Customer Reviews

Mr. President (1962 Original Broadway Cast)

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

 

 

Irving Berlin was a Russian immigrant who loved his adopted country and spent an entire career singing its praises with the highest being the up-lifting and beautiful "God Bless America" and the lowest being "This is a Great Country." Never heard of This is a Great Country?" Well it's from "Mr President" and it's bland and corny and almost sounds as if it was put in as the finale to lift the audiences spirits as they left the theatre since the previous two hours must have put them to sleep. Robert Ryan plays a president in his last few months in office with Nanette Fabray as his ever so chipper first lady.

The best that can be said about the music and lyrics is their pleasant and the worst predictable. Did you ever wonder what a first lady thinks? It's all there-"The First Lady" What does the president think about when he is away from his cabinet and world leaders--"It Gets Lonely in the White House" When the love-sticken but poor secret service agent is trying to court the presidents daughter-"Empty Pockets Filled With Love". Showing he was up to the times Mr Berlin even tries a twist number called "The Washington Twist"--this is the twist with a twist-hmmm.

One little theatrical antecdote. Joshua Logan the director(he must have this in his contracts)always had to have a scene or two where either the leading man or the chorus boys were down to their undies. Now how to do this in a show about a President, his wife and two grown children. Eureka! Have the first lady go on a world-wide tour "They Love Me" featuring native dancers, a kabuki spider and some "tanned Tahitians".

"Mr President" was Irving Berlins last show and although the critics jeered, any man who is responsible for "God Bless America" is ok by me.

The way to enjoy MR. PRESIDENT? Program your CD player to skip any track that doesn't feature Nanette Fabray. Making silk purses was easy as pie for her.

Usually I submit my review before reading others, but this time, because I couldn`t come up with much positive to say, I turned to THE THEATER MANIA GUIDE TO MUSICAL THEATER RECORDINGS. It's scary how much Marc Miller and I agree on this recording. To quote: "There's scarcely a fresh idea in MR. PRESIDENT, just a lot of recycling of old ones that were better executed the first time: the latest dance craze ('The Washington Twist'); the contrapuntal duet ('Empty Pockets Filled With Love'); and the novelty number to wake up a drowsy Act II ('The Only Dance I Know'). One character even announces, 'The girl that I marry will have to be/Meat and potatoes, potatoes and meat like me.' (Huh?)" He praises Ms. Fabray ("always a pro") and goes on to write "First Daughter Anita Gillette is fine in 'The Secret Service.'"

Even though [MR. PRESIDENT is] "a look at a JFK-like First Family," everything about it feels as though it belongs in an earlier era. During the 60s, did anyone - with the possible exception of Frank Sinatra - refer to women as "dames"? No one I knew drove a "motor car." 1962 was the year of the Cuban Missile Crisis, John Glenn's moon orbit, and the first use of silicone breast implants. Folk musicians were writing protest songs and people were turning on, tuning in, and dropping out. You wouldn't know from listening to this recording.

Many years ago, a student of mine wrote a story that went something like this. Once upon a time, a child was born with no body, just his head, which was okay until he discovered other children could run and play and do all sort of cool things. Every night he prayed to have a body, like all the other kids. And one morning he awoke to find his prayers had been answered. Ecstatic, he ran out of the house to share his good news and consequently was hit by a truck and killed. MORAL: Quit while you're ahead.

In spite of its flaws, MR. PRESIDENT belongs in your collection, along with all the other Irving Berlin shows. (AS THOUSANDS CHEER is available from Footlight.) It's a fiercely patriotic composer's last love letter to his adopted home. And if a patriotic show during the 60s seems like flag waving, "Do you know of a better flag to wave?"

The last major Broadway score from the pen of Irving Berlin, MR. PRESIDENT is a charming throwback to his earlier musical hits ("Call Me Madam" in particular), though of course this was precisely why it failed to find it's key audience in 1962, closing after eight months and 265 performances.

Broadway musicals of the early Sixties were in a definite state of flux. "Bye Bye Birdie" virtually reinvented the sound of musicals, so when the audiences of MR. PRESIDENT were invited, in the opening number, to "go back to the waltz", you can imagine their confusion!

Cast members Nanette Fabray and Anita Gillette (playing the first lady Nell Henderson and her teenage daughter Leslie) manage to keep their songs nice and bouncy; but they can only do so much to give the score, as a whole, it's needed lift. I agree with previous reviewers who've recommended listeners to programme the CD with just Fabray's musical numbers--it does make for a far more pleasurable experience! This was Fabray's long-awaited return to Broadway after a ten-year absence (her last role had been as Janette in 1951's "Make a Wish", another show which flopped badly); in between, Fabray had made a success in movies with "The Band Wagon" and established herself as a popular TV personality. MR. PRESIDENT is sadly Fabray's final Broadway musical appearance to date.

I also own the original Columbia LP with it's silver foil cover and colour-tinted cast photo inside the gatefold; a real treasure (the same photo is replicated on the back of the CD booklet). This is the second major CD reissue of the MR. PRESIDENT cast album (following a long-deleted release on the old Sony Broadway label), so grab it before it disappears...again.

[DRG 19124]

There's no use pretending this is a great show score, but it's not unpleasant, and when Nanette Fabray gets a song between her teeth, things perk up considerably. Irving Berlin's melodies are likable, but some of the lyrics are stultifyingly prosaic ("Meat and Potatoes, Fried Eggs and Ham. That's the kinda' guy I am. Meat and Potatoes, Blueberry Pie. That's the kinda' guy am I"). Don't say you haven't been warned! Considering how awful an idea for a musical this was, though, the score could have been a lot worse. I'm glad I have it in my collection.

I gave the previous Sony Broadway release 3 stars, saying:

"The score by Berlin is pleasant enough, but lacks a really dynamic song or two. Robert Ryan was a fine actor but a poor singer and his "It Gets Lonely in the White House" is quite painful.

The original LP was packaged in a gatefold jacket with 4 pages of notes and pictures inside. The cover was a foil-like material that glittered. It's not an essential cast album, and the show will never be revived, but it has enough of Berlin's old-fashioned melodies (and Nanette Fabray) to make it worthwhile."

Fabray's contributions add sparkle to the recirding: "The First Lady" and "They Love Me" are both great fun, as is Anita Gillette' "The Secret Service (makes me Nervous.)"

DRG deserves credit for giving collectors a chance to get this score without paying obscene prices.

I had forgotten what a fun score this is! Nothing out of this world, but pretty melodies and fun lyrics and rhymes ("The secret service ... makes me nervous ... ") by Irving Berlin. And to that you add the talents of Nanette Fabray and Anitta Gillette and you can just sit back and enjoy. I'm so glad I re-discovered it!!

1. Act I: Opening - David Brooks Listen Listen Listen

2. Act I: Let's Go Back To The Waltz - Nanette Fabray/David Brooks/Robert Ryan/Anita Gillette/Jerry Strickler/Jack Washburn... Listen Listen Listen

3. Act I: In Our Hide-Away - Robert Ryan/Nanette Fabray Listen Listen Listen

4. Act I: The First Lady - Nanette Fabray Listen Listen Listen

5. Act I: Meat And Potatoes - Jack Haskell/Stanley Grover Listen Listen Listen

6. Act I: I've Got To Be Around - Jack Haskell Listen Listen

7. Act I: The Secret Service - Anita Gilllette Listen Listen

8. Act I: It Gets Lonely In The White House - Robert Ryan Listen Listen

9. Act I: Is He The Only Man In The World? - Nanette Fabray/Anita Gillette Listen Listen

10. Act I: They Love Me - Nanette Fabray/David Brooks/Robert Ryan/Anita Gillette/Jerry Strickler/Jack Washburn... Listen Listen

11. Act I: Pigtails And Freckles - Jack Haskell/Anita Gillette Listen Listen

12. Act I: Be Afraid Of Romance - Jack Washburn Listen Listen

13. Act I: Laugh It Up - Nanette Fabray/Robert Ryan/Anita Gillette/Jerry Strickler Listen Listen

14. Act I: Empty Pockets Filed With Love - Jack Haskell/Anita Gillette Listen Listen

15. Act II: Glad To Be Home - Nanette Fabray/Robert Ryan/Anita Gillette/Jerry Strickler Listen Listen

16. Act II: You Need A Hobby - Robert Ryan/Nanette Fabray Listen Listen

17. Act II: The Washington Twist - Anita Gillette Listen Listen

18. Act II: The Only Dance I Know - Wisa D'Orso Listen Listen

19. Act II: I'm Gonna Get Him - Nanette Fabray/Anita Gillette Listen Listen

20. Act II: This Is A Great Country/Finale - Robert Ryan/Nanette Fabray/Anita Gillette/Jerry Strickler

Knowing this was Irving Berlin's last musical, I was hoping to find some great melodies. What I really found was an old fashioned story accompanied by an uninspired score.