My Musical Theater Voyage of Discovery; The Jerry Herman Files -- Hello, Dolly! , Parade

The first record I ever bought was HELLO, DOLLY! It was the movie soundtrack. I had seen the film on tv and had to have that record. In the ensuing years, I would learn that it wasn’t just about that movie, that there had been a play, first. I learned all about the theater and musicals by simply starting out at the library, checking out the record Hello Dolly (both the Carol Channing and Pearl Bailey versions). I read the play (checked out at the library, again) and I grew up with that musical. I saw productions of Hello, Dolly over the years and watched the movie again and again. When I moved to New York I had the chance to see the original, Carol Channing, on Broadway – four times. I never tired of listening to any recording of Hello, Dolly; and that is why I have the OBC in my Ipod, the revival cast, the Pearl Bailey recording and certain tracks performed by Mary Martin and Ethel Merman. All these are in my Ipod, as well as that first record album. It can be said: I dig Dolly Levi.

I’d like to write more about Hello Dolly here; but I am actually working on a tribute story to Jerry Herman and I want to save all my deeper thoughts for that story.

I will say this: My favourite tracks from all these cast albums are these:

OBC Motherhood
Revival Cast album: I Put My Hand In, Ribbons Down My Back and So Long Dearie
Pearl Bailey Cast Album: Before the Parade Passes By
Ethel Merman: World Take Me Back
Movie Soundtrack: Just Leave Everything To Me, Put On Your Sunday Clothes

And even though it is NOT in my Ipod, the French recording starring Annie Corday is quite groovy (if you are into that kind of thing – not everyone likes foreign cast albums; and that is another story altogether)….


JERRY HERMAN’S PARADE, I didn’t know. I knew a couple of songs that ended up in Jerry’s Girls, years later; and I had heard the show spoken of in the documentary, as well as having read about it a little in the Jerry Herman book of lyrics by Ken Bloom and Mr. Herman. So I dropped the cd into the tray the other day and said to myself, this will be good – it’s Jerry Herman.

Didn’t like it.

Not sure why I didn’t like it but I didn’t. I actually think it may be a combination of the fact that these aren’t his best songs, I don’t like comedy numbers (and Dody Goodman is the star of the show, so you know there are a lot of those suckers in there) and being driven to distraction by Charles Nelson Reilly’s vibrato. I love CNR, deeply and sincerely, but that vibrato is just more than I can handle. Now, I didn’t delete all the cd from my Ipod because there are a couple of tracks I like enough to play from time to time – the songs I already knew from Jerry’s Girls and three of the ballads and a clever number called A Jolly Theatrical Season. I just had to cut some of the numbers where I felt Jerry was trying his hand at being avant garde.

I like my Herman musicals musical.