCartney and Paul Simon | Express/Express/Getty Images; George Rose/Getty Images The ‘Sound of Silence’ artist had a problem with political music
While many of Simon’s contemporaries released political songs, he wanted to primarily focus on his craft, not any other causes.
“First of all I think, if a musician is serious about his music, his obligation should be to become as fine a musician as he could,” he told Rolling Stone in 1972. “This country has a tremendous lack of people who are good in what they do, including musicians.
- 1/24/2023
- by Emma McKee
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Lizzie Gottlieb on Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb: “I wanted to express that it’s a buddy movie, it’s got energy and hopefully humour.” Photo: Claudia Raschke, courtesy of Wild Surmise Productions, LLC / Sony Pictures Classics
Lizzie Gottlieb’s loving double portrait begins with Ethan Hawke (star of Robert Budreau’s Born To Be Blue) reading from Robert Caro’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Power Broker: Robert Moses And The Fall Of New York, edited by Robert Gottlieb, and ends with a Chet Baker recording (of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s Do it the Hard Way). In-between we have Colm Tóibín, Lynn Nesbit, David Remnick, Mary Norris, Bill Clinton, Conan O'Brien, Maria Tucci, Ina Caro and many others commenting on the dynamic duo.
Lizzie Gottlieb with Anne-Katrin Titze: “I was really thrilled to be able to interview Bill Clinton.”
Gottlieb, who has been the editor-in-chief of Simon and Schuster,...
Lizzie Gottlieb’s loving double portrait begins with Ethan Hawke (star of Robert Budreau’s Born To Be Blue) reading from Robert Caro’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Power Broker: Robert Moses And The Fall Of New York, edited by Robert Gottlieb, and ends with a Chet Baker recording (of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s Do it the Hard Way). In-between we have Colm Tóibín, Lynn Nesbit, David Remnick, Mary Norris, Bill Clinton, Conan O'Brien, Maria Tucci, Ina Caro and many others commenting on the dynamic duo.
Lizzie Gottlieb with Anne-Katrin Titze: “I was really thrilled to be able to interview Bill Clinton.”
Gottlieb, who has been the editor-in-chief of Simon and Schuster,...
- 12/29/2022
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Barbra Streisand’s fabled run of 1962 shows at the Greenwich Village nightclub, Bon Soir, will be released as a new live album, Live at Bon Soir, on Nov. 4 via Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings. To tease the release, Streisand shared a powerhouse rendition of the Arthur Hamilton-penned song, “Cry Me a River.”
Live at Bon Soir was recorded over three nights, Nov. 4 through Nov. 6, 1962: Streisand was just 20 years old, and she’d signed her first record deal with Columbia only a month earlier. The recordings were originally supposed to become Streisand’s debut album,...
Live at Bon Soir was recorded over three nights, Nov. 4 through Nov. 6, 1962: Streisand was just 20 years old, and she’d signed her first record deal with Columbia only a month earlier. The recordings were originally supposed to become Streisand’s debut album,...
- 9/23/2022
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Suri Cruise is stepping into the spotlight. In a July 26 interview with Yahoo! Entertainment, Katie Holmes revealed her daughter, Suri, whom she shares with Tom Cruise, sings in the actor's new film, "Alone Together."
"I always want the highest level of talent, so I asked her," Holmes said, sharing that Suri sings a cover of "Blue Moon" that appears in the opening credits of "Alone Together," a movie about two strangers forced to live together during the first weeks of Covid-19 lockdowns. Holmes wrote, directed, and stars in the film. "Blue Moon," originally written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in 1934, was famously covered by Diane Keaton in the 2014 movie "And So It Goes," and Holmes added that Suri has a connection to the song because Keaton "met my daughter when she was a year old." It also doesn't hurt that Holmes has long been a fan of the "Baby Boom" actor.
"I always want the highest level of talent, so I asked her," Holmes said, sharing that Suri sings a cover of "Blue Moon" that appears in the opening credits of "Alone Together," a movie about two strangers forced to live together during the first weeks of Covid-19 lockdowns. Holmes wrote, directed, and stars in the film. "Blue Moon," originally written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in 1934, was famously covered by Diane Keaton in the 2014 movie "And So It Goes," and Holmes added that Suri has a connection to the song because Keaton "met my daughter when she was a year old." It also doesn't hurt that Holmes has long been a fan of the "Baby Boom" actor.
- 7/30/2022
- by Eden Arielle Gordon
- Popsugar.com
Six years before his death in 1996, “Rent” composer Jonathan Larson began performing a solo semi-autobiographical musical “Tick, Tick…Boom!” about a young struggling composer named Jon who fears that he has made the wrong career choice. After his death, Larson’s show was expanded into a three-person piece by David Auburn that ran in London, off-Broadway, and as a national tour. Now it is an acclaimed new Netflix movie directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda (who appeared in a Encores production of the musical in 2014) and starring Andrew Garfield.
The composer bio movie genre has long been a favorite of Hollywood, especially during its Golden Age. But these bio-pics played fast and loose with the facts. The Production Code prevented these films from exploring the fact that Cole Porter and Lorenz Hart were gay. And some of these composers and/or their families were still alive and wanted a certain image presented on the big screen.
The composer bio movie genre has long been a favorite of Hollywood, especially during its Golden Age. But these bio-pics played fast and loose with the facts. The Production Code prevented these films from exploring the fact that Cole Porter and Lorenz Hart were gay. And some of these composers and/or their families were still alive and wanted a certain image presented on the big screen.
- 12/7/2021
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Lady Gaga broke out in 2008, and since then her career has spanned music, film and TV. She’s an Oscar, Grammy, BAFTA and Golden Globe winner, among other plaudits. And she’s an envelope-pushing fashion icon (remember that meat dress?). But what are her best songs? Scroll down to see how we rank the greatest hits of her career so far. Do you agree with our choice for number-one? And do you think we unjustly left out any classics? Let us know in the comments.
Her breakthrough hit was “Just Dance” in 2008. That pop hit topped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and was certified nine-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. It also earned her her first Grammy nomination: Best Dance Recording. But it was far from her last.
SEEBiggest Grammy Winners of All Time: See The Most Awarded Artists
To date, Gaga has won 11 Grammys out of 27 nominations.
Her breakthrough hit was “Just Dance” in 2008. That pop hit topped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and was certified nine-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. It also earned her her first Grammy nomination: Best Dance Recording. But it was far from her last.
SEEBiggest Grammy Winners of All Time: See The Most Awarded Artists
To date, Gaga has won 11 Grammys out of 27 nominations.
- 3/12/2021
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
The Notebook Primer introduces readers to some of the most important figures, films, genres, and movements in film history.Above: 42nd StreetWhile other genres undoubtedly advanced with the dawning of sound technology, the musical is likely the most indebted to the reverberations of this complementary process. More than that, though, the movie musical was fundamentally born with the surge of sound—it simply could not have existed otherwise. And since that time, the musical has indeed been a uniquely cinematic venture, less beholden to conventional narratives and often disposed to experimentations in color, location, camera mobility, production design, and special effects. Especially in its heyday, the so-called “Golden Age” lasting between the mid-1930s and late-‘50s, Hollywood musicals were an enrapturing experience, delighting audiences with spectacle, romance, athleticism, fine performances, and, of course, song and dance. Some of America’s brightest stars sparkled in the musical, while many of...
- 10/7/2020
- MUBI
Does a musical have to have big dance numbers, glorious cinematography and stereophonic sound? I agree with a consensus of critics and fans that this 1932 pre-Code marvel is the best musical romance of all. Maurice Chevalier may be ‘nothing but a tailor’ yet he steals the heart of Jeanette MacDonald’s princess and shocks her titled, discriminating family. Forget MGM operetta saccharine and say hello to a sexed-up fling annotated with suggestive pre-Code dialogue and song lyrics. Some of the better naughty content is delivered by Myrna Loy, who was never as gloriously slinky-seductive. Isn’t it romantic?
Love Me Tonight
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1932 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 88 104, 96 min. / Street Date September 9, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Charles Ruggles, Charles Butterworth, Myrna Loy, C. Aubrey Smith, Elizabeth Patterson, Ethel Griffies, Joseph Cawthorne, Robert Greig.
Cinematography: Victor Milner
Film Editor: William Shea
Original Music: John Leipold
Songs: Lorenz Hart,...
Love Me Tonight
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1932 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 88 104, 96 min. / Street Date September 9, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Charles Ruggles, Charles Butterworth, Myrna Loy, C. Aubrey Smith, Elizabeth Patterson, Ethel Griffies, Joseph Cawthorne, Robert Greig.
Cinematography: Victor Milner
Film Editor: William Shea
Original Music: John Leipold
Songs: Lorenz Hart,...
- 9/19/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
New York City jazz outfit Onyx Collective have unveiled a starry-eyed take on the Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart classic, “Manhattan,” which will appear on their tribute to the Rodgers and Hart/Rodgers and Hammerstein songbook, Manhattan Special, out Friday, April 24th, via Tmwrk Records.
A New York City anthem since it arrived in 1925, “Manhattan” has been performed by everyone from Ella Fitzgerald and Tony Bennett to the Supremes and Rod Stewart and Bette Midler. On their version, Onyx Collective fold the song’s vintage Jazz Age charm into a...
A New York City anthem since it arrived in 1925, “Manhattan” has been performed by everyone from Ella Fitzgerald and Tony Bennett to the Supremes and Rod Stewart and Bette Midler. On their version, Onyx Collective fold the song’s vintage Jazz Age charm into a...
- 4/23/2020
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
James Taylor will take on the Great American Songbook on the singer’s upcoming album American Standard, due out February 28th. The LP is Taylor’s first since 2015’s Before This World and 19th overall.
“I’ve always had songs I grew up with that I remember really well, that were part of the family record collection — and I had a sense of how to approach, so it was a natural to put American Standard together,” Taylor said in a statement. “I know most of these songs from the original...
“I’ve always had songs I grew up with that I remember really well, that were part of the family record collection — and I had a sense of how to approach, so it was a natural to put American Standard together,” Taylor said in a statement. “I know most of these songs from the original...
- 1/23/2020
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
Doris Day may have died with a reputation of being Hollywood’s most scrubbed-clean and wholesome girl-next-door type. But she made it to the big screen courtesy her warmly simmering and easily quavering vocal tones. Before films beckoned, she was a featured vocalist with big band-era kings such as Bob Crosby (Bing’s brother) and Les Brown and His Band of Renown, the latter of which recorded Day sunnily crooning “Sentimental Journey” and “My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time.”
While both ballads made her the toast of radio fans and World War II vets coming home from the battlefront in 1945, Day had so much more to offer during her sadly abbreviated singing career — which included one album released in the 21st century, “My Heart,” and a host of previously unreleased songs she recorded with her composer-producer son, the late Terry Melcher.
Here are some signature smashes and cool surprises from Doris Day.
While both ballads made her the toast of radio fans and World War II vets coming home from the battlefront in 1945, Day had so much more to offer during her sadly abbreviated singing career — which included one album released in the 21st century, “My Heart,” and a host of previously unreleased songs she recorded with her composer-producer son, the late Terry Melcher.
Here are some signature smashes and cool surprises from Doris Day.
- 5/13/2019
- by A.D. Amorosi
- Variety Film + TV
A few months before the film version of “The Sound of Music” hit the silver screen, a song plugger working the catalog of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein approached label owner Dave Kapp with a plan to turn one of the songs from the score into a hit single, thinking it would boost the box office potential of the movie. That resulted in Jack Jones recording “My Favorite Things” for his first Christmas album, but the song did not become a hit. That song plugger’s dream finally comes true this week, some 54 years after the film’s release, as “My Favorite Things” debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, thanks to a reinterpretation by Ariana Grande on her new single, “7 Rings.”
Grande updated the lyrics of the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein classic after a shopping spree at Tiffany’s, transforming “Raindrops on roses/And whiskers on kittens/Bright...
Grande updated the lyrics of the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein classic after a shopping spree at Tiffany’s, transforming “Raindrops on roses/And whiskers on kittens/Bright...
- 1/29/2019
- by Fred Bronson
- Variety Film + TV
This Week Mourning Thomas Meehan, celebrating the great bookwriters of yesterday and today, Michael Jackson wants to be David Merrick, Larry Hart meets Larry Hart, Diane Sawyer snoops around Smile, Ariel wants to go to Disneyland, and the puzzlement of the 1986-1987 Broadway season.
- 8/24/2017
- by Behind the Curtain
- BroadwayWorld.com
Turner Classic Movies continues with its Gay Hollywood presentations tonight and tomorrow morning, June 8–9. Seven movies will be shown about, featuring, directed, or produced by the following: Cole Porter, Lorenz Hart, Farley Granger, John Dall, Edmund Goulding, W. Somerset Maughan, Clifton Webb, Montgomery Clift, Raymond Burr, Charles Walters, DeWitt Bodeen, and Harriet Parsons. (One assumes that it's a mere coincidence that gay rumor subjects Cary Grant and Tyrone Power are also featured.) Night and Day (1946), which could also be considered part of TCM's homage to birthday girl Alexis Smith, who would have turned 96 today, is a Cole Porter biopic starring Cary Grant as a posh, heterosexualized version of Porter. As the warning goes, any similaries to real-life people and/or events found in Night and Day are a mere coincidence. The same goes for Words and Music (1948), a highly fictionalized version of the Richard Rodgers-Lorenz Hart musical partnership.
- 6/9/2017
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
On 31 August 1918, Alan Jay Lerner was born - and he went on to become one of the most popular lyricist and librettists in musical theatre's history.A native New-Yorker, Lerner studied at the Juilliard School before being mentored by both Oscar Hammerstein and Lorenz Hart. His first big hit was Brigadoon, written with Frederick Lowe, and it is for his collaborations with Lowe that he is best-known - especially for My Fair Lady.
- 8/31/2016
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Prior to their breakthrough musicals, many writers had extraordinary early-career shows hitthestage that you may not have heard of. From Lynn Ahrens amp Stephen Flaherty'sLucky Stiffto Richard Rodgers amp Lorenz Hart'sPoor Little Ritz Girlto William Finn'sIn Trousers, these pieces of work represent our best Broadway writers....beforeBroadway knew their names. Join us to hear auspicious songs fromtheinfluential shows that shaped careers and lives, just asKurt Vonnegut'sGod Bless You, Mr. Rosewatershapedthefutures of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken.
- 7/13/2016
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Anne Marie is tracking Judy Garland's career through musical numbers...
There's a musical number I should be showing you for this week's post. It's the last musical duet between Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland captured on film, as part of her guest appearance in the Rogers & Hart biopic Words and Music. It's a fun but slightly awkward number. Despite the joy of seeing Mickey & Judy reunited after half a decade apart, there's also a sense that they're almost too mature for their mugging. They're still sweet together, but the frenetic energy of youth has been replaced by practice. Contemporary audience must have agreed to some extent, since the Judy Garland number that made a hit off this movie was not her nostalgic reunion but rather a signature brassy belter.
The Movie: Words and Music (MGM, 1948)
The Songwriter: Richard Rogers (music) and Lorenz Hart (lyrics)
The Players: Mickey Rooney, Tom Drake,...
There's a musical number I should be showing you for this week's post. It's the last musical duet between Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland captured on film, as part of her guest appearance in the Rogers & Hart biopic Words and Music. It's a fun but slightly awkward number. Despite the joy of seeing Mickey & Judy reunited after half a decade apart, there's also a sense that they're almost too mature for their mugging. They're still sweet together, but the frenetic energy of youth has been replaced by practice. Contemporary audience must have agreed to some extent, since the Judy Garland number that made a hit off this movie was not her nostalgic reunion but rather a signature brassy belter.
The Movie: Words and Music (MGM, 1948)
The Songwriter: Richard Rogers (music) and Lorenz Hart (lyrics)
The Players: Mickey Rooney, Tom Drake,...
- 7/6/2016
- by Anne Marie
- FilmExperience
Today in 1976, the second Broadway revival of Pal Joey opened at the Circle in the SquareTheatre, where it ran for 73 performances. Pal Joey is a musical with a book by John O'Hara from his novel of the same title and music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart based on a character and situations O'Hara created in a series of short stories published in The New Yorker. The original 1940 Broadway production was directed by George Abbott and starred Gene Kelly. There have been several revivals since, including a 2008-09 Broadway run, and a 1957 film adaptation starring Frank Sinatra, Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak. The 1976 cast featured Christopher Chadman Joey, Harold Gary Mike, Terri Treas Kid, Janie Sell Gladys, and Gail Benedict Gail.
- 6/27/2016
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Today in 1940, Pal oey opened at Broadway's Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Pal Joey is a musical with a book by John O'Hara from his novel of the same title and music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart based on a character and situations O'Hara created in a series of short stories published in The New Yorker. It includes two songs that have become standards 'I Could Write a Book' and 'Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered'.
- 12/25/2015
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Today in 2008, the third Broadway revival of Pal Joey opened at Studio 54, where it ran for 85 performances. Pal Joey is a musical with a book by John O'Hara from his novel of the same title and music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart based on a character and situations O'Hara created in a series of short stories published in The New Yorker. The original 1940 Broadway production was directed by George Abbott and starred Gene Kelly. There have been several revivals since, including a 2008-09 Broadway run, and a 1957 film adaptation starring Frank Sinatra, Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak.
- 12/18/2015
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
The gaudy MGM musical bio gets one last go-round, gathering an all-star cast to illustrate the songbook of composer Sigmund Romberg. Gene Kelly dances with his brother Fred, and Cyd Charisse does a hot number with James Mitchell, while star José Ferrer goes on stage to perform with his wife Rosemary Clooney. Deep in My Heart Blu-ray Warner Archive Collection 1954 / Color / 1:37 flat Academy / 132 min. / Street Date November 10, 2015 / available through the WBshop / 17.95 Starring José Ferrer, Merle Oberon, Helen Traubel, Doe Avedon, Walter Pidgeon, Jim Backus, Rosemary Clooney, Gene Kelly, Fred Kelly, Jane Powell, Ann Miller, Cyd Charisse, Howard Keel, Vic Damone, Tony Martin, Joan Weldon, Fred Kelly, Russ Tamblyn. Susan Luckey, Robert Easton, Barrie Chase, Douglas Fowley. Cinematography George J. Folsey Film Editor Adrienne Fazan Original Music Alexander Courage, Adolph Deutsch Written by Leonard Spigelgass from a book by Elliott Arnold Produced by Roger Edens Directed by Stanley Donen
Reviewed...
Reviewed...
- 11/3/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Today in 1976, the second Broadway revival of Pal Joey opened at the Circle in the SquareTheatre, where it ran for 73 performances. Pal Joey is a musical with a book by John O'Hara from his novel of the same title and music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart based on a character and situations O'Hara created in a series of short stories published in The New Yorker. The original 1940 Broadway production was directed by George Abbott and starred Gene Kelly. There have been several revivals since, including a 2008-09 Broadway run, and a 1957 film adaptation starring Frank Sinatra, Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak. The 1976 cast featured Christopher Chadman Joey, Harold Gary Mike, Terri Treas Kid, Janie Sell Gladys, and Gail Benedict Gail.
- 6/27/2015
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Today in 1940, Pal oey opened at Broadway's Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Pal Joey is a musical with a book by John O'Hara from his novel of the same title and music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart based on a character and situations O'Hara created in a series of short stories published in The New Yorker. It includes two songs that have become standards 'I Could Write a Book' and 'Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered'.
- 12/25/2014
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Today in 2008, the third Broadway revival of Pal Joey opened at Studio 54, where it ran for 85 performances. Pal Joey is a musical with a book by John O'Hara from his novel of the same title and music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart based on a character and situations O'Hara created in a series of short stories published in The New Yorker. The original 1940 Broadway production was directed by George Abbott and starred Gene Kelly. There have been several revivals since, including a 2008-09 Broadway run, and a 1957 film adaptation starring Frank Sinatra, Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak.
- 12/18/2014
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Encores Celebrates Rodgers and Hammerstein and Hart, New York City Center's annual Gala tonight, October 27, 2014, will feature the music and lyrics of Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Lorenz Hart, sung by some of Broadway's finest talent, includingKate Baldwin, Kelli O'Hara, Laura Osnes, Steven Pasquale, and Paulo Szot, and with dance performances by Irina Dvorovenko, Chase Finlay, Jared Grimes, and Lauren Lovette.
- 10/27/2014
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Beloved actress Elaine Stritch, a Broadway legend who in recent years earned attention for a brilliant recurring role on 30 Rock, died Thursday in her home in Birmingham, Michigan, The New York Times reports. She was 89.
The Best '30 Rock' One-Liners
Stritch began her career in the mid-40s and arrived on Broadway in 1946 in the show Loco; but her career began to truly take off in the 1952 revival of Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart and John O'Hara's Pal Joey. In 1961 she picked up her third Tony nomination for her staring role in the musical,...
The Best '30 Rock' One-Liners
Stritch began her career in the mid-40s and arrived on Broadway in 1946 in the show Loco; but her career began to truly take off in the 1952 revival of Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart and John O'Hara's Pal Joey. In 1961 she picked up her third Tony nomination for her staring role in the musical,...
- 7/17/2014
- Rollingstone.com
Today in 1976, the second Broadway revival of Pal Joey opened at the Circle in the SquareTheatre, where it ran for 73 performances. Pal Joey is a musical with a book by John O'Hara from his novel of the same title and music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart based on a character and situations O'Hara created in a series of short stories published in The New Yorker. The original 1940 Broadway production was directed by George Abbott and starred Gene Kelly. There have been several revivals since, including a 2008-09 Broadway run, and a 1957 film adaptation starring Frank Sinatra, Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak. The 1976 cast featured Christopher Chadman Joey, Harold Gary Mike, Terri Treas Kid, Janie Sell Gladys, and Gail Benedict Gail.
- 6/27/2014
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
On June 10, 2014, producer and director, Caleb Ryan and a cast of rising stars on Broadway revived the timeless music of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in the one night only performance of We'll Take Manhattan, all to benefit Operation Smile. New World Stages played host to the performance and exclusive after party with industry heavy hitters in attendance including Tony Award winners Billy Porter and Michael Starobin, Grammy winner Kurt Elling, Two Time Tony Award Nominee Laura Osnes as well as television personality Chenoa Maxwell from the Own network's hit television show Love in the City.
- 6/13/2014
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
UnsungMusicalsCo. Umc will launch its 2014 developmental reading series at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts with a special presentation of Peggy-Ann, the hit 1926 musical comedy with a book by Tony Award winner Herbert Fields Annie Get Your Gun and a score by the legendary songwriting team of Richard Rodgers amp Lorenz Hart Pal Joey, On Your Toes. The reading, directed by Ben West Unsung Carolyn Leigh, The Fig Leaves Are Falling, At Home Abroad, will be held Thursday, May 22 at 230 Pm in the Bruno Walter Auditorium.
- 5/19/2014
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Mickey Rooney was earliest surviving Best Actor Oscar nominee (photo: Mickey Rooney and Spencer Tracy in ‘Boys Town’) (See previous post: “Mickey Rooney Dead at 93: MGM’s Andy Hardy Series’ Hero and Judy Garland Frequent Co-Star Had Longest Film Career Ever?”) Mickey Rooney was the earliest surviving Best Actor Academy Award nominee — Babes in Arms, 1939; The Human Comedy, 1943 — and the last surviving male acting Oscar nominee of the 1930s. Rooney lost the Best Actor Oscar to two considerably more “prestigious” — albeit less popular — stars: Robert Donat for Sam Wood’s Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) and Paul Lukas for Herman Shumlin’s Watch on the Rhine (1943). Following Mickey Rooney’s death, there are only two acting Academy Award nominees from the ’30s still alive: two-time Best Actress winner Luise Rainer, 104 (for Robert Z. Leonard’s The Great Ziegfeld, 1936, and Sidney Franklin’s The Good Earth, 1937), and Best Supporting Actress nominee Olivia de Havilland,...
- 4/9/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
In case you need a legitimate reason to check out the thirteenth season of American Idol, here’s one: This is the first season where none of the judges are embarrassed by one other.
Think about it. From seasons one to eight, Simon Cowell rolled his eyes at Paula Abdul, who was usually rolling her eyes on accident. In season nine, Ellen DeGeneres winced at all of Simon’s callous remarks as if they were stains on her syndication-friendly reputation. In seasons ten and eleven, Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson giggled in terror whenever your great aunt Steven Tyler purred at female contestants. In season 12, the whole panel refrained from weeping when Mariah Carey would attempt legitimate criticisms and instead wind up reciting Jacqueline Bisset‘s entire Golden Globes speech.
But finally, with the new lineup of Harry Connick Jr, Jennifer Lopez, and returnee Keith Urban, the mix is mysteriously perfect.
Think about it. From seasons one to eight, Simon Cowell rolled his eyes at Paula Abdul, who was usually rolling her eyes on accident. In season nine, Ellen DeGeneres winced at all of Simon’s callous remarks as if they were stains on her syndication-friendly reputation. In seasons ten and eleven, Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson giggled in terror whenever your great aunt Steven Tyler purred at female contestants. In season 12, the whole panel refrained from weeping when Mariah Carey would attempt legitimate criticisms and instead wind up reciting Jacqueline Bisset‘s entire Golden Globes speech.
But finally, with the new lineup of Harry Connick Jr, Jennifer Lopez, and returnee Keith Urban, the mix is mysteriously perfect.
- 1/16/2014
- by Louis Virtel
- The Backlot
Today in 1940, Pal oey opened at Broadway's Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Pal Joey is a musical with a book by John O'Hara from his novel of the same title and music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart based on a character and situations O'Hara created in a series of short stories published in The New Yorker. It includes two songs that have become standards 'I Could Write a Book' and 'Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered'.
- 12/25/2013
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Today in 2008, the third Broadway revival of Pal Joey opened at Studio 54, where it ran for 85 performances. Pal Joey is a musical with a book by John O'Hara from his novel of the same title and music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart based on a character and situations O'Hara created in a series of short stories published in The New Yorker. The original 1940 Broadway production was directed by George Abbott and starred Gene Kelly. There have been several revivals since, including a 2008-09 Broadway run, and a 1957 film adaptation starring Frank Sinatra, Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak.
- 12/18/2013
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
This Friday the 13th, we are proud to bring you a new column called The Thirteen! The Thirteen will be a Top 13 list of a topic that we choose and the column will run every 13th of the month! The Thirteen is a collaborative column where we all decide on entries that fit said topic.
The topic this month: regular songs that have now taken on a haunting feel thanks to a film that used it in a unorthodox way. Now, every time we hear the song, we not only think of the film it was featured in but also get the heebie jeebies from it as well. It was inspired by Tiny Tim’s song Tiptoe Through the Tulips which was used in the film Insidious. With Insidious: Chapter 2 in theaters now, what better way to introduce this topic.
We had a lot of great songs to choose...
The topic this month: regular songs that have now taken on a haunting feel thanks to a film that used it in a unorthodox way. Now, every time we hear the song, we not only think of the film it was featured in but also get the heebie jeebies from it as well. It was inspired by Tiny Tim’s song Tiptoe Through the Tulips which was used in the film Insidious. With Insidious: Chapter 2 in theaters now, what better way to introduce this topic.
We had a lot of great songs to choose...
- 9/13/2013
- by Andy Triefenbach
- Destroy the Brain
Today in 1976, the second Broadway revival of Pal Joey opened at the Circle in the SquareTheatre, where it ran for 73 performances. Pal Joey is a musical with a book by John O'Hara from his novel of the same title and music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart based on a character and situations O'Hara created in a series of short stories published in The New Yorker. The original 1940 Broadway production was directed by George Abbott and starred Gene Kelly. There have been several revivals since, including a 2008-09 Broadway run, and a 1957 film adaptation starring Frank Sinatra, Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak. The 1976 cast featured Christopher Chadman Joey, Harold Gary Mike, Terri Treas Kid, Janie Sell Gladys, and Gail Benedict Gail.
- 6/27/2013
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
The L.A. Film Festival and New York’s L.E.S.* Film Festival; Vineyard Theatre’s benefit concert celebrating singer-songwriter Dory Previn; “Comedy Nirvana! An Evening With Maron” at L.A.’s Paley Center; and the Lorenz Hart bio-musical “Falling for Make Believe” at the Colony Theatre are what we’re looking forward to this week. Click Here To View Slideshow...
- 6/12/2013
- backstage.com
Though the cast includes Tony-winning Broadway pros such as Christine Baranski (The Good Wife) and Karen Ziemba (Contact), it’s the dancers who seize the spotlight in a new revival of the 1936 Richard Rodgers-Lorenz Hart musical On Your Toes, which runs through this Sunday at New York City Center as part of the Encores! series. Given that two prominent roles are held by American Ballet Theatre veterans Irina Dvorovenko and Joaquin De Luz, the show’s title can be taken literally. Dvorovenko and several ensemble members perform en pointe during several routines, which have been artfully staged by...
- 5/9/2013
- by Thom Geier
- EW.com - PopWatch
Doc Martin season 5
Kieran Kinsella
British TV’s best loved non-Gallifreyan doctor is back in a bumper sized boxset from Acorn Media. Doc Martin: Special Collection – Series 1 – 5 + The Movies includes the entire saga so far. It is the ideal gift for Doc Martin fans who have grown frustrated at the show’s infrequent airings on select PBS stations.
Doc Martin began life as a bit part character in the film Saving Grace. At the time, his last name was Bamford and he kept the same name for two spin-off BSkyB produced made for TV movies. Bamford was a younger, slimmer, happier, more relaxed version of the Doc Martin most of us are now familiar with. The character alterations occurred when BSkyB’s drama unit went the way of the Dodo and ITV chiefs decided to develop their own version of the show. It was decided that the Doc should...
Kieran Kinsella
British TV’s best loved non-Gallifreyan doctor is back in a bumper sized boxset from Acorn Media. Doc Martin: Special Collection – Series 1 – 5 + The Movies includes the entire saga so far. It is the ideal gift for Doc Martin fans who have grown frustrated at the show’s infrequent airings on select PBS stations.
Doc Martin began life as a bit part character in the film Saving Grace. At the time, his last name was Bamford and he kept the same name for two spin-off BSkyB produced made for TV movies. Bamford was a younger, slimmer, happier, more relaxed version of the Doc Martin most of us are now familiar with. The character alterations occurred when BSkyB’s drama unit went the way of the Dodo and ITV chiefs decided to develop their own version of the show. It was decided that the Doc should...
- 5/7/2013
- by Edited by K Kinsella
And then there were three! On Thursday, May 3, Season 12 American Idol contestants Angie Miller, Candice Glover, Kree Harrison and Amber Holcomb faced another elimination round and, sadly, it was Holcomb who was sent home. The 19-year-old singer from Houston, Texas, bid an emotional farewell to the show after her Wednesday performances of Pink's "Just Give Me a Reason" and Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's "My Funny Valentine" weren't strong enough to save her a spot in the final three. Holcomb broke down in tears after her [...]...
- 5/3/2013
- Us Weekly
Composer Adam GuettelKnowing that the next 48 hours for most of us (well, the next 96 for me) would be filled with nothing but Oscar Mania, last night I went totally off-cinema to a night of cabaret with brilliant and unprolific composer Adam Guettel (Floyd Collins, The Light in the Piazza). [Tonight is the finale, the 8:30 is sold out but there's one more available at 11:00 pm] Although I wasn't thinking it through properly exactly. The night didn't turn out to be all that off-cinema since the material and the train of thought kept rushing there.
Guettel is, famously, the grandson of the legendary and prolific composer Richard Rodgers, the first person to ever Egot. Rodgers practically defined the American musical with his first partner Lorenz Hart and his second Oscar Hammerstein II: Babes in Arms, Pal Joey, The Sound of Music, The King and I, Carousel, Oklahoma... the list goes on and on and on. Guettel is an engaging witty stage presence (and unlike many composers...
Guettel is, famously, the grandson of the legendary and prolific composer Richard Rodgers, the first person to ever Egot. Rodgers practically defined the American musical with his first partner Lorenz Hart and his second Oscar Hammerstein II: Babes in Arms, Pal Joey, The Sound of Music, The King and I, Carousel, Oklahoma... the list goes on and on and on. Guettel is an engaging witty stage presence (and unlike many composers...
- 2/23/2013
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Lorna Luft at Birdland, NYC
Attending Lorna Luft's performance at Birdland last Monday night, a foreign tourist couple were seated next to my table. They happened upon the show when looking for a "jazz" club, and knew nothing of Ms. Luft previous to seeing this show. After the performance, they shared that they truly enjoyed the entire evening. I mention this because Ms. Luft, who cannot help but reside to some degree or another in the shadow of her mother, Judy Garland, and sister, Liza Minnelli, is very much a fine and talented entertainer, quite independent of those associations.
The theme of the evening was the men in Ms. Luft's life: the composers with whom she has worked (Burt Bacharach and Jerry Herman), and one who she honors a great deal (Larry Hart). Also the men who she adores working with, two of whom, David Elder and Tony Yazbeck,...
Attending Lorna Luft's performance at Birdland last Monday night, a foreign tourist couple were seated next to my table. They happened upon the show when looking for a "jazz" club, and knew nothing of Ms. Luft previous to seeing this show. After the performance, they shared that they truly enjoyed the entire evening. I mention this because Ms. Luft, who cannot help but reside to some degree or another in the shadow of her mother, Judy Garland, and sister, Liza Minnelli, is very much a fine and talented entertainer, quite independent of those associations.
The theme of the evening was the men in Ms. Luft's life: the composers with whom she has worked (Burt Bacharach and Jerry Herman), and one who she honors a great deal (Larry Hart). Also the men who she adores working with, two of whom, David Elder and Tony Yazbeck,...
- 2/15/2013
- by Jay Reisberg
- www.culturecatch.com
In Careless Rhapsody, award-winning vocalist, director and Broadway actor The Frogs, Sweet Smell of Success, and Kiss Me, Kate Eric Michael Gillett uses the wit and wisdom of Lorenz Hart to remind us all that, though love can be be experienced with abandon, to be careless with the heart can also have a price. George Balanchine called Lorenz Hart the Shelley of America and, it's true, his lyric writing ranks with the greatest romantic poetry of all time. Though he, himself, was unlucky in love, his writing casts a spell that will always survive the test of time, inspiring generations of lovers to come to follow their hearts.His 54 Below show continues February 7 at 930pm and February 26 amp 27 at 7pm and you can check out exclusive concert highlights below...
- 2/6/2013
- by BroadwayWorld TV
- BroadwayWorld.com
Award-winning vocalist, director and Broadway actor The Frogs, Sweet Smell of Success, Kiss Me, Kate Eric Michael Gillett uses the wit and wisdom of Lorenz Hart to remind us all that, though love can be experienced with abandon, to be careless with the heart can also have a price. George Balanchine called Lorenz Hart the Shelley of America, his lyrics rank with the greatest romantic poetry of all time. Though he, himself, was unlucky in love, his writing casts a spell that will always survive the test of time, inspiring generations of lovers to come to follow their hearts.
- 1/18/2013
- by Walter McBride
- BroadwayWorld.com
Today in 1940, Pal oey opened at Broadway's Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Pal Joey is a musical with a book by John O'Hara from his novel of the same title and music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart based on a character and situations O'Hara created in a series of short stories published in The New Yorker. It includes two songs that have become standards 'I Could Write a Book' and 'Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered'.
- 12/25/2012
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
New York -- Some key figures who helped manage Michael Jackson's career are teaming up to create a stage musical about the behind-the-scenes making of a superstar that producers call a cross between "Goodfellas" and "Dreamgirls."
Producers Mark Lamica, Quincy Krashna, Jerry Greenberg, Raymond Del Barrio and Larry Hart will join forces to present "The Man," a fictional show inspired by the rise of Jackson, Elvis Presley and Whitney Houston. The story will be told through the eyes of a manager.
"We want this project to be a compelling, gritty, entertaining tale, that tells the story of the price of fame in a new way," said Lamica, who served as a partner with the late Frank Dileo, who was Jackson's manager.
"The Man," with a book by Lamica and Grammy Award-winning composer Hart, is expected to open in Las Vegas in the late fall of 2013. The show will have...
Producers Mark Lamica, Quincy Krashna, Jerry Greenberg, Raymond Del Barrio and Larry Hart will join forces to present "The Man," a fictional show inspired by the rise of Jackson, Elvis Presley and Whitney Houston. The story will be told through the eyes of a manager.
"We want this project to be a compelling, gritty, entertaining tale, that tells the story of the price of fame in a new way," said Lamica, who served as a partner with the late Frank Dileo, who was Jackson's manager.
"The Man," with a book by Lamica and Grammy Award-winning composer Hart, is expected to open in Las Vegas in the late fall of 2013. The show will have...
- 12/19/2012
- by AP
- Huffington Post
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.