![]() Ross then returns with a warm, sentimental rendition of “You’re Nearer” from the film version of Broadway’s Too Many Girls (a football musical). Thanks to broadcaster/ journalist David Alpern, we then see a clip of Maurice Chevalier ( et al) singing “Isn’t It Romantic?” from the 1932 film Love Me Tonight with Jeanette MacDonald. After avoiding the interview question for years, Hart later admitted this was his favorite. Granat performs “With a Song in My Heart.” It’s full and resonant, but not forced. Though the film Spring is Here was not a success, a second fine song came from it. ![]() (See The Boys From Syracuse.) Even my mother never understood his personality.” This Hart’s mom took care of Larry who would often wind up at her door after a drunken binge. He was also capable of upbeat romantic songs. Granat recites the latter lyric with feeling, then asks Hart whether his uncle in fact, was that man. “My Heart Stood Still,” “Thou Swell,” and “Spring is Here,” the title song from a pre-code musical film of the same name, came out of those years. The pair then tried their hands in Hollywood. He was also sensitive to Rodgers music (written first) placing accents and rhyme in the right place.” (Lyrics came first when Rodgers moved on to Hammerstein.) A writer who scribbled on cocktail napkins and receipts, Hart may have had instinctual talent.įrom 1925 to 1931 Rodgers and Hart had fifteen scores featured on Broadway. Hart was able to give voice to things that hadn’t been in lyrics up till then, and he did it in plainspeak. “He had wit and depth – glad to be unhappy is brilliant. Kleinbort places Larry Hart “up top” in the pantheon of lyric writers. When TV happened, it was the end of revues.” “I think the last successful Broadway revue was 1979’s Sugar Babies. “Well nigh impossible,” Kleinbort responds. Our host asks about the prospects of a revue today. Kleinbort points out that revues were prevalent. The rights have already been given away with an established piece.” Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen are examples of risks that paid off. Granat: “What about the choice between a revival or a new project?”ĭeRoy: “Investors make more money with a new project. We have to be receptive to new writers, it’s incredibly important.” A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder came to me like that though I’m not usually the first person they go to. Imagine they come to you with no hits, no track record. Granat: “Jamie, you’ve been a producer on many shows. (Richard Rodgers died of a heart attack in 1979.) (Rodgers would never be a salesman.) The show (which unexpectedly ran a year) and song propelled them to a joint career that produced 500 songs and 28 stage musicals before Hart’s untimely death in 1943. At this point the duo auditioned for a Theatre Guild benefit and, on the basis of “I’ll Take Manhattan,” were commissioned to mount a revue called The Garrick Gaities. Rodgers was so frustrated he accepted a job as a children’s underwear salesman. Through family connections, the song was picked up for a Broadway revue by Lew Fields (brother of lyricist Dorothy). ![]() “And step-and-touch-and-turn” he adds between lyrics. Steve Ross’s live rendition is utterly charming. Their first successful collaboration, “Any Old Place with You,” contained such immortal lines as I’ll go to hell for ya in Philadelphia… I’m gonna corner ya in California. In the closet and under five feet tall, Larry was insecure. He took his son to theater and vaudeville from the age of six. Hart’s father has been described as essentially a con man, but one who came up winning. Dick was well turned out, athletic and gregarious. He provided music for charity shows at an early age. Richard Rodgers came from an affluent, cultured, doctor’s family and started composing at nine. Today we celebrate Rodgers and Hart, from romance to wit, from melancholy to buoyant cheer.
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