All tagged Can-Can

The Name on Everybody’s Lips is Gwen Verdon

With the TV miniseries Fosse/Verdon on is way to the small screen this April, I thought I would take some time to look back on one of Broadway’s most captivating triple-threats and honored leading ladies: Gwen Verdon. Gwen Verdon was a multi-Tony Award winner, playing a wide variety of roles, many of which became iconic thanks to her distinctive personality and voice, not to mention her nonpareil dance skills. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane and remember the one, the only, the unforgettable, Gwen Verdon and the Broadway musicals that she touched.  

Remembering Can-Can

Cole Porter wrote many infectious scores for the Broadway stage, with Anything Goes and Kiss Me, Kate as standouts of how wit and melody can be melded into glorious ditty after glorious ditty. Another hit musical of Porter’s myriad Broadway outings was Can-Can. Though it is seldom revived today, Can-Can nevertheless features an enchanting score, with songs such as “I Love Paris, “ “C’est Magnifique” and “I Am In Love” getting play outside the context of the show. Abe Burrows, known for his knack for writing sparkling comedy for the Broadway stage, wrote the book for Can-Can.  

A Date with Kate - An Interview with Kate Baldwin

The first time I heard the voice of Kate Baldwin was while I was living in Omaha, Nebraska and the new cast recording of Finian’s Rainbow arrived to me in the mail. Finian’s Rainbow is my favorite musical and “How Are Things in Glocca Morra?” my favorite show tune, and I was so far removed from New York that it was killing me that I couldn’t see the production. As soon as I heard Ms. Baldwin lend her vocal cords to my favorite song, I felt like I was transported there. She inhabits a song, finessing every nuance of the melodies and lyrics, infusing it with character and emotional. She vocally paints pictures. Pick up any of her wonderful solo albums, or listen to her on the recordings of Finian’s RainbowGiantBig Fish, or Life Begins at 8:40 and you will feel it too!