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[0:00] Paul Lazarus: Hi, this is Paul Lazarus. In the 1980s I produced and hosted a radio series called Anything Goes, a celebration of the American musical theater. Now the Broadway Podcast Network is bringing back these shows. This is the conclusion of a two-part program paying tribute to legendary leading man Alfred Drake on what was then Drake's 70th birthday. This program originally aired in October of 1984 and featured many classic Drake performances from Kismet, Kiss Me Kate, and of course Oklahoma. One of Alfred Drake's most amazing performances was in Kismet called A Musical Arabian Night and he sang this beautiful song with several of the other stars Doretta Morrow, Richard Kiley, and Henry Calvin called And This Is My Beloved.

[M:24] ♪ Musical number: "And This Is My Beloved" — performed by Alfred Drake and the Quartet from Kismet ♪

[5:27] Paul Lazarus: Starring Quartet from Kismet, And This Is My Beloved, which featured two of the greatest baritones of the musical theater, Richard Kiley and Alfred Drake, and also Doretta Morrow and Henry Calvin, fabulous performance, including Alfred Drake, who of course is our featured performer today on Anything Goes, celebrating his 70th birthday, and we wish him very well. Next up, I thought I'd return to Kiss Me Kate, which is my favorite of Alfred Drake's performances, and simply for, I think the part and the performer came together like no other in his career, in this particular show, with a score by Cole Porter and a book by Bella and Samuel Spiewak, and this is, of course, based on The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare, and here is Alfred Drake singing his marvelous solo, Where Is the Life That Late I Led.

[M:40] ♪ Musical number: "Where Is the Life That Late I Led" — performed by Alfred Drake ♪

[10:04] ♪ Musical number: "Where Is the Life That Late I Led?" — performed by Alfred Drake ♪

[10:55] Paul Lazarus: Alfred Drake as Fred Graham in Kiss Me Kate, 1948. After Oklahoma, Drake was seen in Sing Out Sweet Land, The Beggar's Holiday, playing McKeith, and in the 1947 revival of Cradle of Rock as Larry Foreman, before he did Kiss Me Kate. Then he turned to direction for a while, directing the 1950 production of The Liar, and a piece called Court in Time. And then, apparently, was offered the original leading role in The King and I, turned it down, but later went on as a temporary replacement, and then followed that performance with Kismet, and then did a show called Keen, which is, of course, based on the life of the famous tragic actor Edmund Keen. Here, from the cast album of Keen, is Alfred Drake and Joan Weldon singing the service.

[11:52] ♪ Musical number: "Service for Service" — performed by Alfred Drake and Joan Weldon ♪

[15:32] Paul Lazarus: Joan Weldon and Alfred Drake performing Service for Service from Keen in 1961. You're listening to Anything Goes about extraordinary Broadway performer Alfred Drake. In 1973, Drake played Honoré Lachal in Gigi together with Maria Karnalova. He sang the delightful duet I Remember It Well.

[15:59] ♪ Musical number: "I Remember It Well" — performed by Alfred Drake and Maria Karnalova ♪

[19:14] Paul Lazarus: That last duet from Gigi, I'm going to go back to Sing Out Sweet Land, the Theater Guild musical, primarily based on folk songs, and Alfred Drake here singing an Elie Sigmeister arrangement of a folk tune called Wandering.

[19:30] ♪ Musical number: "Wandering" — performed by Alfred Drake ♪

[20:09] Alfred Drake: I've been looking for something I have never found, and it looks like I'm never gonna cease my wanderin'. I've been wanderin' early and I've been wanderin' late, from New York City to the Golden Gate, and it looks like I'm never gonna cease my wanderin'.

[21:27] Paul Lazarus: Alfred Drake celebrates his 70th birthday today, and we've just taken a few minutes here on Anything Goes to wish him a happy 70th. And I wanted to finish up this segment of today's program with one last song from Gigi, the stage version, one of the few musicals to ever be based on its own film version. And I think this song is particularly appropriate for Mr. Drake on his 70th.

[22:28] ♪ Musical number: "I'm Glad I'm Not Young Anymore" — performed by Alfred Drake ♪

[24:56] ♪ Musical number: "Where Thine That Special Face" — performed by Alfred Drake ♪

[30:01] ♪ Musical number ♪