SPRIN

G 20

07

BAND!

THE

Strike Up

carol CHANNING

PRESENTING THE TALENTS OF

fredASTAIREeleanor POWELL

kathr ynGRAYSON

howard KEEL

jeromeKERN

IRVINGberlin

george and iraGERSHWIN

COLEporter

julieANDREWS

sammyCAHN

SPRIN

G 20

07

BAND!

THE

Strike Up

carol CHANNING

PRESENTING THE TALENTS OF

fredASTAIREeleanor POWELL

kathr ynGRAYSON

howard KEEL

jeromeKERN

IRVINGberlin

george and iraGERSHWIN

COLEporter

julieANDREWS

sammyCAHN

16 Raspberries An interview with Carol Channing From Chapman University, CA

10 Ol’ Man River A look at Showboat By Tammy Warner

4 Cheek to Cheek The life of Fred Astaire By Tammy Warner

BAND!

Strike Up the

BAND!

Strike Up the

ADVERTISING

BAND!TH

EStrike U

p

SPRIN

G 20

07

MUSICALMEMORIES

MUSICAL MEMORIES

STRIKE UP THE BAND!

9 Daniel Bartels

14 Kevin Dominick

21 Anisa Treon

CONTENTS

CheekCheekto

Cheek

The Life of Fred Astaire

CheekCheekto

Cheek

The Life of Fred Astaire

Fred Astaire is one of the greatest actors of all time. For nearly a century, his dancing captured audiences. From his early years in vaudeville to his nine film legacy with Ginger Rogers, he has created some of the best musical movies from the 1930s to the 1970s. Astaire also worked with some of the best film-makers and songwriters of the twentieth century, includingdirectors mark Sandrich, Stanley Donen, George Stevens, and Francis Ford Coppola, cho-reographer Hermes Pan, and songwriters George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, and Irving Berlin. He was the King of Tap, but also so much more. He was a loving husband and father, a hardworking actor, extraordinary dancer, and an all around good guy. His fifty year career has earned him the Academy Award for lifetime achieve-ment and has influenced a century of dance, movies, popular culture, and music.

Born on tenth of May in 1899 in Omaha, Nebraska, Astaire entered vaudeville at age five and performed with his sister, Adele, until her marriage in 1932. In 1933, he married Phyllis Livingston Potter, made his way to Hollywood and landed a role in the RKO film, Flying Down to Rio, with fellow newcomer, Ginger Rogers. This marked a nearly ten year contract with RKO Pictures and earned Fred and Ginger renown as the most famous dance duo of all time. Together, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers completed nine pictures during the Depres-sion years, including The Gay

sequenceon roller skates to the song, Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off and introduced another signature song, They Can’t Take That Away From Me. While still under RKO contract, Fred Astaire ventured into movies without his partner, Ginger Rog-ers, in 1937 in another Berman and Stevens film, A Damsel in Distress. This time, his leading lady was Joan Fontaine and he also appeared with the comedy team, George Burns and Gracie Allen. This film also contained the music of Gersh-win and Hermes Pan took the 1937 Academy Award for Best Choreography. In 1940, Fred Astaire’s contract with RKO ended and he went to MGM Studios for a big musical, The Broadway Melody of 1940, the fourth in a series of Broadway films. Its predecessors, released in 1929, 1936, and 1938 had introduced songs like Singin’ in the Rain and actors like Judy Garland. Each version except the original featured the dancer, ballerina, and gymnast, Eleanor Powell. Even the talented Fred Astaire was nervous to be working with the woman known as he queen of tap. However, Fred prevailed and he, Eleanor Powell, and George Murphy

“Ginger was brilliantly effective. She made everything work for Her. Actually, she made things very fine for the both of us and she deserves most of the credit for our success”.

Divorcee (1934), Roberta (1935), Top Hat (1935), Swing Time (1936), Follow the Fleet (1936), Shall We Dance (1937), Care-free (1938), and The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939). The lavish Art Deco sets and sophisticated dance numbers were stark contrast to the de-pression era and audiences loved the es- cape. Fred donned his famous top hat, white tie, and tales for the prolific song- writer Irving Berlin in Top Hat, which introduced one of Fred and Ginger’s signature songs, Cheek to Cheek. Pan-dro S. Berman produced and Mark Sandrich directed. In 1936, Berman teamed with Fred and Ginger again for the George Stevens film, Swing Time, which featured music by Jerome Kern, most famous for Show Boat. Director Mark Sandrich returned for the musical Shall We Dance, which featured the music of the incomparable George and Ira Gershwin. This movie included Fred and Ginger’s dance

Puttin’ On the Ritz“People think I was born in top hat and tails.”

rehearsed endlessly with Fred mapping out the choreography on the floor with chalk. In the end, they all had fun and Fred and Eleanor became good friends, inspiring dancers such as Ann Miller. Director Norman Taurog and producer Jack Cummings orig-inally wanted the film to be shot in color, but the approaching war limited budgets. The black and white pho-tography, though, actually enhanced the linear and reflective Art Deco sets created to accom-pany the Cole Porter music. A Cole Porter classic, Begin the Beguine, served as the grand finale of the film, set amidst the largest set of its kind, an Art Deco stage filled with 10,000 light bulbs for stars and thirty foot mirrors. The floor that Fred and Eleanor do their famous tap dancing on was a 6500 square foot glass mirror, made especially at MGM because

no outside glass company would tackle the project. The movie was a hit and would be the only time the two most talented dancers of the era would perform together. After his MGM success, Fred Astaire joined Mark San-drich again for a Universal film, Holiday Inn. This time, he would join the famous crooner, Bing Crosby, and the two would sing and dance to some of Irving Berlin’s most famous works, including Easter Parade and White Christmas. Just as Crosby went on to star in a whole film centered around White Christmas, Fred Astaire did a movie by the name of Easter Parade, with Judy Garland, Ann Miller, and future Rat Pack member, Peter

Lawford. This film contained some of the most well known musical numbers, including the famous Happy Easter with Judy Garland, Peter Lawford’s Fella With an Umbrella, and the graceful It Only Happens When I Dance With You with Ann Miller. In 1949, he was reunited with his original dance partner, Ginger Rogers, for their last movie together and only movie together shot in color, The Barkeley’s of Broadway, in which they nostalgically sang their old song from Shall We Dance, They Can’t Take That Away From Me. In 1950, Astaire joined comedian Red Skelton and dancer Vera-Ellen in Three Little Words, which included a very brief part by the young newcomer Debbie Reynolds. The following year, Fred ap-peared in Royal Wedding with the young soprano Jane Powell, Peter Lawford, Sarah Churchill, and Keenan Wynn, the son of Ed Wynn. Best known for musi-cals such as Singin’ In the Rain and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Stanley Donen creat-ed an extravagant, Technicolor musical that MGM was known

“It’s nice that all the composers have said that nobody interprets a lyric like Fred Astaire. But when it comes to selling records I was never worth anything particularly except as a collector’s item.”

Astaire’s best friend was songwriter Irving Berlin, who wrote the music to many of his movies. They first met during the production of Top Hat.

for during the 1950s. This film featured one of Fred Astaire’s most famous dance sequences, in which he dances on the loors and ceilings of his bedroom. Astonishing cinematography at the time, the scene was cre-ated by constructing a square room with one wall open and slowly rotating the set on an axis as Fred danced. This film also included Astaire’s number, I Lost My Hat in Haiti, and How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Loved You When You Know I’ve Been a Liar All My Life with Jane Powell. As Astaire grew older, he still appeared in movies such as Funny Face with Audrey Hep-burn. He also began providing his voice for various Christmas cartoons during the 1960s and 1970s. One of his last musical pictures as a Warner Brothers film, Finian’s Rainbow, released in 1968 and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Based on the 1947 Broadway play, the film also starred Tommy Steele from

“ I have never had anything that I can remember in the business, and that includes all the movies and the stage shows and everything, that I didn’t enjoy. I didn’t like some of the small time vaudeville, because we weren’t going on and getting better. Aside from that, I didn’t dislike anything.”

“I suppose I made it look easy, but gee whiz, did I work and worry.”

The Happiest Millionaire and Half a Sixpence, Keenan Wynn from Royal Wedding and Kiss Me, Kate, and singer Petula Clark, best known for the song Downtown. Like similar musicals from the 1960s such as The Unsinkable Molly Brown and The Sound of Music, Finian’s Rainbow was featured as a road show, with an overture and intermission as if it were a stage production. It was filmed in seventy millimeter with six track stereophonic sound, and Hermes Pan of Astaire’s previ-ous A Damsel in Distress was the choreographer. After the death of his wife, Phyllis, Fred married Robyn Smith and they lived happily together until his death on June 22, 1987. He left the world two children, a

star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and a lifetime of musi-cal memories hat fans will enjoy forever. It is undisputed that Fred Astaire is one of the great-est legends Hollywood has ever known. Not only was he immensely talented but he worked harder than anyone in the business and was one of the few who never let the fame go to his head. He was never the most handsome leading man, he was not the greatest singer, but nobody has ever been able move as gracefully and energetically as Fred Astaire. He has captivated millions with his love of music and dance. The world will never forget him. No, no they can’t take that away from me.

OlD Man RiveR

OlD Man RiveR

During the 1950s, the MGM studios were known for creating the biggest and best musicals, including Singin’ in the

Rain, An American in Paris, and Royal Wedding. One movie that stands out among these is Show Boat. This film was not your typical musical comedy, but rather serious drama.

Show Boat’s real story actually begins in 1926 with a novel by Edna Ferber. Songwriter Jerome Kern read the book and decided to turn it into a musical play. Set on a show boat of the Mississippi in the late nineteenth century, Ferber created a nice setting for a musical, but the story dealt with the harsher

A look at Show Boat

OlD Man RiveR

OlD Man RiveR

issues of alcoholism, gambling, and racism, which were unusual tones for the lighthearted musicals of the time. Ferber’s story begins with the young couple Andy and Parthy. Andy is the captain of the show boat, the Cotton Blossom, which carries actors, dancers, and singers on the Mississippi River

for performances. Their daughter, Magnolia, is raised amidst these performers, becoming friends with actress, Julie Laverne, and herhusband, Steve. While Julie appears to be white, she has some black descendents and after a while is arrested for being married to Steve. Because mixed marriage is illegal, Steve and Julie both

Magnolia, the leading lady of Show Boat, was named after the famous southern flower.

but the story was sold to MGM in 1938. In order to test the public’s acceptance of a new Show Boat, in the mid 1940s MGM backed a stage revival of Show Boat. Musical biographies were rather popular at the time, with movies about Cole Porter, Glenn Miller, George M. Cohan, and others. So MGM produced Till the

Clouds Roll By, a film about Jerome Kern’s life, in 1946 and included several numbers from Show Boat. Julie was played by popular singer Lena Horne and Magnolia was played by Kathryn Grayson, a popular soprano of the war era who had starred in several MGM productions with Gene Kelly, June Allyson, Jose Iturbi, and Frank Sinatra. As MGM began to develop this into a large scale musical, Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy were the first choice for Magnolia and Ravenal. However, Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel of Calamity Jane had become popular stars in the 1950s. The two also starred together in Cole Porter’s Kiss Me, Kate. The first choice for Julie was Judy Garland, but her health problems caused her MGM contract to end. Dinah Shore was also considered but George

must leave the Cotton Blossom. Meanwhile, Magnolia has become infatuated with traveling gambler, Ravenal. With Julie and Steve gone, Magnolia and Ravenal join the show and eventually fall in love and marry, leaving the Cotton Blossom for Ravenal’s home in Chicago. Ravenal, however, returns to his gambling habit and after losing all his money, leaves pregnant Magnolia. Seeking employment as a singer in a saloon, Magnolia encounters Julie, deserted by her husband, an alcoholic, auditioning for the same part. Julie gives up the part for her old friend, dooming herself to prostitution and death. Meanwhile, Andy, distraught over the loss of his Showboat performers and daugher, has become an alcoholic, drinking himself to his death. By the end of the story Julie, Andy, and Ravenal are all dead, but Magnolia has become a star on Broadway. Her daughter, Kim, follows in her footsteps and performs on Broadway as well. With Oscar Hammerstein, Jerome Kern wrote this story into its stage counterpart in one year and the play opened at the Ziegfeld Theater. Universal Pictures produced the first film version in 1929 and another in 1936 with Irenne Dunne,

“There’ s an old man called the Mississippi That’s the old man that I want to be What does he care if the world’s got troubles What does he care if the land ain’t free”

ShowBoat was revived on the

stage in the 1960s. I ts soundtrack

included the original hits, Make

Believe, Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat

Man, I Might Fall Back On

You, You Are Love, Why Do I

Love You, Bill, After the Ball,

and Ol’ Man River. Sidney insisted upon casting the new and popular Ava Gardner. However, she had no singing ability, especiallly next to beautiful soprano Kathryn Grayson, and her voice was dubbed by Annette Warron. The role of Captain Andy went to Joe E. Brown, Bewitched’s Agnes Moorehead played Parthy, and Steve was portrayed by Robert Sterling. Husband and wife dance team, Marge and Gower Champion added to the ensemble as one

of the acts of the Cotton Blossom, and William Warfield, playing

one of the crew of the boat, sang the unforgettable Ol’ Man River.

This song has become the most memorable of Jerome Kern’s

collection and has even been sung by the legendary Frank Sinatra.

However, Warfield’s moving rendition stole the show.

Set on the late 1800s Mississippi River, Show Boat tells the dramas of life on the river.

The 1952 version of ShowBoat with Howard Keel and Kathryn

Grayson is currently available on DVD and CD. The soundtrack

includes the entire score as well as the original vocals of Ava

Gardner of Bill and Can’ t Help Lovin’ Dat Man.

where she performs after Ravenal left her and return to their old happy life at the Cotton Blossom. Meanwhile, Julie, after given up the saloon job to Magnolia, runs into Ravenal and tells him that Magnolia has given birth to their daughter, Kim. He then returns to his family on the Cotton Blossom. The last moments of the film, however, are bittersweet, as the final scene shows Julie, an abused prostitute and alcoholic, waving to the happy Cotton Blossom while Warfield belts out Ol’ Man River.

The storyline for this film version was changed. The time span was shortened to ten years, leaving out Magnolia’s childhood and Kim’s adult life because there was a concern that audiences would lose interest in so long a timespan. 1950s Americans called for a happier ending and an estranged couple and three dead leading characters would not suffice, despite Magnolia’s personal successes. In this version, Andy and Magnolia are reunited at the saloon

“Ol’ man river

That ol’ man river

He must know somethin’

But don’ t say nothin’

He just keeps rollin’

He keeps on rollin’ along”

The prop piece for the Cotton Blossom, designed by Cedric Gibbons, Jack Martin Smith, Edwin B. Willis, and Richard A. Perfferle was the largest the studio had ever built, resting in the lakes previously used for Tarzan. Costumes were designed by Walter Plunkett, and Charles Rosher was in charge of photography. Adolph Deutsch and Conrad Salinger arranged the musical score and were nominated for an Academy Award, but lost to An

American in Paris. Despite the altered plot, the production of this version of Show Boat is one of the best. With the possible exception of Ava Gardner, the cast was absolutely perfect for each of their roles and the direction, particularly of the Ol’ Man River scene was fantastic. This film certainly deserves its rank in musical history.

raspberrie

s

The eccentric Carol Channing has made history on Broadway in such shows as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Hello Dolly, performing the famous Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend and other hits. Carol has become fairly notable in the movies, as well,as in the 1985 film version of Alice in Wonderland with Natalie Gregory. Her most famous movie role is that of the zany Jazz Baby, Muzzy, in the 1967 film, Thoroughly Modern Millie, also starring Mary Tyler Moore and Julie Andrews. raspberrie

s

Muzzy is the eccentric millionaire who helps Millie, played by Julie Andrews, with her problems becoming a modern flapper of 1922. Favoritepastimes of Muzzy include jazz, booze, dancing, and flying in the latest invention of the 20th century, the airplane.

She had done all the wonderful things she won the awards on. And Julie walked in her first day off as Mary Poppins. She had finished touring Hawaii at the time and she walked in in her jeans and no make up and came and took both my hands and I said “Julie!” See they had her stand in and they were shooting the back of her head while I did a scene that was about how you must love the man you marry. It doesn’t matter whether he’s wealthy or he isn’t, that most important thing is love. And that’s the essence of the speech. And I said “Julie, I woudn’t talk the same way to your stand in as I would to you,” and she said “I knew that, that’s why I came.”

Julie made up her mind that I would be nominated for an academy award for this or win. Well I didn’t win the Academy Award but I did get the Golden Globe Award, and they all unanimously voted for me. I talked to them and said “Why did you vote for me?” and they said “because of that scene.” And that was the scene when Julie was holding my hands, and she said “Better than the director, better than me, better than anyone, you know the character of Muzzy. If I were playing Muzzy I wouldn’t know Muzzy better than anyone in the world but you’re playing Muzzy and you know her better than anyone.”

What was it like working with

Did you win any awards for

Julie Andrews?

Thoroughly Modern M

illie?

Q.A.

A.

Q.

I had just finished playing to 7500 people in Oklahoma City and they have an auditorium that is so enormous, and you just hurl the words, you know. You went with it hard. You kept hoping that they can hear and see you and you exaggerate the gestures and everything, but they seem to understand it. They felt it. Well after all this exaggerated work I arrived in Hollywood and the first thing they shot was a close up. And the director, George Roy Hill, who did this thing and all, he said “Now we’re shooting from your eyebrows to your lower lip and we’re shooting from just the end of this eye here. So would you, when you’re in the camera, don’t move because you’ll go right out of the camera, and don’t breathe, but give me energy,” and he said “Just stay absolutely still but give performance pitch.”

Most of your performances are on Broadway.

What was it like f ilming a movie?Q.

A.

That was the dumbest thing in the script. I was like, “Raspberries, why am I supposed to say that?” And I mean just out of the clear blue, why raspberries? And I couldn’t figure it out. Now when I walk down park avenue every door man says “Would you please say raspberries for me, just like you do with Julie.” And I don’t know why they would. Raspberries, what’s funny about that, but it turned out that people liked it.

How did your line

“raspberries”become so famous?

Q.

A.

I’m terribly shy, but of course no one believes me. Come to think of it, neither would I.

What is something that

people do not know about you?

Q.

A.