Welcome to a new Musical Theatre Monday! This month — the last of 2024 — I’m celebrating one of the shows that turned 100 this year, the Gershwins’ Lady, Be Good!, which opened on December 1, 1924 and starred Fred and Adele Astaire.

In honor of this classic musical with a rip-roaring, gem-laden score of standards, I’m sharing — with subscribers who comment below to alert me of their private, non-commercial interest — access to an untracked audio taken from a recent production celebrating Lady, Be Good!’s centenary. It played this past June at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Italy — a beautiful venue I had the pleasure of touring a few months earlier, in April. Here’s a sample of that recording — Matt Blaker, Rhiannon Chesterman, and the brilliant, boisterous orchestra with “I’d Rather Charleston,” one of the numbers introduced in the show’s 1926 London production. Enjoy — and here’s to another 100 years of the fascinating rhythms from Lady, Be Good! 

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