My Musical Theater Voyage of Discovery; The Sondheim Files - Anyone Can Whistle
ANYONE CAN WHISTLE is a show I discovered because of the cast album of SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM. My education in Sondheim took several years – it was almost as though I would choose a show and spend a year studying it; 1980 was West Side Story, 1981 was A Little Night Music AND Merrily We Roll Along, 1982 was a double header of Sweeney Todd and Company, 1983 was Follies and a more concentrated study of Gypsy (which I had known, slightly, as a teen), 1984 was Side by Side by Sondheim – and with it came all the others. As a revue, Side By Side had songs from all the Sondheim shows written to that point; so I wanted to learn more about each of the shows therein. The Anyone Can Whistle section of the Side By cast album, though, was particularly special (and I will touch on it when I get to that album). Also special was the fact that my best girlfriend at college, Marci, sang the song Anyone Can Whistle and I developed a deep love of it (both her version and the song, itself). When it came time for me to sing a song in a class, I chose Anyone Can Whistle. It remains one of my most favourite songs, to this day.
My studies revealed an unpleasant fact: Anyone Can Whistle was a flop on Broadway. Oh well. I wanted to hear it anyway. It was, after all, starring my favourite actress, Lee Remick and the most important actress in my life, Angela Lansbury. So I get the record and I played it.
Didn’t like it.
Well; I didn’t like all of it. It was SO smart, SO heady, SO far over my head that I would need an A-Frame ladder to peel it off the ceiling. I had no idea, none whatsoever, what the hell it was about, what they were singing about, or why so many of the group numbers were so discordant and noisy, so difficult to listen to. I really didn’t get it. I did, though, like Lee Remick’s recording of the title song and the song Parade in Town. The recording of Everybody Says Don’t was better on the Side by Side record; the version of There Won’t be Trumpets was also better on Side By Side and there was a beautiful With So Little to Be Sure Of on A Stephen Sondheim Evening.
So I put the record away and never played it again.
When the cd came out, I always programmed it just to play Anyone Can Whistle, Parade in Town and the reinstated There Won’t Be Trumpets.
Years later, a concert version was presented at Carnegie Hall starring Madeline Kahn, Scott Bakula and Miss Bernadette Peters. It was too expensive for us to go, so we missed. When the cd came out, I played it once and never went back. I just couldn’t seem to get into Anyone Can Whistle, no matter what stars (all of them stars I love) were in it. I liked the songs Anyone Can Whistle, Parade in Town, Everybody Says Don’t and There Won’t be Trumpets; so I put them into my playlists and left it at that.
Well, last week I put my earphones on and determined that I would play both the OBC and the concert versions, back to back, and decide if I was going to delete them and just keep the four tracks I like – or would I find that my opinion had changed?
It changed.
Oh, I still don’t get it. I don’t understand satire, I guess; and I may just be dumb about this show. BUT last week I really listened to these recordings, to these performances, to the artistry of the producers and the mixers, of the musicians and the musical directors and I found out that I LOVE Anyone Can Whistle! It turns out that the man I am, now, the man I have become, really appreciates the writing, the musicality, the sophistication of both recordings. And you couldn’t get two more different recordings! Angela Lansbury is brash, brassy and belty, while Madeline Kahn is laidback, lyrical and legit. Harry Guardino’s singing is rough and macho, while Scott Bakula’s singing is lush and manly. Lee Remick’s voice is untrained, yet pure and lovely, while Bernadette Peters’ voice is trained, yet pure and lovely.
---I want to take a minute here to say some things about these actors. First of all, one of the things I always loved about Lee Remick was her honesty. It showed up in her acting and it showed up in her singing – and, as singing goes, it isn’t always good; but it is SO honest and SO lovely that I could never, never, never help but fall in love with her, once more. I have never thought anything more of Bernadette Peters than this: she is an absolute star, a great actress and a one of a kind, one and only type of talent. I have never done more than love and worship her, her talent, her beauty. I have read (chat rooms) and heard (armchair critics) mumbo jumbo about her vocal limitations (particularly during her stint in GYPSY –and just, by the way, hers is my favourite Mama Rose I have ever seen). I recognize that she DOES have qualities that limit her performances. Sometimes her propensity for making sure that her diction is perfect makes it difficult for her to sing songs that are really fast (but if you listen to There Won’t Be Trumpets on this recording, you can just go eat some crow, after). And sometimes when she is singing, you may wonder if she is going to hit that note (but if you listen to her Anyone Can Whistle, you will hear absolute control combined with total commitment to emotional content). In fact, my favourite Anyone Can Whistle recording has always been Lee Remick’s (although David Kernan’s on the Side By Side cast album is so lush and has a discarded verse that I love); but now I am going to say that Bernadette Peters’ version is justthisclose to edging out Lee Remick. And here’s the thing. Bernadette Peters doesn’t have a PRETTY voice. No. Barbra Streisand has a pretty voice. Maureen McGovern has a pretty voice. What Bernadette Peters has is a REAL voice. It is lovely and clear as a teardrop on a crystal chandelier, it is honest and heartfelt. It has integrity and dignity. I can always listen to Bernadette Peters because I would rather feel what she is singing than hear what a pretty singer is playing. The additional treat to this cd is that she has this MAGNIFICENT scene with Scott Bakula just before singing Anyone Can Whistle and she delivers her lines with her famous and absolutely inimitable timing and pathos. Dudes, she is the end. She is just the very living end. Thank God for her. Now about Scott Bakula. Have you ever seen a celebrity and thought “I’m so happy he/she is famous? I’m so happy this person has success.” Have you ever WISHED success on someone from the moment you became aware of them? That’s Scott Bakula for me. First there was Three Guys Naked From the Waist Down; then came Designing Women – from that point on, I have been wishing success on Scott Bakula. I have thrilled with each of his triumphs, as though it were my own. Add to the concert recording Madeline Kahn, the most funniest woman on this planet, during her life; one of the celebrities for whom I wept, openly, for days, upon hearing of her death. Oh, and, by the way, the entire thing is narrated by Miss Angela Lansbury – English born, naturalized American; therefore, a national treasure in two countries – and probably a lot more that I am not naming here. She is the jewel in the crown of show business and each person who meets her should get down on their knees and kiss her hand. She is our greatest diva. So HOW could I NOT love this cd?
Well that’s the thing. I do love this cd. It’s like having a new friend – TWO new friends! The OBC and the concert versions have become my two new friends in the last week because I keep going back and listening to them both. I suspect I’ll get one of my ‘things’ about Anyone Can Whistle and drive Pat crazy with each new anecdote that I get from google and wikepedia and all the (previously unread) volumes I own about Stephen Sondheim. I imagine there will come a day when Pat says to me “could we PLEASE listen to something else today?” and I will have to take Anyone Can Whistle out of the cd player.
I’ll just play it on my Ipod at the gym.
My studies revealed an unpleasant fact: Anyone Can Whistle was a flop on Broadway. Oh well. I wanted to hear it anyway. It was, after all, starring my favourite actress, Lee Remick and the most important actress in my life, Angela Lansbury. So I get the record and I played it.
Didn’t like it.
Well; I didn’t like all of it. It was SO smart, SO heady, SO far over my head that I would need an A-Frame ladder to peel it off the ceiling. I had no idea, none whatsoever, what the hell it was about, what they were singing about, or why so many of the group numbers were so discordant and noisy, so difficult to listen to. I really didn’t get it. I did, though, like Lee Remick’s recording of the title song and the song Parade in Town. The recording of Everybody Says Don’t was better on the Side by Side record; the version of There Won’t be Trumpets was also better on Side By Side and there was a beautiful With So Little to Be Sure Of on A Stephen Sondheim Evening.
So I put the record away and never played it again.
When the cd came out, I always programmed it just to play Anyone Can Whistle, Parade in Town and the reinstated There Won’t Be Trumpets.
Years later, a concert version was presented at Carnegie Hall starring Madeline Kahn, Scott Bakula and Miss Bernadette Peters. It was too expensive for us to go, so we missed. When the cd came out, I played it once and never went back. I just couldn’t seem to get into Anyone Can Whistle, no matter what stars (all of them stars I love) were in it. I liked the songs Anyone Can Whistle, Parade in Town, Everybody Says Don’t and There Won’t be Trumpets; so I put them into my playlists and left it at that.
Well, last week I put my earphones on and determined that I would play both the OBC and the concert versions, back to back, and decide if I was going to delete them and just keep the four tracks I like – or would I find that my opinion had changed?
It changed.
Oh, I still don’t get it. I don’t understand satire, I guess; and I may just be dumb about this show. BUT last week I really listened to these recordings, to these performances, to the artistry of the producers and the mixers, of the musicians and the musical directors and I found out that I LOVE Anyone Can Whistle! It turns out that the man I am, now, the man I have become, really appreciates the writing, the musicality, the sophistication of both recordings. And you couldn’t get two more different recordings! Angela Lansbury is brash, brassy and belty, while Madeline Kahn is laidback, lyrical and legit. Harry Guardino’s singing is rough and macho, while Scott Bakula’s singing is lush and manly. Lee Remick’s voice is untrained, yet pure and lovely, while Bernadette Peters’ voice is trained, yet pure and lovely.
---I want to take a minute here to say some things about these actors. First of all, one of the things I always loved about Lee Remick was her honesty. It showed up in her acting and it showed up in her singing – and, as singing goes, it isn’t always good; but it is SO honest and SO lovely that I could never, never, never help but fall in love with her, once more. I have never thought anything more of Bernadette Peters than this: she is an absolute star, a great actress and a one of a kind, one and only type of talent. I have never done more than love and worship her, her talent, her beauty. I have read (chat rooms) and heard (armchair critics) mumbo jumbo about her vocal limitations (particularly during her stint in GYPSY –and just, by the way, hers is my favourite Mama Rose I have ever seen). I recognize that she DOES have qualities that limit her performances. Sometimes her propensity for making sure that her diction is perfect makes it difficult for her to sing songs that are really fast (but if you listen to There Won’t Be Trumpets on this recording, you can just go eat some crow, after). And sometimes when she is singing, you may wonder if she is going to hit that note (but if you listen to her Anyone Can Whistle, you will hear absolute control combined with total commitment to emotional content). In fact, my favourite Anyone Can Whistle recording has always been Lee Remick’s (although David Kernan’s on the Side By Side cast album is so lush and has a discarded verse that I love); but now I am going to say that Bernadette Peters’ version is justthisclose to edging out Lee Remick. And here’s the thing. Bernadette Peters doesn’t have a PRETTY voice. No. Barbra Streisand has a pretty voice. Maureen McGovern has a pretty voice. What Bernadette Peters has is a REAL voice. It is lovely and clear as a teardrop on a crystal chandelier, it is honest and heartfelt. It has integrity and dignity. I can always listen to Bernadette Peters because I would rather feel what she is singing than hear what a pretty singer is playing. The additional treat to this cd is that she has this MAGNIFICENT scene with Scott Bakula just before singing Anyone Can Whistle and she delivers her lines with her famous and absolutely inimitable timing and pathos. Dudes, she is the end. She is just the very living end. Thank God for her. Now about Scott Bakula. Have you ever seen a celebrity and thought “I’m so happy he/she is famous? I’m so happy this person has success.” Have you ever WISHED success on someone from the moment you became aware of them? That’s Scott Bakula for me. First there was Three Guys Naked From the Waist Down; then came Designing Women – from that point on, I have been wishing success on Scott Bakula. I have thrilled with each of his triumphs, as though it were my own. Add to the concert recording Madeline Kahn, the most funniest woman on this planet, during her life; one of the celebrities for whom I wept, openly, for days, upon hearing of her death. Oh, and, by the way, the entire thing is narrated by Miss Angela Lansbury – English born, naturalized American; therefore, a national treasure in two countries – and probably a lot more that I am not naming here. She is the jewel in the crown of show business and each person who meets her should get down on their knees and kiss her hand. She is our greatest diva. So HOW could I NOT love this cd?
Well that’s the thing. I do love this cd. It’s like having a new friend – TWO new friends! The OBC and the concert versions have become my two new friends in the last week because I keep going back and listening to them both. I suspect I’ll get one of my ‘things’ about Anyone Can Whistle and drive Pat crazy with each new anecdote that I get from google and wikepedia and all the (previously unread) volumes I own about Stephen Sondheim. I imagine there will come a day when Pat says to me “could we PLEASE listen to something else today?” and I will have to take Anyone Can Whistle out of the cd player.
I’ll just play it on my Ipod at the gym.
posted by StephenMosher at 8:53 AM
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