Welcome to a new Musical Theatre Monday! This month, I’m sharing a songs-only audio — with subscribers who comment below to alert me of their interest — of a production of the Gershwins’ Funny Face (1927), which originally starred the Astaire siblings, including Fred, who was born 120 years ago (next month). We originally covered this show back in 2014, but since then, I’ve had the pleasure of obtaining an audio of the 1981 Goodspeed Opera production that, unlike My One And Only (1983) — which began with the intention of reworking the original show — was actually a fairly faithful presentation (as far as the score was concerned). Interpolations were few and most of them were at least written for the original.

It’s one of George and Ira’s finest scores, and almost every song is a gem. You’ve heard them all before, but as a sample, here’s one of the rarer ones, “Dance Alone With You,” which was cut and then put into Rosalie (1928) with new lyrics and a new title, “Ev’rybody Knows I Love Somebody.” This comes from the aforementioned Goodspeed audio. Subscribers, comment below and let me know if you’d like access to the full songs-only recording!

Come back next month for a new Musical Theatre rarity! And stay tuned tomorrow for more sitcom fun!