Showing posts with label Jerry Orbach. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jerry Orbach. Show all posts
December 10, 2020
August 21, 2018
20,000 Vinyl LPs 144: Dirty Dancing @ 41
vinyl LP front cover
album cover photo by Adger Cowans
photo of album cover by Styrous®
Dirty Dancing was released on August 21, 1987. It is an American romantic drama dance film written by Eleanor Bergstein, directed by Emile Ardolino and starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in the lead roles, and featuring Cynthia Rhodes and Jerry Orbach. According to Huffpost, Swayze and Grey hated each other (link below).
The film used moves exactly like those I used in the "Love Act" I performed when I was dancing at the Hungy i in '77 - '78 (link below). I've wondered if perhaps someone saw my act and used the moves ten years later for this film.
The film used moves exactly like those I used in the "Love Act" I performed when I was dancing at the Hungy i in '77 - '78 (link below). I've wondered if perhaps someone saw my act and used the moves ten years later for this film.
vinyl LP back cover
album phsoto by Adger Cowans
photo of album cover back by Styrous®
It was a fun film and the cast was young, beautiful and exciting but the music used in the soundtrack was the standout for me; in particular the old songs from the 50's & 60's.
vinyl LP back cover detail
detail photo of album cover back by Styrous®
It has some of my very favorites songs from the 50's: Love Is Strange performed by Mickey & Sylvia, that wonderful doo-wop song written by Fred Parris, In the Still of the Night dreamily sung by The Five Satins. Oh, how I loved this song! (links below)
vinyl LP sleeve
sleeve photos by Adger Cowans
photo of record sleeve by Styrous®
The 60's were represented by the sensual Stay by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs, Be My Baby by The Ronettes and Hey! Baby sung by Bruce Channel (links below).
vinyl LP sleeve detail
sleeve photos by Adger Cowans
detail photo of record sleeve by Styrous®
My favorite modern song for the film is Hungry Eyes (link below), which was written in 1984 by John DeNicola and Franke Previte, whose father was an opera singer. It was performed by Eric Carmen. What a great dance song. It peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #3 on the Cash Box Top 100 in 1988.
vinyl LP sleeve detail
sleeve photos by Adger Cowans
detail photo of record sleeve by Styrous®
The album became a huge commercial success. It went on to sell 32 million copies worldwide and is one of the best-selling albums of all time.
In the United States the album spent 18 weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 album sales charts and went multi-platinum.
vinyl LP sleeve
sleeve photos by Adger Cowans
photo of record sleeve by Styrous®
Originally a low-budget film by a new studio, Vestron Pictures, Dirty Dancing
became a box office hit. As of 2009, it has earned over $214 million
worldwide. It was the first film to sell more than a million copies on
home video, and the Dirty Dancing soundtrack created by Jimmy Ienner generated two multi-platinum albums and multiple singles, including (I've Had) The Time of My Life, which won both the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Original Song, and a Grammy Award for best duet.
vinyl LP, side 1
photo of record by Styrous®
vinyl LP label, side 1
photo of record by Styrous®
vinyl LP, side 2
photo of record by Styrous®
Side 1:
1 – Bill Medley And Jennifer Warnes - (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life, Arranged By Gene Page, Arranged By [Additional Arrangements By John D'Andrea, Arranged By [Additional Arrangements] – Michael Lloyd, Engineer – Carmine Rubino, Engineer [1st Assistant] – Dan Nebenzal, Engineer [2nd Assistant] Jeff DeMorris, Producer – Michael Lloyd, Remix – Carmine Rubino, Dan Nebenzal, Jimmy Ienner, Michael Lloyd, written by Donald Markowitz, Franke Previte, John DeNicola - 4:47
2 – The Ronettes - Be My Baby, Producer – Phil Spector, written by E. Greenwich*, J. Barry*, P. Spector* - 2:37
3 – Patrick Swayze - She's Like The Wind, Engineer – Carmine Rubino, Engineer [Assisted By] – Dan Nebenzal, Featuring – Wendy Fraser, Orchestrated By [Additional Orchestrations By] John D'Andrea, Producer – Michael Lloyd, written by Patrick Swayze, Stacey Widelitz - 3:51
4 – Eric Carmen - Hungry Eyes, Engineer – Jim DeMain, Engineer [Remix Engineer] George Sipl, Jim DeMain, Producer – Eric Carmen, written by Franke Previte, John DeNicola - 4:06
5 – Maurice Williams And The Zodiacs* - Stay, written by M. Williams* - 1:34
6 – Merry Clayton - Yes, Arranged By Gene Page, Engineer – Carmine Rubino, Engineer [Assistant] Jimmy Hoysan*, Producer – Michael Lloyd, written by Neal Cavanaugh, Terry Fryer, Tom Graf - 3:15
Side 2:
7 – The Blow Monkeys - You Don't Own Me, Engineer – Ben Kape, Producer – Peter Wilson, written by D. White*, J. Madara* - 3:00
8 – Bruce Channel- Hey Baby, written by B. Channel*, M. Cobb* - 2:21
9 – Zappacosta Overload, Engineer – Jeff McCulloch, Engineer [Assist.] – Andy Koyama, Walter Soeczak*, Producer – Alfie Zappacosta*, written by Marko Luciani*, Alfie Zappacosta* - 3:39
10 – Mickey And Sylvia* - Love Is Strange, written by E. Smith*, M. Baker*, S. Robinson* - 2:52
11 – Tom Johnston - Where Are You Tonight?, Engineer – Gene Foster, Music Consultant – Inside Track, Inc.Producer – Leon Medica*, written by Mark Scola - 3:59
12 – The Five Satins - In The Still Of The Night, written by F. Parris*
- 3:03
Companies, etc.
Manufactured By – BMG Music
Distributed By – BMG Music
Mastered At – Fullersound
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Vestron Music Inc.
Credits:
A&R [A & R Direction] – Bob Feiden
Art Direction [Soundtrack Art Direction] – Pam Rodi
Design [Mechanical Design] – The Hub Graphics Corp.
Executive-Producer [Soundtrack] – Jimmy Ienner
Mastered By – Mike Fuller
Other [Theatrical Campaign] – Sharon Streger / Seiniger Advertising
Photography By – Adger Cowans*
Notes:
Mastered at Fullersound in Miami, Florida.
Booklet comes with lyrics and information on where each track was recorded.
Packaging: Jewel Case
Total Playing Time: 39 mins, 32 secs
Made in U.S.A.
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Barcode (Text): 7863-56408-2
Barcode (Scanned): 078635640823
Matrix / Runout: W.O. # 8058-11 64082R
ASIN (com): B007SAT2SG
ASIN (com): B000002W9Q
Viewfinder links:
Golden Globe Award
Leatherneck, Pillow, a Hungry i
Jerry Orbach
Net links:
Lion's Gate ~ Dirty Dancing
The Guardian ~ Why Dirty Dancing would never be made today
NY Times ~ Dirty Dancing: Where Kellerman’s Came to Life
Huffpost ~ 5 Things You Didn’t Know About Dirty Dancing
YouTube links:
Dirty Dancing ~ "Dirty Dancing" Clip
Eric Carmen - Hungry Eyes
The Ronettes - Be My Baby
Maurice Williams And The Zodiacs - Stay
Bruce Channel - Hey Baby
Mickey And Sylvia - Love Is Strange
The Five Satins - In The Still Of The Night
Patrick Swayze Talks About Working With Jennifer Grey
Jennifer Grey Reveals Dirty Dancing Secrets
Rogerebert ~ review
Styrous® ~ Tuesday, August 21, 2018
May 3, 2017
20,000 Vinyl LPs 85: The Fantasticks
program detail
detail photo by Styrous®
On May 3, 1960, the musical, The Fantasticks, opened in New York City, NY. The show's original off-Broadway
production ran a total of 42 years and 17,162 performances, making it
the world's longest-running musical.
vinyl LP album front cover
photo by Styrous®
vinyl LP album back cover
photo by Styrous®
I saw a production staged by the
Ghirardelli Theater in the Square at Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco
nine years later in 1969 (link below). I remember thinking the small
production (it had a very sparse set, a solo piano and some percussion, as I recall) gave it
an intimate and personal experience. I had never seen such a small production
for a musical before. The closest were the shows at the Old Spaghetti Factory in San Francisco where they produced the "Macaroni Review". One of the shows I saw there was, San Francisco's Burning, a musical about the 1906 earthquake. The cast did a remarkable job of lurching and jerking across the stage and singing during the title song.
Ghirardelli Theater in the Square
program detail
detail photo by Styrous®
The pressing of the album I bought is a reissue from 1972 and is a gatefold format. It has quite a bit of detailed production information.
vinyl LP, 1972 gatefold issue
photo by Styrous®
The Fantasticks
vinyl LP, 1972 gatefold issue, interior
photo by Styrous®
The musical, music by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones, tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the play The Romancers (Les Romanesques) by Edmond Rostand
(link below), concerning two neighboring fathers who trick their children, Luisa and
Matt, into falling in love by pretending to feud (link to plot below).
The Fantasticks premiered at the Sullivan Street Playhouse, a small Off-Broadway theatre in New York City's Greenwich Village, on May 3, 1960, with Jerry Orbach as El Gallo, Rita Gardner as Luisa, Kenneth Nelson as Matt, and librettist Tom Jones
(under a pseudonym) as the Old Actor, among the cast members. The
sparse set and semicircular stage created an intimate and immediate
effect. The play is highly stylized and combines old-fashioned
showmanship, classic musical theatre, commedia dell'arte and Noh
theatrical traditions. The original production was directed by Word
Baker and was produced on a very low budget. The producers spent $900 on the set
and $541 on costumes, at a time when major Broadway shows would cost
$250,000.
The original set designer, costumer, prop master, and lighting designer was Ed Wittstein, who performed all four jobs for a total of only $480 plus $24.48 a week.
The set was similar to that for Our Town; Wittstein designed a raised stationary platform anchored by six poles. It resembled a traveling players' wagon, like a pageant wagon. As for a curtain, he hung various small false curtains across the platform at various times during the play. He also made a sun/moon out of cardboard. One side was painted bright yellow (the sun) and the other was black with a crescent of white (the moon). The sun/moon was hung from a nail in one of the poles and is referred to in the libretto. The orchestra consists of a piano and sometimes also a harp, with the harpist also sometimes playing some percussion instruments.
The original set designer, costumer, prop master, and lighting designer was Ed Wittstein, who performed all four jobs for a total of only $480 plus $24.48 a week.
The set was similar to that for Our Town; Wittstein designed a raised stationary platform anchored by six poles. It resembled a traveling players' wagon, like a pageant wagon. As for a curtain, he hung various small false curtains across the platform at various times during the play. He also made a sun/moon out of cardboard. One side was painted bright yellow (the sun) and the other was black with a crescent of white (the moon). The sun/moon was hung from a nail in one of the poles and is referred to in the libretto. The orchestra consists of a piano and sometimes also a harp, with the harpist also sometimes playing some percussion instruments.
images from the 1960 production
The Original 1960 Cast Of The Fantasticks: Jerry Orbach (El Gallo, the bandit-narrator), top; Center row, from left: Hugh Thomas (the Girl's father), Rita Gardner, (The Girl), William Larsen, (The Boy's Father); Bottom row, from left: Richard Stauffer (The Mute), Kenneth Nelson (The Boy), George Curley (The Cockney Indian).
Jerry Orbach, Rita Gardner & Kenneth Nelson
signature image from the show
The song from the production that became a monumental hit, a truly beautiful melody with nostalgic lyrics (link below), is Try To Remember which was sung by Orbach who created the role of El Gallo in the original off-Broadway run of The Fantasticks (1960) and became the first performer to sing that tune. He was an American actor and singer, described at the time of his
death as "one of the last bona fide leading men of the Broadway musical and global celebrity on television" and a "versatile stage and film actor".
The production closed on January 13, 2002, after 17,162 performances. It is the world's longest-running musical
and the longest-running uninterrupted show of any kind in the United
States. Other notable actors who appeared in the Off-Broadway and
touring production throughout its long run included David Canary, Robert Goulet, Richard Chamberlain, John Carradine, Ed Ames, Liza Minnelli, Elliott Gould, F. Murray Abraham, Glenn Close, Keith Charles, Kristin Chenoweth, Bert Convy, Eileen Fulton, Lore Noto (the show's long-time producer), Dick Latessa, and Martin Vidnovic.
vinyl LP record sleeve, photo by Styrous®
According to The New York Times, "The Fantasticks
is one of the most widely produced [musicals] in the world, with more
than 11,000 productions, by 2010, in 3,000 cities and towns in all 50
states, as well as in 67 countries. The Fantasticks has been performed at The White House, for the Peace Corps in Africa, at the Shawnee Methodist Mission in Kansas, the Menninger Foundation, Yellowstone National Park and the White Sands Missile Range. It was performed in Mandarin by the Peking Opera, and in 1990 under the auspices of the United States State Department it played for the first time in Russia.
Various – The Fantasticks - Original Cast Album
Label: MGM Records – SE-3872
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo
Country: US
Released: 1963
Genre: Stage & Screen
Style: Musical
Tracklist:
Side 1:
Act One (In The Moonlight)
1 - Orchestra* Overture - 2:00
2 - Jerry Orbach - Try To Remember - 2:48
3 - Rita Gardner - Much More - 2:31
4 - Kenneth Nelson & Rita Gardner - Metaphor - 4:13
5 - William Larsen & Hugh Thomas (3) - Never Say No - 2:14
6 - Jerry Orbach, William Larsen & Hugh Thomas (3) - It Depends On What You Pay - 4:19
7 - Jerry Orbach - You Wonder How These Things Begin - 1:16
8 - Kenneth Nelson & Rita Gardner - Soon It's Gonna Rain - 4:37
Rape Ballet - Happy Ending
Side 2:
1a - The Company*, Rape Ballet - 2:26
1b - Hugh Thomas (3), William Larsen, Rita Gardner & Kenneth Nelson - Happy Ending - 0:54
Act Two (In The Sunlight)
2 - Rita Gardner, Kenneth Nelson, William Larsen, Hugh Thomas (3) - This Plum Is Too Ripe - 3:33
3 - Kenneth Nelson & Jerry Orbach - I Can See It - 4:04
4 - William Larsen & Hugh Thomas (3) - Plant A Radish - 2:31
5 - Jerry Orbach, Rita Gardner & Co.* - Round And Round - 5:54
6 - Jerry Orbach - There Is A Curious Paradox - 0:30
7 - Kenneth Nelson & Rita Gardner - They Were You - 2:40
8 - Jerry Orbach & Company* - Try To Remember (Reprise) - 2:03
Companies, etc.
Record Company – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.
Credits:
Bass, Cello – Frank Martenez
Directed By [Musical Direction] – Julian Stein
Harp – Beverly Mann
Lyrics By – Tom Jones (5)
Music By – Harvey Schmidt
Percussion – Bobby Rosengarden
Photography By – Robert Benton
Piano – Julian Stein, Robert Mac Namee
Producer – Lore Noto
Producer [Associate] – Dorothy Olim, Sheldon Baron
Notes:
Black label version, Made in U.S.A.
Release date from Goldmine Standard Catalog
Label: MGM Records – SE-3872
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo
Country: US
Released: 1963
Genre: Stage & Screen
Style: Musical
Tracklist:
Side 1:
Act One (In The Moonlight)
1 - Orchestra* Overture - 2:00
2 - Jerry Orbach - Try To Remember - 2:48
3 - Rita Gardner - Much More - 2:31
4 - Kenneth Nelson & Rita Gardner - Metaphor - 4:13
5 - William Larsen & Hugh Thomas (3) - Never Say No - 2:14
6 - Jerry Orbach, William Larsen & Hugh Thomas (3) - It Depends On What You Pay - 4:19
7 - Jerry Orbach - You Wonder How These Things Begin - 1:16
8 - Kenneth Nelson & Rita Gardner - Soon It's Gonna Rain - 4:37
Rape Ballet - Happy Ending
Side 2:
1a - The Company*, Rape Ballet - 2:26
1b - Hugh Thomas (3), William Larsen, Rita Gardner & Kenneth Nelson - Happy Ending - 0:54
Act Two (In The Sunlight)
2 - Rita Gardner, Kenneth Nelson, William Larsen, Hugh Thomas (3) - This Plum Is Too Ripe - 3:33
3 - Kenneth Nelson & Jerry Orbach - I Can See It - 4:04
4 - William Larsen & Hugh Thomas (3) - Plant A Radish - 2:31
5 - Jerry Orbach, Rita Gardner & Co.* - Round And Round - 5:54
6 - Jerry Orbach - There Is A Curious Paradox - 0:30
7 - Kenneth Nelson & Rita Gardner - They Were You - 2:40
8 - Jerry Orbach & Company* - Try To Remember (Reprise) - 2:03
Companies, etc.
Record Company – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.
Credits:
Bass, Cello – Frank Martenez
Directed By [Musical Direction] – Julian Stein
Harp – Beverly Mann
Lyrics By – Tom Jones (5)
Music By – Harvey Schmidt
Percussion – Bobby Rosengarden
Photography By – Robert Benton
Piano – Julian Stein, Robert Mac Namee
Producer – Lore Noto
Producer [Associate] – Dorothy Olim, Sheldon Baron
Notes:
Black label version, Made in U.S.A.
Release date from Goldmine Standard Catalog
Net Links:
Try To Remember lyrics
Ghirardelli Theater in the Square program
The Fantasticks website
The Fantasticks plot
Literary Kicks ~ Edmond Rostand and the Fantasticks
The Fantasticks ~ Ghirardelli Theater in the Square program
Try To Remember lyrics
Try to remember the kind of September
When life was slow and oh
so mellow.
Try to remember the kind of September
When grass was green and grain was yellow.
Try to remember the kind of September
When you were a tender and callow fellow.
Try to remember and if you remember
then follow
follow.
Try to remember when life was so tender
When no one wept except the willow.
Try to remember when life was so tender
When dreams were kept beside your pillow.
Try to remember when life was so tender
When love was an ember about to billow.
Try to remember and if you remember
then follow
follow.
Deep in December it's nice to remember
Although you know the snow will follow.
Deep in December it's nice to remember
Without a hurt the heart will hollow.
Deep in December
it's nice to remember
The fire of September that made you mellow.
Deep in December our hearts should remember and follow
follow.
Written by Harvey Schmidt, Tom Jones • Copyright © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc
above image:
program detail
detail photo by Styrous®
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