ETHEL MERMAN * MARY MARTIN [Together On Broadway] '77

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1977 FRIENDS OF THE THEATRE and MUSIC Records AG-77 [Collection of the Museum of the City of New York]
*** 2LP ORIGINAL DEMONSTRATION ONLY RECORDING ***
TOGETHER ON BROADWAY Presented at the Broadway Theatre May 15, 1977
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VINYL is EX++  top copy!
     COVER is EX light surface/edge wear, price tag on back

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LINER NOTES ON BACK:

This is an on-the-scene recording of one of the most exciting evenings in the history of the American musical theatre. It is not for sale and is available only to the members of The Friends of the Theatre and Music Collection of the Museum of the City of New York. It is undoctored and unedited except for the omission of two kinescoped numbers ("Your Folks and My Folks" and "Shapes" borrowed from the 1953 Ford television special) which did not lend themselves to re-recording. Unfortunately, portions of this record, especially the first few minutes, are technically imperfect.

However, for those lucky people who were in the theatre that night it will bring back a once-in-a-lifetime memory, and for those who were not there, it will give at least some indication of why, on the evening of May 15, 1977, the two greatest musical comedy stars of the twentieth century proved finally and conclusively that there really is no business like show business. 

Anna Sosenko (Producer)

STAGED BY: Donald Saddler

NARRATED BY: Cyril Ritchard

Ethel Merman was the leading American musical theater performer of her generation, creating roles in 13 Broadway musicals between 1930 and 1959, and continuing to appear in shows occasionally through 1970. Her clarion voice and exact enunciation were perfect for an era when a stage performer was required to sing loud enough to be heard at the back of the theater without amplification. That made her a favorite of the leading songwriters of the day, and she introduced some of the most memorable songs of George Gershwin,Cole Porter, and Irving Berlin. Her Broadway stardom, at a time when the musical theater was a major source for American popular music, nationally afforded her opportunities in other areas of entertainment including personal appearances, records, movies, radio, and television. But her real home was on the Broadway stage, and that's where she spent the bulk of her time for 40 years.

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Singer/actress Mary Martin was, along with Ethel Merman, one of the two leading performers in stage musicals during the middle third of the 20th century. From the 1930s to the 1960s, Martin appeared on Broadway, in the West End, and on tour thousands of times in such massively successful shows as South Pacific and The Sound of Music. She also recorded cast albums for these shows that sold in the millions. Unlike Merman, who was known for her brassy, extroverted style, Martin was a warm, ingratiating performer. She was far more subtle than her friend and chief rival, and she was much more versatile. When Martin took over the starring role of Annie Oakley from Merman for the U.S. tour of Annie Get Your Gun, she took a distinctly different approach and enjoyed audience approval. It is hard to imagine Merman doing the same with such Martin roles as Peter Pan or the goddess Venus in One Touch of Venus. But then,Merman never showed much interest in stepping into a part previously created by another actress, while Martin never hesitated to do so. (A rare exception came late in the careers of both actresses, when they each appeared in Hello, Dolly!) Nor did Mermancare to leave New York, for the most part, while Martin worked extensively in London and on the road. And Martin's greater flexibility was shown in her enthusiasm for taking on straight plays in which she was asked to sing little or not at all.

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