Programme Notes
Cary Grant once joked that his filmography was missing a ‘splashy technicolour musical’. There is certainly material for one in the Archie Leach story. Poor boy from Bristol, England, sails into New York. There he sings (sometimes) and dances (okay, stilt-walks) his way to Hollywood stardom under a new name. Tonight’s musical programme provides a soundtrack for that journey.
42nd Street (1933) Words: Al Dubin Music Harry Warren
The former A. Leach knew the street where the ‘underworld can meet the elite’ very well. Archie first crossed the Atlantic with the Pender Troupe in July 1920. During his nine months at the New York Hippodrome, the sixteen-year-old held his own in the (metaphorical) chorus line. As for those ‘Sexy ladies from the Eighties/Who are indiscreet’ – he was never going to say. Songwriters Harry Warren and Al Dubin were fellow Broadway/vaudeville veterans, who also moved to Hollywood when silent film actors began to speak and sing.
More on the song here.
Lydia the Tattooed Lady (1939) Words: Yip Harburg Music Harold Arlen
1938 was a busy year for Harold and Yip. First, that show about the rainbow for the Kansas kid. Then a bouncy one for their old vaudeville pals, The Marx Brothers. Lydia uses the Gilbert & Sullivan template: jaunty tempo, rapid rhythmic word play and outrageous rhymes, including Lydia/encyclopaedia, Amazon/pajamas on, lasso/Picasso.
The Marx Brothers At The Circus (1933) flopped but Lydia soon bounced back. The story of tattooed lady features in another Cary/Kate collaboration: The Philadelphia Story (1940). This time it is squawked by Hepburn’s on-screen sister, child star Virginia Weidler.
Lydia was written for Grouncho. He even gets a shout-out: the Captain Spalding exploring the Amazon is one of his screen characters. But Kermit croaks it to Miss Piggy and you could imagine Cary Grant – in riotous Sylvia Scarlet music hall mode – as another credible alternative. You will hear a shout out to four of Grant’s leading ladies featured in this year’s programme.
More Lydia (with a glossary of those historical wacky references) here.
I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, Baby (1928) Words: Dorothy Fields Music: Jimmy McHugh
The song’s origin story is a screwball comedy in itself. Things to note while watching the celebrated leopard serenade.
- I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, Baby was already ten years old and an established singalong standard. Like The Beatles ‘She Loves You’, it opens with the hook – instantly tempting the listener to join in.
- Playful self-parody is present in the duet as both leads were known for their ‘strange’ voices. Hepburn’s combined New England poshness with a ‘raspy deepness’. Grant’s native Bristolian had disappeared somewhere across the Atlantic.
- Major stars generally weren’t shown doing things badly and the scene unsettled early audiences: They can’t sing! Of course both leads were in on the joke but there were industry whispers that Hepburn was ‘box office poison’.
- Lesley Chow calls it ‘a love song sung under duress’. Everything is slightly off key but the would-be lovers battle on, determined to somehow harmonise against the odds.
More on the colourful story behind the song here.
Begin The Beguine/Night and Day Words & Music: Cole Porter
The ‘everyone wants to be Cary Grant’ rule applied to songwriters, who often liked working with film stars (Berlin/Astaire etc). Given casting control over his biopic, Cole Porter was asked who he wanted for the lead. According to Grant’s biographer, Marc Eliot, “the small, gnomish, physically impaired, and owl eyed composer…replied without hesitation “Why, Cary Grant, of course.”
So Cary plays the ‘gnomish’ Cole Night and Day (1946). Bonkers – especially given there were career threatening rumours swirling about both men – but Grant pulls it off. He doesn’t sing either of these timeless standards but he does embody the world they evoke, a place where down by the shore an orchestra’s playing/And even the palms seem to be swaying.
More on Cary’s role in the film and general on-screen singing here.
Kieran McGovern is the author of Love by Design (Macmillan) and many adaptations, including Washington Square (OUP) and Jaws (Penguin). He writes Song Stories – Tales Behind the Tunes.
Keep It Vocal
Anya Szreter, a multi-talented musician, brings years of experience as a choir director, opera singer, pianist, and music teacher. Having sung operatic leads and taught music at all levels, she now directs choirs in Bristol. Since 2018, she has established and leads three choirs – Nightingale Valley Community Choir, The Redcliffe Singers, and the auditioned Arnos Vocale – all performing regularly. Her passion for vocal technique ensures a joyful and enriching experience for singers, fostering a vibrant musical community. To join and for more information visit: www.keepitvocal.com.