Do I Hear a Waltz? Colour Footage of the original production- Page 2

[EricMontreal22]

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

It sounds to me, Gaveston that you picked up some writer's comments on the score and are just going with them. It's actually quite strong I'd say, and filled with lyrics that do more than "tread water" in context. Give it a chance sometime. I love No Strings but for the most part they show off why Rodgers wasn't much of a lyricist. He picks up a concept for the lyri that is fine and then either spends three minutes saying the same thing with different words, or uses metaphors that really make zero sense.

[daredevil]

Posted: 3/1/14 at 3:19pm

I actually saw what i believe was its first performance in New Haven, then another one at the 46 street a few weeks after it opened. Very few changes, a song called Everybody Loves Leona, in the second act was cut from the tryout. A competent musical, it just didn't transcend its earlier material. I think the lyrics are terrific, by the way. The song
I Was Thinking is a perfect plot song, with a situation that changes from the beginning of the song to the end.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/1/14 at 3:36pm

Yeah the lyrics of that song in particular are great. I think that's the general feel--that the musical was pleasant but not a revelation in any way.

In the Pasadena (and I believe later Chicago) production, Leona is reinstated and sang as a sorta self-pitying/angry drunk song by Leona. I think it works quite well.

[hushpuppy]

Posted: 3/1/14 at 8:46pm

When I was about 12 or 13, growing up in San Francisco in the early 70's, having grown bored with my parents' collection of the usual cast recordings (MY FAIR LADY, SOUTH PACIFIC, OKLAHOMA!), I started prowling the shelves at the local library for something different and found DO I HEAR A WALTZ?

Instead of the usual liner notes on the back cover, here was a slightly out-of-focus, full-page color photo of a middle-aged woman, her hairdo looking frighteningly like something my mother would wear, dancing alone, her dress swirling around her, while a handsome man sat and watched her, seemingly entranced, a big grin on his face. I knew Richard Rodgers, of course, and Sondheim and Laurents from GYPSY and WEST SIDE STORY, but who was Elizabeth Allen? Sergio Franchi I had seen on The Mike Douglas Show, and wasn't Madeline Sherwood the Reverend Mother from 'The Flying Nun? I gotta take this home and listen to it.

From the very first bells chiming, and the opening notes of 'Someone Woke Up' (how modern of them to open without an overture, I thought), I was immediately smitten. I played it over and over again, returned it to the library, and bought a used copy at The Record House on Polk Street so I could play it whenever I wanted. When the CD was released, I reveled in the few extra snippets that had been added. I was ecstatic when I saw SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM, and learned that there were original, much more cynical lyrics to 'We're Gonna Be Alright' (and gleefully told my friends about the line 'Sometimes she drinks in bed, sometimes he's homosexual'). This was not a musical my parents would like. Nobody returned happily from the war, nobody gave up gambling to become a missionary with the woman he loves, nobody escaped from the Nazis. Leona and Renato parted company at the end of the play, nobody lived happily every after.

I don't know what it was about this show that I loved so much. Was it because it was one of the rare musicals that was set in contemporary times and featured people I felt I could relate to (as opposed to Jews in Russia or sailors in World War II)? As a little gay show-queen-in-training, did I identify with Leona's inability to find love and the fact that she couldn't handle it when she finally did find it? Did I just like the fact that I was mad about a show that nobody knew anything about? (A few years later, after a trip to New York, and a week-long fling with another show-queeen, I wrote a note thanking my host for a 'little but lovely time'. He never replied back).

Fast forward to 2001. I am in the audience at the Pasadena Playhouse. The lights go down and the bells chime, and the first notes of 'Someone Woke Up' start to play, and tears just start streaming down my face. For the first time, I was going to see, on stage, the show that got me through so many nights alone in my room, the show that nobody ever talked about when discussing Sondheim, the show that Sondheim, Rodgers, and Laurents themselves all dismissed.

I loved that production ('Take the Moment' was a breathtaking Act I finale). I still love the score. I still cry at the end when the music swells up, and Leona and Renato go their separate ways, and I hope someday before I die, I get to hear it again live.

BTW: for the Pasadena production, they cut 'Bargaining' and reinstated 'Everybody Loves Leona' and used the original lyrics to 'We're Gonna Be Alright'

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/1/14 at 8:54pm

"BTW: for the Pasadena production, they cut 'Bargaining' and reinstated 'Everybody Loves Leona' and used the original lyrics to 'We're Gonna Be Alright'"

Sometimes I wonder if people read the previously posted points before replying :P That said, thanks for pointing out "Bargaining" (Which lyrically I think is horribly, and musically not much better) was cut.

My snark towards your post aside, thank you for such a great post! I think you make a great point that it was a musical with a less than happy ending. And I'm glad to hear that what my friend said about the Pasadena production was shared by another audience member. I've had mixed (but mostly good) feelings about the show, but it's amazing to read how genuinely moving it can be for someone.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 3/1/14 at 9:49pm

t sounds to me, Gaveston that you picked up some writer's comments on the score and are just going with them.

Et tu, Eric?

I believe I made it quite clear that I have read the libretto--lyrics included--many times over the years. I own a copy and it sits on the shelf about six feet from where I sit now.

So, no, I was not quoting some other writer's comments on the words.

As for the music, I admit I don't know how the music and lyrics go together (with the exception of a couple of songs).

But you know me better than to think I adopt second-hand opinions from other critics. Harumph!

Updated On: 3/1/14 at 09:49 PM

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/1/14 at 10:05pm

That was a low blow on my part. I'm sorry. What I wish I had said is that I think if you actually listened to the score you would find a lot that you liked.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 3/1/14 at 10:51pm

And, Eric, I respect you enough that I have just downloaded the OBC recording and will listen to it tonight.

[After Eight]

Posted: 3/1/14 at 11:01pm

"I love No Strings but for the most part they show off why Rodgers wasn't much of a lyricist. "

Ridiculous. The lyrics in No Strings are fine, and far superior to those of Do I Hear a Waltz.

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 3/2/14 at 9:55am

hushpuppy, thanks for sharing your experience with DIHAW (I had a similar reaction to ANYONE CAN WHISTLE, so I totally get it). I saw DIHAW in its original production, and while not perfect, it had many beautiful moments (unlike others, I thought Elizabeth Allen was well cast, and yes, Sergio Franchi was a dream to listen to, and "Take the Moment" was a thrilling Act One curtain). A more recent production at George St. Playhouse (when Arthur was still alive and "in residence") did not fare as well. Also saw NO STRINGS during its first run in 1963, Diahann Carroll, Richard Kiley and Bernice Massi were amazing, and while the Rodgers lyrics worked well enough in the show, in later hearings they seemed a bit too clever and arch. The Encores revival was good and well cast, but again did not quite indicate what was so special about the show in the early 60s.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 3/2/14 at 2:30pm

Well, to paraphrase another Sondheim lyric:

"I heard DO I HEAR A WALTZ? I sort of enjoyed it."

The lyrics certainly sing better than they read, which is as it should be. (The exception being the abortion that is "We're Gonna Be Alright", in which the couple repeat a chorus that didn't need to be sung in the first place. "Our team is undefeatable!", indeed! Surely that was Sondheim's FU to Rodgers.)

But the entire enterprise sounds to my ear like Sondheim surrendered and wrote the lyrics Hammerstein might have written for that story--something Hammerstein cautioned him never to do.

Nonetheless, I'm glad I have a copy. So game, set, match to Eric.

Updated On: 3/2/14 at 02:30 PM

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/2/14 at 2:42pm

But are they superior to No Strings'? I'm glad you indulged me, Gaveston. And while it may be a muted conquest, I agree with your take on the score, for the most part. I guess my point in needling you to hear the score was that it was better than you seemed to think it was, so I am glad that on that note you agree.

And yes, the revised "We're Gonna Be Alright" just sounds like Sondheim could care less. The thing is if you read the libretto and it in context, the revised version of the song comes off as even more depressing for the characters--at least with the original it sounded like they were, passive aggressively, starting to work through some of their issues.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 3/2/14 at 2:57pm

Exactly. And the show could use a little wit in Act II. What's more, the original lyrics put the couple's difficulties into a context of gender roles, which gives the duet quite a bit of substance.

No, the lyrics to NO STRINGS are not comparable (I have that libretto as well), with the afore-noted exception of "The Sweetest Sounds."

And I saw I REMEMBER MAMA, one of the most boring evenings I've ever spent in a Broadway theater. So, no, I'm not a fan of Rodgers' lyrics. (Though "Confidence", while not being brilliant, does provide Maria with a little oomph.)

ETA: OOPS! I knew I should have checked the credits before I posted the above. MAMA's lyrics are by Martin Charnin. I was bored nonetheless.



Updated On: 3/2/14 at 02:57 PM

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 3/2/14 at 3:22pm

(Quick note to Gaveston-- Martin Charnin wrote the lyrics to I Remember Mama, which doesn't discount their boringness.)

I saw the Pasadena production of DIHAW, partially to check out the first ever live production I'd come across of the show, but chiefly to see Carol Lawrence live onstage. (She was terrific, but boy is the part of Signora Fioria a tough one to like.) The play seemed dated and kind of unable to take flight. The biggest disappointment for me in that production was the totally earthbound set-- a big lumpen pension courtyard with none of the wit and lightness and magic of Beni Montressor's original as shown for the first time in the OP's fabulous footage. Those clips are an absolute treasure!

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 3/3/14 at 7:13pm

Thanks for the correction, someone. It didn't sound right and I was looking it up when you posted.

For all I know Charnin's lyrics are wonderful; I was too bored with the entire evening to ever listen to the score again. (Who said we needed to see Liv Ullman in a musical?)

[After Eight]

Posted: 3/4/14 at 6:38am

"MAMA's lyrics are by Martin Charnin."

Martin Charnin and Raymond Jessel.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 3/4/14 at 11:17pm

Right you are, A8. I didn't read the fine print at IBDB and I should have.

Thanks for the correction.

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 3/16/14 at 4:57pm

I just stumbled across this color production photo at the NYPL's digital photo archive. It really was a stunning design.