Sondheim of the Day finale - Side by Side by Sondheim and other random oddities

As introductions to the magnificent repertoire of Stephen Sondheim go, I must admit that Side By Side By Sondheim is possibly the finest. As I mentioned way back in chapter #1 of this rambling (more than a) week-long series of tributes to The Maestro, it was through listening to Madam Acarti's double CD of said classic revue - the brainchild of That Was The Week That Was producer Ned Sherrin, in response to a commission from none other than Dame Cleo Laine and Johnny Dankworth back in 1976 - that I gathered an understanding, and a nuanced appreciation, of the work of a true genius in the world of musical theatre. Basically, before that point I knew the song Send in the Clowns and the "hits" from West Side Story, and that was just about it.

Gathering the brilliantly talented combo of Sondheimites Julia McKenzie, Millicent Martin and David Kernan together, with connecting narration from Mr Sherrin himself, the revue covers everything from the popular and the well-known, to more obscure and rare numbers by The Maestro.

From Company there's the eponymous number Company, The Little Things You Do Together, Another Hundred People, (Not) Getting Married Today, Barcelona, You Could Drive a Person Crazy and Side By Side By Side. From Follies, there's Bring on the Girls, Ah, Paree!, Buddy's Blues, Broadway Baby, Losing My Mind, [David Kernan's "gay" version of] Could I Leave You? and I'm Still Here. From Gypsy, If Momma Was Married and You Gotta Get a Gimmick; and from West Side Story, A Boy Like That/ I Have a Love.

Then there's the less well-known ones - some of which have become firm favourites here at Dolores Delargo Towers, such as this one from the film The Seven Percent Solution [originally sung by our Patron Saint Régine; here done rather differently]:

Dusty Limits - I Never Do Anything Twice

Even more obscure, this one came from a weird-sounding US television show called Evening Primrose, about drop-outs who live in a department store [very 1967!]:

Charmian Carr - I Remember

This fantabulosa number is from Do I Hear a Waltz?, with music by Richard Rodgers:

Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley - We're Gonna Be All Right

The next two were dropped from (respectively) Company, and from Follies:

John Barrowman - Marry Me a Little

Lauren Molina - Can That Boy Foxtrot

From Anyone Can Whistle, the title song and this:

Barbara Cook - Everybody Says Don't

And, from a show that hasn't played in London since 2003, Pacific Overtures, this:

Lilli Cooper, Nicole Vanessa Ortiz,Teal Wicks - Pretty Lady [Broadway Backwards, 2019]

Leaving the best to last, however - also included in the melange was another particular favorite of ours, a song that was written for yet another revue [bizarrely based on Mad Magazine; a collaboration with Richard Rodgers' daughter Mary] - here as part two of a faboo skit by Kit and the Widow [Part one being just too good not to feature!]:

Kit & The Widow - People Who Like Sondheim (part 1)

Kit & The Widow - People Who Like Sondheim (part 2): Julia McKenzie - The Boy From...

We went to se a revival of the show at "the Venue" (now The Leicester Square Theatre) - gosh! - fourteen years ago, which we thought was faboo, if not a patch on the original (what could be?)

Read more about Side by Side by Sondheim at Sondheim.com

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In 1992, combined pressures from Cameron Mackintosh and Julia McKenzie persuaded Mr Sondheim to do a "updated version" of the 1976 classic.

Titled Putting It Together, it actually only featured four songs from Side by Side (Marry Me a Little, You Could Drive a Person Crazy - this time in first person "I" - (Not) Getting Married Today and Could I Leave You?). From A Little Night Music it featured Every Day a Little Death (with another song dropped from most performances of that show My Husband the Pig), Now, Night Waltzes, Country House, Bang and The Miller's Son; from Company, Have I Got a Girl for You, Sorry-Grateful and Being Alive; Pretty Women and Sweet Polly Plunkett from Sweeney Todd; Hello Little Girl from Into The Woods; and The Gun Song from Assassins.

Also woven into the mix were songs from a Sondheim show we've never been to see A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, including my fave:

Simon Russell Beale, Daniel Evans, Julian Ovenden, Bryn Terfel - Everybody Ought to Have a Maid

From another Sondheim show we've never seen Sunday in the Park with George, the number that inspired the revue's title...

Julie Andrews - Putting It Together

...and two from Dick Tracy:

Madonna - Sooner Or Later

Liza Minnelli & Billy Stritch - Back in Business

More about Putting It Together

The revue also featured numbers from a couple of productions that we did actually go and see...

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Merrily We Roll Along is a very clever conceit - based as it is on a satirical play from the Depression era by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, the show's narrative runs entirely in reverse; from the opening scenes of embittered individuals, forcibly and callously cast aside by the lead character (and former friend) Franklin Shepard in his quest for fortune and success, to the closing ensemble numbers where the group are all young and idealistic and very much a "gang" of like-minded characters just setting out on their uncertain destinies.

We and our own "gang" went to see it in its Olivier-award-winning revival by Sondheimite Maria Friedman at the Harold Pinter Theatre in 2013.

It is a phenomenal show, with a clutch of excellent songs, such as these...

Huntington Theatre Company - Merrily We Roll Along

BBC Performing Arts Fund Singers - Our Time [BBC Proms 2010 - Sondheim at 80]

Original Broadway Cast: Jim Walton, Ann Morrison, Lonny Price - Old Friends

And then, there's this - a genuinely heart-wrenching number if ever there was one!

Marin Mazzie - Not A Day Goes By

[Another one of Sondheim's that's become a bit of a "standard" in its own right, and has been recorded by Bernadette Peters, Judy Collins, La Streisand, Mandy Patinkin, Cleo Laine and even Jane McDonald]

Read a rather good article about the show by arts professor Laurence Maslon, or else Wikipedia

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And the other show?

It's probably more famous for this number than anything...

Elaine Paige - Invocation and Instructions to the Audience

...it's a musical "freely adapted from" the writings of the ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes, involving the God of Wine Dionysus, Hades and the resurrected spirits of George Bernard Shaw and William Shakespeare - The Frogs. Again, only Stephen Sondheim could have possibly come up with this idea!

We caught it at its first UK production since the 1990s (and its West End première; bearing in mind this was a show that begain its life - in a swimming pool in Yale University with Meryl Streep among its cast - in 1974) at the bijou Jermyn Street Theatre in 2017. Ever since then, "Brek-kek-kek-kek" has become a bit of mantra for us - it made such an impression! Here's some grainy footage of the faboo Nathan Lane in (I believe) his own revised production in 2004:

Nathan Lane in The Frogs

All about The Frogs at Music Theatre International

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And finally...

...the best tribute a Maestro could expect:

Broadway Honours Sondheim: Sunday From Sunday In The Park With George in Times Square 28 Nov 21

RIP, Stephen Joshua Sondheim (22nd March 1930 – 26th November 2021)

[The final one of a series of tributes I have posted to Mr Sondheim this week.]
Previous "Sondheim of the Day" entries:

• Saturday: Company
• Sunday: West Side Story
• Monday: Gypsy
• Tuesday: A Little Night Music
• Wednesday: Follies
• Thursday: Sweeney Todd and Assassins
• Friday: Into The Woods and Road Show

You! You! You!

Our lovely Rosa "Veilchenblau" that I took as a cutting - read more here - is starting to put on a splendid show in the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers!

There must have been something in the water one hundred and thirty years ago this week - for on consecutive days, two of the finest songwriters of the Great American Songbook were born. Yesterday, it was the incomparable Cole Porter - creator of myriad classics including Begin the Beguine, You're the Top, I Get a Kick Out of You, Easy to Love, I've Got You Under My Skin, Let's Do It (Let's Fall In Love), In the Still of the Night, Too Darn Hot... and this one, memorably performed as a love duet between Kevin Kline and sex-god John Barrowman in the Porter biopic De-Lovely:

John Barrowman and Kevin Kline - Night And Day

Today's birthday boy may not be as well remembered, but among Al Dubin's remarkable catalogue are standards such as I Only Have Eyes for You, Keep Young and Beautiful, Lullaby of Broadway, Tiptoe Through The Tulips, We're In the Money, September in the Rain, Lulu's Back in Town... and, from his triumphal musical [with Harry Warren] 42nd Street, this classic by Miss Bebe Daniels and her safety gays:

Bebe Daniels - You're Getting To Be A Habit With Me

Fantabulosa!

Totty of the season

Jack Kerouac (12th March 1922 – 21st October 1969)

Murat Boz (born 7th March 1980) - more here

Jon Hamm and his incredible performing trousers (50 on 10th March)

Rob Lowe (born 17th March 1964)

John Barrowman (born 11th March 1967)

Jon Bon Jovi (born 2nd March 1962)

Daniel Craig (born 2nd March 1968)

Rudolf Nureyev (17th March 1964 - 6th January 1993) - much more here

Totty of the Day

The gorgeous and multi-talented Mr John Barrowman blows out 50 candles on his cake today!

By way of a celebration to mark this milestone, this week he revealed that he is not ashamed of showing off his true hair colour...



John Scot Barrowman, MBE (born 11th March 1967)

2014: a Gay Year?

It's been quite a year in "gaydom"!

In 2014 we experienced some of the most virulent public homophobia of recent times – legislation denying gays our right to exist, persecution, abuse and physical violence - in a variety of countries across the world (notably, once again, in nasty regimes such as Uganda, Gambia and Nigeria), and yet we also saw some very positive moves indeed in many places; a contrast in attitudes between East and West, between “developed” and “third world” countries reflecting a precarious global political situation that made the headlines for other reasons.

Not least of these was, of course, the seemingly unstoppable rise of that most medieval pseudo-religious (but ultimately power-hungry and politically-motivated) movement, Islamic fundamentalism. With swathes of the Middle East falling to the rabid psychopaths of ISIS/ISIL or whatever they call themselves (and some grotesque public shows of "strength" by beheading innocent aid workers; how brave of them), and the outrages committed in Nigeria and Pakistan by the madmen of Boko Haram and the Taliban against unarmed schoolchildren, needless to say gay people were simply another “easy” target of their anti-Western ideology and violence.

In a reaction to this "fundamentalist" wave, countries across the Islamic world formerly considered "moderate" issued crack-downs and threats against us. Authorities in Cairo launched a televised raid on a gay bath-house; British tourist Ray Cole was jailed in Marrakech, then released thanks to political pressure for the "crime" of being gay (no word on the fate of his boyfriend, however); the world's richest man The Sultan of Brunei had a "Damascene conversion" to Sharia law with capital punishment for "sodomy" being introduced under his dictat; and Qatar, currently engaged in buying-up London and soon-to-be host of the World Cup, was exposed as a regime that issues barbaric punishments upon gay people.

However the mad bigotry of Islamic fundamentalism is almost expected in such turbulent times. More worrying for the West - mainly because of the political and military strife that hit Ukraine in 2014 on the border of Western Europe, with Russia becoming the "wolf at the door" yet again - was the wave of hatred that emerged from the regime of Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Hosting the Winter Olympics at Sochi while at the same time espousing the re-criminalisation of homosexuality, pseudo-religious anti-liberalism and expansionism, the political backlash was massive. Thanks to petitioning by activists (I signed!), a raft of Olympic sponsors publicly denounced the anti-gay laws (including AT&T and Coca-Cola), UK Prime Minister Cameron, French President Hollande and US President Obama and other world leaders refused to attend in person (the US delegation included three out-gay athletes to represent the country instead) and, too late for the Games themselves, the Olympic committee finally voted to include 'sexual orientation' in its charter, explicitly granting protection to all lesbian, gay and bisexual athletes in the future.

Our very own city of Glasgow hosted the “less controversial” Commonwealth Games later in the year. However, this just served to expose the fact that 42 of the members of that august institution who took part still have anti-gay discriminatory laws in force. Thank heavens for Scottish-born John Barrowman, whose very public kiss with one of the hunky kilted dancers at the event's opening ceremony hit all the headlines in an effort to expose this inequality.



There was good news across much of the Western world, nonetheless. Equal marriage – considered by some to be a bastion of gay rights [personally I sometimes despair at the “hoo-ha” that surrounds this single issue when there is still so much bullying and harassment yet to be tackled, but I digress] - became legal in the UK in March, and there was a rush to “take the plunge”, with Islington Council opening its registry office overnight in order to get the first “I do” at midnight. So very trendy. When the law was extended in December to allow couples to “convert” a civil partnership into a marriage, first in was retail consultant and broadcaster Mary Portas; and Dame Elton and David Furnish were not long after. London’s Southbank Centre went loopy for it, with their "Festival of Love" - a two-month celebration of the Same Sex Couple Act. "The Big Wedding Weekend" featured seventy couples, gay and straight, young and old, marrying or renewing their vows on the stage of the Royal Festival Hall, including our friends Emma and Toby – a grand day out it was, too!

In America, state by state, slowly but surely the remnants of anti-gay legislation are being repealed - same-sex marriage is now recognised in at least 35 states (and Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico), although the legislative process is tedious and there are a number of appeals and counter-appeals pending. Gay-friendly legislation also came into force in such diverse countries as Finland, Malta, Estonia, Northern Cyprus, Luxembourg, Mexico and Croatia, and Latvia's foreign minister Edgars Rinkēvičs made the decision to publicly “come out” during a press conference.

Despite efforts by the new Pope to force a debate on gay issues amongst his clergy, the Catholic Church (arguably the most powerful religious organisation in the world) remains stubbornly priggish about any moves towards liberalisation. Slowly, slowly, can it change? Our hero Peter Tatchell, a long-time critic of Papal bull(shit), continued to keep up the pressure on all religious leaders in his “annual state of the (gay) nation” address in November, pointedly-titled Organised religion is the greatest global threat to human rights.

Speaking of idol worship, in September five of the UK's top footballers - from one of the highest-ranking clubs in the UK, Arsenal - lent their public support to this year's anti-homophobia in sport campaign, Rainbow Laces. Add to this the “comings-out” this year (shamefully, this only makes four “out” players, with Robbie Rogers of LA Galaxy and Anton Hysen in Sweden) of German international footie star Thomas Hitzlsperger and the lovely Liam Davis of minor league Gainsborough Trinity Football Club, Britain’s traditional home of macho culture seems slowly but surely to be approaching “tolerance”. It’s just the fans to convince, now…

Other notable coming-out declarations during the year included X-Men actress Ellen Page, singers Sam Smith (one of the top-selling artists of the year) and Lee Ryan (of boy band Blue), American football star Michael Sam, Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe and, possibly most influential of all, the chief executive of Apple Tim Cook.

And what of OUR gay year? [Isn’t every year gay for us?, I hear you say…]

It begins with LGBT History Month throughout February, of course. Events we enjoyed included:

• Ilsa Colsell and Matt Cook in conversation about her book on Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell Malicious Damage, in celebration of the recent acquisition of a new Halliwell collage for Islington Museum;
• The jam-packed evening of academia and sex that was Defining Desire: labels and sex in ancient and modern worlds - with Fern Riddell talking about historic sex manuals, and John J. Johnson (of the Petrie Museum) on the gay life of Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum, the ancient Egyptian "Overseers of the Manicurists of the Palace of the King";
• Terry Sanderson (president of the National Secular Society) and his magnificent tribute to the legend that was Marlene Dietrich;
• In the splendid surroundings of The British Museum, the documentary film T'Ain't Nobody's Bizness: Queer Blues Divas of the 1920s; and
• The unveiling of a "People's Plaque" to fashionista Alexander McQueen at his former home, sponsored by Islington Council.

We always pay homage to the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHo) in May, even if only by wearing the symbolic orange ribbon – and, even though I am no longer chair of the Islington LGBT Forum, all offices across the council had them on display for staff and visitors to take; I was thrilled to see so many people wearing them.

Of course, the GREAT DAY of the Season is the one thing we always plan for every year. It’s our “Gay Xmas”… Gay Pride in London! This year, our chosen theme was Shocking Pink. I think we were rather pink...



I think we shocked!

All things being somewhat "circular", the year's specifically gay events concluded with the final "director's cut" of the promo video - in which I was a participant - for LGBT History Month 2015. And here (once again) it is:

All this, and one of the biggest box-office smashes of the year was the film Pride - and Conchita Wurst became Queen of Fuckin' Everything!

A gay year, indeed.

Roll on 2015...

Read my other blogs looking back at 2014:

• A Year in Music
• A Year in Culture
• RIP, 2014

My heart is pounding and my lips are on fire

The very lovely (and Scottish-born, despite the accent) John Barrowman outraged the assembled "less enlightened" delegates at the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony in Glasgow (42 of the 54 Commonwealth nations taking part in the games still criminalise homosexuality) by kissing one of the male dancers during a musical tribute to that traditional refuge of eloping couples, Gretna Green.

Good for him, I say - and especially his choice of man...

Let us (as is traditional at the end of another stifling week in the office) get our own celebrations off to a smacker of a start in the company of another Scottish star - the faboo Miss Kelly Marie (and her kilt-spinning safety gays).

Here she is (appropriately enough) with Hot Love - Thank Disco It's Friday!

Kelly Marie - Hot Love

Have a hot one, peeps!

Kelly Marie official website

That's the way it ought to be

It's through!

From the BBC:

Peers have voted by more than two to one to back government plans for same-sex marriages in England and Wales.

The House of Lords spent two days debating the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, with many members voicing their concerns.

But it rejected an amendment aimed at wrecking the bill by 242 votes, moving it a step closer to becoming law.

The bill would allow couples, who can currently form civil partnerships, to marry...and will now go forward to more detailed scrutiny by peers.

The result was greeted with cheers from supporters of same-sex marriage gathered outside Parliament.

Ben Summerskill, chief executive of the gay rights group Stonewall, said he was delighted, adding: "Britain's 3.7 million gay people don't deserve to be second class citizens in their own country.

"A tough fight lies ahead and we'll continue to work tirelessly every single day to get equal marriage through the Lords."

Peter Tatchell, who co-ordinates the Equal Love campaign, said: "This is a victory for love, marriage and equality.

"We are another step closer to our goal of equal marriage. It signals that the House of Lords accepts the principle that we should all be equal before the law."

And just by way of a small celebration, here's a huge gay icon - John Barrowman, with the very appropriate Marry Me A Little from Stephen Sondheim's Company:

John Barrowman - Marry Me a Little

Marry me a little,
Love me just enough.
Cry, but not too often,
Play, but not too rough.
Keep a tender distance
so we'll both be free.
That's the way it ought to be.
I'm ready!
Marry me a little,
Do it with a will.
Make a few demands
I'm able to fulfil.
Want me more than others,
Not exclusively.
That's the way it ought to be.
I'm ready!
I'm ready now!

You can be my best friend,
I can be your right arm.
We'll go through a fight or two--
No harm, no harm.
We'll look not too deep,
We'll go not too far.
We won't have to give up a thing,
We'll stay who we are.
Right?
Okay, then.
I'm ready!
I'm ready now!

Someone -
Marry me a little,
Love me just enough.
Warm and sweet and easy,
Just the simple stuff.
Keep a tender distance
So we'll both be free.
That's the way it ought to be.
I'm ready!

Marry me a little,
Body, heart, and soul.
Passionate as hell
But always in control.
Want me first and foremost,
Keep me company.
That's the way it ought to be.
I'm ready!
I'm ready now!

Oh, how gently we'll talk,
Oh, how softly we'll tread.
All the stings,
The ugly things
We'll keep unsaid.
We'll build a cocoon
Of love and respect.
You promise whatever you like,
I'll never collect.
Right?
Okay, then.
I'm ready.
I'm ready now.
Someone...

I'm ready!

Equal Love Campaign

Something inside me

Simply because I just heard this most beautiful rendition of Unusual Way from the musical Nine being played by Elaine Paige on Radio 2, I felt I had to share:

John Barrowman - Unusual Way

There's nothing like a bit of the gorgeous John Barrowman to cheer up a Sunday...

In a very unusual way one time I needed you.
In a very unusual way you were my friend.
Maybe it lasted a day, maybe it lasted an hour.
But, somehow it will never end.

In a very unusual way I think I'm in love with you.
In a very unusual way I want to cry.
Something inside me goes weak,
Something inside me surrenders.
And you're the reason why,
You're the reason why

You don't know what you do to me,
You don't have a clue.
You can't tell what its like to be me looking at you.
It scares me so, that I can hardly speak.

In a very unusual way, I owe what I am to you.
Though at times it appears I won't stay, I never go.
Special to me in my life,
Since the first day that I met you.
How could I ever forget you,
Once you had touched my soul?
In a very unusual way,
You've made me whole.

I write the songs that make the whole world sing

What a fantastic evening we had at Proms in the Park yesterday - the weather was the best it had been for days, we brought a huge and unhealthy picnic with loads of booze and managed to get a prime spot near the stage and the giant screens, ahead of a crowd of at least 40,000 people.



The first half of the concert (hosted this year by the affable Ken Bruce) is, as has become traditional, the home of the "tribute band". Last night we had three of them - all very good, admittedly - the Counterfeit Stones, One Night Of Queen, and a Motown act The Emperors of Soul. Think what you will of tribute acts, this lot got the crowd in a really good mood and we were all up and dancing and chanting along...



After the break Our Tel took to the stage to thunderous applause, appeasing the cheering crowd by stating "Rumours of my retirement are somewhat premature". In his own inimitable style he led us through the evening's entertainment, opening with the incredible voice of Icelandic tenor Garđar Thór Cortes, who was simply breathtaking. Faux-classical strumpets Escala strutted around the stage like the Pussycat Dolls, giving the elderly men a heart attack and the younger ones something to "phwooar" about.

Katherine Jenkins proved to possess a far better mezzo voice than her publicity and reputation would lead one to believe, and looked absolutely stunning to boot. Charmingly, she also gave us a rendition of the first song she sang in public at the age of four, I'm Going Down The Garden To Eat Worms.



But the block-buster headline act that many of the audience (particularly the women d'un certain age) had really come to see was a certain multi-million-selling megastar Barry Manilow!

Several of our little gang (Julie Pie Lady and Madame Arcati in particular) loathed him, yet by the time he was into his second number all of us were singing and dancing our hearts out. As I said in yesterday's blog, he may be the epitome of cheese, but many of his songs are indeed classics.

Then came the ultimate surprise, as Mr Manilow was joined on stage by none other than John Barrowman! The crowd went absolutely bananas, of course (you could practically hear them fainting onto their picnic blankets...), as they duetted on I Made It Through The Rain. Our throats were hoarse after singing along to numbers such as I Write The Songs, Bermuda Triangle, an up-tempo version of Could It Be Magic, The Old Songs and of course Copacabana.

Whew! I was impressed by his performance - it reminded me that love him or hate him, the man is the consummate showman. Throughout his hour-long set, he kept the audience exactly where he wanted them and never failed to deliver. I like Barry Manilow.





After the shower of fairy-dust of Bazza, John, Kathryn and Gardar it was time to go over live to the Royal Albert Hall, starting with the by now obligatory link-up between musicians in other outdoor Proms events in County Down, Glasgow, Swansea and Salford, playing some awful atonal "Fireworks Fanfares" by new young composers (yawn). This dull bit was soon forgotten as we were treated to excerpts from Handel's "Music for the Royal Fireworks", accompanied by actual fireworks - a first for all of us - which was spectacular.

Although we were disappointed not to get the Henry Wood "Sea Songs" this year, we still managed to do a bit of a bob up and down as the traditional build-up to the finale began. The excellent mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly (dressed bizarrely as Nelson in men's naval costume) led the sing-along for the rousing Rule, Britannia!, followed by Land Of Hope and Glory, Jerusalem and the National Anthem. More spectacular fireworks exploded overhead, we sang Old Lang Syne, and it was all over for another year.. A fabulous night's entertainment!

And here's the finale of the Last Night, for your delectation...

Last Night of the Proms 2009 finale 1

Land of Hope and Glory (Last Night of the Proms 2009)

Jerusalem (Last Night of the Proms 2009)

Sublime.

Just aim beyond the clouds, and rise above the crowds

We're getting excited about the Proms in the Park this evening. Despite criticism of its supposed "jingoism" by some joyless souls, I have always found it a rollickingly good feast of entertainment - whether just watching the last night concert at the Albert Hall, or more recently the variety show in the park followed by a live feed to the Hall for the finale. Friends, flag-waving, fun and fireworks - what more do you need for a party?

In previous years we have seen Will Young, Tony Hadley, Jose Carreras, Lesley Garrett, James Galway, Sharleen Spiteri and Bjorn Again. This year's live acts include Katherine Jenkins, Garđar Thór Cortes, and the headliner, Mr Barry Manilow!

Now, I am not what anyone would call a huge fan of Mr Manilow, despite his auspicious beginnings as the pianist for Bette Midler when she first appeared on stage at the gay men's Continental Baths in New York back in the pre-AIDS 1970s. However, I do believe he has written several corkers of songs - and here are just a few performed by other artists...

Donna Summer - Could It Be Magic?

Liza Minnelli - Copacabana

John Barrowman - Made It Through The Rain

Can't wait...

The Boys, the Boys...

We went to see a live recording of Radio 2 Friday Night is Music Night "starring" John Barrowman last night. As you might imagine, with the current popularity of the multi-talented Mr Barrowman (Torchwood, reality TV contests and current "fruit and nuts" controversy), the queue was a round the block at the Mermaid Theatre, as hundreds of people had also applied for free tickets from the BBC website.

Unfortunately the lovely John had a throat infection and couldn't sing (nor did he get his nuts out - boo!)



So a hastily-gathered selection of "friends" from various West End shows performed the evening's repertoire instead. No bad thing, as the assembled company are quite a talented bunch (if obviously under-rehearsed in the circumstances).

A couple of the players were familiar - the lovely Daniel Boys (currently in Avenue Q, and who starred in a recent Cosmo centrefold) and Sally-Ann Triplett (who we've seen on stage in Acorn Antiques the Musical and other shows) among them - but others were new to us, including Shona Lindsay (formerly in Phantom), Matt Rawle (currently in Zorro) and the very cute Peter Grant, an accomplished jazz/lounge artist whose Matt Monro covers made us really sit up and take notice...

Altogether, given the circumstances they put on a great show even without the uber-professional John Barrowman, who had evidently chosen his own favourite numbers to perform (which left the others slightly in the deep end musically, as they were not always the songs that suited their own repertoire).

A fabulous (free) evening's entertainment nonetheless!



Here's an example of the boys' (singing) talents...

Peter Grant - Traditional

John Barrowman and Daniel Boys - I Know Him So Well

Matt Rawle in Zorro

Friday Night is Music Night

Assassins

It is the 45th anniversary of the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, the man who assassinated President John F Kennedy, changed the course of American politics and destroyed the world's optimism that there could be a swift end to the Cold War.

To mark the occasion here's a little sample of songs from Stephen Sondheim's lauded but commercially unsuccessful musical Assassins. A weird choice of theme for a musical, it was based around the story of Oswald and other gun-toting mad people who either shot or attempted to shoot US Presidents.

The show was unfortunate in its timing. It was first released in 1990, an era of gung-ho George Bush Snr politics and the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, and later attempts to revive it were hit by the events of 11th September 2001. It hasn't been on stage since, and I have never seen it, but any excuse for a bit of Sondheim...

John Barrowman and Ruthie Henshall - Unworthy of Your Love

Assassins cast - Everybody's Got the Right

Assassins: Neil Patrick Harris and Michael Cerveris - The Ballad of Booth

So a voice within me keeps repeating you, you, you

This clip has John Barrowman singing a Cole Porter song in the most loving way to another man (Kevin Kline) - what more excuse do I need to post it?!

De Lovely: John Barrowman and Kevin Kline - Night And Day

The film De-Lovely is a "bio-pic" [how much do I hate that phrase?] of the life of the aforementioned Cole Porter, and my friend Maria had never seen it before so I burned her a copy. Now she agrees with me - it is one of the most wonderful musical films of recent years.

It has the lot - great acting (Mr Kline and Ashley Judd), great costumes and sets, and great cameo roles for the likes of Robbie Williams, Natalie Cole, Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow, Diana Krall and Alanis Morissette (and even Lemar!)...

If you've never seen it, you must!!

DeLovely is available on Amazon

A tiger is a tiger not a lamb

Apparently on TV tonight was a programme where John Barrowman agreed to subject himself to all sorts of humiliating "investigations" in an attempt to find out if there is a reason why he is gay. I refused to watch it.

I do, however, have some thoughts on the matter - what makes me who I am..?

101 Must See Movies for Gay Men

Liza Minnelli - Mein Herr

Alison Jiear - I Just Wanna Fucking Dance

Ethel Merman, Carol Channing, Ann Miller, Della Reese - Love Boat Follies

Donna Summer - I Feel Love

Read about the BBC programme "The Making Of Me"

Let Me Entertain You

Happy birthday today to the genius that is Stephen Sondheim.

Words can hardly express how influential this man is - his work encompasses the greatest of all musical theatre, and he remains unsurpassed in the complexity and intelligence of his repertoire. West Side Story, Gypsy, Sweeney Todd, Company, A Little Night Music, Follies, Sunday In The Park With George - all brilliant, and I love each and every one of them!

Every queen can sing along to at least one Sondheim number - be it Losing My Mind, Send In The Clowns, Broadway Baby or Let Me Entertain You, and his place in history as one of the most successful gay men in entertainment is assured.

Subject of numerous tribute galas and revues (Side By Side by Sondheim being my particular favourite, produced by the sadly-missed Ned Sherrin), Sondheim has been rightly lauded by every significant performer on the musical stage - Elaine Stritch, Barbara Cook, Eartha Kitt, Liza Minnelli, Maria Friedman, Barbra Streisand, Ethel Merman, Hermione Gingold, Madeline Kahn, Angela Lansbury, Lauren Bacall, Cleo Laine, Glynis Johns, Lee Remick, Patti LuPone, Julia McKenzie, Judi Dench, John Barrowman, Michael Ball, Elaine Paige, Bernadette Peters and even Elizabeth Taylor have all queued up to sing his songs.

A god worthy of adulation!

Elaine Stritch - Broadway Baby

John Barrowman - Being Alive

Lee Remick - Could I Leave You?

Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd-Webber - Duelling Pianos (from Hey! Mr Producer)

Stephen Sondheim biography