The Gershwins:Tip-Toes/Tell Me More

George Gershwin (Composer), Robert Fisher (Conductor, Performer), John Musto (Performer), Mark Baker (Performer), Andy Taylor (Performer), Emily Loesser (Performer), Rachel Coloff (Performer), Lee Wilkof (Performer), Alet Oury (Performer), Lewis J. Stadlen (Performer), David Garrison (Performer), Patrick Cassidy (Performer), Theresa Lee (Performer), Philip Chaffin (Performer), Evelyn Halus (Performer), Christine Ebersole (Performer), Sally Mayes (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Robert Fisher, John Musto, Mark Baker, Andy Taylor, Emily Loesser, et al.
• Conductor: Robert Fisher
• Composer: George Gershwin
• Audio CD (October 30, 2001)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: New World Records
• ASIN: B00005RGM8
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #62,777 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Overture

2. Florida

3. Nice Baby

4. Looking For A Boy

5. Lady Luck

6. When Do We Dance?

7. These Charming People

8. That Certain Feeling

9. Sweet And Low-Down

10. Finale-Act I

11. Entr'acte

12. Our Little Captain

13. Looking For A Boy

14. It's A Great Little World!

15. Nightie-Night!

16. Tip-Toes

17. Finale-Act II

18. Overture

19. Tell Me More

20. Tell Me More

See all 36 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This two-CD set collects a couple of shows by George and Ira Gershwin. Both produced in 1925, the two musicals--Tip-Toes and Tell Me More--are fairly obscure and don't boast as many famous songs as contemporary Gershwin offerings such as Oh, Kay! and Lady Be Good. Still, they are bursting with wit, invention, and joie de vivre. Based on a 1998 concert production, Tip-Toes is delicious, and several songs deserve a place in the Gershwin pantheon: the ballad "Looking for a Boy," the love duet "That Certain Feeling," and the rousing dance number "Sweet and Low-Down." The score is also notable for its spectacular writing for duo pianos. Tell Me More is not as immediately accessible (indeed, it had the shortest run of any Gershwin musical, with 32 performances), but it's delivered with élan by its topnotch cast, which includes Sally Mayes, Christine Ebersole, Diane Fratantoni, and David Garrison. Under the expert musical direction of Rob Fisher (from New York's famed Encores! series), this double set is, of course, essential for Gershwin completists. In fact, just about any fan of zany Jazz Age artifacts should relish it. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Two restored little Gershwin gems, November 10, 2001

By 

F. Behrens "Frank Behrens" (Keene, NH USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Gershwins:Tip-Toes/Tell Me More (Audio CD)

Although the Princess shows of Kern, Bolton and Wodehouse back in 1917 tried to introduce a solid plot into the American musical comedy, the story lines still did not amount to much until "Show Boat " set the standard. So when George and Ira Gershwin opened with two musicals in 1925, the first was based on a mistaken-identity situation already a cliché in the genre (Bolton did the book); and the second (again with Bolton, plus B.D. de Sylva) was about the Florida land boom that also formed the basis of Berlin's "The Coconuts" the very same year.

Both "Tell Me More" and "Tip-Toes" were part of the discovery of many Gershwin manuscripts buried in a New Jersey warehouse; and we can be most thankful to New World Records for restoring the scores and bits of the dialogue in a two-CD boxed set (80598-2). The music is what you would expect from Gershwin: 1920s jazzy with that special core of Gershwin genius. Yes, a good deal of it sounds like Berlin and Kern--as did just about every other contemporary composer except Romberg (who sounded like Herbert). On the other hand, "Kickin' the Clouds Away" from the earlier show seems to be the inspiration for Berlin's "Shakin' the Blues Away" written two years later! "Tell Me More" also does not shy away from ethnic jokes (i.e., mistaking a request to disguise oneself as British for doing so as Yiddish) that do not offend at all. And if we moderns grow impatient with the rich bubbleheads of the F. Scott Fitzgerald crowd, they are still a breath of fresh air after the population of "Miss Saigon" and plays of that sort.

The game casts have voices just right for this sort of characterization and delivery. The "Tip-Toes" production is taken from the Carnegie Hall Concert version and is outstanding.

This New World set deserves a place of honor among the other Gershwin Brothers restorations on other labels. And do not forget the New World complete recording of Kern's "Sitting Pretty," which (like these two Gershwin shows) did not produce any hits but is delightful from overture to Finale Ultimo.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tell Me More and more and more, December 6, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Gershwins:Tip-Toes/Tell Me More (Audio CD)

I bought this CD because I had seen the concert of Tip-Toes, which I found enjoyable if uneven: great songs in Act I and not much in Act II. But for me, the real revelation here is Tell Me More, a totally forgotten Gershwin musical from the Twenties. I only knew one of the songs, "Kickin' the Clouds Away," but this score hits all the right notes, from gently melodic to flat-out funny. And the cast couldn't be better. David Garrison and Christine Ebersole are hugely funny in the comic roles, tossing out their one-liners like the Broadway pros that they are. And what a delight to hear the romantic couple on one of these vintage recordings -- in this case, Diane Fratantoni and Philip Chaffin -- sing just like a real period couple: him with the creamy tenor voice and her with the boop-a-doop flapper sound. Their rendition of "Three Times a Day," a lovely ballad with a Kern-like flavor, is, for me, the highlight of this 2-CD set.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gifts from musical theater heaven!, July 23, 2005

By 

Elkhart (Moscow, Russia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Gershwins:Tip-Toes/Tell Me More (Audio CD)

The restoration of several complete Gershwin scores in recent years has been a gift from the theater gods. These two shows lack the bite of "Strike Up the Band," "Of Thee I Sing" and other earlier releases, but they have no lack of the Ira's wit and George's effortless melodies. Upbeat tuners "Kickin' the Clouds Away" and "Sweet and Low-Down" are especially engaging, and the authentic-sounding orchestrations lend a nostalgic aura. The first-rate casts seem to be having the time of their lives.