Customer Reviews

On The Twentieth Century (1978 Original Broadway Cast)

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When ON THE 20th CENTURY came out in 1977 critics found the show olf-fashioned and thus largeky praised only the famous set by Robin Wagner; now that time has passed, the score (and the wonderful complement of singers Harold Prince found for the cast) has held up wonderfully--this work may show Cy Coleman and Comden and Green at the very top of their game. The music is spectacular, from the thrilling overture to the wonderfully tricky "Sextette" with its beautiful central melody of Lily's ("But how could I have known/ That love from way back when/ Would flood my life again") and of course to the superb comic songs written particularly for Madeline Kahn, "Never," "Veronique," and "Babette."

Kahn's performance on the cd is a revelation: although she had to be let go from the show a month into it because she reputedly refused to give her all to it in performance other than here and on opening night ("You don't expect me to do this every night, do you?" she supposedly told Prince after he congratulated her after the premiere), she shows fully here what might of been. Her performance here shows how much she deserved the praise given to her character, Lily Garland, by the train's starstruck fans when they see her in the score's great highlight, the swooningly evocative "Together": "Up till now just empty days/ Made up what I call my life/ But today's a day of days/ I'll remember all my life."

1978's "On the Twentieth Century"--a brilliant musicalization of the classic 1930s screwball comedy "20th Century"--is one of the most tuneful, intelligent, and flat-out funny musicals ever committed to disc. The score is by Cy Coleman (it may well be his best); the book and lyrics are by the immortal Betty Comden and Adolph Green, working at the top of their own inimitable form.

And what a cast! Stars John Cullum, Madeleine Kahn, Imogene Coca, and Kevin Kline turn in superb performances--and their obvious delight at having such delicious, often over-the-top material to work with comes across beautifully on the recording. Among the score's highlights: the lovely "Our Private World," The wonderfully egomaniacal "I've Got It All" and "Mine," Act II's "Sextet," the title song, and Imogene Coca's never-to-be-forgotten "Repent."

So: All aboard! This is a madcap musical ride you'll want to take again ! and again.

Madeline Kahn originated the role of Lily Garland on Broadway, but she was let go just a few weeks into the run because of conflicts with Harold Prince. This was certainly too bad, because her performance on the Cast Recording of this show is one of the funniest ever--two songs in particular, "Veronique" and "Babette," are absolutely irresistible. In the first, Madeline as the nervous pianist Mildred Plotka is coached by Joh Cullum into taking the role of a heroic revolutionary of the Franco/Prussian War (who risked death simply because she wouldn't raise her skirts for Otto von Bismarck!) to the point where by the end the shy understudy has become utterly transformed into the confident matinee idol Lily Garland. The second, where she can't make up her mind between performing in a Somerset Maugham drawing room drama or a musical about the life of Mary Magdalene, is one of the funniest songs ever written, and Kahn's jazzy triumphant riffs at the end are absolutely unforgettably funny.

Cy Coleman's opening notes evoke the power, feel, sounds and motion of a great train as it pulls out of the station and builds to top speed. And from that moment, this comic musical never slows down. Based on the classic John Barrymore - Carole Lombard comedy "Twentieth Century," the show centers on two strong characters: maniacal Broadway producer Oscar Jaffee (John Cullum), and his one-time protegee and lover Lily Garland (Madeline Kahn). As Oscar runs from his Chicago creditors after his latest flop, he orders his henchmen to get him drawing room "A" on the legendary train The Twentieth Century ("New York in sixteen hours/Anything can happen in those sixteen hours"). Oscar knows that Lily, now a movie star, and her current lover Bruce Granit (Kevin Kline) will soon be boarding and have reserved the adjoining room. If Oscar can sign Lily to do a new show with him, his career and reputation will be saved. Of course, Bruce has to try to stop Oscar from getting back into Lily's favor. In the meantime, a religious nut is loose on the train, slapping permanent-sticking stickers on even the most inaccessible locations ("Repent for the time is at hand"), everyone on the train seems to have a script they want to sell to the broke Oscar("I Have Written a Play, Mr. Jaffee"), and sweet little lady Letetia Primrose (Imogene Coca) may come to Oscar's aid ("Five Zeros").

Will Lily save Oscar's career? Do they still have feelings for each other? Will Oscar find a usable script to help him woo Lily? Listen to the album to find out.

My favorite numbers include: - The delight of the other passengers awaiting Lily's arrival in a number that spoofs our star-struck society. ("Just to know my favorite star/ is not so very far/that somewhere there her scent will fill the air/she'll change her dress/she'll comb her hair/oh, lucky me/Oh, can it be") - Lily and Oscar, in different cars, singing about their old romance (and their lingering feelings) in the beautiful "Our Private World" - Oscar and Bruce, simultaneously and alternately singing to his own image in the mirror (each in his own room) about his need to get/keep Lily ("You're almost perfect, but one thing is true. You need her desperately, but she does not need you!") - Miss Primrose's advise to a sinful world. - A dejected Oscar's showstopping swansong, as he bequeaths his worldly possessions to his two faithful assistants ("To you I leave/ my letters to the critics. To you I leave/ my cane and spats.")

Everyone involved with creating and performing this show (and it was a Who's Who of 1970s Broadway) turned in a top-notch job. This recording is a gem!

Note: The CD contains several additional minutes of music not on the original LP.

I don't care what Hal Prince or anyone else has said about Madeline Kahn, she was an operatic and comic genius who comes across winningly (well, at least in my opinion) as the diva supreme, Lily Garland, in what is currently the only recording of this show. Her best numbers are "Veronique", "Never" and (HER 11:00 number) "Babette". (She couldn't have been as terrible as so many accounts suggest - she received a Tony nomination for her work). John Cullum is over-the-top hilarious as the former King of Broadway, Oscar Jaffe. His performance as the frenzied producer earned him his second Tony Award (the first was for the dramatic musical "Shenandoah" several seasons earlier). His songs "I'll Rise Again" and his ultimate showstopper (HIS 11:00 number) "The Legacy" are priceless. The late, great Imogene Coca sings the showstopper "Repent" (can you imagine how that must have went over in the theatre?) and was Tony nommed. And making his first major appearance is Kevin Kline, who did the impossible - he stole the show away from everyone I've just listed and won a Tony as Bruce Granit, Lily Garland's bumbling actor-lover. Other highlights include the rousing opening/title number, the intricate mini-opera "Sextet (Sign, Lily, Sign)", another showstopper: "Life is Like a Train" and the difficult "She's a Nut". The score was composed by Cy Coleman, with the book and lyrics by the one of the greatest Broadway writing teams - Betty Comden and Adolph Green. The music is both a send-up and an homage to the operetta scores of the 1930s, with witty lyrics thrown in everywhere and an especially uproarious spoof of the typical Nelson Eddy/Jeannette MacDonald love duet at the end of the show. There's not one bad number in the whole score. And the Overture is one of the most creative and wonderful I've ever heard - while it is a representation of themes from the show, its structure mimicks the sounds of a train leaving the depot. Very clever. Within two months of the opening, Judy Kaye, who had a bit part, replaced Ms. Kahn as Lily and became a bonafide Broadway star in her own right. The show would close after a 13 month run at the St. James Theatre and would play a total of 460 performances (which is rather short, even for 1978). But the musical is just so good it needs a major NY revival (perhaps transfer the critically acclaimed LA Reprise! concert version starring Carolee Carmello, Bob Gunton and Mimi Hines?) and the show (which won a total of 5 Tonys - including Book, Score and Scenic Design) is just too much fun and too good to be forgotten.

This is really a top-flight musical. It's got a great cast, all of whom deliver standout performances on the CD. In particular, Cullum's deliciously over-the-top (Tony-winning) performance has made me want to run out and get everything he appears in. And the overture is one of the best I've ever heard. I'm not kidding when I call it "audio cocaine"; it really peps you up to hear it. Oh please, please, someone revive this gem and tour it so I can see it!

The lyrics of Betty Comden and Adolph Green are genious, the music of Cy Coleman is sensational, the original cast is incomparable and, as as usual, Madeline Kahn's voice and unparalleled range stands out as nothing less than a prodigous phenomenon. Imogene Coca, Kevin Kline and John Cullum add their talent to make this a Tony Award winning first-rate musical that forces you to memorize the words and sing aloud (even if you're not an operatic soprano). If you've never considered Broadway musicals, and you're music genre is more Goth, R&B, Techno, Rap, or Classic Rock, this one will seamlessly fit in with anyone's CD collection. Many of my college friends have asked to borrow this CD for the long drive to and from L.A. to Berkeley.

It's taken me quite a while to get "On the Twentieth Century." My sister raved about it, many of the reviews at amazon.com were ecstatic. Frankly, I was afraid that the score just wouldn't live up to the hype.

I WAS WRONG!!!!!

There's very little I can add to what previous reviewers have said, except that Madeline Kahn and, especially, John Cullum just blew me away. Even though I've long admired the work of both actors - Mr. Cullum on TVs "Northern Exposure" and Ms. Kahn is a number of Mel Brooks' films -- their previous Broadway vehicles didn't do justice to their talents. John Cullum was bland as the bland psychoanalyst in the bland "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever' (I've yet to hear "Shenandoah"), and the one song Miss Kahn was given in "Two by Two" is embarrassingly bad. Ms. Kahn, however, gives it everything she's got. But neither of these scores can hold a candle to "20th Century." Unfortunately, the muse had eluded both Alan Jay Lerner and Richard Rodgers near the end of their lives, whereas she was very much present for Cy Coleman, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. "On the Twentieth Century" is Broadway at its very best.

I'm sorry for those who "didn't get" the show; I don't know what they were looking for. And for those who bemoaned the lack of hummable tunes, I'll wager they feel the same way about "Floyd Collins" or "Ragtime" or "Urinetown" or Jason Robert Brown's superb score for "Parade." Oh, well. Let them eat "Cats."

So, please permit me to quote from a some other amazon.com reviewers who have been enjoying this marvelous score a lot longer than I have. I've already listened to it twice this week. I suppose I've got a lot of catching up to do.

"On The Twentieth Century is a brilliant musical with an amazing score."-- Reviewer: Jen, June 21, 2000

"This show has a wonderful score, not quite like any other I know, funny and with an over-the-top, madcap flavor." -- Reviewer: A music fan, April 23, 2000

"1978's `On the Twentieth Century'-- a brilliant musicalization of the classic 1930s screwball comedy `20th Century'-- is one of the most tuneful, intelligent, and flat-out funny musicals ever committed to disc." -- Reviewer: A music fan, July 29, 1998

"ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY is one of the greatest Broadway shows ever written, featuring melodic and delightful numbers written by Cy Coleman, Betty Comden and Adolph Green." -- Reviewer: Byron Kolln, September 29, 2003

"Amen." Reviewer: J.T. Waldmann, September 14, 2005

Broadway's On The 20th Century is not unlike the operettas it references in that the show 'works' when the cast is as top notch as this one. John Cullum, Madeline Kahn, Impgene Coca, and Kevin Kline are perfectly matched to the material and each other. They are wonderful actors who understand comedy and strike a great balance between parody and reality. I saw this production with this cast and I still see the hilarious physical comedy and stunning sets when I listen more than, yipe, 20 years later. At the time, this show was overshadowed by the spectacular Ain't Misbehabvin'. Now with some distance, perhaps history can hold a place for On The 20th Century as another classic of just a different sort.

On The Twentieth Century is a brilliant musical with an amazing score. The lyrics are clever, witty, and extremely funny. The music that accompanies these lyrics fits the show perfectly! (The overture is written to sound just like a train pulling out of the station!) The characters are loveable. There's Oscar Jaffee the dramatic playwright who's down on his luck and needs the help of Lily Garland, his former love. Lily is a flamboyant movie star who is as equally as dramatic as Oscar. The moods of the songs sung by these two range from a fight ("I've Got It All") to a longing for love ("Our Private World"). The insane, yet loveable, Letitia Peabody Primrose provides chaos and fun to the soundtrack with "Repent". Owen and Oliver, Oscar's sidekicks, provide slap stick comedy and Lily's boyfriend Bruce is so full of himself in these songs you can't help but laugh! Together,these six put together pull off the nearly impossible "Sign, Lily Sign" one of the show's most complicated tunes. This is truly a whimsical play with characters that are a mix of cartoon and soap opera characters. The fun, fast paced musical score makes this musical one of the best around. I was in this show playing the role of Letitia, and trust me, you will adore this musical! From the swingin' "Babette" to the hysterical "She's A Nut" to the stunning and chilling "On The Twentieth Century" this musical has great not only great music and lyrics, but great heart! Enjoy On The Twentieth Century...it's truly one of the the best musicals around!