Customer Reviews

Goldilocks (1958 Original Broadway Cast)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first discovered Goldilocks through the double draw of Leroy Anderson and Elaine Stritch. Elaine Stritch I already knew as Joanne in Company singing "The Ladies Who Lunch", and Leroy Anderson was one of my favorite composers, known for such light programmatic and novelty orchestral pieces as The Syncopated Clock, Belle of the Ball, Bugler's Holiday, The Typewriter and Plink, Plank, Plunk. That combo of names caught my eye as I was flipping through the record bins one day, and as I scanned the album cover I saw the names Don Ameche, Nathaniel Frey and Margaret Hamilton which absolutely clinched the deal. I left the store with the record and went straight home to play it. From the moment I dropped the needle (yes, I've had it that long) I was captivated, and it has since become one of my perennial favorites.

The score is top notch, particularly in the material for Stritch and the perfectly cast Don Ameche. It does sag a bit in the material for the secondary couple, but I think that's because it's the primary couple who are the comedians while the secondary couple gets stuck with the sappy side of romance. Yes, there are book problems. Walter Kerr later admitted that they kept beefing up the comedy at the expense of the love story, and reading through the book (which through an incredible stroke of good fortune I found at a local Half Price Books) that's a fair criticism. But this weakness doesn't overwhelm the show and make it unworkable. I have to agree with the assessment that with The Music Man already running featuring a slightly more lovable con artist and a sweet rather than brassy leading lady, Goldilocks wasn't able to measure up to the competition. Taken on its own terms though, Goldilocks works wonderfully.

To mention particular favorites of mine in the score, I have to start with Stritch's Act 2 torch song, "I Never Know When To Say When". Why didn't this become a standard? It stacks up with the best Broadway has to offer. You can hear the pain in Stritch's voice as she laments the mess she's made of her relationships. "Give the Little Lady" near the top of Act 1 doesn't really cover much in the realm of plot, but it's just so much fun, and "The Beast In You" never fails to get me laughing. All of these feature Stritch alone or with the chorus, but her duet with Ameche, "No One'll Ever Love You", is just as good, and Ameche's solo number, "I Can't Be In Love", in which he discovers to his astonishment that he is indeed in love, is priceless. Then on top of that is "Bad Companions" for Don Ameche's shady sidekicks Nathaniel Frey (an excellent comic character actor who appeared in many better known shows such as Damn Yankees and She Loves Me) and Margaret Hamilton (the Wicked Witch of the West sings!) which is a hoot from start to finish. These are the standouts in my book, but the whole score is eminently listenable, pleasant and tuneful. Of course with Leroy Anderson writing the music it couldn't be anything else.

I sometimes wish I had been born 30-40 years earlier so I could have actually seen what I am only able to get the barest hint of from reading the libretto and listening to the cast album. I strongly recommend to anyone who has had enough interest to wind up here reading these reviews to make this show a permanent part of your collection. More people need to know this show!

Having learned about the life of Leroy Anderson through the recent PBS story on his career,I was very interested to hear this famous composer's only Broadway show.

This original cast recording is a gem. The majority of the songs are first rate, the perfomers are all first rate and the recording quality sounds as fine as anything on the market today. What a shame that the show had such serious problems, such as a weak book and opening with such hits as West Side Story and Music Man already running on Broadway.

If you enjoy Broadway musicals and don't know this show, buy this recording. You will not be disappointed!

Leroy Anderson is one of my favorite composers. Stritch is one of my favorite performers. The Kerrs are brilliant theater people. How could this show not turn out to be a classic? It's a shame that the talent of the performers went unappreciated and that the book was criticized as being too plot-heavy, because the score is absolutely delightful. From a slam-bang overture, to a dead-on operetta parody to Stritch's fantastic first song, to the love duet that follows, the great music just keeps comiong. Okay, there are some drawbacks - Pat Stanley's voice seems too tame at times, and the songs for Max, supposedly the romantic lead, are pretty awful. And the score seems far too abbreviated, as though this cd were only a highlights album. Also, "I Never Know When" - probably the most gorgeous song in the show - is a rather overt ripoff of "By goona-gonna lagoon" from The Golden Apple, a far better show which has similarly been lost to the ages. But this CD is really wonderful, and makes a welcome addition to any collection.

Stritch was always Stritch. And she hasn't ever disappointed me. But singing songs ranging from ballad to patter, she joins Don Ameche in presenting music that was too quickly forgotten. Walter and Jean Kerr, teamed up with famous arranger, Leroy Anderson, to produce a musical with at least eight completely original, vastly amusing, jewels of songs. (Yes, there are a few you should pass over.) I haven't heard good things about the book, which often explains a musical's early demise, but the album makes me wish that I'd been born thirty years earlier! Oh, to have seen this live! And for you Wizard of Oz fans out there, Margaret Hamilton is featured as a "Bad Companion" singing on one of the shows key numbers. If you know this musical, you're a better person. Let's not "Pussyfoot": it's a great CD!

Someone had a brilliant notion in getting Leroy Anderson to write a show. (It wasn't the first time; he was hired for "Wonderful Town" but was ditched in favor of Leonard Bernstein.) That it didn't quite work may owe to the fact that he was largely written out, the best of his imperishable vest-pocket tone poems long in the past. Still, this is an utterly captivating score, superbly interpreted. If you want a complete idea how it sounds you might want to get MCA's budget two-disc anthology of Anderson conducting his own music, including several of the show's dance numbers; they almost make you forget how great Arthur Fiedler was with this master of the pops.

GOLDILOCKS is one of my all-time favorite 'lost musicals'. It struggled through three months and 161 performances on Broadway, only to close after scathing reviews and dwindling audiences.

GOLDILOCKS was written by theater critic Walter Kerr as a love-letter to the silent movies that had captivated him as a child. The story concerns sardonic silent-actress Maggie Harris (Elaine Stritch) who has a stormy love-hate relationship with her cocky director (Don Ameche). Complications arise in the form of beautiful Lois Lee (Pat Stanley), who sets out to steal him for herself. Maggie decides to make one more picture under the assumed name of Goldilocks, and makes one last grab at romance...

The reason why the show failed so miserably was the weakness of the book, which was magnified a thousand times over by the greatness of the score; which features "Lazy Moon", "Lady in Waiting", "The Pussy Foot", "Where is the Beast in You?", and my personal favorite "I Never Know When to Say When".

Through its lovely cast album, the musical has a devout cult following and no wonder. Elaine Stritch in her first Broadway leading-role (after years of supporting work in revivals of PAL JOEY and ON YOUR TOES) and the sparkling score of Leroy Anderson is fantastic stuff. Highly recommended.

Sony Music.

This is another splendid original cast recording from Goddard Lieberson and Columbia records. Great score by Leroy Anderson by a fine cast headed by Elaine Stritch who is in great voice here. Don Ameche is her nemesis/love interest and Pat Stanley nearly steals the show with her first act number "The Pussy Foot."

The record is short (45 minutes) and does not include the dance pice "The Town House Maxixe" which can be heard on MCA's Leroy Anderson collection. What is on the CD is quite delightful and Sony has done a first rate job coaxing excellent sound from the early stereo tapes. The booklet gives a good essay on the history of the trobled show and a detailed plot summary.

This is a rare chestnut of the great period of Musicals of the fifties and sixties. Surprising it did not last longer on the boards then it did, but probably, not so surprising, when you are up against "Music Man" and others playing around the same time.... I am surprised that no one mentions the wonderful Russell Nype..I believe I read all of the reviews and his name is not given a mention..This man had a golden voice and performs his two ballads with great feeling and emotion; he played second fiddle to the great Ethel Merman in "Call Me Madam", however Donald O'Connor got the film role..Russell has an excellent, clear, beautiful voice and hopefully will not be forgotten in the annals of Musical Theater...Please go to other websites to see and hear him sing "Your'e Just in Love" from Call Me Madam, and "It's a Lovely Day" from the same show..By the way, this cast album is very difficult to find in its original form, so would be interested if anyone locates it! Again one of Elaine Stritch's greatest roles, of course, along with her part in "Company" She really shines in this and is given some wonderful songs to sing, with a standout being the 11:00 number...LeRoy Anderson, the composer penned some real knockout numbers in this, but wish he would have done more on Broadway! Suporting cast is fine with Don Ameche, Pat Stanley, and Margaret Hamilton, and as another reviewer stated, it would have been nice to have more of MG...I would encourage anybody building their collection of the fifties to add this one to their shelf.

The show has the great music one would expect from the composer and the great jokes that one would expect from the lyricists/book writers. Along with extremely tasty jokes and scenes, there are wonderfully shameless moments: Margaret Hamilton lip-syncing a high C (H?) in "Bad Companions"; Stritch, in the silent movie, beating an Indian to death with a baby snatched from a crib. I saw it eight times when it was on Broadway; I may be partial, but I'm correctly partial.

Someone asked me about music I enjoyed over the years. I thought about all the Broadway Show music and then remembered tunes from Goldilocks. We had a group that got together on Sunday afternoons and we swapped favorite songs. I had never heard the album until one Sunday and we listened to Ms. Stritch and others several times. I was so happy to find the cast album on Amazon. I immediately called the remaining members of the Sunday afternoon group and played the album. Good memories, good music and a fun score. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Broadway and are fans of Ms. Stritch. I saw her on the Performance at the White House, she captivated President and Mrs. Obama. Of course she did likewise on the Sondhiem Birthday Celebration. By the way, this is an evergreen but at the price, take a chance. You will not regret it.