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Say it With Music

We are known as The Rodgers & Hammerstein Theatre Library - but don't let our name fool you. We're not a library and we license musicals by many writers besides Rodgers & Hammerstein. In fact, we license over 70 musicals by a collection of over 100 writers. These composers, lyricists and librettists are the best and brightest from the earliest days of Broadway right through to today.

Among the impressive talents we represent is Irving Berlin. As Jerome Kern once remarked, "Irving Berlin has no place in American Music. He is American Music." Indeed, Irving Berlin has been called "Songwriter of the Century." It was appropriate therefore at the close of the century he dominated that we made availabilty of AS THOUSANDS CHEER, music and lyrics by Irving Berlin, sketches by Moss Hart; and THE MELODY LINGERS ON, music and lyrics by Irving Berlin and based on the biography "Irving Berlin: A Daughter's Memoir" by Mary Ellin Barrett (see NEWS for Our Theatre Library Customers; Summer 1999).

Recently we had an opportunity to see a portion of THE MELODY LINGERS ON performed in Killimgton, VT at the New England Theatre Conference Publisher's Showcase. Ten students from Newton North H.S. in Newton, MA were selected to peform a 30-minute excerpt at the Conference. With just eight rehearsals under their belts, they way to Vermont and gave an astounding performance.

They conveyed with clarity and appropriate emotion the story of Berlin's life - his humble beginnings, his early professional success, his personal tragedies and his courtship of the woman who would be his wife for 62 years. But, it was their performance directed by NETC Managing Director Clinton Campbell, displayed wonderful voices and were adept at using them to sell a song. But it was their ability to enunciate lyrics with crystal clarity in solo and more significantly, group numbers, which was truly impressive. And the audience (full of students from all over New England) responded to every witty lyric and lovely turn of phrase. Why? Because they could understand what was being sung.

When Irving Belin agreed to write the songs for ANNIE GET YOUR GUN following the death of orginal composer Jerome Kern, he asked who was to be the star. On learning it was Ethel Merman he responded, "Well, I'd better make the lyrics good because they'll be heard in the last row of the balcony." Of course he didn't make them good. He made them great!

Good diction is an essential skill for performers on the stage but good diction in song is vital. An important training ground, where future professional actors learn such skills, is in amateur musical theatre. (A Nov. 7 '99 feature in The New York Times described 3-times Tony Award winner Audra McDonald's formative years in the training program at Good Company Players in Fresno, CA.) Young actors need opportunities to perform well-crafted material;lyrics that fit the melody and melodies that are kind to voice - composed with deep understanding of how it works and that do not inappropriately tax developing voices.

Opportunities to learn these skills exist in the musicals of Irving Berlin. Though at times his contributions to the Broadway musical may have been overshadowed by a mind-boggling catalogue of popular songs, they remain delightful, tuneful and thoughtful. They range from rollicking political satire (as timely as ever) to the sweet and riotous romance of a wild west icon. CALL ME MADAM, LOUISIANA PURCHASE, THE COCOANUTS, MR. PRESIDENT, MISS LIBERTY and of course, ANNIE GET YOUR GUN are highlights in a career that spanned almost 60 years. We feel so strongly aboout these musicals that we are creating a CD sampler of songs from the musical of Irving Berlin musical later this spring.

Treat your audiences and yourselves to the wonderful musicals by the man who taught us there's no business like show business!