The Stingiest Man in Town

I've written before about the original musicals written for American television in the 1950s. Fifty-five years ago tomorrow, "The Alcoa Hour" presented a musical version of A Christmas Carol called The Stingiest Man in Town.

The creative team (Fred Speilman, music, and Janice Torre, book and lyrics) is not well known these days, but they produced quite a good score, memorialized in this 1956 Columbia release.

Damone, Madigan, Rathbone

At their service are an array of singers from both the pop and opera worlds; also Basil Rathbone as Scrooge.

Vic Damone, Johnny Desmond, Patrice Munsel and Betty Madigan offer an array of attractive numbers, although none became holiday standards. The Four Lads are utilized as a sort of Greek fraternity chorus in the guise of carollers commenting on the story.

Rathbone and Martyn Green

Spielman was a German expatriate composer who spent time in Hollywood. His biggest hit (written with Torre) was "Paper Roses," a country song.

Lost for many years, a kinescope of the original production was recently discovered and issued on DVD. The sound on the cast recording is vivid, although Columbia added a wash of reverberation, possibly to cover up dry studio sound.

The LP's back cover notes are fairly confusing, so a relevant cast list may be helpful:

Vic Damone - Young Scrooge
Johnny Desmond - Fred
The Four Lads - Carolers
Martyn Green - Bob Cratchit
Betty Madigan - Martha Cratchit
Patrice Munsel - Belle
Basil Rathbone - Ebenezer Scrooge
Robert Weede - Marley's Ghost
Robert Wright - Spirit of Christmas Present

LINK