Oh Captain! (1958 Original Broadway Cast)
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Composer: Jay LivingstonComposer: Ray Evans
Performer: Tony Randall
Performer: Susan Johnson
Performer: Jacquelyn McKeever
Edition: Music CD
Format: Cast Recording, Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 2002-08-27
Music Label: Drg
Soundtracks:
- Overture/A Very Proper Town
- Life Does A Man A Favor (When It Gives Him Simple Joys)
- Life Does A Man A Favor (When It Leads Him Down To The Sea)
- Captain Henry St. James
- Three Paradises
- Surprise
- Life Does A Man A Favor / Hey Madame! (When It Puts Him In Paree)
- Femininity
- It's Never Quite The Same
- We're Not Children
- Give It All You Got / Love Is Hell
- Keep It Simple
- The Morning Music Of Montmartre
- You Don't Know Him
- I've Been There And I'm Back
- Double Standard
- You're So Right For Me
- All The Time
- Finale
Music reviews of Oh Captain! (1958 Original Broadway Cast)
Music Review: Should have been a smash
Rating: 5 Stars
1958 was a tough year at the Tony's. The Music Man won pretty much everything in the musical categories except best actress and best choreographer. Other runners up that year included West Side Story and New Girl in Town. So it may be logical that Oh Captain! faded into obscurity especially when Tony Randall (1920 - 2004) left the show after 192 performances. Logical, but quite a loss.
Oh Captain! is a musical version of the 1953 Alec Guinness film, "The Captain's Paradise." It's a workable plot. Captain Henry St. James has three paradises: his ship, his wife in Surrey, and his mistress in Paris. When his wife and mistress discover each other, they both leave him. Full of remorse, he gives his ship to his first mate and mistress, and his forgiving wife returns. This is, after all, the Eisenhower era.
Admittedly, the lyrics and rhymes are unsophisticated by Broadway standards. The first two lines of the first song set a relatively low standard for the rest of the show: "This is a very proper town it is. / One of the jewels of the crown it is."
There are some embarrassing struggles for rhyme: "We gave the world our tweet and the Churchill victory sign / The Jaguar, and the crumpet, and the Scotch of Ballantine." Ouch.
However, there are some successes:
"I'll visit churches, L'Opera Comique / I'll go on searches for things unique" or
"How can I enjoy the city if I wander on my own / Say, you're might pretty and you seem to be alone," or
"There's a word for you, you tainted saint / But as a lady of restraint / I can't tell you what that certain word is." or
"When you want a raise and you need the dough / And the boss looks up and he hollers, `No'! / When you tell him where to go, / Give it all you've got."
But the music is wonderful. Yes, Jay Livingston (1915 - 2001) is the same man who wrote "Buttons and Bows," "Que Sera Sera," "Mona Lisa," and - good grief - "Tammy," but he rises far above Hollywood for this show. There are light atmospheric numbers ("Surprise," "The Morning Music of Montmartre"), terrific comic numbers ("Femininity," "Give It All You've Got"), and rousing chorus songs ("Captain Henry St. James," "Life Does a Man a Favor When It Leads Him Down to the Sea"). But the ballads ("It's Never Quite the Same," "You Don't Know Him," "You're So Right for Me," "All the Time") absolutely soar.
(Interestingly, "Life Does a Man a Favor" is repeated, not reprised, twice in the show with different lyrics and also serves as the finale. The opening of "Three Paradises" returns in the second act as "All the Time." )
The cast is terrific. The Internet Movie Database quotes Tony Randall as saying, "I have a nice healthy tone, but it's not terribly musical. If beautiful voices are golden, mine is aluminum." What he may lack in tone he more than makes up for in these songs with the character and inflection of the smug captain. Jacquelyn McKeever (1934 -) was only 24 when she played the middle-aged Maud and has a lovely voice. Susan Johnson (1927 - 2003) belts "Give It All You Got" out of the park. Edward Platt (1916 -1974), yes the Chief in "Get Smart," actually trained for opera and was a vocalist with Paul Whiteman in the late `30's and early `40's. His is a great voice for the world-weary first mate. Eileen Rodgers (1930 - 2003) records Bobo and her earthy voice is perfect for the earthy role. Platt and Rodgers have a duet - what a pair of voices!
I saw this show when I was [...] and of course I don't remember it. But the family had the Columbia Original Broadway Cast album (mono only), and I've been humming these tunes in the shower every week now for almost 50 years. You will do the same.
Thank DRG for re-releasing this recording - and in stereo. But remember this is 1958 stereo: strings are fully left, brass is fully right, woodwinds and vocals are dead center. Otherwise, the remastering is a great success - it sounds as good as any current recording.
Now if only Jerry Zak ("Guys and Dolls") or Kathleen Marshall ("Pajama Game") would revive the show.
Description of Oh Captain! (1958 Original Broadway Cast)
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