Ziegfeld (Recording)

Louise Gold starred as: Goldie (Ziegfeld’s secretary), and, Ed Gallagher, on the Original London Cast Recording of the flop Ziegfeld. It is a very limited edition LP of songs from the show, only 250 copies  were ever printed and it is not known how many of those are still in existence.

Catalogue number: (First Night Records LP) CAST 14  

Cast

Cast (Listed):

Florenz Ziegfeld -  Len Cariou

Singer in Nobody, A Struggling Writer, Mister Al Sheen - Geoffrey Hutchings

Goldie (Ziegfeld’s Secretary), Mister Ed Gallagher - Louise Gold

Anna Held - Fabienne Guyon

Lillian Lorraine (Mary Frances Brennan) - Aliki Georgiou

Billie Burke - Haydn Gwynne

Marilyn Miller - Amanda Rickard

  Uncredited (on album):

The Dolly Sisters - Jaynee and Michelle Jordan

Maitre d'/ Clergyman etc - Jonathan Owen

Gangster's moll - Susan Holland

Ensemble (Ziegfeld Girls, Male Chorus, Reporters, Gangsters etc):

Madeline Aveson, Nicola Bacon, Miranda Bass, Suzanne Bennett, Sonia Boddy, Karen Bruce, Terry Cavanagh, Jacey Collins, Lisa-Marie Danby, Anna David, Sarah Dyall, Marie Gallanghar, Emma Hendry, Stephanie Hicks, Sallie Jay, Hannah-Jane Johnson, Helen Kelly, Jill Marshall, Fiona McKenzie, Clare Monk, Karen Newsome, Gyanna Oladjins, Suzanne Parker, Sandy Phillips, Catherine Rees, Julie Shippam, Keely Ann Smith, David Ashley, Paul Dansbury, Jason di Mascio, Richard Gough, Angus Michael Todd, Jon Smart, and Jeremy Woolston.

 

Production Team

 Presented by - Harold Fielding

Book by - Ned Sherrin and Alistair Beaton

Score devised by - Michael Reed

Music and Lyrics by - Irving Berlin, Noel Coward, George Gershwin, Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern, Leslie Stuart, and others

Additional Lyrics by - Ned Sherrin and Alistair Beaton

Dance Music - Marvin Laird

Orchestrations - Larry Wilcox

Musical Director - Paul Bateman

Recording conducted by - Paul Bateman

Produced for Record by - Michael Reed and John Craig

Conceived and Directed by - Joe Layton

 

Track Listing

Side One

1. Overture -Orchestra (Conducted by Paul Bateman)

2. A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody (By Irving Berlin) - Ziegfeld and Male Chorus (Len Cariou and Male Chorus)

3. I Wonder What’s The Matter With My Eyes - Anna Held (Fabienne Guyon)

4. Who?/It Had To Be You - Anna Held and Ziegfeld (Fabienne Guyon and Len Cariou)

5. How You Gonna Keep ‘Em Down On The Farm After They’ve Seen Paree? - Ziegfeld and Company (Len Cariou and Company)

6. Nobody - Solo Singer (Geoffrey Hutchings)

7. Shine On Harvest Moon - Lillian (Aliki Georgiou)

8. My Man - Anna Held (Fabienne Guyon)

9. Half Caste Woman - Lillian Lorraine (Aliki Georgiou)

10. Finale Act 1 - Billie, Ziegfeld, Clergyman, and, Marilyn (Haydn Gwynne, Len Cariou, Jonathan Owen, and, Amanda Rickard)

 

Side Two

11. Entr’acte - Orchestra (conducted by Paul Bateman)

12. A Girl For Each Month Of The Year - Ziegfeld, A Struggling Writer, and, Goldie (Len Cariou, Geoffrey Hutchings, and, Louise Gold)

13. Mister Gallagher And Mister Sheen (by Ed Gallagher and Al Sheen) - Mister Al Sheen and Mister Ed Gallagher (Geoffrey Hutchings and Louise Gold)

14. More Than You Know - Billie (Haydn Gwynne)

15. Delightful To Be Married - Anna Held (Fabienne Guyon)

16. When You Want ‘Em - Ziegfeld and Girls (Len Cariou and Female Chorus)

17. He Didn’t Wanna - Ziegfeld and Chorus (Len Cariou and Chorus)

18. Hot And Bothered - Orchestra (Conducted by Paul Bateman)

19. I’m Always Chasing Rainbows - Ziegfeld (Len Cariou)

20. Make Believe (by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II) - Ziegfeld and Girls (Len Cariou and Female Chorus)

21. (I’ll Build A) Stairway To Paradise - The Company (The Company)

 

 

All the performers on this album appeared in the stage production of Ziegfeld, before the revamp.

 The song Mister Gallagher And Mister Sheen was written by Ed Gallagher and Al Sheen for the Ziegfeld Follies of 1922. As they recorded it, they also presumably introduced it themselves in the show. The lyrics were later rewritten by Johnny Mercer for Bing Crosby as Mister Crosby And Mister Mercer, a number about Swing and Jazz, which of course was sung on radio by Bing Crosby and Johnny Mercer. On this recording Geoffrey Hutchings and Louise Gold do the honours while attempting to portray Ed Gallagher and Al Sheen.

Louise Gold had previously been in another Ned Sherrin and Alistair Beaton concoction Metropolitan Mikado , and highlights from that featured in Ratepayers' Iolanthe & Metropolitan Mikado

Geoffrey Hutchings went on to appear in the film Topsy Turvy.

Len Cariou’s recording credits include The History Of The Musical

Alistair Beaton also wrote material for Spitting Image, he went on to provide additional material for a production The Gondoliers, featuring Louise Gold (she sang some of his additional material)

Michael Reed also conducted Sondheim at The Barbican, and played the piano for A Love Letter To Dan, his recording credits include Great Duets From The Musicals, The Great Musicals - Wonderful Tales, The Great Musicals – Glamour And Majesty, and, The Great Musicals – Laughter And Tears.

Ned Sherrin was also involved with: Chicago & Company, Broadway To Brighton, Ned Sherrin’s Review Of Revue, The Side By Side By Sondheim 25th Anniversary Gala, and, Side By Side By Sondheim 30th Anniversary Gala. He may also have been involved with Will-Aid and Comedy Tonight.

Ned Sherrin, Paul Batement and Louise Gold were also involved with: Kids At Heart, A Time To Start Living, and Noel/Cole: Let’s Do It, the latter two feature on the Noel/Cole: Let’s Do It (recording)

Paul Bateman’s conducting talents can also be found on the album The Greatest Musicals of the 20th Century.

After Ned Sherrin’s death The Company Of Mary Poppins’s late night FUNdraising special was dedicated to him.

 

Review

by Emma Shane

As a limited edition collectors LP I am not sure this album really works. To my mind the material on it would in many ways be rather more appropriate to a cheap compilation CD. In fact I for one would really love to see this album put out on CD, because CD’s have the advantage of it being easy to play just the tracks one particularly wants to hear again and again. There are a number of very good performances on this album. But there are all too few in the truly outstanding category. That said, there are some performances on this album which are certainly well worth hearing, and would be worth owning (but whether you think they are worth shelling out on the limited edition collectors LP is another matter). Although many of the performances on this album are more than passably good, there are three, all on Side Two, which to my mind stand out sufficiently to want to be heard several times they are:  More Than You Know, A Girl For Each Month Of The Year, and, Mister Gallagher And Mister Sheen.

More Than You Know gives Haydn Gwynne a rare opportunity to exercise her musical talents with a beautiful song, and like the kind of classy performer she is, she does it justice. A Girl For Each Month Of The Year is made quite hilarious by numerous additional lyrics, and the brilliant comedy performances of those experienced versatile comedy singers Geoffrey Hutchings and Louise Gold. Len Cariou sings his part quite straightforwardly, but then he is singing the original lyric. The song gets rather more amusing when Geoffrey Hutchings comes in with one of the additional verses. But the piece reaches its comedy peak with a second additional verse, sung by the remarkable Louise Gold, who really does know just how to do a piece like this so that it will work, she does after all have considerable experience at this sort of thing. My favourite, however, and a track which I really think deserves wider recognition, is Mister Gallagher And Mister Sheen, again performed marvellously by the brilliant Geoffrey Hutchings and Louise Gold. They make a wonderful job of the duet, which is originally for two men, but in a comedy situation anything goes, including having it sung by a man and a woman and anyway Louise Gold does it wonderfully.

All in all, although this album has many passable numbers and a few outstanding pieces, I would not recommend it to a general collector of show recordings, because for many people, although it is enjoyable to hear, it probably won’t be worth the price of a collectors item. If however, you collect unusual forgotten show gems, or you are a big fan of either: Len Cariou, Geoffrey Hutchings, Louise Gold, Fabienne Guyon, Aliki Georgiou, or, Haydn Gwynne; then it is worth considering.

 

 

Links about Ziegfeld (Recording)

 

Musical Heaven page for the album: http://www.musicalheaven.com/z/ziegfeld.shtml  - I would not recommend this page, it contains far too many irritating advertisements.

Forgotten Scores: http://www.jorgeplace.com/Cast_ForgottenScores_page2.htm  - Lists various forgotten score cast albums, including this one, but not sure how accurate the information is.

Cast Album.org database’s entry for this album: http://www.castalbums.org/recordings/3390

 

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