Welcome to a new Musical Theatre Monday! This month, I’m thrilled to be celebrating the 90th anniversary of Cole Porter’s classic Anything Goes, which first opened on Broadway on November 21, 1934. As many of you know, this show holds a special place in my heart, for it was a key stepping stone in my developing love not only for musicals, but for classic musicals and the history of this genre as a whole (with a special fondness for both Cole Porter and Ethel Merman as a result). In fact, the Musical Theatre Monday part of this blog probably wouldn’t exist without Anything Goes, and I’ve written several tribute posts over the past decade-plus in celebration of this still revived gem (tweaked though it may be!) where I’ve shared pretty much all the goodies I have pertaining to that remarkable original production.

However, to celebrate its milestone anniversary this year, I thought I’d offer — for subscribers who comment below to alert me of their private, non-commercial interest — something that has to do with my personal favorite recording of the score: the 1989 studio cast album conducted by John McGlinn, who presided over a restoration of the original production’s materials. That’s the only available way to hear anything close to what audiences in the mid-’30s would have heard at the Alvin Theatre. (Even though Merman herself got cast in Paramount’s 1936 film adaptation, so few Cole Porter songs were included in the final cut!) Well, I’ve got a treat, for in March 1988, five months before McGlinn and his cast went into the studio to record their seminal tribute, they gave radio listeners a preview, performing — live at Symphony Space — the Overture and five additional songs. It’s the same folks — Kim Criswell, Cris Groenendaal, Frederica von Stade — and the same arrangements… but not the exact same performances you know (and it’s obviously not mixed like the official recording is — so you’ll pick up different parts of the orchestrations). Here’s a sample — in honor of this delightfully fun show that still brings joy to many young musical theatre lovers everywhere.

Oh, and one more thing. Here’s a clip from a 1939 Gulf Screen Guild Show broadcast — George Murphy and Shirley Ross singing a rendition of “You’re The Top” with updated lyrics and a new “comic insult” take on the number. It’s notable because Murphy and Ross starred as Billy and Reno in Anything Goes’ 1935 West Coast premiere production, which played Los Angeles and San Francisco while the Broadway company (with Benay Venuta in place of Merman) was still running in New York. This history makes it a fun curio.

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