This is an amazing 1962 video of a tribute to Lerner and Loewe, hosted by Maurice Chevalier, starring Julie Andrews, an impossibly young and handsome Robert Goulet among others. It features MANY full production numbers from L&L's many broadway hits. LERNER AND LOEWE - 1962
Art has a double face, of expression and illusion.
Directed by Norman Jewison and choreographed by Carol Haney!
And the Sardi's scene with Frances Sternhagen and Charles Nelson Reilly where they trash MY FAIR LADY before opening night just goes to show...nothing has changed.
"And the Sardi's scene with Frances Sternhagen and Charles Nelson Reilly where they trash MY FAIR LADY before opening night just goes to show...nothing has changed."
In other threads, one of the most lauded dim bulbs on this board trashes My Fair Lady a half century later!
I don't believe Wildcat was trashing MFL. I think the point was that, even now, there are those who will trash a show even before it opens (think Riedel).
Amazing video! A curtain on the past has just been lifted and the glimpse is stunning.
A few questions come up--
Alvin Colt is credited with the costumes and it looks like his clothes for Camelot match Adrian's originals faithfully (easy to do since the show was still running). But can anyone say if the costumes for "Show Me" and "Get Me to the Church On Time" are the originals? (Julie's outfit seems especially dowdy...)
Spectacular to see Richard Burton's Act I closing speech in Camelot. Wow, how he flies through the words at breakneck speed. But is the orchestral accompaniment correct? I'm remembering a lovely pavane underscores the scene here, not just reprises of earlier songs.
And most important, Lerner and Lowe seem such good buddies here. When exactly did their animosity toward eachother come to a head to result in their split up? (I know they regrouped for the stage version of Gigi, but understand they never were a team again after the early 60's.)
Anyone with insight (or a really good memory), please share.
I doubt if things were ever that acrimonious. Basically, Loewe wanted to retire and Lerner didn't. In any case, they would certainly put on a good face together for a television celebration of their work. At the least, the show was good (and probably needed) publicity for CAMELOT.
Oh, how I miss the days when musical specials such as this one were regularly shown on TV. I was just a child but I remember them fondly and how they inculcated in me a lifelong love of musical theater. At least we have these remnants and clips to keep that tradition alive.