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[0:00] Mary Gordon Murray: I also have a really funny opening night story from Neil Simon. He said that back in the 60s, when the show first opened on Broadway, that he and Cy Coleman and Bob Fosse were all standing in the back of the theater. And the show starts, and Sid Caesar, of course, is brilliant, but he all of a sudden got a cough, which happens 100%. You get on stage and you're like, uh, I have something in my throat. And so he coughed on his first three lines, which meant that the first three laughs were full silent in the house, right? And they're just like in the back, like the producers, you know, just terrified of what's going on. A couple more minutes pass, an inebriated man gets out of his seat in the orchestra, storms up the aisle, and turns to them and says, This is the worst musical I've seen since My Fair Lady.

And they started laughing and could not stop laughing for the entire first act. And Neil Simon says, and luckily, neither could the audience, the audience was laughing for the rest of the first act as well. But he's like, that was the first good omen was the drunk man saying that this was as bad as My Fair Lady.

[1:31] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Welcome everybody to A Musical Theatre Podcast where we discuss the cultural and emotional impact of some of our favorite musicals in theatre history. My name is Jeffrey Scott Parsons. You can call me Jeff. Today, I mean, guys, this is basically an early Christmas present to myself. We're talking about a musical that has one of my favorite comedy scores of all time with someone who was nominated for a Tony Award while starring in one of its revivals. The musical is Little Me and our guest is Broadway legend Mary Gordon Murray. Mary, I'm so so honored and grateful you're here. Thank you so much.

[2:07] Mary Gordon Murray: Just I'm delighted. And honestly, it's not just because of Little Me because you're our first guest on since the passing of Stephen Sondheim. And not only do you have a great relationship with Little Me, but also with Sondheim shows. You were the first replacement, right, for Baker's Wife?

[2:25] Mary Gordon Murray: The Baker's Wife, yeah. Into the Woods in the original production.

[2:31] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Incredible.

[2:31] Mary Gordon Murray: Yeah. Yeah, it's funny. I had worked the first time I worked for Steve, Mr. Sondheim. You can call him Steve. I can call him Mr. Sondheim. I was still doing One Life to Live. I did a soap for a long time and I was just leaving that soap and auditioned for the La Jolla rewrite, retooling that James Lapine, George Firth, and Stephen Sondheim were doing of Merrily We Roll Along.

[3:00] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Oh, okay. This is in San Diego.

[3:02] Mary Gordon Murray: In San Diego. I'm in New York, but they were casting it out of New York. And because I was leaving the soap, I could actually do a job out of town. And Little Me, one of the great things about that was that I was on the soap then, but because it was Neil Simon and Cy Coleman, they didn't go out of town. They just rehearsed and opened on Broadway, which I can't even think of any other show that would ever do that today. Well, specifically then, you didn't do that. You went out of town.

[3:26] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: You went out of town. Absolutely. You didn't do labs. Now it's like the labs and the regional theater, whatever. Workshops, whatever.

[3:32] Mary Gordon Murray: The workshops. This had none. They had done it before. They were rewriting it. That was it. But I auditioned for it for Merrily We Roll Along and it was for the role of Gussie, which was interesting because up until then, I mean, the role I played on the soap was Becky Lee Abbott. You can tell by the name, sort of like she was a really, really nice girl from the heels of Tennessee. And for Merrily, I was auditioning for Gussie, who was this arch society, narcissistic, very funny, great stuff that George Firth wrote for the character, kind of socialite, polar opposite of really anything. I mean, still my face looks like, you know, the nice person in the room, my little cherub face. That's usually how I got cast. Warmth. I'm warm.

[4:19] Mary Gordon Murray: Pretty warm, still pretty warm even at this age. So I was like flabbergasted to get that role. I mean, that's another whole story, but not what we're going to talk about today. So then they're auditioning for this show about fairy tales and they're doing a labs, Stephen and James Lapine. And they called me in because it had been a very successful experience in La Jolla for all of us involved. It was a great production and very lovely for me. So I've been into audition for Into the Woods, but because of, which wasn't even Into the Woods, I think then, and just the show they were developing and they had a role of a witch who was going to be a rapper. And that's what they thought of me for, because I was Gussie.

And we had to go in and do a real rap song like that. It's so funny to think of how these things start, which became, of course, the Bean song, you know, but at that point, so they ended up casting that gal, Meat Loaf's gal, who did the original lab. And I can't think of her name.

[5:16] Mary Gordon Murray: No, I can't either. She even did the old globe version before Bernadette went in. That was it. That was the one that, yes, it was the lab and then the old globe. And then, well, you know what? I think the lab might've been not her.

[5:29] Mary Gordon Murray: It was Buckley.

[5:30] Mary Gordon Murray: It was Buckley. I believe it was Buckley. So that's another story.

[5:34] Mary Gordon Murray: That's a whole other story.

[5:35] Mary Gordon Murray: And then it was Meat Loaf's gal at the old globe. And then they brought in Bernadette. So, you know, needless to say, I did not get that gig. So they open on Broadway. They're doing really well. Joanna gets a Tony nomination. And I don't know what kind of what happened. I don't know why, but fairly quickly after she gave her notice and she'd been in it for a while and they suddenly needed a very quick replacement, like to go in in a week and a half. And they didn't have, yeah, it was really going to be a fast turnaround. So I heard about this and I was like, great. Oh my gosh, I'll go in and audition for that. I usually get cast in like kind of a likable, smart lady, you know? And they said, absolutely not. They didn't want to see me.

[6:16] Mary Gordon Murray: Because they knew you as God?

[6:19] Mary Gordon Murray: Yeah. I was the witch, you know, I was this, like what? The baker's wife? No, that's terrible. So I called my agent and I am the least pushy. We all have self-esteem issues as actors. Agreeable.

[6:33] Mary Gordon Murray: Thank you, sir. Oh my gosh. Thank you for letting me breathe. I mean, all that stuff we all do. We have developed egos, but self-esteem is always an issue. So it's never something that I like jump in and go, oh no, really? You should see me anyway.

[6:48] Mary Gordon Murray: I'm your gal.

[6:49] Mary Gordon Murray: Yeah, right. Exactly. Like never. But I called my agent back and I said, and I knew the experience had been good in La Jolla. I mean, I knew there was goodwill that they genuinely just didn't, they just thought, no, that's crazy. And I said, can you ask them as a favor to give me 10 minutes? I mean. I couldn't believe I did that, but I said, can they, as a favor, could they just do it? And I, my agent went like, pause. Okay. Okay. And 15 minutes later, I got a call back saying, sure, go ahead and go ahead in. And I got an offer after the audition. I came home to an offer on my machine. I mean, they, they just, it was so gratifying, but it was also like, this is actually more like what I usually get cast as.

[7:30] Mary Gordon Murray: I appreciate. Yeah, seriously. I appreciate you thinking of me having so much range, but also let me show you where I live. Not much range, really more just playing arch, you know, socialites, you know, whatever, who are funny. But anyway, it was very gratifying. And also like, but Joanna was leaving that weekend. Like I got cast on a Friday.

[7:51] Mary Gordon Murray: That's a huge show.

[7:53] Mary Gordon Murray: Oh my God. And I had a week and a half of rehearsal and then went in and it was the understudies on for the rest of the week and a half. So I went and watched Joanna all weekend long and then the horror, horror went in very, very fast and, but did the national tour, which was, it was all ended up being a great experience. Really very wonderful. So then they did Gussie again. They did Merrily again. And I did Gussie without Lapine directing. He, he didn't continue with it. They did it at the Long Wharf and I, I was with that production and unfortunately that never came in. It eventually was done. We did an episode on Merrily. It's such a fascinating show that when you talk about it, you're like, man, this is so good.

And then it gets in the theater and you're like, well, I don't know how an audience is going to ever go for this. I remember at La Jolla, we had really had great reception for it. And then we had this really clunky Sunday performance where the, I don't know what happened. They just stared at us. And that's when the Nederlanders came. It was something really devastating. And it was like, we all went, not this one. Oh my God.

[8:55] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yes, of all of the performances.

[8:57] Mary Gordon Murray: And that was the kiss of death. We thought we'd definitely take this production in it. It had really been, it was John Rubenstein and Chip Zion and Heather McRae and they were all, and Mary Maisy. They were crazy great, you know, phenomenal, phenomenal company. What is it about Sondheim's work that always excited you? I mean, I know it's like the silliest question, but.

[9:18] Mary Gordon Murray: But it's, but of course, but I mean, it's also the one you want to actually love to answer because it's such a, you know, we all have such a strong personal reason for that. I mean, I actually put a thing on Facebook after I, I so rarely post anything on Facebook. I troll people, you know, and I'll do a comment, but I'm so shy about it. But that one, I just burst into tears and I, everybody was taking a Facebook and I did write my story about it. And mostly, you know, my first, not my first Broadway show, but one of the first, I was 15 when I saw Company on Broadway. And, and it just was, it was like a, I don't know, like a steam engine rolled over me. Like, I didn't even understand what I was seeing.

It was so unbelievably great. And I just fell in love with everything that he did from that point on and, and how Prince did from that point on. And the first time I auditioned for Sondheim, I had a couple of them, was actually for Side by Side by Sondheim and that didn't happen. It was, I forget why. I mean, it didn't happen because they didn't hire me, but I remember there was something, but it was still gratifying because it was a good audition. I remember he nodded after I sang. He nodded, that's good. They didn't like go, mm, you know, like a big horrible face. Yeah. And then the next time, believe it or not, was for the original Sweeney Todd. And I had to, oh my God. And it was for, you know, the young gal who sings Green Finch, whose name I am now spacing on.

[10:40] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Johanna.

[10:41] Mary Gordon Murray: Johanna. Hello. Johanna, Mary. There is a song.

[10:45] Mary Gordon Murray: It's kind of famous. God almighty, how old am I? And, uh, I had to go in and sing an opera piece.

[10:53] Mary Gordon Murray: Oh gosh, terrifying. My soul just like quivers.

[10:57] Mary Gordon Murray: So from opera rap, you know, I've, I've run the gamut auditioning for Stephen Sondheim and needless to say, that didn't happen. But I, you know, but I was too young to like, oh, maybe I shouldn't go in. I was still smoking two packs a day. I mean, I had a reasonable soprano voice, but that was not going to happen at all. Um, they actually brought me in when I went in for Gussie. They also said, would you audition for Beth? And at the time I thought she sang something soprano. I just did. And on the spot, I just went, no. I mean, they asked me at my audition for Gussie and I did it because I thought I can never sing soprano for Stephen Sondheim again. Not after Green Finch.

[11:31] Mary Gordon Murray: John, not after Green Finch. I can't do it. And I must've seemed like kind of la-dee-dah. I was more like petrified. Like, no, don't do that. Anyway. So, um, oh, then they were auditioning for Merrily and I'm in my, I'm like 28 for the original one. And I was too old.

[11:50] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Were you too old? That's right. Because I mean, they had, they had the 18s.

[11:56] Mary Gordon Murray: They had the babies on there. That was the whole point of it. And I was too old and I was devastated. So when I finally auditioned, not that many years later, but in my thirties, you know, I was, I was thrilled.

[12:07] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Wow. What a life. Well, you know, like we're creating some content for the new year. All, you know, remembering Sondheim as we should be and as everyone should be. And I hope that everybody will look forward to that. But I do want to say at this point right now, there was never anyone like him. There will never be anyone like him again. And, um, and all I can do is just be grateful for the way that his work and his life impacted mine. And I look forward to just remembering him for the rest of my life.

[12:37] Mary Gordon Murray: It's so ironic to me because I always was so stunned at how emotional I found his music. Like I found it the most incredibly moving music and it would like blow my mind that people would say, Oh, it's just intellectually cerebral. It's like, are you kidding? Oh my God. It's like the most devastating, but it was, it was this incredible blend. You know, if you, I didn't really answer your initial question. I went into like me to do this. Let's talk about me more interesting. But, but I mean, he was that incredible combination of not being snarky, cognitive, intellectual, but smart and emotional at the same time. And I think that that was such a powerful blend for musical theater in general, for theater in general, he just made you feel like, Oh my God, this is as good as Shakespeare. This is a real art form.

[13:29] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yep. Yep. Yep. It's, it's, it's any, it's as good as anything that's been done.

[13:35] Mary Gordon Murray: Agreed. Well, pivoting from somebody who, I mean, when you sit in the theater and watch a Sondheim show you from the downbeat, you know, it's one of his shows, right? Pivoting from that composer to someone who I'm now calling the chameleon of musical theater, Cy Coleman, because every single one of his shows sounds almost completely different from the other, not to say that he didn't have his strengths. You know, he always had this really strong jazz influence, but this is the third Coleman show that we've covered. We did Will Rogers Follies, which has, you know, country with vaudevillian type aspects to that score. You have City of Angels, which is maybe the most sophisticated jazz score that's ever been written for the musical theater. And then, and now we're covering Little Me, which is like classic, classic musical comedy.

[14:21] Mary Gordon Murray: Yeah. Right. Exactly.

[15:10] Mary Gordon Murray: I was in the original Broadway cast of "Little Me," and it was such a wonderful experience. The show was written by Cy Coleman with lyrics by Carolyn Leigh, and it really showcased a unique style of comedy and music that was quite different from other musicals of that time.

[15:40] Mary Gordon Murray: The character I played, Belle, was just so much fun. She had this incredible journey throughout the show, and the music was just a joy to sing. I remember the first time I heard the score; it was like nothing I had ever experienced before.

[16:10] Mary Gordon Murray: Cy Coleman was a genius. His ability to blend humor with heartfelt moments in the music was remarkable. And working with Bob Fosse was another highlight. His choreography was so innovative and really brought the show to life.

[16:40] Mary Gordon Murray: I also had the pleasure of working alongside some incredible talents, including the legendary Stephen Sondheim. He was always so supportive and encouraging, and his insights into musical theatre were invaluable.

[17:10] Mary Gordon Murray: One of my favorite memories from the show was during rehearsals when we would all gather around and share laughs over some of the more risqué jokes in the script. It was a real bonding experience for the cast.

[17:30] Mary Gordon Murray: The humor in "Little Me" is timeless. Even today, audiences find themselves laughing at the same jokes that had us in stitches back then. It’s a testament to the writing and the performances.

[17:50] Mary Gordon Murray: I think what makes "Little Me" stand out is its ability to balance comedy with genuine emotion. The characters are relatable, and their struggles resonate with people, even decades later.

[18:10] Mary Gordon Murray: I remember one night during a performance when I accidentally flubbed a line, and instead of panicking, I just went with it and made a joke out of it. The audience loved it, and it turned into one of those magical moments that you can’t plan for.

[18:30] Mary Gordon Murray: The camaraderie among the cast was incredible. We all supported each other, and that energy translated to the stage. It was a true ensemble effort, and I think that’s what made the show so special.

[18:50] Mary Gordon Murray: Looking back, I feel so grateful to have been part of such a groundbreaking show. It was a unique blend of talent, creativity, and humor that I don’t think we’ll see again anytime soon.

[19:10] Mary Gordon Murray: The legacy of "Little Me" continues to inspire new generations of performers and audiences alike. It’s a reminder of the joy that musical theatre can bring to our lives.

[19:30] Mary Gordon Murray: I encourage anyone who hasn’t seen "Little Me" to check it out. It’s a delightful experience that will leave you laughing and humming the tunes long after the curtain falls.

[19:50] Mary Gordon Murray: And for those who have seen it, I hope you cherish those memories as much as I do. It truly was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

[29:20] Mary Gordon Murray: There may have been something a little bit undiagnosed about her because she would full-on have like manic episodes if her work was criticized or like challenged. At one point when Bob Fosse, who is the choreographer, legendary Bob Fosse, asked if they could, you know, take out one of her verses for a dance break, she left the theater. Oh, she grabbed his whistle because he always had this whistle during rehearsal. She grabs the whistle, runs out of the theater, starts whistling for a policeman. She finds one, drags him into the theater and says, arrest that man and close the show. Like that's the kind of stories that were going down with it when the show was being created. So I know that it wasn't an easy road.

And then once they got to Broadway, all of the papers were on strike. And so even that was the big news. Yeah, got lost, got totally lost. Even the good reviews that they had got lost because there were no papers. It was all word of mouth. And then there were also all of the, I mean, it was a very male heavy season that year. In addition to Little Me, you had A Funny Thing Happened on the Way of the Forum, speaking of Stephen Sondheim. But like as good as Sid Caesar was in the show, it wasn't competitive enough with Zero Mostel in that show. Not to mention you've also had Oliver. Those two shows really came alive as the big winners of the year, of the season. And Little Me ran for almost a year.

It had its fans. And I think it continues to have its fans. It has like interesting fans, like people that just think it was one of the best things they ever saw. It's like almost a culty niche following. In a way, I mean, I almost, this is just my take on it. But by the time we came along and anything was messed with, those who didn't care for it still didn't. And those who did felt betrayed. And you didn't win over any new ones. You just couldn't really win with that one.

[31:20] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: That's really interesting. One of the things that I love most about the show is that we don't get these types of shows anymore. It was really just to make you laugh.

[31:31] Mary Gordon Murray: Absolutely. Also, when you talk about SNL, which sketch comedy so often does have musical numbers, they are usually just parody. And so you have this show, which has all of the best qualities of that comedic side, but then with freaking musical geniuses, like that's special. That's something that only musical theater can do.

[31:50] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah. And it was Fosse who directed that as well as choreographed, right?

[31:57] Mary Gordon Murray: He just choreographed.

[31:59] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Who directed?

[32:00] Mary Gordon Murray: So Sy Fuhrer directed, who is a famous producer, and he only directed a couple of shows, but this was one of them. Well, you know, because they had, well, anyway, long story short, Bob Fosse came in and choreographed one of our numbers for the revival. He did. He did us a favor. They had wanted him to—

[32:23] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Well, because it was Peter Gennaro, right? Who came in and did yours.

[32:26] Mary Gordon Murray: Yeah, Peter Gennaro. One of the original Steam Heat dancers. So he's well versed in the Fosse world.

[32:32] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Right. Absolutely. But Fosse came in just as a favor, and he redid Deep Down Inside, this number.

[32:38] Mary Gordon Murray: Oh, how cute.

[32:39] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And it was this big choreographed number, and all I did was walk around pushing Jimmy Coco in a wheelchair. And boy, in the middle of rehearsing it, he told everybody else to take a break for two hours and come back because he was going to work with me. All I did was push a wheelchair.

[32:53] Mary Gordon Murray: But he—

[32:56] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: What did you do for two hours?

[32:58] Mary Gordon Murray: We worked on everything that I was doing while I pushed that wheelchair. That is what detail that man had. I mean, he was like, what? I was like, well, you're like the lead, so we got to talk about what you're doing.

[33:07] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Isn't that special? You never get that kind of time.

[33:11] Mary Gordon Murray: No, I was just like, I'm just pushing. I'm just in a pretty thing with my boobs hanging up, you know, like what? And he worked with me. It was a real eye opener to what he did. He didn't, there was no detail that he just missed or, you know.

[33:25] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Didn't make time for. That's really cool. What a great story.

[33:29] Mary Gordon Murray: Yeah.

[33:29] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: All right, let's talk through some of the show. And we'll briefly, because it is a comedy, it's always hard to do comedies on my podcast here because nothing like me telling you, I promise this is funny, guys, farce. I'm explaining farce. But there are so many great numbers and so many great moments. We'll take you through it. I have to, first of all, give a shout out to this overture. You guys go to the original cast album of Little Me, listen to this overture. You never get this anymore where the strings are going as crazy as the brass section. It's off the hook. Amazing. Go live your life listening to the overture.

[34:05] Mary Gordon Murray: Yeah. And at the beginning of the show, we meet Belle Poitrine. We meet the older version of Belle, right? Who's looking back on her life. She has created this autobiography called Little Me. And originally, the show began with the truth, right? There was this number called the truth, which very much feels like her saying over and over again, what you're going to hear is completely the truth. I haven't fabricated anything. She's probably fabricated most of it. And then we meet young Belle, right? Who's actually named Maybelle Schlumpfert. She's from Illinois, from the wrong side of the tracks. She's very poor. Her mother's a nurse working in the red light clinic. And she's dreaming of being on Quality Hill, which is this place where all of the rich people live. She's fallen in love with this boy named Noble Eggelstein, who is a horrible, spoiled little brat of a boy. But for some reason, she really likes him. And he goes to Harvard and Yale at the same time.

[35:11] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And Yale, exactly. There you go. And he likes her a lot, too. In fact, he loves her. And every time they get even close, the music swells, and they have this, I love you, which is so ridiculous and fun. But it ultimately sends her on the great journey of her life, which is, okay, she has to prove in a very America sort of way, that she is worthy of this brat, who has it all and has this really mean mom who won't let him marry her. And in order to do that, she's going to get three things, wealth, culture, and social position.

[35:50] Mary Gordon Murray: She learns how to tell red wine from white.

[35:54] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Red wine from white. That's amazing.

[35:56] Mary Gordon Murray: A culture.

[35:58] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Those are so, like, that's that Neil Simon stuff that, man.

[36:02] Mary Gordon Murray: Yeah, yeah.

[36:03] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: So, the first thing that she does, who does she meet first?

[36:08] Mary Gordon Murray: Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Now, wait a minute. You got a note.

[36:11] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: No, you're fine.

[36:12] Mary Gordon Murray: Jeffrey, how long ago this was?

[36:13] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: No, it's fine.

[36:14] Mary Gordon Murray: I forget what I did yesterday.

[36:20] Mary Gordon Murray: I have my notes, but I do think, speaking of deep down inside, she meets—

[36:25] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah, the guy from It's a Wonderful Life.

[36:27] Mary Gordon Murray: Mr. Pinchley.

[36:28] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Mr. Pinchley, who's the guy from It's a Wonderful Life. It's a send up of that. Lots of them are send ups of tropes that are, you know—

[36:35] Mary Gordon Murray: Yes. So, he's the mean guy who owns the bank. He owns everything in the town, right? And everybody hates him, except for Belle, who thinks that there might be a little bit of good in him.

[36:49] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Deep down inside.

[36:50] Mary Gordon Murray: But it's deep, deep, deep, deep down inside. And it's this really fun, I wrote a great freaking production number. I love it so much. It puts a smile on my face. I'm not kidding, Mary Gordon Murray. I will randomly be eating my lunch, and all of a sudden, I'll be like, deep down, there's an old cop salad, deep down inside. Like, I've just created lyrics based on what is surrounding me for this song, because everything can fit in. It's just one of those list songs where every lyric can fit in there. It's so much fun. And you got to work with freaking Bob Fosse on it. How cool.

[37:27] Mary Gordon Murray: I did. Oh, my God. Yeah. Yeah. And he could not have been lovelier. So, by the end of the number, Mr. Pinchley has found a little bit of good in him. He has reconciled with his son. The whole town celebrates. Belle goes to give him a big hug. And unfortunately, because of her ample bosom, a gun goes off that he's been carrying around with him, and he dies.

[37:50] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: The whole joke of Little Me, if I can jump ahead, is that she's poison, that everybody dies.

[37:59] Mary Gordon Murray: Yes. Like, everyone she comes in contact with has a horrible, horrible death.

[38:04] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Horrible ending that she had nothing to do with.

[38:05] Mary Gordon Murray: But it's all about her. Right.

[38:07] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Exactly. I mean, she's always innocent. And I mean, it's so fantastic. The double entendre of Patrick Dennis's, I guess it was in the original one. I don't remember.

[38:18] Mary Gordon Murray: 100 percent.

[38:19] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Right. So, the whole idea is, you know, she really offed all these people, but it's her rewrite of her perfect life.

[38:25] Mary Gordon Murray: Of her perfect life that just happened to have all these deaths.

[38:27] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: It happened to have all these people die.

[38:30] Mary Gordon Murray: That's a fun character. That's like full Velma Kelly territory.

[38:34] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[38:35] Mary Gordon Murray: Because she gets in all the newspapers for killing this super rich man accidentally, that, of course, attracts some producers who convince her to join vaudeville. And she, even though she has no talent, she can't sing worth beans. And they sing this great song called Be a Performer. Like, so many of these songs could be taken out of the show and put into any review, any sort of a great cabaret night. Be a Performer. Great song.

[39:03] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Dimples, the song that she sings on vaudeville, is so stupid, but I love.

[39:09] Mary Gordon Murray: Which was cut.

[39:10] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Was it cut? Did you not do it?

[39:11] Mary Gordon Murray: It was cut in our production, which I was devastated by. But yeah, they cut it. I don't know why.

[39:16] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Oh, I'm sure.

[39:17] Mary Gordon Murray: I don't know why. I know. Isn't that crazy? Yeah.

[39:19] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Oh, those.

[39:20] Mary Gordon Murray: I know. Oh, them dogs on dimples.

[39:22] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Oh, they did it again. Tell me why little Linda.

[39:25] Mary Gordon Murray: Oh, yeah. I mean, classic dumb blonde thing.

[39:27] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And you know all the lyrics.

[39:28] Mary Gordon Murray: And I know it. I love that song when I was working on it. I was like, you know, we had like two months before we went into rehearsals. I was like, oh, this is great. They cut it.

[39:36] Mary Gordon Murray: Oh, how funny.

[39:37] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: I don't know why.

[39:38] Mary Gordon Murray: That original cast recording with, is her name Virginia Martin?

[39:42] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah.

[39:43] Mary Gordon Murray: I mean, she was like the original Hedy LaRue in How to Succeed. So like she, she knows all of that body humor, but she is also like just screaming. It's that old school belting where she's just yelling and I can't get enough of it. It makes me so happy.

[40:04] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: But yes, absolutely.

[40:05] Mary Gordon Murray: Yeah, exactly. It 100% is.

[40:08] Mary Gordon Murray: Oh, I totally skipped over on the other side of the tracks. Ladies, if you want a great audition song, hit up that number. It was so funny. The first time I did it at Amden, somebody got up and did that. And I was like, well, there's a little history I have with that.

[40:20] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: So I just got to tell you about my Tony nomination.

[40:28] Mary Gordon Murray: I always feel like I'm making those things up when I write. It's like, what? You're just this weird lady that teaches at Amden.

[40:37] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: I am legendary.

[40:39] Mary Gordon Murray: And if you need me to come in and tell them I have, I will read off your resume.

[40:46] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: So after the, you know, failed attempt at being a vaudeville star, Miss Bell goes to work as like a cigarette girl at a club, right?

[40:56] Mary Gordon Murray: That is owned by this guy named, I mean, I know him as Lucky. Was he named George when you did it? I think his name has changed.

[41:04] Mary Gordon Murray: Oh my god, I just remember it was Don Correa. Let's just say it's usually owned by a sexy, sexy man. And the main performer at the club is this guy named Val Duval, who is of course played by the same guy who played the old guy. I mean, this is the Sid Caesar role, right? The important thing about this is that Bell gets seduced by the owner in this like super sexy dance number called I've Got Your Number. Man, a great freaking song.

[41:34] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And this number, I mean, it was Fosse. And Fosse always had like that playful sexuality about his work. But when this originally opened on Broadway, the dancer who played the part was named Sven Svensson.

[41:51] Mary Gordon Murray: Which you would think is a name from the show, to be honest.

[41:56] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Or an A. Mark Bergman movie, I don't know.

[41:57] Mary Gordon Murray: Right, exactly. But he was like a Cunningham dancer and Fosse created this great number for him. And he said that consistently women would rush the stage. You know, because like at this point, when I think about it, you had the women who are always doing the sexy dance. You had Gwen Verdon doing whatever Lola wants, right? But like, had there ever been a guy doing a male striptease on Broadway before? These housewives were going nuts for it.

[42:31] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And I'm so, I love that part of the show. You're giving the women's a little bit of something.

[42:37] Mary Gordon Murray: Wow.

[42:38] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Don Correa was amazing in the role.

[42:40] Mary Gordon Murray: Yeah.

[42:40] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Just amazing in the role. It's very, very sexy and stopped the show every night.

[42:44] Mary Gordon Murray: That's so cool.

[42:45] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: It's a great number.

[42:46] Mary Gordon Murray: It's a great number. And that was one of those that like, as a kid, I remember hearing that in like variety shows and it was like a very big pop.

[42:56] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah.

[42:56] Mary Gordon Murray: It had a life after the show.

[42:58] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Oh, big life after it. Yeah. It was one of those where you, when I first heard it, I went, oh, it's from that? Really? Oh, cute.

[43:04] Mary Gordon Murray: Oh, who knew?

[43:06] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: It was the, you know, the big record that was being sold.

[43:09] Mary Gordon Murray: Sure.

[43:11] Mary Gordon Murray: Belle says that after this encounter, she's left alone and pregnant. She goes and I think is volunteering for the war effort. Is that right?

[43:23] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yes.

[43:24] Mary Gordon Murray: Yes. She's with the Red Cross.

[43:25] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: She's a nurse.

[43:26] Mary Gordon Murray: I don't remember.

[43:28] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Red Cross.

[43:29] Mary Gordon Murray: Yes. She's trying to follow in her mother's footsteps of being a nurse, wink, wink. And so she meets this soldier played by guess who? Who falls madly in love with her.

[43:41] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Of course, he dies because they get married.

[43:48] Mary Gordon Murray: I don't remember why.

[43:50] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: No, I do. I think it's because of the war, right?

[43:52] Mary Gordon Murray: No, he died on a piece of fish.

[43:55] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: A bad piece of fish.

[43:58] Mary Gordon Murray: It makes, yeah.

[43:59] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: I mean, of course.

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