Welcome to a new Musical Theatre Monday! This month, I’m celebrating a fun score that never quite made it to Broadway, as the original production folded during out-of-town tryouts amidst negative reviews. It’s the largely forgotten 1981 musical adaptation of Harvey, Mary Chase’s classic 1944 comedy — best remembered for its sweet 1950 film transfer starring Jimmy Stewart. This version, entitled Say Hello To Harvey, boasted a melodious tunestack by Leslie Bricusse and a cast led by Hollywood song-and-dance man Donald O’Connor as Elwood P. Dowd, with Dame Patricia Routledge as his skeptical sister Veta.

It’s hard to know what went wrong without having seen the production firsthand; the general consensus was that the score was old-fashioned and the play had no business being reshaped into a musical in the first place. However, thanks to a songs-only soundboard recording — which I am offering to subscribers who comment below to alert me of their private, non-commercial interest — I’m happy to say that, at least on the musical end, I think Bricusse’s work for Say Hello To Harvey was as engagingly toe-tapping and earwormy as ever, and I enjoy a lot of it. From the opening “Smalltown U.S.A.” to the ensemble’s bouncy tribute to “Elwood P. Dowd,” these tunes evoke the Golden Age of American musical comedy with genre-specific joy.

The production also was well-cast. Routledge, who never had the Broadway hit she deserved, shined in “A Lousy Life” (which was later repurposed for Bricusse’s Sherlock Holmes stage score).

And Donald O’Connor is as likable as ol’ Jimmy, with a handful of terrific character numbers — one notably ripped right from Mary Chase’s famous dialogue, “I Recommend Pleasant.” Here it is, in honor of this underrated Broadway-almost score.

Come back next month for another musical treat! And keep it here for more Modern Family!