MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Ben Bagley's Ballet on Broadway & Nantucket - show music -- many of them never before recorded.
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VERNON DUKE / HAROLD ROME
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Ben Bagley's Ballet on Broadway & Nantucket - show music -- many of them never before recorded.
Symphony Orchestra conducted by Lehmen Engel, with songs performed by The Patios
[ Painted Smiles Records / CD ]
Release Date: Wednesday 5 May 1993
Should this item be out of stock at the time of your order, we would expect to be able to supply it to you within 2 - 4 weeks.
Back in 1955 and 1957, Bagley, who was in his early 20's, dazzled critics with two brilliant Shoestring Revues produced Off-Broadway. Reviewers were mesmerized by the young man's uncanny ability to discover bright new talent (Beatrice Arthur, Chita Rivera, Dody Goodman, Arte Johnson, Paul Mazursky, Dorothy Greener, etc.) but also by his unerring taste in selecting their hilarious, sassy sketches and songs by future titans Sheldon Harnick, Michael Stewart, Charles Strouse, lee Adams, Tom Jones, Harvey Schmidt and Arthur Siegel.
In 1971, Ben embarked on a new and impressive career. He founded Painted Smiles Records and since then has produced 47 highly distinctive albums of show tunes -- many of them never before recorded.
Ballet Arrangements by Genevieve Pitot, Peter Matz, Trude Rittman
Ballet on Broadway conducted by Lehman Engel
Ballet on Broadway was rescued from oblivion by Ben Bagley. It was a pet project of the great Lehman Engel. Only a handful of copies got pressed, it was not released, and no one ever knew of its existence, other than Engel and the lucky few who managed to have a copy. Bagley contacted Engel, who was thrilled it could finally see the light of the day, and finally musical theatre lovers got to hear it.
Creating dance and ballet musical arrangements in musicals was and is a true art and this CD is the living proof. Great dance and ballet music from High Button Shoes, Jamaica, Look Ma, I'm Dancin', Shangri-La, Can-Can, The Girl in Pink Tights, and the amazing "Sadie Hawkins Day Ballet" from Li'l Abner. These kinds of things never made the cast albums of the shows, so it's simply wonderful to have them available and brilliantly conducted by Engel.
Ballet on Broadway was originally released by Bagley on LP. He later released it on CD but it's been out of print for decades. As he was wont to do, Bagley filled out the running time of the CD was some wonderful and obscure material, mostly by the great Vernon Duke. The Show is On was a 1937 musical revue with music mostly by Duke and lyrics by Ted Fetter. Dilly was adapted by playwrights Jerome Lawrence and Robert Lee from the novel, Miss Dilly Says No. They worked on it in the early 1950s but the musical never happened. The songs, however, are delightful. In 1943, Duke, with Harold Rome as his lyricist, wrote a musical called Nantucket, set in the 19th century. They wrote nine songs for it, but it, like Dilly, never got off the ground. One can never have enough Vernon Duke and these selections are all very interesting and filled with Duke's wonderful melodies.
As with our other releases in our ongoing reissues of the Ben Bagley albums, we have spruced up the sound considerably and we, of course, feature the wonderful art of Harvey Schmidt. -KRITZERLAND
Note: Cover insert has a slight glue mark making it difficult to open.
ONLY 500 COPIES WERE EVER RELEASED ON CD
Tracks:
Ben Bagley's Ballet On Broadway
1 The Bathing Beauty Ballet From High Button Shoes
2 Beach Ballet From Jamaica
3 Mlle. Scandale Ballet From Look Ma, I'm Dancin'
4 Father Perrault Ballet From Shangri-La
5 Garden Of Eden Ballet From Can-Can
6 Pas De Deux From The Girl In Pink Tights
7 Sadie Hawkins Ballet From Li'l Abner
The Show Is On
8 The Show Is On
9 Casanova
10 What Has He Got?
Dilly
11 Roses In The Rain
12 What If Your Not
Nantucket
13 My Heart Decided
14 Song Of Our Love
15 You After All These Years
16 Je Taime- I Love You
17 I Knew You Well
18 The Devil Played The Fiddle
