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Oscar Hammerstein II isn’t the only one we must thank for starting Stephen Sondheim on the musical theater path. Let’s remember Lemuel Ayers who was born on Jan. 22nd 104 years ago. Alas, little more than forty years later, he died on Aug. 14, 1955. And yet, how much he’d accomplished in his short lifetime! […]

Sid Ramin’s birthday is apparently approaching – but when? Depending on what you read, the orchestrator might be 100 on January 22nd, as Wikipedia claims. Or is Ramin a mere ninety-five, as says the website for Columbia University where many of Ramin’s papers are stored? There’s a third possibility which I’m most inclined to believe […]

I’ve always wondered what got her on Richard M. Nixon’s famous Enemies List. In fact, some years back when I interviewed Carol Channing for the Theatre on Film and Tape Archives at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, I even began the taping by mentioning the condemnation. For a while, Ms. Channing […]

Once again, I wish that the Tonys would give an award for Best Song. It really should, you know. Note that The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has dispensed an annual Oscar for Best Song since 1934. You’d think that the Tonys, which has a Best Musical category – which the Oscars don’t […]

Ever since moving to New York, I’ve more often than not sauntered into Times Square on New Year’s Eve to watch the fabled ball drop. So this past Monday night, while en route to my destination, I passed by the locale where the 1962 TV special JULIE AND CAROL AT CARNEGIE HALL was taped. (That’s […]