It's delightful, it's delicious, it's dlevy!
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“Life Is” from Zorba (1983 Broadway Cast)*
music John Kander lyric Fred Ebb
performed by Debbie Shapiro Gravitte and Company
—
Zorba was Hal Prince/Kander and Ebb’s follow up to Cabaret. I don’t know much about it, but is seems like it was Fiddler with Greek people and some extra “conceptual” stuff.
The show was revived by Fran and Barry Weisman in the 80s with stars of the original movie. And Debbie Shaprio Gravitte before she was a Tony winner (or a Gravitte).
*The track normally starts with over a minute of a musical argument (that is interrupted by DSG as “The Leader” who then launches into this song). I cut that part of the track out for this posting since I don’t really have the attention span to sit through it when I want that great opening vamp and some DSG!
I really love Zorba and need someone to revive it so Chita Riveria can play Madame Hortense.
A revival (with Antonio Banderas as Zorba) has been “in the works” for a few years, I believe for the Roundabout.
(via misterjudemartin)
By request of youregonnalovetomorrow…
“A Quiet Thing” from Liza Minnelli Live at the Winter Garden.
You didn’t think I was going to rave on and on about how great Liza Minnelli Live at the Winter Garden is without sharing a bit, did you?
This is Liza’s encore, not included on the original, briefly available LP issue of the album, consisting of a really tender medley of “My Shining Hour” (from the film The Sky’s The Limit) and “Yes” (from 70 Girls 70).
Dee Snider is doing a showtunes album??
According to Talkin’ Broadway:
Dee Does Broadway
(Razor & Tie - new on CD)
Twisted Sister band member Dee Snider (Rock of Ages) duets with Patti LuPone, Bebe Neuwirth, Cyndi Lauper and more this new album of show tunes. “Cabaret,” “The Ballad Of Sweeney Todd,” “Big Spender” (with Cyndi Lauper), “Mack the Knife,” “Whatever Lola Wants” (with Bebe Neuwirth), “Music Of The Night” (with guest violinist Mark Wood), “The Joint Is Jumpin’” (with Jesse Blaze Snider), “Luck Be A Lady” (with Clay Aiken), “I Get A Kick Out Of You,” “There Is Nothin’ Like A Dame” (with Priscilla cast members Will Swenson, Tony Sheldon and Nick Adams), “Razzle Dazzle.”
I love shit like this.
Liza Minnelli recorded a cover version of “The Day After That” from Kiss of the Spider Woman as an AIDS benefit single. She even made a video!
Chita. Spider Woman. Dressed like a dapper butch performing a Broadway showstopper. Unf.
Debbie Gravitte: “Only Love” from Kander & Ebb’s Zorba!
from her album Defying Gravity
Debbie was featured in the Broadway revival of the show, but this isn’t from the cast album. Because the song is sung by one of the older characters (often played with an accent) during a longer musical sequence, it sort of gets lost in the show. But as a stand-alone ballad, it’s a beauty. Why isn’t this in every cabaret singer’s repertoire?
[Continued from here.] The story goes that Kander was pretty upset at the new arrangement… because it was AWESOME, and he was jealous that Fosse turned his charm song into a showstopper. Can you stop the show with an opening number? When Liza and Fosse team up, anything is possible.
Last week on Fuck Yeah Stephen Sondheim I shared Jason Robert Brown’s arrangement of “Sunday” as an example of how arrangement changes a song.
This, and the post that will follow in a second, continues that discussion. Here’s “Say Yes” from 70, Girls, 70 by Kander & Ebb, performed by Mildred Natwick on the original cast album.
Liza heard it, and as is her wont, she added it to her repertoire of Kander & Ebb songs and decided to open her Liza With A “Z” concert with the number. That sounded like a great idea, but Bob Fosse thought it needed a new arrangement to start the concert off the right way.
[TO BE CONTINUED….]
In 1975, Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire teamed up for an album that included some unlikely songs for the pair of aged crooners, including two Kander & Ebb numbers: “How Lucky Can You Get” from Funny Lady and “Roxie” from Chicago.
