SCENE STEALERS: THE WOMEN
Liner Notes
Over
a decade before she entered our collective "Memory" as the
Tony-winning Grizabella in Cats, Betty Buckley was already stopping shows.
As Martha Jefferson in 1776, Buckley wowed audiences as she wrapped her beautiful,
powerful tones around "He Plays the Violin." Buckley is just one
of the multi-talented scene stealers The Great White Way has produced — those
actors who inhabit a character and a song so completely and with such originality
that it's hard to imagine anyone else playing that role. Twelve such scene
stealers are featured on this new Masterworks Broadway/Playbill Records release, "Scene
Stealers: The Women," all forever a part of Broadway history.
Few boasted a voice like the late Susan Johnson, who created the role of
tough-talking waitress Cleo in The Most Happy Fella. It was one that could
be as big and
brassy as any of her counterparts, yet it also throbbed with emotion and
warmth, and all of those elements can be heard in her version of "Ooh,
My Feet."
While it's often hard to distinguish one pop singer from another, the distinctive
sound of Broadway performers has always been a trademark: No one would ever
misidentify Ethel Merman's trumpeting tones, and the late Nell Carter was
also blessed with a sound uniquely her own. Just listen to the Tony winner's
infectious "Get
Some Trash for Your Cash" from Ain't Misbehavin'.
Linda Hopkins appeared in just four Broadway musicals, but she was Tony-nominated
for two of them: Black and Blue and Inner City. Hopkins won the coveted award
for her performance in the latter, and her soulful sounds on "Deep in
the Night" pierce the heart with a laserlike intensity.
D'Jamin Bartlett may have only been part of one hit musical, but her performance
as A Little Night Music's Petra, the passionate maid who dreams of more as
she finally realizes she will marry "The Miller's Son," was enough
to endear her to fans for years to come.
Jane Connell may not have been blessed with operatic pipes, but she was certainly
blessed with unbeatable comic timing. In fact, it's hard to imagine anyone
else wringing more laughter out of Mame's "Gooch's Song."
It's also hard to imagine a time when the lush tones of Barbra Streisand
were not part of the fabric of our musical history, but in 1962 audiences
were getting
their first taste of her breathtaking sounds in I Can Get it for You Wholesale.
Streisand's performance of "Miss Marmelstein" is the stuff of legend,
and that character role led to her starring role in Funny Girl. From there
Streisand went West to conquer Hollywood and the music industry, but Broadway
had her first.
Few could have stolen a show from an orphan and her trusty dog, but the late
Dorothy Loudon did just that in Annie. In fact, there was no stopping Loudon
when she let loose as the deliciously evil Miss Hannigan, explaining just
why she didn't relish "Little Girls."
Debra Monk had already won a Tony Award when she was cast as Shelby Stevens
in Kander and Ebb's Steel Pier, but few expected the show-stopping performance
she would give singing the bawdy "Everybody's Girl."
It was a rarely heard Irving Berlin song, "Mr. Monotony," that
helped Debbie Shapiro (Gravitte) win her Tony Award in Jerome Robbins' Broadway.
Standing
centerstage, Gravitte delivered a dynamic version of the Berlin ballad with
her crystal-clear alto and instantly became a Broadway favorite.
The revival of Chicago has been knocking 'em dead for a decade, but the original
production also delighted audiences who thrilled to the charms of Chita Rivera
and Gwen Verdon as well as Mary McCarty, who rose to the occasion eight times
a week belting out the suggestive "When You're Good to Mama [Mama's
Good to You]."
She had already played Fantine in Les Misérables, but it was her dual
roles in City of Angels — and her comical and belty rendition of "You
Can Always Count on Me" — that brought Randy Graff to the attention
of theatergoers and a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.
Still wondering what makes a Broadway scene stealer? Just listen to these 12
tracks, and you'll have your answer.
Andrew Gans, Senior Editor
PLAYBILL
January 22, 2007