Word: loesser
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Gilbert's distress, the lowly singing commercial-once denounced by Herbert Hoover, and banned from the air "in the public interest" by Detroit's WWF -now commands the talents of bigger names than his. Last month Frank (Guys and Dolls) Loesser entered the jingle-writing lists with a new firm, Frank Productions Inc., which boasts a creative stable dwarfing the credits of any Broadway musical: Hoagy (Stardust) Carmichael, Vernon (April in Paris) Duke, Harold (Fanny) Rome and, for lyrics alone, Ogden Nash. On his heels came Raymond Scott, composer of Lucky Strike's Be Happy, Go Lucky...
Divorced. Frank Loesser, 46, famed words-and-musicman (Guys and Dolls) and indefatigable (1,500 songs) tunesmith (Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition, Jingle-Jangle-Jingle, etc.); by Mary Alice ("Lynn") Loesser, 41, tall, blonde co-producer of Loesser's current Broadway hit, The Most Happy Fella; after 20 years of marriage, two children; in Santa Monica...
...from last season that is still blooming after some 400 performances, pouring back profits to CBS, its sole angel ($401,000), which got exclusive television rights. Except for stray seats, My Fair Lady is dated up until September. Other hits from past seasons that are still flourishing are Frank Loesser's operatic The Most Happy Fella, and Damn Yankees, a rollicking tale of sex, baseball and the devil...
...Most Happy Fella (based on Sidney Howard's They Knew What They Wanted; book, lyrics and music by Frank Loesser) is Frank Loesser's first Broadway show since Guys and Dolls. In style more like an opera than a straight Broadway show, it achieves opera's invariable prime aim: its music stands splendidly foremost. In Broadway terms, The Most Happy Fella boasts an exuberantly rich and varied score that ranges from perky show tunes and bright snatches flung over the shoulder to full-throated romantic duets and choruses that flood the theater...
...some of Loesser's lyrics, with their flat words and cliche rhymes, are not really suitable company for his music. Perhaps the only things that are suitable are Baritone Robert Weede in the title role, Susan Johnson in a comedy role, much of Joseph Anthony's lively staging and the best of Jo Mielziner's sets. But in working toward something more varied and spacious than the standard Broadway musical, Fella at its worst is a misstep forward; while the music itself is among Broadway's most resplendent in years...