Loesser, Lerner & Loewe 101Class 2 • Where’s Charley? (1948) & Guys and Dolls (1950)

OLLI Winter Term 2021 • Alan Teasley, Instructor

Today’s Opening Number

[2:54]

“On a Slow Boat to China” Playlist

• Kay Kyser & His Orchestra with vocals by Harry Babbitt & Gloria Wood(1948)

• Ella Fitzgerald (1961) • Sammy Davis, Jr., on The

Tonight Show (1985) • Bette Midler & Barry Manilow

(2005)

Feedback: What you valued last time . . .

YouTube playlists “Bits of music & movies to later review” Just the right amount of music—so many wonderful songs Short clips Instructor comments The documentary about Loesser

Suggested Improvements (“What would make it even better?”)

Make documentary available for students to see as homework Improve use of yes/no “instant” poll

Goals of the Course: You Will . . . Be familiar with ten stage musicals by these composers and lyricists, as well as some of their work for the movies

Explore the qualities of these shows that have had them acclaimed as classics of “Broadway’s Golden Age”

Enjoy their many contributions to the Great American Songbook

Today’s Focus

You will know (more) about: Two Loesser songs of the 1940s Where’s Charley? (1948) and Guys and Dolls (1950)

You will continue (or start) to speculate on:

What distinguishes a Loesser lyric Why Guys and Dolls is considered such a great musical

You will hear some great music!

The Story of a Song

Heart & Soul: The Life and Music of

Frank Loesser

Written, Produced & Directed by Walter J. Gottlieb

(PBS, 2006)

[4:05]

“Baby, It’s Cold Outside” Playlist

• Frank Loesser & Lynn Garland (1944) • Esther Williams, Ricardo Montalban,

Red Skelton, & Betty Garrett, Neptune’s Daughter (1949)

• Ray Charles & Betty Carter (1961) • Idina Menzel & Michael Bublé (2014) • Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga (2015 ad) • Darren Criss & Chris Colfer (2016)

Where’s Charley?

Heart & Soul: The Life and Music of

Frank Loesser

Written, Produced & Directed by Walter J. Gottlieb

(PBS, 2006)

[6:54]

Where’s Charley? (1948) Creative Team

• Producers: Cy Feuer & Ernest H. Martin • Director: George Abbott • Music & Lyrics: Frank Loesser • Book: George Abbott • Dance Director: George Balanchine • Source: Brandon Thomas’s play

Charley’s Aunt • Sets, Lighting, Costumes: David Ffolkes • Cast: Ray Bolger,* Alynn Ann McLerie,

Horace Cooper, Byron Palmer, Doretta Morrow, Paul England

*Tony Award, Best Actor in a Musical, 1949

Where’s Charley?: The Story

• Set in Oxford University, 1892 • Undergraduates Jack and Charley have

invited their sweethearts to lunch to meet Charley’s aunt, a wealthy widow from Brazil, but she is delayed.

• Charley disguises himself as the aunt. • Two older men pursue the aunt;

undergraduates pursue their girls. • Hilarity ensues.

Where’s Charley?: Reviews

• “A heavy-handed and witless entertainment . . . [the] songs do little to compensate for the loss of laughter.” (Herald Tribune)

• “It is a pretty stupid plot . . . a lively score in a number of entertaining styles “ (New York Times)

• “Ray Bolger. Very little else . . . a routine score.” (New York Sun)

• “Several pleasant numbers . . . common-place and unexhilarating.” (New York Post)

Where’s Charley?: The Songs

Act I • “Better Get Out of Here” • “The New Ashmolean Marching

Society and Student Conservatory Band”

• “My Darling, My Darling” • “Make a Miracle” • “Lovelier than Ever” • “The Woman in His Room • “Pernambuco”Owing to a musicians’ strike in 1948,

there is no original Broadway cast recording, just this British one from 1958.

Where’s Charley?: The Songs

Act II • “Where’s Charley?” • “Once In Love with Amy” • “The Gossips” • “At the Red Rose Cotillion”

Where’s Charley? (1952) Film Adaptation

• Producer: Warner Brothers • Director: David Butler • Music & Lyrics: Frank Loesser • Screenplay: John Monks, Jr., based

on George Abbott’s libretto • Choreography: Michael Kidd • Cast: Ray Bolger, Alynn Ann McLerie,

Horace Cooper,* Byron Palmer, Doretta Morrow, Paul England

*Reprising their stage roles

Recurring Themes in Loesser’s Body of Work

• He romanticizes “everyday American life”

• Lyrics are conversational—the way real people talk

• Though his lyrics are occasionally quite clever, they aren’t showy

• Each of his Broadway shows presents a different kind of challenge—as if he’s trying not to repeat himself.

About that Midterm “Exam”

Together we’re going to imagine that we’ve been asked to design two evenings in the “Lyrics and Lyricists” series at New York’s 92nd Street Y.

You’ll decide which of the course’s many songs (or scenes) should comprise these evenings and who should perform them.

Think about the Frank Loesser songs we have heard so far. Which of these would you program?

Preparation for Class 3

Refresh your memory of Guys and Dolls

Read Broadway: The American Musical, pp.149-50 & 226-33

“A Musical Fable of Broadway”

Broadway: The American Musical (PBS, 2004)

from Episode 4: “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’” (1943-1960)”

[4:51]

What worked for you as a learner?

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