Benjamin Franklin
Welles - Lafayette
Wallach - Independence 1976
DaSilva - 1776
Stiers - Taking Liberty
Raggedy, I wonder if the Kristin Chenoweth special you're thinking of is a concert in Central Park that was taped and shown on PBS's Great Performances about a year ago. She sang "Glitter and Be Gay" and "Lonely Town", and Joshua Bell performed a suite for violin based on songs from West Side Story.
Kristin Chenoweth is one of those people (Audra McDonald is another) who, if she had lived in another era, could have had the kind of career that Mary Martin or Ethel Merman had, going straight from one Broadway musical into another, but that isn't possible any more because of the sorry state of new musicals these days. Fortunately (for New Yorkers), there's the Encores! series at City Center, which puts on semi-staged revivals of musicals for five performances only. (It's where the current Broadway production of Chicago started out.) Kristin Chenoweth has been in Encores! productions of Strike Up the Band and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, both of which I was lucky enough to see.
Yes to Ben Franklin.
Hi bree!
No, Bree, I didn't see that PBS special. Thanks. There were a number of Broadway performers in the special I saw and it's driving me crazy trying to remember it.
Ah well, one day I'll play one of my video tapes and there it will be.
Ok, after a little research: Kristin was on the Kennedy Center Honors in 2001 which honored Julie Andrews, among others. She was also in a benefit concert (which may or may not have been televised) that had various performers doing songs from Funny Girl.
Any of that ring a bell?
Bree: Audra McDonald is on my CD of the Broadway production of Ragtime. So is Brian Stokes Mitchell. I love that CD.
Thanks for the link, Mac. I'm going to check it out.
New question:
What fictional character did these ladies all portray?
Anne Trevor
Merle Oberon
Anna Calder- Marshal
Juliette Binoche
Of course, there is only one acceptable version in my opinion.
Hi mac! Thanks for the link. I almost never look at the TV forum, so I would have missed it if you hadn't let us know about it.
I love that Ragtime CD too, Raggedy. Do you have any of Audra McDonald's other CDs (not Broadway scores, just collections of songs)? I just listened to How Glory Goes over the weekend, and was reminded all over again how good it is. She has a new one called Happy Songs, which is also wonderful.
I hear a little bell, but not a gong, Mac. I taped that Kennedy Center show and I'll take another look at it. I picture several Broadway performers doing different numbers. In case I'm missing for several days, I may be found in front of the VCR reviewing my videos.
Well, that must be Cathy in Wuthering Heights...
I actually missed that year's Kennedy Center Honors, raggedy. And Julie Andrews is one of my favorites...
I wonder if you can buy tapes of that program?
No, Bree, only Ragtime. I'll look into some of her recordings. I also like Linda Eder on Jekyll and Hyde. I appreciated the Rosie O'Donnell show because she kept me informed of the newer Broadway performers. BTW, Barbara Cook was to perform here in Pa. (if she hasn't done so already). She was in the original Music Man, wasn't she?
Yes, Barbara Cook originated the role of Marian Paroo. (And Preston was the original Harold Hill...
)
Raggedy, Barbara Cook was indeed the original Marian the Librarian. I have a CD of hers on which she sings a song called "The Ingenue", which was written for her, about the trials of being an actress who's typecast as an ingenue. One of the verses -- which is presumably meant as a reference to the casting of the movie version of The Music Man -- goes:
The parts for boys you play against
They bring out all the clones to do,
And movie roles you live to play,
They give to Shirley Jones to do!
Cathy, it is Mac.
It would be great if the Kennedy Center Tapes could be purchased. We'll have to do some investigating. I'd love to have that collection. Mine are all helter skelter with other programs recorded on the same tape and are slow speed.
And I missed a few years, too.
What character have each of these actresses played?
Greta Garbo
Vivien Leigh
Sophie Marceau
