Best of Broadway, Blithe Spirt, Follies, Peter Allen
Randie Levine Miller, our Broadway Babe has outdone herself today, and that’s saying alot! You will love Showstoppers, the Best of Broadway; and wait ’til see this 1956 live theater performance of Blithe Spirit with Noel Coward, Lauren Bacall, and Claudette Colbert. But there’s more: Follies in Concert and a Peter Allen documentary. Perfect entertainment for a rainy weekend.
Showstoppers: The Best of Broadway
This is literally one of the greatest Broadway salutes Broadway shows I’ve ever seen, as it has the original performers of some of the best shows ever, performing the songs they introduced…It’s 105 minutes of pure musical bliss! Videoed in 1982, it aired on PBS Great Performances in 1985. Host Tom Bosley introduces Broadway greats Ethel Merman, Mary Martin, Angela Lansbury, Donna McKechnie, Debbie Reynolds, Diahann Carroll, Len Cariou, Nell Carter, Anthony Perkins, Jerry Orbach, Chita Rivera, Alexis Smith, Ray Walton, Pamela Myers, Robert Morse, Glynis Johns, Carol Demas, Barry Bostwick, Susan Browning, as well as the American Dance Machine recreating several iconic dance numbers. Broadway loving tomatoes, do not miss this true treat!!!!
Sidebar: I have so many to share including anecdotes of Jerry Orbach, Debbie Reynolds, Len Cariou, Robert Morse, Nell Carter, etc… but not enough space.. so I’ll just share that I’ve been a fan of the great Donna McKechnie for over 50 years… my parents met her at the Dellwood Country Club in the mid-60s.. and came home and told me about this incredible young, well mannered woman who was a guest at the club along with her manager… they absolutely adored meeting her and my mother believed that Donna was going to be very successful… her prediction was correct… and now through the process of life, Tony Award winning Broadway star, Donna McKechnie is one of my closest girlfriends.. to know her, is to love her… an authentic beautiful human being and major talent!
Blithe Spirit 1956 Live TV Theatre
Ford Star Jubilee presented Live TV Theater in the early days of television…I think tomatoes will be fascinated by this production of Noel Coward’s “Blithe Spirit”, which aired in 1956, starring Lauren Bacall,
Claudette Colbert, and Noel Coward… co-starring Mildred Natwick and Marion Ross (who later starred in “Happy Days”). It was co-directed by Noel Coward and Fred deCordova, who later produced the “Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson, for decades! This is a kinescope of that legendary production.
Follies in Concert
Follies in Concert—Four Days in New York, a brilliant documentary which aired on A&E, of the 1985 concert performance from Lincoln Center of Sondheim’s 1971 Follies…. With Barbara Cook, Lee Remick, George Hearn, Carol Burnett, Elaine Stritch, Adolf Green, Betty Camden, Mandy Patinkin, and Stephen Sondheim making comments throughout…Also includes several songs. Plus interviews with the stars… the sound is excellent, but the video quality isn’t good quality, but still is quite magical.
Sidebar: It was rumored that Stephen Sondheim (who is homosexual) was madly in love with Lee Remick, who starred in his flop musical, “Anyone Can Whistle” in the 1960s… perfectly understandable, as after hearing much about what a great and gracious lady she was from my BFF,legendary Broadway producer Ken Waissman, who originally hired her for “Agnes of God” (and then fired her in Boston), she was an incredible and beautiful human being.
Peter Allen Documentary
OMG… The real Peter Allen…an excellent documentary from 2003, following the life and times of this perpetual icon… showing the legendary singer-songwriter in performance…the original “boy from oz”. Wonderful interviews with colleagues:Bette Midler, Ann Margret, Bernadette Peters, Lily Tomlinson, Harry Connick, Jr. And Julie Wilson. A must-see for Hugh Jackman fans! LOL
Randie Levine Miller is Director of Special Events for The Three Tomatoes, and co-produces and hosts the annual Tomatoes Got Talent show. Known around NYC as a modern day “hostess with the mostess, she has performed in and hosted benefits for the Actors Fund, the Actors Temple, Multiple Sclerosis, and Prostate Cancer Research. Randie’s performance venues have included: The Triad, The Metropolitan Room, the Laurie Beechman Theater, and the Friars Club. For many years, she was special events director for the Drama Desk Awards. Randie also had a successful 30-year career as a public relations consultant and handled several major health and medical technology clients.
Great article and thanks for all of them in the Three Tomtoes newsletters. Unfortunately some of these today were not available. Don’t know if it was a glitch or we are blocked from reading.