Patrick Bade
Alfred Drake: Broadway’s Greatest Singing Actor
Patrick Bade | Alfred Drake: Broadway’s Greatest Singing Actor | 03.13.24
Visuals displayed and music played throughout the presentation.
- ♪ There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow ♪ ♪ There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow ♪ ♪ The corn is as high as an elephant’s eye ♪ ♪ And it looks like it’s climbing clear up to the sky ♪ ♪ Oh, what a beautiful morning ♪ ♪ Oh, what a beautiful day ♪ ♪ I got a beautiful feeling ♪ ♪ Everything’s going my way ♪ ♪ All the cattle are standing like statues ♪ ♪ All the cattle are standing like statues ♪ ♪ They don’t turn their heads when they see me ride by ♪ ♪ But a little brown maverick is winking her eye ♪ ♪ Oh, what a beautiful morning ♪ ♪ Oh, what a beautiful day ♪ ♪ I got a beautiful feeling ♪ ♪ Everything’s going my way ♪ ♪ Oh ♪
Now when Alfred Drake stepped out onto the stage of the St. James Theatre on the 31st of March, 1943 and sang that song, he made theatrical history. All the theatre historians agree that with Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma,” the Broadway musical, reached full maturity. For the first time you had fully integrated dance, song, and drama. That there had been precedents, notably “Showboat” in 1927 and “Pal Joey” in 1940, but this was really the business. So as I said, as well as, making theatrical history, he also made his own reputation. He became a star overnight. And you see, he was a very handsome man, very debonair. And he became Broadway’s leading man, as far as, musicals were concerned, for the next three decades. So he was born in Manhattan, not the Bronx, as it’s stated on Wikipedia.
I know this, because his daughter, Sam Popper told me this on Saturday. We had a wonderful time on Saturday afternoon and evening, sitting down together and going through her father’s life and career. So I’m very indebted to Sam, thank you very much, if you’re listening in. Most of the material I have in this lecture comes from her. So he was born in 1914 to immigrant Italian parents. His birth name was Alfred Capurro. And initially, he intended to qualify as a teacher, but he had a great natural gift as a singer. And he had his first theatrical job as an understudy for a production of Gilbert and Sullivan, which was very, very popular in New York throughout the 1930s and ‘40s. So a lot of Gilbert and Sullivan productions, surprisingly. And then he made his first appearance on the stage the following year, stepping in for an indisposed colleague in the hit musical, “The White Horse Inn.”
And then had various smallish roles, one in Rodgers and Hart, “Babe in Arms.” And all the while, he was studying voice. And in 1939, he entered the so-called Met Auditions of the Air, which had been set up in 1935. And which provided an opportunity for many singers who went on to have careers at The Met. Three of the prize winners in 1939 were Alfred Drake himself, his brother, Arthur Kent, who actually took up the offer from The Met and sang there for several seasons, without making any great headway. And also, the wonderful soprano, Eleanor Steber, I’m going to be talking about her on Sunday. And she did have a substantial career at The Met. You may ask why these two brothers, the Capurro brothers, would anglicise their names to Drake and Kent. And it’s an interesting question, I think, with probably quite a complicated answer.
Singers have often changed their names, we’ve have already had big discussion about why Jewish singers nearly always changed their name to something sounding less Jewish in the early 20th century. And in the late 19th, early 20th century, singers with Anglo-Saxon names would Italianize them. So Helen Mitchell called herself Nellie Melba, Lillian Norton called herself Lillian Nordica, and so on. So, but in this period, American singers, I mean, it’s a period of patriotism. Of course, you’ve got the Second World War looming, and they wanted to have Anglo-Saxon, American-sounding names. Now, we’re very lucky that the auditions of “The Air,” of course, they were broadcast. And we have three selections from Alfred Drake, and I’m going to play you him… This is from the auditions of “The Air” in 1939. And this is Alfred Drake singing the Tchaikovsky song, “None But the Lonely Heart.”
♪ None but the lonely heart ♪ ♪ Can know my sadness ♪ ♪ Alone and parted ♪ ♪ Far from joy and gladness ♪ ♪ Heaven’s boundless arch I see ♪ ♪ Spread out above me ♪ ♪ Oh, what a distance dear to one ♪ ♪ Who loves me ♪ ♪ None but the lonely heart ♪ ♪ Can know my sadness ♪ ♪ Alone and parted ♪ ♪ Far from joy and gladness ♪ ♪ Alone and parted ♪ ♪ Far from joy and gladness ♪ ♪ My senses fail ♪ ♪ A burning fire devours me ♪ ♪ None but the lonely heart ♪ ♪ Can know my sadness ♪
So a very lovely, lyric baritone voice. Not a huge voice. So not a voice really for the two composers that were dominant at The Met at the time, Wagner and Verdi. He would’ve been wonderful in the various Mozart roles, he would’ve been a terrific Figaro. He could have started off with small roles like Masetto, he could have sung Figaro, would’ve been a wonderful Don Giovanni, of course, . But those operas were not done very much at The Met at the time. He would’ve been very good in French opera. But again, there wasn’t a lot of French opera being done. And wisely, and I think probably with the experience of his brother who was confined to infrequent small roles, he decided, no, his future was not going to be on the stage of The Metropolitan, it was going to be on Broadway. And you can see, of course, he had other assets than the voice, he had film star good looks. And after his smash success in “Oklahoma,” Hollywood called the Hollywood Studio of Columbia. And he made his only film in a leading role, in 1946.
This was “Tars and Spars” and it was a success. But somewhat mysteriously, there was no follow up to this. Apart from little cameo roles, he never appeared in Hollywood movie again. And I talked about this with Sam. She feels that there was a political element. Remember this, after the war, America was going through the McCarthy period, there was hysterical red-baiting, red-hunting. And although I don’t think he was particularly political himself, he apparently had friends who were sympathetic to the Republican cause in Spain, and that was enough to bring him under suspicion. Anyway, whatever, it was Hollywood’s loss, our loss actually, 'cause we would like to have more of him on film, but it was the gain of audiences in New York.
Now, while he was in Hollywood with Columbia, the next great Rodgers and Hammerstein success came out, which was “Carousel.” And of course, he would’ve been absolutely ideal, and they would’ve wanted him to play the lead role in “Carousel,” but he was occupied elsewhere. And so he didn’t sing in The Premiere, but he did record most of the score. And Sam tells me that Rodgers and Hammerstein really loved this. And he was very proud of the piece, the famous soliloquy that I’m going to play you, which is a real showstopper for a singing actor. And that’s how I see him, he’s clearly an excellent actor and you can hear him really acting with the voice throughout this piece.
♪ I wonder what he’ll think of me ♪ ♪ I guess he’ll call me the old man ♪ ♪ I guess he’ll think I can lick every other fellas father ♪ ♪ Well I can ♪ ♪ I bet that he’ll turn out to be ♪ ♪ The spitting image of his dad ♪ ♪ But he’ll have more common sense ♪ ♪ Than his pudding headed father ever had ♪ ♪ I’ll teach him to wrestle ♪ ♪ And dive through a wave ♪ ♪ When we go in the mornings for a swim ♪ ♪ His mother can teach him the way to behave ♪ ♪ But she won’t make a sissy out of him ♪ ♪ Not him, not my boy ♪ ♪ Not him ♪ ♪ My boy Bill I will see that he’s named after me ♪ ♪ I will ♪ ♪ My boy Bill will be tall and as tough as a tree ♪ ♪ Will Bill ♪ ♪ Like a tree he’ll grow with his head held high ♪ ♪ And his feet planted firm on the ground ♪ ♪ And you won’t see nobody dare to try ♪ ♪ To pass him or toss him around ♪ ♪ No potbellied baggy I’d bully will boss him around ♪ ♪ I don’t give a damn what he does ♪ ♪ As long as he does what he likes ♪ ♪ He can sit on his tail or work on a rail with a hammer ♪ ♪ A hammer and spikes ♪ ♪ He can ferry a boat on a river ♪ ♪ Or pedal a pack on his back ♪ ♪ Or work up and down the streets of a town ♪ ♪ With a whip and a horse and a hack ♪ ♪ He can haul a scowl along a canal ♪ ♪ Run a cow around a corral ♪ ♪ Or maybe bark for a carousel ♪ ♪ Of course it takes talent to do that well ♪ ♪ He might be a champ of the heavyweights ♪ ♪ Or a fellow that sells you glue ♪ ♪ Or president of the United States ♪ ♪ That’d be all right too ♪
- Yeah his mother would like that but he wouldn’t be president unless he wanted to be.
♪ Not Bill ♪ ♪ My boy Bill he’ll be tall and as tough as a tree ♪ ♪ Will Bill ♪ ♪ Like a tree he’ll grow with his head held high ♪ ♪ And his feet planted firm on the ground ♪ ♪ And you won’t see nobody dare to try ♪ ♪ To boss him or toss him around ♪ ♪ No fat-bottomed flabby-faced ♪ ♪ Pop-bellied baggy-eyed bully will boss him around ♪ ♪ And I’m damned if he’ll marry his boss’s daughter ♪ ♪ A skinny-lipped virgin with blood like water ♪ ♪ Who’ll give him a peck and call it a kiss ♪ ♪ And look in his eyes through a lorgnette ♪ ♪ I can see him when he’s 17 or so ♪ ♪ And started in to go with a girl ♪ ♪ I can give him lots of pointers very sound ♪ ♪ On the way to get round any girl ♪ ♪ I can tell him ♪ ♪ Wait a minute, could it be ♪ ♪ What the hell ♪ ♪ What if he ♪ ♪ What if he is a girl ♪ ♪ Bill ♪ ♪ Oh Bill. ♪
I know it’s all dreadfully sexist. So there’s no need to write in and tell me that. But a wonderful opportunity for Alfred Drake. And another great opportunity, of course, was his next huge hit in 1948, and that’s Cole Porter’s “Kiss Me, Kate,” another one of the supreme masterpieces, I would say, of the Broadway musical that goes way, way beyond just being popular entertainment. And in Germany, it’s regularly performed in opera houses by very serious singers and musicians. So as Petruchio, perfectly tailor-made role for him. He was very good at swagger. And he’s wonderfully swaggering in this solo.
♪ Since I reached the charming age of puberty ♪ ♪ And began to think of feminine girls ♪ ♪ Like a show that’s typically Shuberty ♪ ♪ I have always had a multitude of girls ♪ ♪ But now that I’m married man at last am I ♪ ♪ How aware of my dear departed past am I ♪ ♪ Where is the life that late I led ♪ ♪ Where is it now ♪ ♪ Totally dead ♪ ♪ Where is the fun I used to find ♪ ♪ Where has it gone ♪ ♪ Gone with the wind ♪ ♪ The married life may all be well ♪ ♪ But raising an heir could never compare ♪ ♪ With raising a bit of hell ♪ ♪ So I repeat what first I said ♪ ♪ Where is the life that late I ♪ ♪ In dear Milano ♪ ♪ Where are you, Momo ♪ ♪ Still selling those pictures of the scriptures ♪ ♪ In the Duomo ♪ ♪ And Carolina where are you Lina ♪ ♪ Still peddling your pizza in the streets at Taormina ♪ ♪ And in Firenze where are you, Alice ♪ ♪ Still there in your pretty itty-bitty pity palace ♪ ♪ And sweet Lucretia ♪ ♪ So young and gay ♪ ♪ What scandalous doings in the ruins of Pompeii ♪ ♪ Where is the life that late I led ♪
Wonderfully witty ♪ Where is it now ♪ lyrics of Cole Porter. Now, the next Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, “The King and I,” in 1951, he was offered the Yul Brynner role and turned it down. Some people say he turned it down because there wasn’t enough in it for him to sing. I didn’t actually ask Sam this, but I suspect he may have been a bit daunted by the prospect of appearing with Gertrude Lawrence, who was notoriously egotistical and complicated and difficult as a co-star. So this was of course the great opportunity for Yul Brynner, and that set him off on his major career. So in the picture here, we have Gertrude Lawrence and Yul Brynner. In fact, he did get to sing it. He did get to appear in it when Yul Brynner took six weeks off and he replaced him for those six weeks.
But he got a better opportunity, I would say, when he… To play a great hero, a great sort of exotic character in “Kismet” where also wonderful opportunities to sing. Sorry, I’m just hesitating here because where is my little… It’s disappeared, my little thing. That’s very annoying. I wanted to play you “Come Beloved.” Maybe I’ll find it at the end and play it to you, 'cause you have to hear this. Because here he had plenty to sing. The composers who put “Kismet” together, I should say, because all the tunes are borrowed. It’s Robert Wright and George Forest who concocted this, using these wonderful melodies which give great operatic opportunities to all the participants in this. Alfred Drake, in particular, and the wonderful Doretta Morrow you see here on the left hand side. I do have the final scene you can hear very much the quality of his singing, particularly his absolutely extraordinary breath control. And I’d like you to listen out for how he elides the line into the melody of “Lovers come and lovers go,” without taking a breath. This is really vocal art of the very highest order.
♪ Princes come, princes go ♪ ♪ An hour of pomp and show they know ♪ ♪ Princes come and over the sands ♪ ♪ And over the sands of time ♪ ♪ They go ♪ ♪ Wise men come ♪ ♪ Ever-promising the riddle of life to know ♪ ♪ Wise men come ♪ ♪ Ah, but over the sands ♪ ♪ The silent sands of time ♪ ♪ They go ♪ ♪ Lovers come lovers go ♪ ♪ And all that there is to know ♪ ♪ Lovers know ♪ ♪ Only lovers ♪ ♪ Know ♪
Amazing piece of singing that. And some of you, my North London listeners will remember the very lovely Alan Bill Gorrup, who was a great expert on singing, used to give a lot of lectures in North London on Jewish singers. Sorry, I’m just going to fiddle around with this to see… No, I can’t do it. Because what I think has happened is that the little sign that I had to click on has got underneath one of these images. But I’ll try and play you that 'cause I really want you to hear that, at the end if we get time. So he was a great man of the theatre, extraordinarily versatile. So he was an actor, he was a singer, he was a director, he was a playwright, he was a translator. And in the material that he appeared in, was also incredibly wide.
We’ve got an image here of the Players Club in New York, that’s the New York equivalent of the Garrick Club in London. He was president of that club for many years. And you can see on the wall, there is a painting of him in his “Kismet” role. And he was an admired and experienced Shakespearean. He appeared in the American Stratford Festival. The image on the right hand side is “All About Nothing,” with Alfred Drake and Katharine Hepburn. And he was very interested in modern European theatre. He translated and presented plays by Luigi Pirandello. But I suppose his most notorious Shakespearean experience was in 1964, when “Hamlet” was presented on Broadway with Richard Burton.
At the time, Richard Burton was a huge star, was a kind of frenzy of media publicity 'cause it was the time of his marriage with Liz Taylor. But for Alfred Drake, this was not an entirely happy experience. Here you can see him with Richard Burton. Apparently Richard Burton was drinking like a fish and extremely erratic, very difficult to play with because he’d be up-staging the other actors and moving around the stage in all sorts of unexpected ways that disconcerted his fellow actors. Here again is Richard Burton and Alfred Drake. And I mentioned that his very first engagement was for a production of Gilbert and Sullivan. Gilbert and Sullivan is a pretty specialised kind of musical theatre that requires absolutely pristine, crisp diction. So listen to Alfred Drake in “The Nightmare Song,” and it’s a wonderful demonstration of how Gilbert and Sullivan patter should go.
♪ Love unrequited robs me of my rest ♪ ♪ Love hopeless love my ardent soul encumbers ♪ ♪ Love nightmare like lies heavy on my chest ♪ ♪ And weaves itself into my midnight slumbers ♪ ♪ When you’re lying awake with a dismal headache ♪ ♪ And repose is tabooed by anxiety ♪ ♪ I conceive you may use any language you choose ♪ ♪ To indulge in without impropriety ♪ ♪ For your brain is on fire ♪ ♪ The bed clothes conspire of usual slumber to plunder you ♪ ♪ First your counter-pane goes and uncovers your toes ♪ ♪ And demurely from under you ♪ ♪ Then the blanketing tickles you feel ♪ ♪ So terribly sharp is the pricking ♪ ♪ And you’re hot and you’re cross ♪ ♪ And you tumble and toss till there’s nothing ♪ ♪ Twixt you and the ticking ♪ ♪ Then the bed clothes all creep to the ground in a heap ♪ ♪ And you pick them all up in a tangle ♪ ♪ Next your pillow resigns and politely declines ♪ ♪ To remain at it’s usual angle ♪ ♪ Well you get some repose in the form of a dose ♪ ♪ With hot eye-balls and head ever aching ♪ ♪ But your slumbering teems with such horrible dreams ♪ ♪ That you’d very much better be waking ♪ ♪ For you dream you are crossing the channel ♪ ♪ And tossing about in a steamer from Harwich ♪ ♪ Which is something between a large bathing machine ♪ ♪ And a very small second-class carriage ♪
♪ And you’re giving a treat ♪ ♪ And an ice cold meat to a party of friends and relations ♪ ♪ They’re are ravenous hoard ♪ ♪ And they all came on board ♪ ♪ It’s Sloane Square on South Kensington Stations ♪ ♪ Who docked that morning from Devon ♪ ♪ He’s a bit undersized and you don’t feel surprised ♪ ♪ When he tells you he’s only 11 ♪ ♪ Well, you’re driving like mad with a singular lad ♪ ♪ By the by the ships now are full ♪ ♪ And you’re playing round games ♪ ♪ And he calls you by names when you tell him ♪ ♪ That ties pay the dealer ♪ ♪ But this you can’t stand so you fold up your hand ♪ ♪ And you find you’re find you’re as cold as icicle ♪ ♪ In your shirt and your socks ♪ ♪ The black silk would go clix ♪ ♪ And he and the cool are on bicycles too ♪ ♪ Which they’ve somehow or rather invested in ♪ ♪ And he’s telling the tars all the particulars ♪ ♪ Of a company he’s interested in ♪ ♪ It’s a scheme of devices to get him low prices ♪ ♪ All goods from cough mixtures to cables ♪ ♪ Which tickle the sailors by treating retailers ♪ ♪ As though they were all vegetables ♪
♪ You get a good space to plant a small ♪ ♪ And his legs will take rove and his fingers will shoot ♪ ♪ And they’ll blossom into bud like a fruit tree ♪ ♪ From the green tree you get grapes and green ♪ ♪ Pea, cauliflower, pineapple and cranberries ♪ ♪ Well, the pastry cook pint ♪ ♪ Cherry brandy would grant apple puffs ♪ ♪ And free corners and baneberries ♪ ♪ Who shares of a penny and ever so many ♪ ♪ Are taken by ruths child and bearing ♪ ♪ And just as a few are a lot to you ♪ ♪ You will wake with a shuttered despairing ♪ ♪ You’re a regular wreck with a crick in your neck ♪ ♪ And no wonder you snore for your heads on the floor ♪ ♪ And you’ve needles and pins from your ♪ ♪ And your fleshes are creeping ♪ ♪ Your left leg is sleeping ♪ ♪ You’ve cramp in your toes ♪ ♪ And a fly on your nose ♪ ♪ And some fluff in your lung ♪ ♪ And a feverish tongue ♪ ♪ And a first is intense and a general ♪ ♪ Sense that you haven’t been sleeping in clover ♪ ♪ But the darkness has passed ♪ ♪ And it’s daylight at last ♪ ♪ And the night has been long ♪ ♪ Tittle tittle my son ♪ ♪ And thank goodness ♪ ♪ There both of them are over ♪
Wow, that’s how you do it. Now, probably the biggest disappointment of his career was I think it’s 1971 in the play, “Kean,” it should have been an ideal role for him in a way he was playing himself in this play. “Kean,” of course, he was the great star of the London Theatre in the early 19th century. And Alexandre Dumas had written a play by him and that in turn had inspired a play by Jean-Louis Sartre And so you might think, Sartre that was a bit risky, presenting Sartre on Broadway, even with a translation by Alfred Drake and even with some very, very good songs by Wright and Forrest. But initially, all the signs were good. The out-of-town triumphs trials went very, very well indeed and everybody was expecting it to be another huge Alfred Drake Kean. And somehow it wasn’t, and it closed quite quickly. However, there was an original cast recording made. So we can certainly enjoy the very beautiful songs and his beautiful singing of them.
♪ Eleanor, of the cool enchantment ♪ ♪ Eleanor ♪ ♪ So fair ♪ ♪ You held my hopeful life hung high ♪ ♪ In your inquisitiveness ♪ ♪ I’ll put you pair to send it plunging ♪ ♪ To despair ♪ ♪ Eleanor ♪ ♪ Of the little thing laughter ♪ ♪ That set my soul ♪ ♪ In flight ♪ ♪ You made my yesterday ♪ ♪ A promise of delight ♪ ♪ Oh, in constant Eleanor ♪ ♪ Where are you tonight ♪ ♪ Eleanor, where are you ♪ ♪ Tonight ♪ ♪ Eleanor ♪ ♪ Eleanor ♪ ♪ Eleanor ♪
Now, I did say last time when we talked about George Antheil, that I would play you more from his score for the musical, “Happy Journey,” That also, well, it never even got to the stage because of George Antheil’s premature death. So it was never orchestrated. But we do have this very interesting demo recording with George Antheil playing the piano and with Alfred Drake singing.
♪ Look around you ♪ ♪ It’s time to choose ♪ ♪ Good things generally come in two’s ♪ ♪ One chopstick who could use ♪ ♪ It’s better to be married ♪ ♪ Why keep roaming the world so wide ♪ ♪ Stay at home with your shoes untied ♪ ♪ Nights when it’s cold outside ♪ ♪ It’s better to be married ♪ ♪ It’s better to find contentment and peace of mind ♪ ♪ Romance combined with utility ♪ ♪ Why live in a vacuum ♪ ♪ Marriage offers the maximum of both ♪ ♪ Temptation and availability ♪ ♪ You’ve a lot that you ought to share ♪ ♪ Every man wants a son and heir ♪ ♪ But when your heir is there ♪ ♪ It’s better to be unified ♪ ♪ Satisfied, sanctified ♪ ♪ Married ♪
Sal Yosha goes to swim in the river and Wilfred reflects, if the girl has been betrothed seven times, surely her father will be so grateful for a bridegroom. He will give an extra large broker’s fee. Wilfred sings to himself and does a Chinese type soft shoe dance.
♪ In the Bible, it’s clearly shown ♪ ♪ Man was not born to be alone ♪ ♪ Why rent when you can own ♪ ♪ It’s better to be married ♪ ♪ Stop delaying and live instead ♪ ♪ There’s a saying, Confucius said ♪ ♪ One pillow makes hard bed ♪ ♪ It’s better to be married ♪ ♪ And it’s better still if money is in the till ♪ ♪ You surely will not repent of it ♪ ♪ And when you have your reward ♪ ♪ And there’s nothing you can’t afford ♪ ♪ Just praise the Lord and pass me 10% of it ♪ ♪ Don’t keep moving from flower to flower ♪ ♪ Start improving your shining hour ♪ ♪ Find one flower with a do ♪ ♪ It’s better to be happier ♪ ♪ Healthier, wealthier ♪ ♪ Married ♪ ♪ William Shakespeare would quite agree ♪ ♪ If you’ve an opportunity ♪ ♪ To wive it wealthy, well then why not ♪ ♪ Girls are interesting I have found ♪ ♪ When their interest is compound ♪ ♪ Love makes the world go round ♪ ♪ It’s better to be solemnised ♪ ♪ Legalised, harmonised ♪ ♪ Tranquillised, idolised, subsidised ♪ ♪ Married, married, married ♪ ♪ M-A-R-R-I-E-D ♪ ♪ Married ♪
In 1973, Lerner and Louwe returned to their score for the 1940s movie of “Gigi,” based on the novel by Colette. Of course, a very popular, much loved movie with Louis Jourdan, with Maurice Chevalier and, oh, I can’t think of the name at the moment. The dancer who played Gigi in the movie. And they decided to elaborate the score and represent it as a musical on stage, on Broadway, this time with Alfred Drake playing the Maurice Chevalier role. And we have a cast recording of this. And I’d like… I mean, unless I can find the piece that went missing earlier, this will be my last excerpt with him. Very charming. When he recorded this, he was 59 years old, which doesn’t seem to me very old now, but it’s quite old for a musical star. And the title of this piece is, “I’m glad I’m not young anymore,” and I can certainly identify with the sentiment.
♪ Poor boy ♪ ♪ Poor boy ♪ ♪ Downhearted and depressed ♪ ♪ And in a spin ♪ ♪ Poor boy ♪ ♪ Poor boy ♪ ♪ Oh, youth can really do a fellow in ♪ ♪ How lovely to sit here in the shade ♪ ♪ With none of the woes of man and maid ♪ ♪ I’m glad I’m not young anymore ♪ ♪ The rivals that don’t exist at all ♪ ♪ The feeling you’re only two feet tall ♪ ♪ I’m glad that I’m not young anymore ♪ ♪ No more confusion ♪ ♪ No morning-after surprise ♪ ♪ No self delusion ♪ ♪ That when you ’re telling those lies ♪ ♪ She isn’t wise ♪ ♪ And even if love comes through the door ♪ ♪ The kind that goes on forevermore ♪ ♪ Forever more is shorter than before ♪ ♪ Oh, I’m so glad ♪ ♪ That I’m not young anymore ♪ ♪ The tiny remark ♪ ♪ The fear that your friends won’t like her too ♪ ♪ I’m glad I’m not young anymore ♪ ♪ The longing to end a stale affair ♪ ♪ Until you find out she doesn’t care ♪ ♪ I’m glad that I’m not younger anymore ♪ ♪ No more frustration ♪ ♪ No star-crossed lover am I ♪ ♪ No aggravation ♪ ♪ Just one reluctant reply ♪ ♪ Lady, goodbye ♪ ♪ The fountain of youth is dull as paint ♪ ♪ Methuselah is my patron saint ♪ ♪ I’ve never been so comfortable before ♪ ♪ Oh, I’m so glad ♪ ♪ That I’m not young ♪ ♪ Anymore ♪
Certainly no ageing the voice in that. But now what I’m going to do, I think I can do this, is to play you literally the missing link. And so here we go. Alfred Drake, right, no, this is what I want you to hear. Feast on this, wallow in this, it’s just too beautiful words.
♪ You’d say his eyes were bright ♪ ♪ Sometimes bright ♪ ♪ But only sometimes ♪ ♪ Often dark ♪ ♪ Well, that is plain ♪ ♪ Plain words can’t tell the thrill ♪ ♪ Then tell it how you will ♪ ♪ You’d say his eyes were ♪ ♪ Dawn’s promising skies ♪ ♪ Sometimes bright ♪ ♪ Petals on a pool drifting ♪ ♪ But only sometimes ♪ ♪ Often dark ♪ ♪ Imagine these in one pair of eyes ♪ ♪ Not very clear ♪ ♪ Plain words can’t tell the thrill ♪ ♪ And this is my beloved ♪ ♪ Then tell it how you will ♪ ♪ Strange spice from the south ♪ ♪ But only sometimes ♪ ♪ Imagine these in one eager mouth ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ I hope you never change ♪ ♪ And when she speaks ♪ ♪ And when he talks to you ♪ ♪ And when he walks with you ♪ ♪ And this is my beloved ♪ ♪ And this is my ♪ ♪ Beloved ♪ ♪ Eyes promising skies ♪ ♪ Imagine these in one pair of eyes ♪ ♪ And this is my beloved ♪ ♪ Strange spice from the south ♪ ♪ Honey through the comb sifting ♪ ♪ Imagine these in one eager mouth ♪ ♪ And this is my beloved ♪ ♪ And when he speaks and when he talks to me ♪ ♪ Music ♪ ♪ Mystery ♪ ♪ And when he moves ♪ ♪ And when he walks with me ♪ ♪ Paradise comes suddenly near ♪ ♪ All that can stir ♪ ♪ All that can stun ♪ ♪ All that’s for the heart’s lifting ♪ ♪ Imagine these in one perfect ♪
Q&A and Comments
Excuse me if I carry on she’s so excellent, Doretta Morrow in that, that I didn’t really want to cut her off. All right. Oh, this is Sandy you saw, Alfred Drake in Kismet and I’m sure it was glorious. Yes. Interesting, isn’t it, well of course, most of the excerpts in those auditions would’ve been operatic ones and therefore the orchestral accompaniment would’ve been appropriate for them. As you say, it’s a bit schmaltzy to have that Tchaikovsky song with an orchestral or component. How would I compare to, I couldn’t really compare him. I mean, it’s so long since I’ve seen the movie. I can’t actually remember, it’s a great pity, I think, the Alfred Drake wasn’t taken up by Hollywood to play the roles on film that he had launched on Broadway. And yes, his annunciation in English is fantastic, isn’t it? Really, and particularly, not just in “The Kiss Me Kate,” it’s really spectacular in the Gilbert and Sullivan.
And this is Barry, while “Oklahoma” did revolutionise the American musical, “Carousel” went so much further. Yeah, I prefer “Carousel.” Although actually, I find the words of the soliloquy really quite irritating. But I think, “Carousel” is much darker. It’s much more complex isn’t it, than “Oklahoma.” “Oklahoma,” “Poor Jud Is Dead,” yes. Kismet and Alfred Drake also, I arrived at theatre with an armful of flowers and a new engagement ring, that’s very nice. I’m sure the music well, what I’ve just played you, must have had you in a puddle on the floor, I would think. Beautiful voice, sounds a bit like Sinatra. Many years ago my father drove a taxi in Manhattan, Alfred Drake was a passenger. Once he asked my father if he wanted money for a tip or two tickets to the show he was starring on Broadway. My father did not actually believe it was Alfred Drake so he asked for money, oh dear, that’s bad, isn’t it? What a mistake that was.
But was Alfred… Yes, he was very, very successful in London, Lorna. He particularly, I think his Met was a huge success in London and yes, you’re quite right about his wonderful diction. Without it being… Leslie Caron, that was the name, it’s so awful getting… No, I’m much more than 59, I’m afraid I do have trouble with names as you’ve noticed. I’m quite sure lots of peoples telling me it’s Leslie Caron, yes, thank you. Is she still around, Leslie Caron? 92, yes, that might make sense. Yes, Chevalier sung the song in the movie. Thank you Ruth. And thank you Alice. In cinema next week is the… sorry, that’s jumped where it is. Where did I get to. And the cue for play about Richard Burton and Liz Taylor in “Hamlet” in Broadway, next Thursday. Oh, Judy, thank you so much. Well, if Sam is listening in, I’m sure she will be very interested in that.
Glorious last song indeed. Borrowed in, you’re quite right. What a great melodist. And yes, those are real, real proper singing voices. No, they wouldn’t have needed, they did mic, I suppose by then, but they wouldn’t have needed it. 'cause you could hear those voices are properly projected, really focused voices. This is Nina who also saw the original, “Kiss Me Kate,” with Patricia Morrison. And yes, I do believe, I’m probably being indiscreet here, but I do think that probably sometimes Alfred Drake had rather more chemistry than was advisable with some of his female co-stars. Thank you very much Rita. The third voice in “Kismet” was a tenor, I must say, he slightly spoils it for me because the other two were so wonderful and he’s a little bit effortful, the tenor in the top notes there. And thank you Stuart. It’s a transmission, thank you Judy from the National Theatre.
And thank you all again very much indeed. And as always, for your patience and your kindness. And I will see you on Sunday. A lecture I’ve greatly enjoyed putting together on the American composer, Samuel Barber.