127 FRIDAY 31 OCTOBER 2014

They All Laughed – Ensamble

Here I am sitting in front of a blank screen trying to explain why I included They All Laughed, simply because I like it. Do I need to type paragraph after paragraph trying to intellectualise the reason why I chose this song? I think not. It is a fun song, I like it, period.

They All Laughed has been recorded by the likes of Chet Baker, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and more recently Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga. However, I picked this version from the musical “Nice Work If You Can Get It” because the show’s cast sings it after the bows. I wondered how many people in the company were laughed at when they said one day they’d be on a Broadway show. I’m sure every night every actor and dancer in the company were giving the finger to the many naysayers who laughed at their dreams of being on Broadway. Who’s got the last laugh now bitches?

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Week 19

These are the songs I picked between 31 October and 06 November 2014. I’ll talk about them next time.

They All Laughed  – Nice Work If Yo Can Get It Ensemble

Tonight You Belong To Me  – Emily Ritz, Lyle Ritz … I guess, in reality it is a song about the all types of love that sooner or later walk away from our lives.

Folies Bergeres  – Chita Rivera, Saundra Santiago, & Company

Overture – No, No, Nanette – Orchestra … The Overture of “No, No, Nanette” includes two favourites of mine which will eventually make it to the list, “Tea For Two” and “I Want To Be Happy”. 

Amapola – Orchestra

Pavane – Regina Carter … Forget about Carrie, Samantha and Miranda, it is Charlotte who gave “Sex And The City” its heart. 

I Wish I Could Forget You – Donna Murphy & Jere Shea

Week 18

These are the songs I picked between 24 October and 30 October 2014. I’ll talk about them next time.

Mounting Monty – Orchestra

My Heart Belongs To Daddy (The Trolley Song Reprise) – Liza Minnelli

Make Way for Tomorrow – Gene Kelly, Phil Silvers, Martha Mears … I first heard this song the year I graduated university and made it my musical theme during the months I searched for a job.

Danny Boy * – Rubén Blades, Luba Mason

Happy Endings – Liza Minnelli, Larry Kert … Not a time goes by that I don’t listen to this song without having a flashback to 1982.

I Am The One – Jennifer Damiano, Adam Chanler-Berat, Alice Ripley

I’ve Got to Be There – Matthew Broderick, Robyn Hurder & Chorus Girls … What a fun song it is. It is one of those pieces that the first time I heard it I looped it on my iPod, I couldn’t get enough of it.

* Top 10 Contender

Week 17

These are the songs I picked between 17 October and 23 October 2014. I’ll talk about them next time.

Hooray For Hollywood – Dick Powell, Francis Langford, Johnny Scat Davis, Gene Krupa, And Benny Goodman And His Orchestra … Fun fact. The Mr. Factor, who would make a monkey look good, is Max Factor himself, not the cosmetic company. It is the man who created the cosmetic empire and who worked in Hollywood for many years.

Hundreds Of Girls – Howard McGillin

Tap Your Troubles Away * – Jerry Herman, Tommy Tune

I Want to Go to Hollywood – Sutton Foster … From a solid plan, the song quickly becomes a cry for help, a plea for a woman who is at her wits ends.

The Trolley Song ** – Judy Garland … Whether it is a girl and her girlfriends hanging at the mall waiting for the boy she likes to show up, or even waiting with a smartphone in hand for the same boy to return a text, the sequence perfectly captures what it is to be young, in love and not knowing how to react to these new adolescent feelings of love.

Now You Know * – Alan Mosley, Company, Maria Friedman, Matthew White & Michael Cantwell

Old Friends – Celia Keenan-Bolger, Colin Donnell & Lin-Manuel Miranda

* Top 10 Contender

** Top 10 Fast-Tracked

Week 16

These are the songs I picked between 10 October and 16 October 2014. I’ll talk about them next time.

Stepping Out (Reprise) – Liza Minnelli … What I loved about the show in general was the use of women of different ages and shapes in the chorus. I’m not sure if Liza wanted to make a statement then, or maybe 1992 was just so long ago that young skinny bitches hadn’t conquered the entertainment industry yet.

Bye Bye Blackbird * – Liza Minnelli

I Love A Violin – Liza Minnelli

Dejala Bailar – Soledad Bravo

Catch A Falling Star – Emilie de Ravin … Such a lovely way to give ourselves permission to be sentimental hoarders, we never know when the things we’ve collected and kept near our hearts may awake and finally serve a purpose.

Moving On (Alternate, with Ukulele) * – Orchestra

Shuffle Off To Buffalo – Ruby Keeler, Clarence Nordstrum, Ginger Rogers, Una Merkel, Chorus … This 1933 song reminds me of my childhood. Young readers won’t bat an eyelid since they may assume that’s around the time I was born. 

* Top 10 Contender