Lauren Bacall's recent passing inspired me to pull out my original cast recording of the 1969 musical Applause, a then contemporary musical adaptation of the short story "The Wisdom of Eve" by Mary Orr, which was also the basis for the 1950 film All About Eve. The musical introduced Ms. Bacall to the Broadway stage as the dynamic, aging star Margo Channing, an acid-tongued diva masking her fragile ego with pithy retorts and blatant sarcasm.
Everyone knows Rodgers and Hammerstein for their contributions that altered the direction of the American musical theatre: integrating score, character development, and plot in a way that all were interconnected and took what musical storytelling could accomplish to new heights. It started with Oklahoma! in 1943, and carried through the next decade-and-a-half with Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, Flower Drum Song, and The Sound of Music.
How do you evoke nostalgia for a location when the place that must warm your audience's heart is but a mythical land in the mind of a dreamer? "How Are Things In Glocca Morra?" from Finian's Rainbow does just that with an Old World-style folk melody and simple imagery that conjurs pictures of friendly breezes, dancing rivers, and songbirds bringing "cheerin' words."
Sometimes you just have to let production values, infectious repetitive melodies, and larger-than-life personalities take over and transport you to Broadway nirvana. There is nothing like a great eleven o'clock number to stir the theatergoer's soul one more time before dumping them onto West 46th Street and into the arms of a cold world.
