Word: takings
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1960-1969
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...didn't take Princeton head coach Jake McCandless long to abandon the single-wing when he took over from Dick Coleman last spring. Finding the right man to play the all-important quarterback position in the "T" was a different matter...
...pseudo-artsiness of the dream sequence is nothing in annoyance value compared to the performance of Michael Murphy's pit band. The musicians are seldom together, often out of tune, and usually spiritless. Conductor Murphy has little sense of tempo, and Philip Lang's nicely-orchestrated overture takes on a dirgelike quality that tends to make overture-lovers like myself cringe. (Note to Mr. Birnbaum: these people in the band are your enemies! Take a whip to them soon...
...YOUVE wondered, why haven't you heard of Take Me Along before? The answer lies in the facts of the original 1958 production. The show's producer at that time was none other than David Merrick, who then, as now, conceived of musicals as a kind of vaudeville show tailored for big stars. In Take Me Along's case, Merrick's original choice of a star was Anthony Perkins (in the role of Richard). Perkins, however, took another offer (Frank Loesser's Greenwillow), and Jackie Gleason was hired to star instead, in the role...
...that Gleason could handle. A weak director was hired and the libretto's somber tinge was submerged in fireworks. The show ran for a year, but had another producer (such as Hal Prince, whose West Side Story had revolutionized the Broadway musical the year before) besides Merrick done it. Take Me Along's life would surely have been much longer. (It is interesting to note that co-author Stein went on to write two great serious musicals, Fiddler on the Roof and Zorba, for Prince...
...unlike Merrick, George Birnbaum has had the sense-and the guts-to rely on the booze in Take Me Along and not the pizzazz. Isn't it nice to know that there's a director around here with more integrity than Broadway's most successful showman...