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AMERICA APPLAUDS: AN EVENING FOR RICHARD RODGERS (TV)

Summary

This star-studded special, set in a New York television studio, pays tribute to composer Richard Rodgers as he celebrates his silver anniversary in show business. Playwright Russel Crouse begins with a brief mention of the two lyricists with whom Rodgers has been most linked, Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II, after which the entire assembly sings "It's a Grand Night for Singing." A special section is sung as a quartet by Metropolitan Opera perennials Hugh Thompson, Charles Kullman, John Brownlee, and Brian Sullivan. Next, host John Daly introduces three notables who have chosen Rodgers songs for three singers. Theresa Helburn of the Theatre Guild explains that she has selected "Bewitched" for Vivienne Segal to perform, and the performance follows. Next, Celeste Holm's rendition of "This Can't Be Love" is introduced by producer Leland Hayward, and Alfred Drake's performance of "People Will Say We're in Love" is set up by Metropolitan Opera impresario Rudolph Bing. Following this trio of songs, Vera Zorina and company dance a composition called "Rodgers in Three-Quarter Time," choreographed by Valerie Bettis, and Patrice Munsel and the female chorus sing "What's the Use of Wondering?" from "Carousel." Celeste Holm then introduces a man who has, in her words, "sung more tunes by Richard Rodgers than you can shake a stick at" -- Bing Crosby. Participating by audio hook-up from California, Crosby sings "Easy to Remember" with piano accompaniment by Buddy Cole. After Crosby's performance, author Edith Meiser recalls the early Theatre Guild performance of "The Garrick Gaieties" and introduces three young couples to perform numbers from the show. Jane Harvey and Bob Kennedy sing "Mountain Greenery," Hal Hackett and Margot Moser croon "Sentimental Me," and Biff McGuire and Iva Withers perform "Manhattan." John Daly picks up the program by introducing a non-singing quartet (Russel Crouse, Howard Lindsay, Deems Taylor, and Warren Karo) to join a singing quartet (Hugh Thompson, Charles Kullman, John Brownlee, and Brian Sullivan) in performing "There Is Nothing Like a Dame." Next, Valerie Bettis and company dance to Bettis's choreography of "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue," after which Moss Hart (0:42:53) introduces soprano Dorothy Maynor's rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone." The evening culminates as Mary Martin, in her television debut, presents Rodgers with a crystal bowl and expresses the love of all present for the composer. The two reminisce happily about the evening on which Martin first sang "A Wonderful Guy," and she reprises that performance with Rodgers on piano. Alfred Drake rounds out the festivities with a rendition of "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin,'" which is cut short because of time constraints. Includes commercials. (This program contains minor technical problems. This represents the best copy of this program currently available to the Museum.)

Details

  • NETWORK: NBC
  • DATE: March 4, 1951 Sunday 9:00 PM
  • RUNNING TIME: 0:34:01
  • COLOR/B&W: B&W
  • CATALOG ID: T:67760
  • GENRE: Music
  • SUBJECT HEADING: Composers; Music, popular (songs, etc.)
  • SERIES RUN: NBC - TV, 1951
  • COMMERCIALS:
    • TV - Commercials - Red Cross Shoes
    • TV - Promos - "Philco Television Playhouse: No Medals on Pop"

CREDITS

  • Henry Souvaine … Producer
  • James S. Pollak … Production (Misc.), Production Coordinator
  • Leo Hurwitz … Director
  • Kirk Browning … Direction (Misc.), Assistant Director
  • Orland Tamburri … Direction (Misc.), Technical Director
  • B.G. Shevelove (See also: Burt Shevelove) … Direction (Misc.), Staged by
  • Max Wilk … Writer
  • Richard Rodgers … Composer
  • Oscar Hammerstein II … Lyricist
  • Lorenz Hart … Lyricist
  • Valerie Bettis … Choreographer
  • Max Meth … Music (Misc. Credits), Musical Director
  • Crane Calder … Music (Misc. Credits), Choral Director
  • John Daly … Host
  • Valerie Bettis … Performer, Dancer
  • John Brownlee … Performer, Singer
  • Buddy Cole … Performer, Instrumentalist, Pianist
  • Bing Crosby … Performer, Singer
  • Russel Crouse … Performer, Singer
  • Alfred Drake … Performer, Singer
  • Stan Freeman … Performer, Instrumentalist, Pianist
  • Hal Hackett … Performer, Singer
  • Jane Harvey … Performer, Singer
  • Celeste Holm … Performer, Singer
  • Warren Karo … Performer, Singer
  • Bob Kennedy … Performer, Singer
  • Charles Kullman … Performer, Singer
  • Howard Lindsay … Performer, Singer
  • Mary Martin … Performer, Singer
  • Dorothy Maynor … Performer, Singer
  • Biff McGuire (See also: William Biff McGuire) … Performer, Singer
  • Margot Moser … Performer, Singer
  • Patrice Munsel … Performer, Singer
  • Richard Rodgers … Performer, Instrumentalist, Pianist
  • Vivienne Segal … Performer, Singer
  • Brian Sullivan … Performer, Singer
  • Deems Taylor … Performer, Singer
  • Hugh Thompson … Performer, Singer
  • Iva Withers … Performer, Singer
  • Vera Zorina … Performer, Dancer
  • Rudolph Bing
  • Moss Hart
  • Leland Hayward
  • Theresa Helburn
  • Edith Meiser