tazber- You know I have the highest opinion of you, but you can't go spreading lies on this board about Whorehouse Goes Public. It, along with Legs Diamond, must rank as one of the greatest guilty pleasure OBCRs ever made, and everyone should be encouraged to hear Dee Hoty's Tony nominated performance forever preserved on disc!
"I'm Leavin' Texas" is a showstopping list song of Texas towns done at breakneck speeds by Hoty. It would be hard to find a more joyous track on any cast recording. "Let the Devil Take Us," "Working the Street" and especially "Call Me" are hilarious production numbers recorded in their entirety, and lessons in camp 101.
"Change In Me" might be the best song, but only if you define "best" in a certain way.
If the price of the whole album is only $3.30, I couldn't think of a better way anyone could spend $3.30. The amount of joy you will receive for such little money will make this one of the best purchases you could make.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
Et tu, Whizzer? (That's Latin for, "FU, Whizzer!")
Salve, Regina, Mater misericordiae
Vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra
Salve, Salve Regina
Ad te clamamus exsules filii Eva
Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes
O clemens O pia
Oh, I still play it Whizzer. And I'm Leaving Texas is easily the second best song. Parts of the opening are catchy too.
But, Legs Diamond, well that's an entirely different story. I LOOOOVE Legs Diamond. Every single song. I play that one all the time. Totally serious, btw.
Ha, well I'm totally serious too, and I also play Legs Diamond straight through all the time. In fact if you look at my itunes most played list you'd find songs from both Legs and Whorehouse on the top 25 list, and that's the 100% honest truth!
(I don't know what this says about my psychological state :))
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
I actually have to admit that Goes Public and Legs are constants on my iPhone (I never remove them). Legs was actually my first Broadway show (as Whizzer knows) and I love Goes Public for some reason I can't put my finger on (besides my love for Dee Hoty). But also take this all with a grain of salt as another constant in my rotation is Nick and Nora (which I saw midway through previews, thought was a train wreck, but still love it).
I loved the opening number in Public, but then I watched the rest of the show like the original audience for Springtime For Hitler. It trudged through a gutter of bad taste and unfunny comedy.
4-5 of the songs are top shelf Hall (and I'm a big fan of the first score). "Change in Me" is so catchy, play it once and you'll hum it all day. What the show lacked was the simplicity and down-home charm of the original. The Chicken Ranch was a unique spot in which to set a musical. Vegas? Meh. (GOLDEN RAINBOW? THE ACT? Opening a show with Elvis impersonator says it all, alas.) All the satiric stuff was tired. The relative authenticity of the first show was severely compromised. And whereas Carlyn Glynn made Mona a real person, part of the reason the original worked so well, Dee Hoty, a very gifted performer, seemed to be what she was: about the 10th woman to play the character. Everything was diluted or less authentic.
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
Good points, Auggie. It also had the fault that Bring Back Birdie, Phantom 2, Annie 2 and a lot of movie musicals in general have--there was no need or desire for a sequel. The story was over, IMHO.
The excuse can be that people want to hang out again with these characters they like--and that's fair enough, but as you point out when the feel and tone of the show is SOOO different--why?