And then there's the big Broadway musical about a coal-mining disaster. Sounds cheery, no? A Time for Singing [Warner Bros. HS-1639] was based on the 1941 film "How Green Was My Valley," a somewhat overlooked classic that took the Best Picture Oscar over "Citizen Kane" and "The Maltese Falcon." Things did not work so well on the stage in 1966, when Alex Cohen — whose musical track record was especially dire — produced it, or over-produced it, at the Broadway. There is a big, bouncy score from John Morris (one of Broadway's most accomplished dance arrangers of the time — with credits ranging from Bells Are Ringing and Bye Bye Birdie to Mack & Mabel — and a top purveyor of Hollywood scores) and Gerald Freedman (best known as assistant to Jerome Robbins on Bells Are Ringing, West Side Story and Gypsy). Freedman also directed and collaborated on the book, which might have given him too many hats. A Time for Singing was ineffective in the theatre; the major reviews were universally poor. My understanding, though, is that the version of the show that Morris and Freedman presented in backer's auditions was a far finer piece of work than the big bouncing Broadway tuner the producer transformed it into.
Toplining are Ivor Emmanuel, Tessie O'Shea, Laurence Naismith and Shani Wallis (who did considerably better in the motion picture version of Oliver!). Ms. Wallis' performance of "When He Looks at Me," suitably preserved on the cast album, was described thusly by Walter Kerr: "obviously determined to bring the house down by compounding the more energetic qualities of Nellie Forbush and Eliza Doolittle, [she] skips, swings, kicks, thrashes, and in general lays waste to the Broadway stage until she has at last collapsed flat on her back, with her white petticoats showing, in a state of total, and hopefully adorable exhaustion." And Ms. O'Shea seems to be doing a bit of scenery chewing as well, in the title song. But the score, draped in Don Walker orchestrations, is well worth seeking out.
Another universally attacked musical came to the Broadhurst in 1970 under the title Cry for Us All [Project 3 TS 1000]. Formerly Who to Love?, originally Hogan's Goat, from the well-received 1965 blank-verse play by William Alfred. This show would seem to have had a lot going for it, including a steamy story of political skullduggery in turn-of-the-century Brooklyn jam-packed with scandal, corruption, sex, and murder. What's more, it featured a score from the composer of one of Broadway's reigning smashes and one of its biggest song hits in years, which is to say Mitch Leigh of Man of La Mancha and "The Impossible Dream." On the stage, though, things fell way flat. Robert Weede (former opera star who headlined The Most Happy Fella and Milk and Honey) and the above-mentioned Joan Diener (the fiery termagant who created the role of Aldonza in the Quixote musical) sang their way through the evening, complete with Ms. Diener getting to play Richard Kiley's last-act death scene this time around. (The late Ms. Diener was married to director Albert Marre, who had previously shepherded her and Kiley in both La Mancha and Kismet.)
On stage, Cry for Us All came across as a lumbering snooze with overly-melodramatic patches bringing forth unintended laughter; on the cast album, though, much of the score sounds mighty fine. I once talked to composer/producer Leigh about fixing up the show, if only because Cry for Us All contains his most powerful and pleasing work since La Mancha. He wasn't interested, alas, and has seemingly consigned the show to the back shelf with a "do not disturb" sign. A CD transfer of the score was announced — what, 15 years ago? — but was delayed and delayed and finally scuttled, presumably at the behest of Leigh. Think of how many musical theatre fans would love this score if only they had a chance to hear it.
And then there's The Zulu and the Zayda [Columbia KOS 6480]. I jest, you say? Well, no, I don't jest. The nearly-forgotten Harold Rome started his career small, in 1937 with the revue Pins and Needles; moved on to a series of big (and sometimes lumbering) musicals, namely Wish You Were Here, Fanny, and Destry Rides Again; and peaked with the unjustly-overlooked I Can Get It for You Wholesale in 1962. After which he was virtually ignored. His one big show thereafter, Scarlett, was produced in Tokyo in 1970, in London (as Gone with the Wind) in 1972, and foundered on the road to Broadway in 1973. But in the meantime, Rome — who had a keen interest in African art and music — wrote a bunch of songs for Dore Schary's 1965 production of the comedy-drama The Zulu and the Zayda. The Zayda being a South African/Yiddish grandfather (Menasha Skulnik); the Zulu being a domestic servant (Louis Gossett) with bones as earrings and shoes made of recycled automobile tires; and the events tied together by a more domesticated servant played by Ossie Davis, who co-starred with Yiddish Theatre great Skulnik. This all might not sound very promising, and the enterprise staggered through a not-well-attended five months at the Cort. The songs, though — featuring a mix of Yiddish and African themes — are tuneful, charming, and often lovely. Call me crazy, but I keep wanting to go back for "It's Good to Be Alive," "River of Tears," "Like the Breeze Blows," "Some Things," and "May Your Heart Stay Young (L'Chayim)."
Our next column will continue this discussion, including some Off-Broadway and West End albums.
(Steven Suskin is author of "The Sound of Broadway Music: A Book of Orchestrators and Orchestrations" as well as "Second Act Trouble," "Show Tunes," and the "Opening Night on Broadway" books. He can be reached at Ssuskin@aol.com.)
