Bloomer Girl (1944 Original Broadway Cast)

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Music reviews of Bloomer Girl (1944 Original Broadway Cast)

Music Review: Excellent and undeservedly forgotten
Rating: 5 Stars

But whatever the problems are that keep Bloomer Girl largely out of production, the score is not one of them. As evidenced by this delightful original cast recording, Harold Arlen's lilting and eminently hummable melodies are expertly set to sharp lyrics by E.Y. "Yip" Harburg that seem surprsingly modern in their viewpoints on sexual and racial equality (Long before either cause was fashionable). While this cast is not always the most technically polished, they do perform with great charm and warmth. Fresh from her scene-stealing as Ado Annie in the original Oklahoma!, Celeste Holm graduates to the lead role of the strong-willed Yankee Evelina (Who, though she of course falls in love with the leading man after some resistance, appears to get *him* to convert to her ways of thinking, rather than the other way around). Holm reveals a much more sumptuous vocal range than she probably ever exhibited before or since, but still tackles the role with the assurance and spirit that characterizes her best-loved work. She is well-matched by David Brooks (Who plays Jeff Calhoun, the Souther gentleman who courts Evelina, and would later originate the role of Tommy Albright in Brigadoon) in the duets "Evelina" and "Right as the Rain." Joan McCracken, a well-regarded dancer who had also first gained attention in the Oklahoma! chorus line but later lost many career oppurtunities-and her husband, Bob Fosse-to Gwen Verdon and drifted into obscurity, is a vivid presence here with her two numbers, "T'morra T'morra" and "Never Was Born." Dooley Wilson (Sam in the film Casablanca) plays Pompey, a slave whom Evelina and Jeff Calhoun conspire to help escape, and he makes a soulful cry for freedom with "The Eagle and Me." Yes, he's warm and genial enough to keep the middle-class 1940s Broadway audiences from feeling too threatened, but his deep conviction is clear. (The emphasis he puts on the final word is particularly haunting) Composer Arlen also appears on the album in a section of the chorus number "Sunday in Cicero Falls" and for his own solo (Taking over from a chorus member), "Man for Sale."

Needless to say, this score is very welcome in its CD reissue, which also features bonus tracks of Bing Crosby and the Russ Morgan orchestra recording songs from the show. While this may not be the most recognizeable title to leap out at you from Amazon or your local CD store, I nevertheless urge you to buy it, as you are likely to be pleasently surprised.

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