Completing the RCA "Show Time" Series

I have been shamefully neglectful of this blog lately, but will be doing my best to make amends.

When I have had little to offer in the past, my friends have bailed me out, and this is yet another time when that is the case. So Parchisi and MusicalGuy38 are the heroes of this particular post. Together they are helping us complete the run of recordings in RCA's "Show Time" Series of 1953, with that label's potted versions of one big hit (Show Boat), one lesser although worthy musical (The Cat and the Fiddle), both from Jerome Kern, and, of all things, one of Victor Herbert's lesser operettas, Mlle. Modiste.

We'll discuss these in order of popularity, and few musicals have been more popular than Show Boat (or Showboat as it is sometimes spelled). A few words about the singers who have not previously appeared here. William C. Smith was Joe in the 1948 revival of this show, and appeared in several other shows in the 1940s. (I couldn't find a photo of him.) John Tyers duets with (and was married to) Helena Bliss. He had been in Arms and the Girl and was to be seen in a revival of Die Fledermaus in 1954. Completing this excellent cast is the always superb Carol Bruce.

MusicalGuy38 insists that Show Boat was mastered a half-step sharp, and now that I have listened I have no doubt he is correct. So there are two versions of this file in the download - a lossless, restored version at the original pitch, from Parchisi as remastered by me, and a speed-adjusted mp3 version from MusicalGuy38.

Stephen Douglass

Patricia Neway

The Cat and the Fiddle features two fine but neglected artists of the time - Stephen Douglass and Patricia Neway. Douglass had been in Make a Wish and was to be in The Golden Apple in 1954. He was yet to experience his greatest role - Joe Hardy in Damn Yankees.

Edward Roecker

The excellent contralto Patricia Neway mostly appeared in opera, with many appearances in contemporary works, notably in Menotti's The Consul. She later won a Tony as the Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music.

Mlle. Modiste comes from 1905, and features Doretta Morrow and Felix Knight, who have appeared here before, as well as the relatively obscure Edward Roecker, who appeared in operetta and on radio.

Thanks again to MusicalGuy38 and Parchisi for their contributions, which have helped me complete the collection of this series that documents some of the notable talents on Broadway at mid-century.

More from RCA's "Show Time" Series

Helena Bliss

In this, the second installment in my protracted exploration of RCA Victor's 1953 "Show Time" Series of potted musicals, we hear from two favorites from my first post (Lisa Kirk and Jack Cassidy), one less-favored hold-over (George Britton) and two other performers who were prominent on Broadway at the time (Helena Bliss and Helen Gallagher).

In the "Show Time" Series, RCA devoted one side of a 10-inch LP to the high points of a notable musical. Each was also offered as an EP. This LP combines Kiss Me Kate of 1948 with Anything Goes from 1934.

Lisa Kirk - from the original cast - is top billed in Kiss Me Kate, but performs only one number - "Always True to You in My Fashion," which she introduced. The other songs are presented by George Britton, who had succeeded Ezio Pinza in South Pacific, and Helena Bliss, who herself had recently been in a London revival of Kiss Me Kate. Bliss' most famous role was in the Wright-Forrest Grieg farrago, Song of Norway. She soon was to appear in a Broadway revival of Show Boat.

Helen Gallagher

The other side of the record, devoted to Anything Goes, is dominated by Helen Gallagher, who had the daunting task of presenting songs that had been introduced by the force of theatre named Ethel Merman. Gallagher, herself no little personality, was appearing on Broadway in Hazel Flagg, the musical version of the screwball comedy Nothing Sacred. When Hazel Flagg was made into a movie, under the title Living It Up, Hazel somehow turned into Jerry Lewis. (Lady!!)

Gallagher acquits herself beautifully here. Although she was on Broadway for many years, she is perhaps best known today for her many years in American soap operas. Jack Cassidy duets with her on "You're the Top."

The sound here is quite good. More to come.