Audios For A Monday Evening

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Welcome to a new Musical Theatre Monday! This month, as we celebrate one of the American sitcom’s first attempts to reach the baby-booming teen audience with The Many Loves Of Dobie Gillis, we’re turning our sights to a similar work from the Broadway stage: Bye Bye Birdie (1960), the classic Adams and Strouse musical that featured great talents like Chita Rivera and Paul Lynde, and made a star out of future sitcom legend Dick Van Dyke. (Also, brief Dobie Gillis co-star Michael J. Pollard appeared in the original cast as Hugo Peabody!)

In honor of this fun musical, I’ve got an audio — for subscribers who comment below to alert me of their interest — of the 2004 Encores! production, with Karen Ziemba, Daniel Jenkins, Jessica Grove, Bob Gaynor, and Marie Barone herself, Doris Roberts. Instead of a musical excerpt, here’s something more fun: a book scene where Roberts shines.

As a bonus, for subscribers who comment below, I’ll also throw in two audios from Tommy Tune’s tour in the early ’90s — one with Ann Reinking, one with Lenora Nemetz. (There are a few new songs in here, including a number for Rose and Mae, played by Marilyn Cooper!)

 

 

Come back next month for a new musical rarity! And stay tuned tomorrow for more Dobie Gillis!

22 thoughts on “Audios For A Monday Evening”

  5. Hi Jackson,
    I saw the sequel to this on broadway calked Bring Back Birdie with Donald O’conner in previews . Good thing too because it opened and closed almost immediately. I did do that show at my school when I was teaching and it was well received by the kids
    I would love to hear those bonus versions please if you would send them to me
    Thank you,
    Bob Murphy

  6. Hello Jackson, I would love to have the chance to hear these versions of Birdie. Thx.

  8. I have to comment on that tour poster… did no one think before putting the Bye Bye Birdie logo ‘lips’ between Ann Reinking’s splayed legs?

    • Hi, Roy! Thanks for reading and commenting.

      Guess not — those lips stayed there through the whole tour.

      Let me know if you’re interested in these audios.

  9. Dear Mr. Upperco: Just such a big fan of That’s Entertainment! So much to thank you for. But could you please explain something to me? You often write that you will send additional audios to subscribers, which I’d very much like to receive. The two you mention above from Bye-Bye Birdie, for example. Am I already a subscriber or do I need to do something more to become one? Forgive my confusion! By the way, I love the way you build a conceptual and historical understanding of the development of TV comedy, including its radio and movie roots. In appreciate that you are a writer trying to advance comedy today but also love when you analyze old shows I remember as a kid like Danny Thomas and Dobie Gillis. Wishing you good fortune in everything you do — having gotten your sends for a few years now I feel like you’re a treasured old friend and regret I haven’t sent you more of the rave reviews you’ve earned more often. Paul Berg

    • Hi, Paul! Thanks for reading and commenting.

      I really appreciate your kind words — thank you. And, you’re already a subscriber, so whenever I offer something in which you’re interested, just comment below and I’ll send it over to your yahoo address, like I have done with these BYE BYE BIRDIE audios.

      Also, I see from your past comments that you were interested in an old Judy Garland special, so I’ve sent that over, too!

      Thanks again for your kind words!

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