Born On This Day- April 8th... Fred Ebb

"One thing I know, & I've always known is I am my own best friend"
Chicago (1977)


You readers know by now that I have a passion for the lyrics that go with the music. Fred Ebb was a real master of the the musical theatre & the popular song. His work has had a huge influence on me & I had the privilege of performing his songs when I played Herr Shultz in Cabaret in Seattle in 1990. His lyrics have touched me, entertained & amazed me for over 5 decades.

He is dead now, bu his last show on Broadway opened after he was gone - The Scottsboro Boys... now that is prolific! As a writer, lyricist, composer & director, Fred Ebb made incalculable contributions to the theatre & popular song. Ebb is a Tony, Grammy, Emmy, Olivier & Kennedy Center Honors Lifetime Achievement Award winner. Ebb's first professional songwriting assignment came in 1953 when he was hired by Columbia Records to write a song for Judy Garland called Heartbroken. Ebb was introduced to composer John Kander in 1964 by music publisher Tommy Valando & they became one of the most legendary songwriting teams in American Theatre history. Their first successful collaboration was the song My Coloring Book recorded by Barbra Streisand.


Their second theatrical collaboration, Flora, the Red Menace, created a star out of Liza Minnelli in her Tony Award winning Broadway debut. In 1966, Cabaret, opened & received 7 Tony Awards including Best Musical & Best Score. A 1972 movie version of Cabaret starring Liza Minnelli was nominated for 10 Academy Awards & won 8, & was nominated for 9 Golden Globe Awards & won 3 including Best Picture Musical or Comedy. The same year, the songwriting team wrote a number of songs for Minnelli's television special Liza With a Z, directed by Bob Fosse which received an Emmy Award. In 1975, the pair wrote the Broadway musical Chicago, directed by Bob Fosse & starring Gwen Verdon, Chita Rivera & Jerry Orbach.


That musical was successfully revived 20 years later at City Center ENCORES! & subsequently transferred to Broadway where it is currently the longest running revival in Broadway history. In 1977, the team collaborated with Martin Scorsese on the movie New York, New York; the title song was introduced by Liza Minnelli & later recorded by Frank Sinatra, becoming the unofficial theme song of New York City. The Minnelli Broadway vehicle The Act also opened that year. After a 4 year absence, Ebb & Kander returned with Woman of the Year (1981), The Rink (1984), Kiss of the Spiderwoman (1985) & Steel Pier (1997). The 2002 feature film Chicago was nominated for 13 Academy Awards & won 6, including Best Picture & was nominated for 8 Golden Globe Awards & won 3, including Best Picture, Musical or Comedy.


2 of his "flops" Zorba (1968) & 70 Girls 70 (1971) are 2 of my favorite scores.


For most of his professional life, Ebb lived & worked in an apartment overlooking New York's Central Park. It had a terrific view. His apartment was decorated with theatre memorabilia & German Expressionist paintings & drawings, & he collected record albums as a hobby. Ebb died on September 11, 2004.

Its good, isn't it?

Grand, isn't it?

Great, isn't it?

Swell, isn't it?

Fun, isn't it?

Nowadays

There's men, everywhere

Jazz, everywhere

Booze, everywhere

Life, everywhere

Joy, everywhere

Nowadays

You can like the life you're living

You can live the life you like

You can even marry Harry

But mess around with Ike

& that's good, isn't it?

Grand, isn't it?

Great, isn't it?

Swell, isn't it?

Fun, isn't it?

But nothing stays

In 50 years or so

It's gonna change, you know

But, oh, it's heaven

Nowadays

Isn't This Better?

Thinking of Kander & Ebb’s songs this morning, because that is what I do, arise very early in the morning, have coffee & consider the great songwriting teams, I wanted to dig deep for a Kander & Ebb song that I held in high regard, but that readers might not know. There are platinum tunes from even their biggest flops, I can name so many. But, were they ever involved in any project as stinky as Funny Lady, the totally unnecessary 1975 film sequel to Funny Girl. This mess is a highly fictionalized account of the later life & career of comedienne Fanny Brice & her marriage to songwriter/empresario- Billy Rose. The film does feature a few well staged musical numbers & a fair share of absurd production numbers, but several top-notch songs. I always have been drawn to this torchy tune. I would like to do it in my act, in a single pool of light, in a tux with the tie undone:

I loved the man

Truly I did

When he would touch me

I’d act like a love-hungry kid

Isn't this better?

Somebody nice somebody new

Someone who lets me react as I normally do

Isn't this better?

Better

Passion is fine but passion burns fast

Passions design seems never to last

Better a match

Better a blend

Who needs a lover?

I need a friend

Now I am calm save & serene

Heartache & hurt

Are no longer a part of the scene

Isn't this better

The way it should be?

Better for him

Much better for him

& also much better for me

Kander/Ebb

1975

Born On This Day- March 18th... John Kander

The celebrated songwriting team of Kander & Ebb were working on the musical The Scottsboro Boys when Ebb died in 2004 of a heart attack. The Scottsboro Boys tells the true story of 9 young black men falsely accused of rape in 1931. It opend on Broadway in 2010 to strong reviews & weak box office. Today is the birthday of the musical half of the team- John Kander.



From The Act to Zorba, for 5 decades, composer John Kander & lyricist Fred Ebb have been Broadway's paramount songwriting team, the longest running music/lyrics partnership in Broadway musical history. They've given the world some of the great creations of the American Musical Stage. Their scores have a breathtaking ability to capture the flavor of a specific time & place, with music brimming with audacity & brilliant, droll, penetrating lyrics. The team has taken on serious, challenging subjects: Nazism, abortion, murder, capital punishment, prison torture, greed, corruption, with originality & stunning talent. Kander & Ebb combine razzle dazzle with a political conscience. On John Kander’s award shelf sit Tonys, Oscars, Emmys, Grammys & Songwriters Hall of Fame Awards. They've written for the great musical performers of our day: Lauren Bacall, Joel Grey, Liza, Stephen Rutledge, Gwen Verdon, Frank Sinatra, Robert Goulet, Chita Rivera, & Barbra Streisand.


In 1965, their 1st produced show-Flora, the Red Menace introduced Liza Minnelli to Broadway & a young singer Barbra Streisand had hits with 2 of their songs- My Coloring Book & I Don’t Care Much, & their careers were launched. 22 shows later & they are still at it, even with ½ the team deceased. Here are the John Kander contributions to Musical Theatre:


• A Family Affair (1962) - lyrics by William Goldman
• Flora the Red Menace (1965)
• Cabaret (1966)
• Go Fly a Kite (1966) - music and lyrics also by Walter Marks
• The Happy Time (1968)
• Zorba (1968)
• 70, Girls, 70 (1971)
• Chicago (1976)
• The Act (1978)
• Woman of the Year (1981)
• The Rink (1984)
• & The World Goes 'Round (1991)
• Kiss of the Spider Woman (1992)
• Steel Pier (1997)
• Fosse (1999)
• Over & Over (1999)
• The Visit (2001)
• Curtains (2006) - additional lyrics by Rupert Holmes
• All About Us (2007 revision of Over & Over)
• The Scottsboro Boys (2010)

Chicago remains one of my favorite musicals & in high school, I adored the score to their not so successful- 70, Girls, 70s, including this tune:



In 2006, at 79 years old, John Kander bravely came out of the closet. He said he had waited so long for professional reasons. I agree, because when choosing to go to a Broadway musical, audiences have often been known to bypass shows written by homosexuals.

Born On This Day- March 18th... Songwriter John Kander

The celebrated songwriting team of Kander & Ebb were working on the musical The Scottsboro Boys when Ebb died in 2004 of a heart attack. The Scottsboro Boys tells the true story of 9 young black men falsely accused of rape in 1931. It opend on Broadway last season to strong reviews & weak box office. Today is the birthday of the musical half of the team- John Kander.



From The Act to Zorba, for 5 decades, composer John Kander & lyricist Fred Ebb have been Broadway's paramount songwriting team, the longest running music/lyrics partnership in Broadway musical history. They've given the world some of the great creations of the American Musical Stage. Their scores have a breathtaking ability to capture the flavor of a specific time & place, with music brimming with audacity & brilliant, droll, penetrating lyrics. The team has taken on serious, challenging subject: Nazism, abortion, murder, capital punishment, prison torture, greed, corruption, with originality & stunning talent. Kander & Ebb combine razzle dazzle with a political conscience. On John Kander’s award shelf sit Tonys, Oscars, Emmys, Grammys & Songwriters Hall of Fame Awards. They've written for the great musical performers of our day: Lauren Bacall, Joel Grey, Gwen Verdon, Frank Sinatra, Robert Goulet, Chita Rivera, & Barbra Streisand.


In 1965, their 1st produced show-Flora, the Red Menace introduced Liza Minnelli to Broadway & a young singer Barbra Streisand had hits with 2 of their songs- My Coloring Book & I Don’t Care Much, & their careers were launched. 22 shows later & they are still at it, even with ½ the team deceased. Her are the John Kander contributions to Musical Theatre:


• A Family Affair (1962) - lyrics by William Goldman
• Flora the Red Menace (1965)
• Cabaret (1966)
• Go Fly a Kite (1966) - music and lyrics also by Walter Marks
• The Happy Time (1968)
• Zorba (1968)
• 70, Girls, 70 (1971)
• Chicago (1976)
• The Act (1978)
• Woman of the Year (1981)
• The Rink (1984)
• & The World Goes 'Round (1991)
• Kiss of the Spider Woman (1992)
• Steel Pier (1997)
• Fosse (1999)
• Over & Over (1999)
• The Visit (2001)
• Curtains (2006) - additional lyrics by Rupert Holmes
• All About Us (2007 revision of Over & Over)
• The Scottsboro Boys (2010)

Chicago remains one of my favorite musicals & in high school, I adored the score to their not so successful- 70, Girls, 70s, including this tune:



In 2006, at 79 years old, John Kander bravely came out of the closet. He said he had waited so long for professional reasons. I agree, because when choosing to go to a Broadway musical, audiences have often been known to bypass shows written by homosexuals.