The Body Beautiful - York Theatre Company
Product Details:
| Title: | The Body Beautiful |
| Composer: | Jerry Bock & Sheldon Harnick |
| Artists: | York Theatre Company: Mike McGowan, Capathia Jenkins, Laura Marie Duncan |
| Catalogue No: | OC6231 |
| Format: | CD |
| Price: | $34.99 |
Product Description:
The Body Beautiful opened at the Broadway in January 1958 and closed after eight weeks, leaving nary a trace. The competition was brisk — The Music Man, Jamaica, New Girl in Town, and West Side Story were all recent arrivals, with My Fair Lady still the monster hit in town — leaving the boxing-themed musical a mere contender. History tells us that this was the first collaboration of Jerry Bock (writing his second Broadway musical) and Sheldon Harnick (writing his first).
Broadway lore tells us that producers Bobby Griffith and Harold Prince, of the newly-opened West Side Story, found The Body Beautiful strong enough to invite the new team to write some songs on spec for their next show. Bock and Harnick did just that, with "Politics and Poker" instantly nabbing them the assignment; their score for Fiorello! ultimately earned them not only a Tony but a Pulitzer as well. All because Griffith and Prince were impressed by what they heard on opening night performance at The Body Beautiful.
And now we get to hear, more or less, what Griffith and Prince heard. The Body Beautiful has languished in the Samuel French catalogue for 50 years, virtually untouched and unperformed. The York Theatre Company gave it a go in their Musicals in Mufti series of staged readings. What was learned was that The Body Beautiful is, indeed, a good example of a weak musical comedy with no legs; but that the music and lyrics carried the promise of a new-style Broadway team. But the score is filled with delicious touches; to paraphrase Mrs. Lovett, and why not?, bright ideas just pop into their heads.
The Body Beautiful score is filled with delectably colorful images. Harnick has his oafish pugilists sing of their right cross, their left cross, and their Blue Cross; he has a trio of blonde golddiggers define "incompatible" as having to do with judging a man's income to determine how pattable he might be; and more of the same. The closer you listen, the more you get.
Tracklisting:
Overture
Where Are They?
The Body Beautiful
Fair Warning
Leave Well Enough Alone
Blonde Blues
Uh-Huh, Oh Yeah!
Hidden in My Heart
Nobility
All of These and More
The Body Beautiful (Reprise)
Summer Is
The Honeymoon is Over
Just My Luck
All of These and More (Reprise)
Art of Conversation
Gloria
A Relatively Simple Affair
Finale