It's delightful, it's delicious, it's dlevy!
Powered by Disqus
A Fiddler on the Roof in Paris… Sounds crazy, no? But here in our little village of Tumblr, you might say every one of us is a fiddler trying to scratch out our own version of a tune that was clearly meant to be sung in a different language by characters who, in reality, would be speaking yet a third language. Regardless, I love the way this cast makes the song sound like they’re leaving Anatevka because of ennui rather than persecution.
“Good Morning, Good Day”
She Loves Me songwriters’ demo
Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick
Marvin Hamlisch’s funeral service this morning. I didn’t think I could write anything about this. But now I feel like I just have to. It was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever experienced. At 7:30AM, I was walking through Central Park, wearing all black, nervous and sad. Walking into Temple Emanu-El on 66th Street, within minutes, I was part of a 600-person choir rehearsal, all singing “What I Did For Love”. Hundreds of people. Some of our greatest composers and lyricists were there, amongst the chorus, honoring Marvin, including Sheldon Harnick, David Shire, Andrew Lippa, Maury Yeston, and Craig Carnelia and David Zippel, two of his great collaborators. I stood next to Anita Gillette, in front of a row of A Chorus Line alums, and behind Jonathan Tunick. And it was the most unbelievable thing.
Is it too early for me to be excited for next season’s Encores shows?
(And is it too early to start campaigning for Debbie Gravitte to sing this song in that production?)
At the Paley Center on Saturday, Sheldon Harnick mentioned that one of the elements of She Loves Me that makes it special is how character-driven each of the songs is. He noted that the original kiss-off number for Jack Cassidy was a tour de force that drew a big hand, but it felt too much like a cabaret number and not enough like the character. So Sheldon and Jerry Bock approached Cassidy and asked him to learn a new number, even though “My Drug Store” was getting laughs and applause. He agreed, figuring he could always go back if the replacement didn’t work. Bock & Harnick wrote “Grand Knowing You,” and it tightened up the scene, and the rest is history.
Still, I was curious to hear the original song, and thanks to the wonderful people of the internet, now we can. Here’s the composers’ demo of the song — I believe that’s Jerry Bock singing I’m told it’s Sheldon Harnick singing. (Thanks, Robert!)
Fuck yeah Sheldon Harnick
Not sure if I’m more excited to be in the same room as Sheldon Harnick or Donald.
“Sabbath Prayer” from Joe Quijano’s Fiddler on the Roof Goes Latin
This is the song from which my URL hails. Sheldon Harnick’s “The Ballad of the Shape of Things”, taken from Kate Baldwin’s album She Loves Him.
It’s kind of a black-comedy song so be warned that it mentions, er, violent death. Not in graphic terms but it is there.
Fuck yeah Sheldon Harnick! :)
(Best known as the lyricist of such musicals as Fiddler on the Roof and She Loves Me, Harnick occasionally also wrote music, which he did for this song. If you like it, check out the rest of the album.)
(via hypotheticalthalamus)
The flip side of Julie Andrews singing “Dear Friend” was Julie Andrews singing the title song from She Loves Me.
(Do you all know why it was called the flip side, dear readers? Because they were records. And you needed to flip them over to hear the song on the other side. Sometimes I feel like the goddamned man in the chair.)
