Liza Minnelli • Ding-A-Ling

Well, I recently saw this posted on Facebook, and knew it had to make it to the blog, so it is only right to me it would appear on Christmas Eve. This is the amazing Liza Minnelli in a television special from 1966, 'The Dangerous Christmas of Little Red Riding Hood'. With music and lyrics by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill, who also wrote the score to the musical 'Funny Girl', it is easy to see why Liza signed up for it. This was, after all, the year before she had her first every credited movie role. It was the year after she was in 'Flora, the Red Menace', and was awarded the Tony Award for Leading Actress in a Musical. This television special was a new look at the Red Riding Hood tale, and starred Minnelli as Red Riding Hood. In the song "Ding-A-Ling", Liza is joined by Cyril Ritchard, who played the Big Bad Wolf. There is just something deliciously wrong about this song and number, and I can't watch it enough! This is "Ding-A-Ling", from the television special 'The Dangerous Christmas of Little Red Riding Hood'.

Have a great holiday!

Barbra Streisand...And Other Musical Instruments

In 1973, Barbra Streisand was dominating just about every medium she tackled. She conquered Broadway in 1962, playing Miss Marmelstein in 'I Can Get It For You Wholesale' beofre tacking her second Broadway show, playing Fanny Brice in 'Funny Girl'. She released her first album, 'The Barbra Streisand Album',  which earned two Grammy Awards in 1963. And there were twelve albums after that, all bit hits with the public. She had four very successful television specials, and won the Emmy Award for 'Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program' for her 1965 special, 'My Name Is Barbra'. She also earned her first Academy Award for her 1968 film, 'Funny Girl', followed by five more movies before 1973. And in 1973, she had another television special, 'Barbra Streisand...And Other Music Instruments', a vehicle that allowed her to visit many musical styles and cultures from around the world. You can get a glimpse of it in this clip I found. It begins with the charming "Piano Practice" by Lan O'Kun, before moving into a medley of songs starting with George and Ira Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm", then a mash-up of Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart's "Johnny One Note" with Antonio Carlos Jobim's "One Note Samba", more Rodgers & Hart with "Glad to Be Unhappy", "People" by Bob Merrill and Jule Styne, and "Second Hand Rose" by James F. Hanley and Grant Clarke. Enjoy the clip - it is 15 minutes, to be ready for some long-term enjoyment!

The special received strong reviews, and excellent ratings. The album, however, did not do well. Many think it was ahead of it's time, taking a look at the world music scene. You can purchase the soundtrack for 'Barbra Streisand...And Other Musical Instruments' from Amazon. You can also purchase the DVD of the show from Amazon. Later in 1973, Streisand would also release another film, playing opposite the stunning Robert Redford in 'The Way We Were'. I'd say she pretty much had all the bases covered.

Barbra Streisand • I Never Has Seen Snow

Barbra Streisand performed many an amazing song on her 1973 television special, Barbra Streisand...And Other Musical Instruments. Between some classics of the American Songbook to some songs she was already known for, Barbra was in great voice and delivered several outstanding performances. One of those was for the stunning "I Never Has Seen Snow". It was written by Harold Arlen and Truman Capote from their 1954 Broadway musical, House of Flowers.



There was another interesting segment of the special when Barbra had a mash-up that was also making a statement about the evolving technical world we were living in then, as well as humorous poke at her social life. The first song is "By Myself", written by Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz from the 1937 musical Between The Devil. Schwartz and Dietz were perhaps best n=known for their work on the great musical The Band Wagon. She combined it with the Alan Jay Lerner and Burton Lane song "Come Back to Me", from the musical On A Clear Day You Can See Forever. The Broadway show opened in 1965, and Streisand starred in the 1970 movie version.



You can purchase the album Barbra Streisand...And Other Musical Instruments on Amazon. You can find the soundtrack album for On A Clear Day You Can See Forever on iTunes and Amazon.

Dark Monday - Barbra Streisand Sings Show Tunes

This week, I thought I would try something different. Here are some performances from the last couple of decades of the lady herself, Barbra Streisand, singing some Broadway Show Tunes live. We start off with Something Wonderful/Being Alive from the 2001 concert Timeless. Something Wonderful is from the musical The King & I, written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Being Alive is by the incredible Stephen Sondheim from the show Company.





This clip is from the 1994 HBO Special filmed in Las Vegas. The songs are Stephen Sondheim's I'm Still Here from Follies, Everybody Says Don't from Anyone Can Whistle, also by Sondheim, and the classic Don't Rain On My Parade by Jules Stein from Funny Girl.





While there might be a million versions of this out there, few can top Streisand singing Send In The Clowns, another Sondheim song, this one from A Little Night Music. This is the One Voice concert tour in 2006.



Also from the 2006 tour, Streisand sang two songs from Funny Girl that were part of the Broadway show, one made it to the movie, the other did not. Funny Girl was part of both, and is absolutely gorgeous. Then there was The Music That Makes Me Dance...





And how can you not include My Man from the motion picture Funny Girl? Yes, it wasn't part of the Broadway show - having replaced the original song, The Music That Makes Me Dance. Originally sung by Fanny Brice herself, it was used in the movie. This is the song as part of the 1975 television special Funny Girl to Funny Lady.