How Now, Dow Jones (1967 Original Broadway Cast)

Sammy Smith, Carolyn Leigh, Marlyn Mason, Hiram Sherman, Max Shulman, Elmer Bernstein | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 24, 2010)
• Original Release Date: November 23, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rca Victor
• ASIN: B00002SWMY
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #90,349 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Dismissable Show, But Lyrics Not to be Missed, May 28, 2000

By 

Kenneth Jones (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Now, Dow Jones (1967 Original Broadway Cast) (Audio CD)

This silly, frivolous show will never rank as more than mediocre, but don't miss some choice lyrics by Carolyn Leigh, one of only a few women to write Broadway musicals ("Wildcat" and "Little Me" were her other contributions, and she memorably wrote pop songs "Witchcraft," "The Best is Yet to Come" and "You Fascinate Me So" with Cy Coleman). She is frisky, smart and alert in "How Now" and recalls Lorenz Hart and Yip Harburg with her wordplay and her penchant for bending the language. When city women yearn for brutish men of yore instead of stock brokers in "They Don't Make 'Em Like That Anymore," they sing: "Where's my Henry? Where's Atilla? Where's that trusty ol' lusty gorilla? Where's that lovely Greek god among civilized men who'd come on now and then like Godzilla?" If Broadway lyricists interest you, this is a tiny treasure.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Marlyn Mason and Brenda Vaccaro dazzle in a fabulous Broadway flop, November 18, 2011

By 

Byron Kolln (the corner where Broadway meets Hollywood) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: How Now, Dow Jones (1967 Original Broadway Cast) (Audio CD)

Yet another flop from the 1960s (a period when Broadway musicals were going through a major transition), HOW NOW, DOW JONES sounds like it was one of the big hits of the 1967-68 season, though it's performance tally - 220 performances - would mark it as a middling failure. Producer David Merrick might have been encouraged by the success of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying", but this Wall Street-bound musical--with a score by Elmer Bernstein no less--didn't grab the public's imagination or the box office with the same results.

Any cast album is guaranteed to be a memorable one when you have vivacious Marlyn Mason in the female lead. Toss in delicious Brenda Vaccaro and you've got a real treat! Alas, Marlyn Mason's Broadway career began and ended with her role of Kate in ...DOW JONES, but she makes the most of a dazzling tunestack (including the gorgeous ballad "Walk Away", which should have become a cabaret standard). The score for ...DOW JONES yielded at least one genuine hit, "Step to the Rear". Whoever is of the opinion that Broadway musicals of the 1960s are naive certainly hasn't paid attention to the cynical wordplay of "Shakespeare Lied" (can this really be the same Carolyn Leigh, the lyricist who helped Mary Martin to fly in "Peter Pan"?).

This bare-bones reissue of RCA's cast album doesn't come with any liner notes or additional information, but I'm glad it's in print again nevertheless.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not great, but not bad either, May 12, 2010

By 

Sean Martin (in a state of denial) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: How Now, Dow Jones (1967 Original Broadway Cast) (Audio CD)

HOW NOW DOW JONES harkens back to a time when shows werent prepackaged or premarketed. Instead, like its companions HELLO DOLLY, WILDCAT, and others of the era, it was meant as slight, frothy entertainment and nothing more. No serious message, no searing indictment of contemporary life -- just mindless entertainment.

I had the pleasure of seeing this messy bit of twaddle in Fort Worth in the 1960s, at Casa Manana, and fell in love. I thought the cast album was long gone and was pleasantly surprised to see it on CD. No, it's not earthshaking stuff, but I cant imagine a more diverting way of spending an hour. With songs like "Rich is Better" and "Shakespeare Lied", the lyrics have a wonderfully nasty bite that hasnt been equaled, save by Sondheim. The score isnt Bernstein's best by a long shot, but it's still far better than most of the mediocrity running today. And I would imagine that an enterprising producer could arrange a rewrite of the book to make it equal to Leigh's marvelous lyrics and have a hit today -- especially with everything that's been going on with the market.

Buy it. You wont go wrong doing so.