In the Spring of 1963, a new musical opened on Broadway featuring a great cast, and with lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and music by Jerry Bock. They are perhaps best known for their brilliant work with 'Fiddler On The Roof', which would take the world by storm the next year. The show is a classic tale of boy becomes pen-pals with girl, and neither realizes they already know one another. It is a musical adaptation of the play 'Parfumerie' by Hungarian playwright Miklos Laszlo, thought to also be the inspiration for the 1940 James Stewart-Margaret Sullavan film 'The Shop around the Corner' and the 1949 Judy Garland-Van Johnson musical 'In the Good Old Summertime', among others.
Left to right: Barbara Baxley and Barbara Cook.
The musical was directed by the great Harold Prince and choreographed by Carol Haney, a great talent who worked with Gene Kelly and Bob Fosse, before striking out on her own on such musicals as 'Pajama Game' and 'Funny Girl'. The stellar cast featured Daniel Massey, Barbara Cook, Barbara Baxley, and Jack Cassidy. Listen to the overture, followed by a clip of Barbara Cook singing "No More Candy", from the first act of the show.
Now, it is tough to find a better voice than that of the amazing Barbara Cook. She did a particularly brilliant job with the second act show-stopper, "(Vanilla) Ice Cream". In fact, the song became a trademark song of Cook, who sang it often, including in this appearance on a 1979 French talk show.
One of my favorite musicals.
ReplyDeleteIt is a good one, Marc!
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