NEXT ISSUE F R ID A Y 17 DEADLINE MONDAY 2 1 626-0656 M ECC A publications Box 627, S.F. CA 94101 THE BOYS ARE BACK . Donald and Maurice Chevalier. 1 and not in the band! .... They might have stayed in Hollywood by Gene Arcerl a few more years, but for one thing, .glancing through the trades one day, The true (tory behind the acenet they spotted a brief item in a column; of a show if often more incredible and "Whatever became of Rodgers and Hart? fascinating than die plot unfolding They took the next train east. Billy before the audience. Let's take the Rose hadn't forgotten them for one current hit revival of THE BOYS OP and he hired them for a gigantic new SYRACUSE. Reviewed u a bouncy, m usical he was producing called JUMBO. brassy musical love at the Eureka Its gala premiere took place on Novem­ lower-level theatre, the company ber 16, 1935. And oh, the lyrics of has moved to the SHOWCASE (form­ Hart'; "Wide awake 1 can see my most erly the Encore) lower level stage, fantastic dreams come true. " while rising to new heights. ("My Romance") and "Uttle Girl 1 first met up with the "BOYS" In Blue" caught the right mood of a New York, 1963. An Investor invited m m sh si rejected, lonely girl sitting in the my roommate Perry and I to see the rain. From then on like the circus revival of the Rodgers and Hart 1938 {parade from JUMBO th e ir career was music aL He wanted me to direct an almost unbroken march of one some of that Shubert Alley traffic to hit after another. Right after JUMBO Theatre Four, Off Broadway. There Rodgers and Hart created one of the was no musical on Broadway that most original m\«icals of the thirties sptring with the polish of this unpre­ "ON YOUR TOES". tentious and witty production. In "Glad To Be Unhappy", Larry We loved it and welcomed the dealt with the unique situation of Rodgers and Hart score. The house someone taking pleasure in their se ated 299, the reviews could have misery. Was it Larry's at that time? been written by an overpaid publicist The following spring they wrote and there was a great pizza parlor on EABES IN ARMS. How could one 9th avenue around the comer on West forget, "My Funny Valentine". SSth Street. Most of the show crowd Larry's love lyrics this tim e was to-a met there. The neighborhood was less-than-perfect physical specimen. sleasy enough to interest the slum- Was he, "the figure less than Greek"? mingest Manhattanite and tourist. I always liked "I WISH 1 WERE IN But before we get to the heart of the LOVE AGAIN" because it says b ei^ artichoke, the rise and fall of a one- in love is really worthwhile, despite time-hit-producer, let's go back to all the fighting that goes with it. 1919 and the boys who started to And of course, "WHERE OR WHEN", whole thing, how many times after a few too Richard Rodgers was writing songs many have you looked at the person with many different people. One next to you, ". we looked at thing was obvious he needed a steady each other in the same way then, lyric-writing partner. A mutual though I can't remember where or friend, as is often the case, knew a when. " "THE LADY IS A TRAMP", lyric writer who needed a composer. another gem, and all because the An introduction led to an engagement, lady leads a very ordinary life. Try marriage, seperation, reconciliation, the lyrics out and you'll see when I and until death did they part. meaiu And how many times have I They met on a Sunday afternoon. ALLAN JONES AND IRENE HERVEY from the sung "JOHNNIE ONE NOTE" at a Belting from the 119th Street subway film versoin in 1940 recital? "Babes" has quite a score. Richard Rodgers climbed the steps of They even did a musical for George Lorenz Hart's brownstone house. Hart M. Cohan, "I'd Rather Be Right" answered the door needing a shave, and dared to be different with their wearing tuxedo trousers, an imder- next, a fantasy, "I MARRIED AN shirt and a pair of bedroom slippers. ANGEL". "Spring Is Here" is one He was just about five feet tall, had of the unforgettable songs from that a swarthy complexion and appeared score. Again Lorenz Hart projected as a worldly middle-aged man of 23 through his words his lonliness; "No to sixteen year old Richard. desire, no ambition leads me, maybe At their first meeting Hart was as it's because nobody needs m e." impressed by Rodger's music and Even as a young man Hart drank Rodgers was by Hart's l^'rics. heavily and despite his great talent Larry and Dick thereafter lost no ne never enjoyed writing. It became time in writing a show for the Columbia increasingly difficult for him to apply University Varlsty Show. Columbia was himself to work. He would disappear an all male college and Larry slipped for weeks on end in the middle of into skirts often to appear as the lead­ writing a score, only to return as ing lady. The bright and bubbly mysteriously as he left. If you have world of Rodgers and Hart set them ever lived with someone like that, as apart from most writers of the mid­ I have, you can appreciate Rodger's twenties. Soon Dick and Larry gave in to position. Nevertheless, Hart was a the financial lure of Hollywood. kind and loving person. His growing Rodgers at this time was a father and personal problems were in all pro­ married and Larry was still playing bability responsible for the growing Solitäre. .maturity in his work. The theatre was their first love but The theatre may be a gay place to the depression forced them to take work but is hardly ever glamorous. this new celluloid mistress for awhile. This brings to mind something some­ Their first original film was "The Hot one once said, "I love you honey, but Heiress", which turned out a cold the show's closed." pauper. They had to write for the On their way to Atlantic City, to camera, they were told, instead of work on "I MARRIED AN ANGEL" singers. Nevertheless, one of their Dick and Larry first thought of the films, "Love Me Tonight", did well idea of "THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE at the box office. Thay may well Con't oil page 5 have been because of Jeanette Mac- •••••t••«•••«•••••tV*e*4«***<•••■•••••••«••••••••••••••••a tS**Si*«****!«*«*SS Flame G his slave Bob and Bella and Willis and Maxine and all the others must be happy they have Joan back and all her time again. Now PgRPbE PIEKbE that I'm free of Ffill St., I can say everything G anything at will. I may have been a cab driver Drag Queen, but I sure had my own scene. For any regrets in the past, I hope VtmJALK everyone forgives me for acting like by JoIm ItedgM an ass. I did my own thing. How do Anyway, It wasn't long until every high school; football team; boy's Can you believe it, "Get Dancing" you expect a cab driver to be a lady. took a big dip on the charts this It takes time. club; YMCA; and gymnasium sported an isometric rack. The easy way week to No. 15. The gay disco John Letmon used to drive a cab in scene only had it for 6 months before Liverpool. has always appealed to Americans. radio even picked it up. CRUISm IN MY TAXI Picked up Michael Landon at air­ The reality of Isometrics soon be­ Barry White's new single "What port last week, looks much nicer in came evident though. As a means Am 1 Going To Do With You" is Me and Oliver were talking at the of strengthening specific weak Hyatt Union Sq, cab stand when a person than drinking milk or on the doing O, K. for a new record but is old Bonanza series. areas in the muscles, they're fine. not yet making the charts because man walks by. I say he looks fam­ TTiey also toughen tendons, thereby iliar but I couldn't place him. He Lost another man to Ritch St., of its different beat. All the D. J. 's reducing "pulled muscles" and such stops G stares at tis, as soon as Oliver rather than his hotel room G a few in San Francisco think it will make injuries in sports. But they are not goes back to his cab, the man comes extra $$. I shouldn't talk so much to it. good body builders in terms of over G says your name is Bobby G my passengers. I stopped in at the Rendezvous you're from N. Y ., then I realize Jimmy Q ., can always do my face muscle size or shape, nor do they do the other night to take a good listen he knew me from Brooklyn Heights. for special functions if Joan won't. much for the heart or lungs, as they to the music and I was very im­ do not call upon the recuperative When I was married, I used to trick Tom of Desoto I always pick up pressed. "Tune", their D.J. sure with him once a week, when you powers of the body for stamina.