Bewitched, Bothered, and Be-Audio’ed

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Welcome to a new Musical Theatre Monday! This month, I’m sharing with subscribers — who comment below to alert me of their interest — access to a rare audio taken 37 years ago (May 22, 1983) of a Town Hall concert version of Rodgers & Hart’s Pal Joey (1940).

The cast includes Michael Callan, Christine Ebersole, Laurie Beechman, George S. Irving, and Tammy Grimes. It’s not great quality — it’s “songs only,” and not all — but it’s a treasure. Here’s Grimes with the score’s biggest hit, “Bewitched, Bothered, And Bewildered.”

There’ve been a handful of actual productions throughout the years, including a mixed bag revival on Broadway back in 2008. (You can find a video on YouTube). But I’ve got something else to share: another rare audio of a 1983 take on Pal Joey. This time, it comes from a tour that features Joel Grey, with support from Randy Graff, Kelly Bishop, Jana Robbins, Ron Perlman, and Alexis Smith. Here’s the latter’s “Bewitched, Bothered, And Bewildered.”

 

 

Come back next month for another musical rarity! And stay tuned for more Danny Thomas!

20 thoughts on “Bewitched, Bothered, and Be-Audio’ed”

  1. Would love to hear these two gems!!! I’ve always loved Tammy Grimes, especially in High Spirits and Molly Brown. Thanks again!

  2. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered is one of my favorite Rodgers and Hart numbers. Great song musically and very clever and risque lyrics. I always like hearing recordings of this.

  5. Pal Joey is a show that I hated in my youth, but as I’ve aged (read: grown up!) it has become one of my favorite musicals. What a great score. Please do add to my PJ collection! I met Alexis Smith in New York when she was doing the revival of “The Women”, she was very gracious and beautiful!

  6. I’m so happy you not only have spot lighted “Pal Joey”, but that you mention the Kenley Players Production, which I saw and have pretty strong memories of. The Star Theatre in Flint, MI was on the Kenley Summer Stock Circuit, and I drove an hour or more to see this production because I thought Joel Grey and Alexis Smith sounded like perfect casting–and it was. The only other cast member I had heard of at that time was Kelly Bishop because she’d been in “A Chorus Line”, but I thought it was uniformly good production across the board. My strongest memory, actually, is of Alexis Smith signing “Bewitched”. She had also toured in “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” around the same time, and she really was electric on stage. Her rendition struck me at the time as being more clipped than what you would usually hear, but it so suited her performance on stage, that it’s lingered in my mind, I kid you not, to this day until I listened to it just now. Thanks for sharing. I’d love to hear the tracks you’re sharing from the Town Hall–1983 was a great year for “Pal Joey”!

    • Hi, Greg! Thanks for reading and commenting.

      What a nice memory — thanks for sharing. I have emailed you at your earthlink address.

  7. I’d love to hear these recordings. It’s a shame the Rodgers and Hart shows aren’t performed more often.

  9. I would like a copy of “Pal Joey” even though the audio is rough. At least the Joel Grey version is decipherable. Thanks for sharing.

    • Hi, Kim! Thanks for reading and commenting.

      I have emailed you at your stokesvideo address.

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