PLATINUM Alexis Smith UNRELEASED OC Pre Broadway LP

$

100

PLATINUM

Original Broadway Cast Unreleased Preview LP

The Pre-Broadway engagement of the WILL HOLT, BRUCE VILANCH and GARY WILLIAM FRIEDMAN musical flop "PLATINUM" began on September 28th, 1978 at the Opera House at Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. (The production would open November 12th, 1978 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre in New York City and closed after only 33 performances.).

The musical starred ALEXIS SMITH, as an aging film star, and featured RICHARD COX, LISA MORDENTE, DAMITA JO FREEMAN, ROBIN GREAN, AVERY SOMMERS, STANLEY KAMEL and TONY SHULTZ ..... CREDITS: Book by WILL HOLT and BRUCE VILANCH (Vilanch, the former "Hollywood Squares" veteran who recently starred as "Edna Turnblad" in the Broadway production of "Hairspray") based on an original idea by WILL HOLT; Music by GARY WILLIAM FRIEDMAN ("The Me Nobody Knows"); Sets designed by DAVID HAYS; Costumes designed by BOB MACKIE; Choreographed and Directed by JOE LAYTON; Produced by GLADYS RACKMIL, FRITZ HOLT and BARRY M. BROWN.

TRACKS:

Overture

Back to the Beat / Nothing But

Sunset

Destiny

Disco Destiny

Movie Star Mansion

Platinum Dreams

Trials & Trubulations / I Like You

1945

Too Many Mirrors

Old Times, Good Times

Finale

Exit Music

VINYL = MINT-

PINK LABEL STATES: "ALEXIS SMITH IN PLATINUM THE ORIGINAL BROADWAY CAST" "ORCHESTRATIONS AND ARRANGEMENTS BY FRED THALER, JIMMY HASKETT, HAROLD WHEELER AND GARY WM. FRIEDMAN  MUSICAL DIRECTION BY FRED THALER".  THERE IS NO RECORD COMPANY OR CATALOG NUMBERS ON THE LABEL.

SINCE THIS WAS NEVER OFFICIALLY RELEASED, THERE IS NO SOLID PAPER COVER, JUST A PAPER SLEEVE WITH A COPY OF THE PLAYBILL FOR THE SHOW AT THE MARK HELLINGER THEATRE.  THERE IS A PHOTOCOPY OF THE REST OF THE PROGRAM INSIDE THE COVER.

Alexis Smith was born on June 8, 1921 and was originally named Gladys Smith in Penticton, B.C., Canada.  She became the second Canadian with the name (following Mary Pickford) to achieve New York City and Hollywood stardom. Later in life she would say she preferred New York, while her husband of 49 years, actor Craig Stevens, favored California. She was quite tall, standing at least 5'9", and to fit her, the long, stylish dresses that former Warners' star Kay Francis had worn were allotted to her.  After being noticed in a play, Smith was signed to a contract by Warner Brothers Studios. Her earliest film roles were uncredited bit parts and it took several years for her career to gain momentum, but her appearance in The Constant Nymph was well received and led to bigger parts. During the 1940s she appeared opposite some of the most popular male stars of the day, including Errol Flynn in Gentleman Jim (1942) and San Antonio (1945) (in which she sang a special version of the popular ballad "Some Sunday Morning"), Humphrey Bogart in The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947), Cary Grant in a sanitized, fictional version of Cole and Linda Porter's life in Night and Day (1946), and Bing Crosby in Here Comes the Groom (1951).  Some of Smith's other films include Rhapsody In Blue (1945), Of Human Bondage (1946), and The Young Philadelphians (1959).  Smith appeared on the cover of the May 3, 1971 issue of Time with the announcement that she would be starring in the Hal Prince's Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim's Follies. In 1972 she won the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance. She followed this with the 1973 all-star revival of The Women, the short-lived 1975 comedy Summer Brave, and the ill-fated 1978 musical Platinum, which drew decent notices only for her performance and quickly closed.  Smith was nominated for an Emmy Award for a guest appearance in the television sitcom Cheers in 1990.  Smith died in Los Angeles, California from brain cancer on the day after her 72nd birthday. She had no children and her husband was her only survivor.  Her final film, The Age of Innocence (1993), was released shortly after her death.  Rumors about her sexuality were prompted by lesbian author Rita Mae Brown's dedication of her book, Rubyfruit Jungle, to Smith.