Random Thoughts on Great Performances' Ira Gershwin Tribute
The following contains about 30 links; some names are broken
into several links. Some of the links have a tenuous connection
to the name, and some jump to very valuable resources. Many lead
to bios in the TUNESMITHS
database, the self-proclaimed "world's First, Largest, and
Finest Online COMPOSERS and LYRICISTS DATABASE." Have fun.
I finally got to see the broadcast of PBS'
Great Performances
"Ira
Gershwin at 100: A Concert at Carnegie Hall" (note:
those were 3 separate links). Here are some thoughts I had
viewing the show (with associated links).
- It seems nowadays that in most current shows, even the simplest
ballads have to have some kind of big, socko finish. But -- thinking
about some of the great songs that have taken a foothold in my
brain -- this has not always been the case. Once upon a time
a great melody or some excellent lyrics or some indefinable greatness
was enough to make us love the song, not a splashy arrangement.
Think of:
"They Can't Take That Away From Me" -- Ira (lyrics)
& George Gershwin (m)
George
and Ira Gershwin Archive, George
Gershwin Educational Fanpage
"September Song" -- Maxwell
Anderson (l), Kurt Weill
(m)
"Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" -- Oscar
Hammerstein
II(l), Richard
Rodgers (m)
"Never-Never Land" -- Betty
Comden
& Adolph Green
(l), Jule
Styne
(m)
"The
Way You Look Tonight" -- Dorothy
Fields
(l), Jerome
Kern (m)
"Brother,
Can You Spare a Dime?" -- E.Y.
Harburg
(l), Jay
Gorney (m)
"The Nearness of You" -- Ned
Washington (l), Hoagy
Carmichael
(m)
"They Say It's Wonderful" -- Irving
Berlin
(l & m)
"Just One of Those Things" -- Cole
Porter (l & m)
-- I could go on all
day -- and I'm sure you could too!, just make sure to add the
links.
- I think that Rosemary
Clooney's
success came mostly because of that "girl-next-door"
quality of her voice. She still has it -- even though now it's
more of a "mother-of-the-girl-next-door" kind of thing.
- If the only way to actually see the credits as they scroll
by is to videotape the shows, who's going to watch to money-raising
segments? (TV Guide online!)
- Who is it who actually likes Michael
Feinstein's performance?
Originally published at Suite101.com
Theatre,
3/25/97