The Broadway
musical
On the Town
, with songs by
Leonard Bernstein
,
Betty Comden
, and
Adolph Green
, opened on December 28, 1944, and was greeted with the same enthusiasm that had met its predecessor,
Bernstein
's ballet
Fancy Free
.
had expanded upon his music and brought in lyricists
Comden
and
Green
to tell the story of three sailors on leave for a day in New York City.
also were in the cast, along with
Nancy Walker
Decca Records
, the pioneer of the original Broadway cast album, brought them into the recording studio over the course of 1945 to produce this three-disc, six-track album of selections from the score.
Mary Martin
, another Broadway star, but not one featured in
, was employed to sing two
ballads
that, in the show, were handled by
John Battles
! So, this was hardly a full-fledged recording of the score by the original performers, but rather an incomplete approximation. Excellent songs such as the risque
"Come Up to My Place"
and the wistful
"Some Other Time"
were missing, along with several of the major cast members. But what was included was terrific:
camping their way through
"I Get Carried Away,"
Walker
still managing to be somewhat risque with
"I Can Cook Too,"
and a chorus rendering the
"New York, New York"
theme in
"On the Town Opening."
~ William Ruhlmann