20,000 vinyl LPs 388: Redhead ~ Bob Fossie & Gwen Verdon

 ~  

Albert Hague  ~ Redhrad

vinyl LP front cover detail 

 cover design by Rouben Ter-Arutunian

detail photo of album cover by Styrous®

Today is the birthday of American choreographer, dancer, filmmaker, and stage director Bob Fosse who was known for his work on stage and screen; he is one of the most influential figures in the field of jazz dance in the twentieth century.  He revolutionized musicals with his distinct style of dance and was on a par with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly.       

 

Fosse started his career acting in the musical productions of Call Me Mister (1947), Billion Dollar Baby (1951), and Pal Joey (1952). He transitioned into directing and choreographing musical works, winning Tony Awards for choreographing The Pajama Game (1954), Damn Yankees (1955), Redhead (1959), Little Me (1963), Sweet Charity (1966), Pippin (1972), Dancin' (1978), and Big Deal (1986), as well as for directing Pippin. He also worked on Bells Are Ringing (1956), New Girl in Town (1958), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1961), and Chicago (1975).           

 

Albert Hague  ~ Redhrad

vinyl LP front cover 

 cover design by Rouben Ter-Arutunian

photo of album cover by Styrous®

    

 

 

 

Albert Hague  ~ Redhrad

vinyl LP front cover detail 

 cover design by Rouben Ter-Arutunian

detail photo of album cover by Styrous®

 

 

Fosse forged an uncompromising modern style, characterized by finger-snapping, tilted bowler hats, fishnet stockings, splayed gloved fingers, turned-in knees and toes, shoulder rolls and jazz hands. His third wife was dancer and actress Gwen Verdon, whom he met choreographing Damn Yankees, in which she starred and with whom he collaborated on a number of theater and film projects.          

 

Fosse's extramarital affairs put a strain on the marriage and by 1971 they were separated, although they remained legally married until his death in 1987. Verdon never re-partnered. During their joint career, Fosse would continually take blame from critics while Gwen Verdon would get praise. However, Verdon always looked out for him and was Fosse's personal press secretary throughout their marriage.        

 

  

Albert Hague  ~ Redhrad

vinyl LP back cover 

 cover design by Rouben Ter-Arutunian

photo of album back cover by Styrous®

In Redhead, Fosse used one of the first ballet sequences in a show that contained five different styles of dance: Fosse's jazz, a cancan, a gypsy dance, a march and an old-fashioned English music hall number. Set in London in the 1880s, around the time of Jack the Ripper, the musical is a murder mystery in the setting of a wax museum.         

 

Albert Hague  ~ Redhrad

vinyl LP back cover details 

 cover design by Rouben Ter-Arutunian

photo of album back cover by Styrous®

 

Gwen Verdon & Richard Kiley 

Albert Hague  ~ Redhrad

vinyl LP back cover detail 

 cover design by Rouben Ter-Arutunian

detail photo of album back cover by Styrous®

 

 

Albert Hague  ~ Redhrad

vinyl LP back cover detail 

 cover design by Rouben Ter-Arutunian

photo of album back cover by Styrous®

Albert Hague  ~ Redhrad

vinyl LP back cover detail 

 cover design by Rouben Ter-Arutunian

photo of album back cover by Styrous®

In 1961, Fosse's epilepsy was revealed when he had a seizure onstage during rehearsals for The Conquering Hero. He died of a heart attack on September 23, 1987, at George Washington University Hospital while the revival of Sweet Charity was opening at the nearby National Theatre. He had collapsed in Verdon's arms near the Willard Hotel. As he had requested, Verdon and Nicole Fosse scattered his ashes in the Atlantic Ocean off Quogue, Long Island, where Fosse had been living with his girlfriend of four years.  A month after his death, Verdon fulfilled Fosse's request for his friends to "go out and have dinner on me" by hosting a star-studded, celebrity-filled evening at Tavern on the Green with Verdon, Reinking, Jessica Lange, Roy Scheider, Ben Vereen, and E. L. Doctorow attending.          

 

Albert Hague  ~ Redhrad

vinyl LP side 1 

photo by Styrous®

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Albert Hague  ~ Redhrad

vinyl LP side 2 

photo by Styrous®

 

 

 

Tracklist:
       
Side 1:

        

A1 - Orchestra* – Overture
A2 - Patrons* –    The Simpson Sisters' Door
A3 - Gwen Verdon – The Right Finger Of My Left Hand
A4 - Gwen Verdon, Richard Kiley, Leonard Stone – Just For Once
A5 - Gwen Verdon – Merely Marvelous
A6 - Leonard Stone – The Uncle Sam Rag
A7 - Gwen Verdon – Erbie Fitch's Twitch
A8 - Richard Kiley, Leonard Stone – She's Just Not Enough Woman For Me
A9 - Gwen Verdon, Cynthia Latham, Doris Rich – Behave Yourself

       
Side 2:
       
B1 - Gwen Verdon, Richard Kiley – Look Who's In Love
B2 - Richard Kiley – My Girl Is Just Enough Woman For Me
B3 - Orchestra* – Essie's Vision
B4 - Bob Dixon (17) – Two Faces In The Dark
B5 - Richard Kiley – I'm Back In Circulation
B6 - Joy Nichols, Pat Ferrier – We Loves Ya, Jimey, Arranged By Sid Ramin
B8 - Gwen Verdon, Richard Kiley – I'll Try
B9 - Entire Company* – Chase And Finale
        
Companies, etc.
       
    Pressed By – RCA Records Pressing Plant, Indianapolis
    Recorded At – RCA Victor Studios, New York
        
Credits:
       
    Arranged By [Dance Music] – Roger Adams
    Choreography [Associate Choreographer] – Donald McKayle
    Design Concept – Rouben Ter-Arutunian
    Directed By, Choreography – Bob Fosse
    Lighting – Jean Rosenthal
    Lyrics By, Liner Notes – Dorothy Fields
    Music By – Albert Hague
    Music Director, Arranged By [Vocal Arrangements] – Jay Blackton
    Orchestrated By – Philip J. Lang, Robert Russell Bennett
    Presenter – Lawrence Carr, Robert Fryer
    Production Manager – Robert Linden
    Vocals [Essie Whimple] – Gwen Verdon
    Vocals [George Poppett] – Leonard Stone
    Vocals [Maude Simpson] – Cynthia Latham
    Vocals [May] – Joy Nichols
    Vocals [Sarah Simpson] – Doris Rich
    Vocals [Tilly] – Pat Ferrier
    Vocals [Tom Baxter] – Richard Kiley
    Written-By [Book By] – David Shaw (23), Dorothy Fields, Herbert Fields, Sidney Sheldon
        
Notes:
       
Original 1959 Broadway Cast recording of the murder mystery stage musical starring Gwen Verdon and Richard Kiley.
Recorded Feb 8, 1959

       
Barcode and Other Identifiers
 

    Matrix / Runout (Side A Runout): K2 PP1128-3S A2 I
    Matrix / Runout (Side B Runout): K2 PP1129-4S I A2

 

Gwen Verdon, Richard Kiley – Redhead (An Original Cast Recording)
Label: RCA Victor – LOC-1048
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono
Country: US
Released: 1959
Genre: Stage & Screen
Style: Musical        

         

Viewfinder links:        

         

Fred Astaire            

Bob Fosse         

Albert Hague              

Gene Kelly           

Richard Kiley           

Jessica Lange         

Rouben Ter-Arutunian        

Gwen Verdon         

        

Net links:        

        

Britannica ~ Bob Fosse         

Dramatics ~ Why Bob Fosse’s influence never fizzles        

Masterworks Broadway ~ Bob Fosse        

PBS ~ Bob Fosse          

Play Bill ~ Bob Fosse         

Senses of Cinema ~ Bob Fosse                

        

YouTube links:        

         

Damn Yankees ~  

     Whatever Lola Wants (Gwen Verdon & Tab Hunter)      

     Who's Got the Pain (Bob Fosse & Gwen Verdon)               

Bob Fosse dance numbers              

Bob Fosse Dancing            

Bob Fosse, Debbie Reynolds, Bobbby Van & Barbara Ruick          

Bob Fosse (documentary) (1 hr.)           

Kiss Me Kate ~ From This Moment On          

Redhead ~ complete recordings         

Rockettes All That Jazz Fosse Dance Tribute              

Sweet Charity ~ Hey Big Spender        

Tommy Tune & Ann Reinking                 

        

         

        

        

        

Styrous® ~ Monday, June 23, 2025        
       

 

 

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Dinosaurs articles/mentions

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A boy & his dinosaurs

The Lost World      

 

 

mentions:

King Kong                

King Kong & Jessica Lange      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sci-Fi articles  

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David Letterman articles/mentions

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mentions:      
Larry Fine ~ A mummy's dummy     
Moe Howard ~ No mummy's dummy 

King Kong & Jessica Lange         
La Strada ~ Quinn, Fellini & Masina     
     
     
     
     
     

David Letterman

date & photographer unknown

     

     

     

      

     

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Movie Articles 

Movie People 

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20,000 vinyl LPs 285: John Barry ~ King Kong & Jessica Lange

 ~       

Jessica Lange ~ King Kong

Today is the birthday of Jessica Lange, born on April 20, 1949, in Cloquet, Minnesota. As I have loved  the original 1933 King Kong film with Fay Wray (links below) my whole life, I had to see the 1976 Dino De Laurentiis remake of the action-adventure classic. The bonus was, it was my introduction to Jessica Lange.    

 

 

Jessica Lange ~ King Kong

vinyl LP back cover detail

detail photo by Styrous®

 

 

Her role as Dwan, in the "Beauty and the Beast" love story, won her the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year and made her a star!     

          

Jessica Lange ~ King Kong

vinyl LP front cover 

photo of cover by Styrous®

The film's production values were terrific; the special effects with dinosaurs (a favorite subject of mine (link below), giant snakes, etc., were great and it was a lot of fun. At one point Kong puts Dwan (Lange) under a waterfall, filmed in Brazil, dunks her into a pool then blows on her to dry her off; a bit racey (link below). Lange's role is basically the typical "brainless beauty"; she's a great actress and she fit the bill perfectly! She was gorgeous and I fell totally in love with her.             

 

 

Jessica Lange ~ King Kong

But I would discover many years later that in reality, she actually has a brilliant mind behind those beautiful looks.    

Jessica Lange is the 13th actress to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting, having won two Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award, along with a Screen Actors Guild Award and five Golden Globe Awards. Additionally, she is the second actress to win the Academy Award for Best Actress after winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, the third actress and first performer since 1943 to receive two Oscar nominations in the same year, the fifth actress and ninth performer to win Oscars in both the lead and supporting acting categories, and tied for the sixth most Oscar-nominated actress. Lange holds the record for most nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film. She is the only performer ever to win Primetime Emmy Awards in both the Outstanding Supporting Actress and Outstanding Lead Actress categories for the same miniseries. Lange has also garnered a Critics Choice Award and three Dorian Awards, making her the most honored actress by the Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association. In 1998, Entertainment Weekly listed Lange among the 25 Greatest Actresses of the 1990s. Not bad for a "brainless" beauty!   

Lange was not the only consideration for the lead role of Dwan; Meryl Streep, Bette Midler, Farrah Fawcett, Bo Derek (who turned it down), and, would you believe, Barbra Streisand were in the running. 

 

In a 2008 interview with David Letterman, Meryl Streep revealed that she auditioned for the role of Dwan. De Laurentiis turned to his son, describing Streep as "Troppo brutta per King Kong" ("Too ugly for King Kong"). Not knowing Streep understood the language, she responded in perfect Italian that she was very sorry to have disappointed him, and left De Laurentiis stunned (link below).               

 

Kim Basinger tried out for the role of Dwan for her first film audition and Melanie Griffith did a screen test for the role. According to her autobiography, De Laurentiis approached Britt Ekland for the role but she turned him down.  Fay Wray was offered a cameo in the film, however, she refused the role because she didn't like the script.  (link below).       

 

Roman Polanski, Michael Winner, and Sam Peckinpah were offered the chance to direct, but all of them turned it down.        

Ray Harryhausen was considered to provide the stop-motion effects for Kong. Harryhausen turned it down as he felt that 12 months wasn't sufficient time to deliver on such a detailed shoot.      

     

Trivia

 

In a Time magazine cover story on the production, Dino De Laurentiis said "No one cried when Jaws died, but when the monkey dies, people are gonna cry. Intellectuals are gonna love Kong. Even film buffs who love the first Kong are gonna love ours. Why? Because, I don't give a crap."        

 

At a breakfast press conference held on the Paramount backlot to celebrate the launch of the film's principal photography, de Laurentiis promised to "blow away" members of the media by unveiling both of his "stars" - blonde newcomer Lange and the giant mechanical ape created to play the title role. Lange gamely posed in a huge rubber gorilla "hand," but disappointed photographers when she refused to scream for them.         

For shots of Kong holding Jessica Lange, the filmmakers built giant hydraulic gorilla arms. The hands were six feet across, and the arms weighed 1,650 lbs. (750 kg.) each. They weren't ready until shooting was well underway. When they were finally built, De Laurentiis was invited to the set to witness a test. He walked into the studio, and a giant arm extended in his direction. Then the middle finger slowly uncurled and extended itself. De Laurentiis broke up. So did the arm; it was frozen, finger up, for a week (link below).      

date & photographer unknown

King Kong and A Star is Born were the subject of a popular industry joke at the time. Kong producer Dino De Laurentiis and Star is Born producer Jon Peters encounter one another at a Hollywood party and begin to argue about which film will be a bigger hit. After a few rounds of back-and-forth de Laurentiis says "I forgot, your monkey, she sings!" (referring to Streisand).      

A Star is Born poster

 

For the first six weeks of pre-production, in late 1975, De Laurentiis had Rick Baker and Carlo Rambaldi construct competing Kong concept suits. Rambaldi designed his to fit African-American Albert Popwell, who was originally cast as Kong, while Baker single-handedly designed his with himself in mind as Kong. When Baker and Rambaldi presented their semi-finished suits to De Laurentiis, he chose Baker's over Rambaldi's, which he called a "disaster". At the beginning of November 1975, several contemporary sources reported complaints from African-American actors, who were called to Dino's Los Angeles, California, office, and asked to perform the characteristics of a gorilla, in a casting call for the title role. The production decided that casting an African-American as a gorilla would be racially insensitive. PC thirty-five  years ago!     

In his 1989 autobiography It Would Be So Nice If You Weren't Here..., Charles Grodin recounts that his character was originally going to survive the picture, and that De Laurentiis was already planning a sequel and asked him if he would be interested in reprising the role. But when a test audience didn't like the scene in which Kong tried to stomp on Fred Wilson (Grodin) and misses, it was re-edited to make it look like Wilson was squashed.       

 

When Dwan explains how she came to be on the yacht that sank, she mentions that her friend Harry was going to take her to Singapore to put her in a movie. She also mentions that when the yacht sank, everyone but her was below deck, watching the 1972 adult movie Deep Throat. It's mentioned more than once, indicating that Dwan was going to star in a pornographic movie, and that "Harry" was Harry Reems, the star of Deep Throat (link below).      

Deep Throat poster 

 

The score for the film was written by John Barry; it was typical Hollywood music and it was ok. My favorite section is, Sacrifice - Hail To The King, which is the entrance of Kong to claim his bride. It is wonderfully and totally over the top Hollywood "jungle drama"!              

John Barry ~ King Kong

vinyl LP front cover detail

detail photo of cover by Styrous®

Jessica Lange ~ King Kong

vinyl LP back cover 

photo of cover by Styrous®

Rotten Tomatoes as well as many other film critics have not been very kind in their reviews of the film: 

 "King Kong represents a significant visual upgrade over the original, but falls short of its classic predecessor in virtually every other respect."        

I don't care what the critics might have said, I love the film! As well as the jungle effects, it nicely chronicles the "smash hit" Kong becomes in The Big Apple when Kong destroys an elevated train (the Astoria El in Queens, New York was used). The filming of the New York City climax scene was filmed in June 1976, with a casting call for 5,000 extras. Over 30,000 people showed up, (link below).      

John Barry ~ King Kong

vinyl LP back cover detail

detail photo by Styrous®

The ancestry of Jessica Lange is German, Finnish and Dutch; her father was a teacher and traveling salesman; the family moved dozens of times in her youth, which probably sent her on the trajectory her life took. In 1967, she received a scholarship to study art and photography at the University of Minnesota, where she met and began dating Spanish photographer Paco Francisco Grande.   

 

The history of their lives together is right out of a romantic adventure film. For eight years from 1968 to 1976, Lange lived the life of the artiste bohémien. They met Russian show-business photographer Maurice Seymour, she got tear-gassed in Paris during the 1968 student revolution. She drank in cafes with fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld before he was famous (Lagerfeld favored high heels and furs for his daily outings). Lange pantomimed in Washington Square Park in New York City for loose change and she had a romantic relationship with Mikhail Baryshnikov.     

 

During filming, tabloids speculated that Jeff Bridges and Lange were having an on-set affair. The rumors were false; Lange was in a relationship with Russian ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Bridges was engaged to Susan Geston (Susan Bridges). Lange and Bridges have remained friends since making this film (link below).     

 

 

Mikhail Baryshnikov & Jessica Lange - 1982

They met Peter Wynne-Willson who was on tour with Pink Floyd as the band’s lighting designer, performance artist Ellie Klein, lived with Swiss photographer Robert Frank. They entertained John Lennon and Yoko Ono in New York and in San Francisco they hung out with blues musicians Michael Bloomfield and Mark Naftalin of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. All of this is delightfully documented in Artful Living (link below). After the two married in 1971, Lange left college to pursue a more bohemian lifestyle, traveling in the United States and Mexico in a minivan with Grande.    

 

 

Jessica Lange & Paco Grande 

photo: Paco Grande

 

 

The couple then moved to Paris, where they drifted apart. While there, Lange studied mime theatre under the supervision of Étienne Decroux and joined the Opéra-Comique as a dancer. She later studied acting at HB Studio in New York City.     

Jessica Lange ~ King Kong

vinyl LP front cover detail 

detail photo of cover by Styrous®

        

 

A great bonus of the album is that it includes a gigante 23" X 46" poster that catches the scene when Kong is enraged at the theft of his "Bride" . . .
 

John Barry ~ King Kong

vinyl LP front cover detail

detail photo of cover by Styrous®

vinyl LP record album King Kong poster - 1976

 

John Barry ~ King Kong

vinyl LP front cover detail

detail photo of cover by Styrous®

John Barry ~ King Kong

vinyl LP, side 1

photo by Styrous®

John Barry ~ King Kong

vinyl LP, side 1

photo by Styrous®

 

   

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A1 - The Opening - 2:13
A2 - Maybe My Luck Has Changed - 1:48
A3 - Arrival On The Island - 2:33
A4 - Sacrifice - Hail To The King - 7:04
A5 - Arthusa - 2:18
A6 - Full Moon Domain - Beauty Is A Beast - 4:21
A7 - Breakout To Captivity - 4:07

Side 2:

B2 - Kong Hits The Big Apple - 2:32
B3 - Blackout In New York / How About Buying Me A Drink - 3:20
B4 - Climb To Skull Island - 2:17
B5 - The End Is At Hand - 1:41
B6 - The End - 4:22

Companies, etc.

    Record Company – Warner Bros. Records Inc.
    Record Company – Warner Communications Inc.
    Copyright © – Dino De Laurentiis Corporation
    Pressed By – Capitol Records Pressing Plant, Winchester

Credits:

    Composed By, Conductor – John Barry
    Engineer [Recording, Mixing] – Dan Wallin
    Producer – Federico De Laurentiis, John Barry

Notes:

 "----<" etched in run-outs denotes a Capitol, Winchester pressing.

Includes a poster.

Reprise Records, a division of Warner Bros. Records Inc.
Copyright (c) 1976 Dino De Laurentiis Corporation
Made in U.S.A.

 
Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Matrix / Runout (A run-out, etched): MS-1-2260 WWI #2 ---<
    Matrix / Runout (B run-out, etched): MS-2-2260 WWI ----<

 

John Barry – King Kong (Original Sound Track)
Label: Reprise Records – MS 2260
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Winchester Pressing
Country: US
Released: 1976
Genre: Classical, Stage & Screen
Style: Soundtrack, Score, Theme

   

         

Viewfinder links:        

         

John Barry          

Mikhail Baryshnikov          

Kathy Bates       

A boy & his dinosaurs         

Dino De Laurentiis          

Bo Derek        

Farrah Fawcett         

Robert Frank           

Ray Harryhausen        

King Kong         

King Kong & Fay Wray          

Jessica Lange                  

Karl Lagerfeld            

Bette Midler      

Sam Peckinpah        

all things Pink (Floyd)         

Maurice Seymour           

Meryl Streep           

Barbra Streisand

Fay Wray        

        

Net links:        

        

Artful Living ~ La Vie Boheme: Jessica Lange’s Artistic Odyssey    

imdb ~ King Kong trivia        

        

Rotten Tomatoes ~ reviews        

        

        

YouTube links:         

        

King Kong (1976) ~  

     Official Trailer    

     Sacrifice - Hail To The King        

     King Kong gets freaky with Jessica Lange      

     Kong vs Snake fight    
     Love Theme - Arthusa 
     Violent Encounter           

     Waterfall    

     end scene         

Kong's Rampage Deleted Scenes         

The Story of ... King Kong (review) (22 mins.)   

         

        

        

        

         

        

         

 

         

"Acceptance and tolerance and forgiveness, 

those are life-altering lessons."

                ~ Jessica Lange 

If you're really in the process of photographing, 

you are absolutely aware. You are looking.

        

        

        

Styrous® ~ Tuesday, April 20, 2021       
       

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