New Faces of 1952
Encyclopedia
New Faces of 1952 is a musical revue
with songs and comedy skits. It ran on Broadway
for nearly a year in 1952 and was then made into a motion picture in 1954. It helped jump start the careers of several young performers including Paul Lynde
, Alice Ghostley
, Eartha Kitt
, Robert Clary
, Carol Lawrence, Ronny Graham
, performer/writer Mel Brooks
(as Melvin Brooks), and lyricist Sheldon Harnick
.
, directed by John Murray Anderson
and John Beal
with choreography by Richard Barstow. The sketches were written by Graham and Brooks. The songs were composed by, among others, Harnick, Graham, Murray Grand
and Arthur Siegel
. The cast featured Graham, Kitt, Clary, Virginia Bosler, June Carroll
, Virginia De Luce, Ghostley, Patricia Hammerlee, Lawrence, Lynde and Bill Milliken. De Luce and Graham won the 1952 Theatre World Award
. The revue marked Kitt's Broadway debut, singing a "sultry rendition" of "Monotonous", about how boring a life of luxury was.
The Equity Library Theater, New York City, presented an off-Broadway
revival in 1982, directed by Joseph Patton and featuring comedic performances by Lillian Graff, Philip Wm. McKinley and Alan Safier
in the roles originated by Ghostley, Lynde and Graham, respectively. (Kitt joined the cast late in the run to re-create her original role.)
Another New Faces, the New Faces of 1956 ran on Broadway from June 14, 1956 through December 22, 1956. It was also conceived and produced by Sillman, with direction by David Tihmar and Paul Lynde (sketches).There were seven "New Faces" in all: 1934, 1936, 1943, 1962, and 1968. According to Kay Green, of the seven "New Faces" revues, the 1952 revue was the "most admired, both for the talent of the performers and the cleverness of the writing.
The original cast album was released on CD in 2009 (New Faces Of 1952 [Arkiv RCA-04441]).
Act II
drama, Golden Boy
with characters Mae, Harry, Stanley and Policeman; a pickpocket is angry with his son for not wanting to join the family business. In "Oedipus Goes South", Ronny Graham parodies Truman Capote
. Paul Lynde, wrapped in bandages, bemoans his African safari. The narrative ballad "Guess Who I Saw Today" has June Carroll telling her husband that she saw him with another woman. In "The Bard and the Beard" the characters- Miss Leigh, Sir Laurence, Call Boy and Maid- try to remember what play they are supposed to be in.
and Eastmancolor, and released by Twentieth Century Fox on March 6, 1954. Ronny Graham, Eartha Kitt, Robert Clary, Alice Ghostley, June Carroll, Virginia De Luce, Carol Lawrence, Patricia Hammerlee, Paul Lynde, and Bill Millikin repeated their stage roles. The film was basically a reproduction of the stage revue with a thin plot added. The plot involved a producer and performer (Ronny Graham) in financial trouble on opening night. A wealthy Texan offers to help out, on the condition that his daughter be in the show.
The song order was changed and expanded to include:
However, some songs were omitted, or had their lyrics updated. The song "Natty Puts her Hair Up" was omitted, however, an abridged version was used as an instrumental in a dance routine. The song "Don't Fall Asleep" was omitted. The song "Love is a Simple thing" omitted the final verse, being the Charles Addams character verse, because it was too outdated. Also, an extra verse was added to "Lizzie Borden". Some of the lines in "Monotonous" were replaced and updated, omitting the line "Ike Likes Me", and being replaced with writing the "Dragnet" theme instead.
Revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
with songs and comedy skits. It ran on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
for nearly a year in 1952 and was then made into a motion picture in 1954. It helped jump start the careers of several young performers including Paul Lynde
Paul Lynde
Paul Edward Lynde was an American comedian and actor. A noted character actor, Lynde was well known for his roles as Uncle Arthur on Bewitched and Harry MacAfee, the befuddled father in Bye Bye Birdie...
, Alice Ghostley
Alice Ghostley
Alice Margaret Ghostley was an American actress. She was best known for her roles as housekeeper Esmeralda on Bewitched, as Cousin Alice on Mayberry R.F.D., and as Bernice Clifton on Designing Women, for which she received an Emmy Nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 1992...
, Eartha Kitt
Eartha Kitt
Eartha Mae Kitt was an American singer, actress, and cabaret star. She was perhaps best known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 hit recordings of "C'est Si Bon" and the enduring Christmas novelty smash "Santa Baby." Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the...
, Robert Clary
Robert Clary
Robert Clary is a French-born American actor, published author, and lecturer, best known for his role in the television sitcom Hogan's Heroes as Corporal LeBeau.-Early life and career:...
, Carol Lawrence, Ronny Graham
Ronny Graham
Ronny Graham was an American actor and theatre director, composer, lyricist, and writer.Graham was born Ronald Montcrief Stringer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the second of five children born to vaudeville performers Florence and Thomas Graham Stringer . Graham...
, performer/writer Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
(as Melvin Brooks), and lyricist Sheldon Harnick
Sheldon Harnick
Sheldon Harnick is an American lyricist best known for his collaborations with composer Jerry Bock on hit musicals such as Fiddler on the Roof....
.
Broadway production
The revue opened on Broadway at the Royale Theatre on May 16, 1952 and ran for 365 performances. It was produced by Leonard SillmanLeonard Sillman
Leonard Sillman was an American Broadway producer. Born in Detroit, Michigan on May 9, 1908, he was the brother of June Carroll, the brother-in-law of Sidney Carroll and the uncle of Steve Reich and Jonathan Carroll...
, directed by John Murray Anderson
John Murray Anderson
John Murray Anderson was a theatre director and producer, songwriter, actor, screenwriter, and lighting designer. He worked almost every genre of show business, including vaudeville, Broadway, and film....
and John Beal
John Beal (actor)
-Life and career:Beal was born James Alexander Bliedung in Joplin, Missouri. He originally went to New York to study art but a chance to understudy in a play made him change his mind. He began acting in the 1930s, opposite Katharine Hepburn , among others; one of his notable screen appearances was...
with choreography by Richard Barstow. The sketches were written by Graham and Brooks. The songs were composed by, among others, Harnick, Graham, Murray Grand
Murray Grand
Murray Grand was an American singer, songwriter, lyricist, and pianist best known for the song "Guess Who I Saw Today"....
and Arthur Siegel
Arthur Siegel
Arthur Siegel was an American songwriter.Born on December 31, 1923 in Lakewood Township, New Jersey, he grew up in Asbury Park, New Jersey...
. The cast featured Graham, Kitt, Clary, Virginia Bosler, June Carroll
June Carroll
June Carroll was an American lyricist, singer and actress.Born June Sillman in Detroit, Michigan, Carroll appeared in the Broadway musical New Faces of 1952, singing the Murray Grand standard, Guess Who I Saw Today, as well as two songs that she also wrote: Penny Candy and Love is a Simple...
, Virginia De Luce, Ghostley, Patricia Hammerlee, Lawrence, Lynde and Bill Milliken. De Luce and Graham won the 1952 Theatre World Award
Theatre World Award
The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
. The revue marked Kitt's Broadway debut, singing a "sultry rendition" of "Monotonous", about how boring a life of luxury was.
The Equity Library Theater, New York City, presented an off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
revival in 1982, directed by Joseph Patton and featuring comedic performances by Lillian Graff, Philip Wm. McKinley and Alan Safier
Alan Safier
Alan Safier is an American stage, television, and voice-over actor, as well as a singer and recording artist, who is currently touring the United States as George Burns in the one-man show Say Goodnight Gracie by Rupert Holmes.-Early life:Alan Michael Safier was born in Cleveland to Martha , a...
in the roles originated by Ghostley, Lynde and Graham, respectively. (Kitt joined the cast late in the run to re-create her original role.)
Another New Faces, the New Faces of 1956 ran on Broadway from June 14, 1956 through December 22, 1956. It was also conceived and produced by Sillman, with direction by David Tihmar and Paul Lynde (sketches).There were seven "New Faces" in all: 1934, 1936, 1943, 1962, and 1968. According to Kay Green, of the seven "New Faces" revues, the 1952 revue was the "most admired, both for the talent of the performers and the cleverness of the writing.
The original cast album was released on CD in 2009 (New Faces Of 1952 [Arkiv RCA-04441]).
Songs (Broadway)
Act I- Opening (Ronny GrahamRonny GrahamRonny Graham was an American actor and theatre director, composer, lyricist, and writer.Graham was born Ronald Montcrief Stringer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the second of five children born to vaudeville performers Florence and Thomas Graham Stringer . Graham...
, Peter DeVries) - Lucky Pierre (Ronny Graham) - Pierre (Robert Clary), Reporter and Chorus
- Guess Who I Saw TodayGuess Who I Saw TodayGuess Who I Saw Today is a popular jazz song written by Murray Grand with lyrics by Elisse Boyd. The song was originally composed for Leonard Sillman's Broadway musical revue New Faces of 1952 in which it was sung by June Carroll.-Notable Recordings:...
(Elisse Boyd, Murray GrandMurray GrandMurray Grand was an American singer, songwriter, lyricist, and pianist best known for the song "Guess Who I Saw Today"....
) - June Carroll - Resoration Piece - Lady Sylvia Malpractice, Simple, Sir Solemnity Sourpuss and Sir Militant Malpractice
- Love Is a Simple Thing (lyrics by June CarrollJune CarrollJune Carroll was an American lyricist, singer and actress.Born June Sillman in Detroit, Michigan, Carroll appeared in the Broadway musical New Faces of 1952, singing the Murray Grand standard, Guess Who I Saw Today, as well as two songs that she also wrote: Penny Candy and Love is a Simple...
, music by Arthur SiegelArthur SiegelArthur Siegel was an American songwriter.Born on December 31, 1923 in Lakewood Township, New Jersey, he grew up in Asbury Park, New Jersey...
) - Rosemary O'Reilly, Eartha Kitt, Robert Clary - Boston Beguine (Sheldon HarnickSheldon HarnickSheldon Harnick is an American lyricist best known for his collaborations with composer Jerry Bock on hit musicals such as Fiddler on the Roof....
) - Alice Ghostley - Nanty Puts Her Hair Up (Herbert FarjeonHerbert FarjeonHerbert Farjeon was a major figure in the British theatre from 1910 until his death. He was a presenter of revues in London's West End, a theatre critic, lyricist, librettist, playwright, theatre manager and researcher....
, Siegel) - Nanty, Father, Mother, Brother and Highlander - Time for Tea (Carroll-Siegel) - Marcella, Lavinia, Lavinia, the Girl, Marcella, the Girl, Mother, Father, John and Guest
- Bal Petit Bal (Francis Lemarque) - Eartha Kitt, Robert Clary
- Three for the Road, medley: It's Raining Memories/Waltzing in Venice/Take Off That Mask (Graham)
Act II
- Don't Fall Asleep (Graham) - Wife and Husband
- After Canasta--What? - Dorothy and Elsie
- Lizzie Borden (Michael Brown) - Townsperson, Man, Judge, Lizzie and District Attorney
- I'm in Love with Miss Logan (Graham) - Boy, Miss Logan and Man
- Trip of the Month - The Explorer
- Penny Candy (Carroll, Siegel) - Woman, Gussie, Poor Kid, Rich Kid and Candy Vendor
- Convention Bound
- Whither America? (Another Revival?) - Switchboard Operator, Stenographer and Man
- MonotonousMonotonous (song)'Monotonous' is a popular song written by June Carroll and Arthur Siegel for Leonard Sillman's Broadway revue New Faces of 1952. The song was written based on the experiences of its singer Eartha Kitt...
(Carroll, Siegel) - (Sung by Eartha Kitt) - The Great American Opera - Toby, Madame Flora and Effie
- He Takes Me Off His Income Tax (Siegel, Carroll) - Virginia de Luce. Song begun, then interrupted four times throughout the show, before 1) Boston Beguine, 2) Nanty Puts Her Hair Up, 3) Three for the Road medley, and 4) I'm in Love with Miss Logan.
Sketches
"Of Fathers and Sons", written by Mel Brooks, was a parody of the Clifford OdetsClifford Odets
Clifford Odets was an American playwright, screenwriter, socialist, and social protester.-Early life:Odets was born in Philadelphia to Romanian- and Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, Louis Odets and Esther Geisinger, and raised in Philadelphia and the Bronx, New York. He dropped out of high...
drama, Golden Boy
Golden Boy
Golden Boy is a drama by Clifford Odets. The play was initially produced on Broadway by The Group Theatre in 1937. Odets' biggest hit was made into a 1939 film of the same name, starring William Holden in his breakthrough role, and also served as the basis for a 1964 musical.-Plot:It focuses on Joe...
with characters Mae, Harry, Stanley and Policeman; a pickpocket is angry with his son for not wanting to join the family business. In "Oedipus Goes South", Ronny Graham parodies Truman Capote
Truman Capote
Truman Streckfus Persons , known as Truman Capote , was an American author, many of whose short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's and the true crime novel In Cold Blood , which he labeled a "nonfiction novel." At...
. Paul Lynde, wrapped in bandages, bemoans his African safari. The narrative ballad "Guess Who I Saw Today" has June Carroll telling her husband that she saw him with another woman. In "The Bard and the Beard" the characters- Miss Leigh, Sir Laurence, Call Boy and Maid- try to remember what play they are supposed to be in.
Film New Faces
Retitled New Faces]], the film version was directed by Harry Horner in CinemascopeCinemaScope
CinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...
and Eastmancolor, and released by Twentieth Century Fox on March 6, 1954. Ronny Graham, Eartha Kitt, Robert Clary, Alice Ghostley, June Carroll, Virginia De Luce, Carol Lawrence, Patricia Hammerlee, Paul Lynde, and Bill Millikin repeated their stage roles. The film was basically a reproduction of the stage revue with a thin plot added. The plot involved a producer and performer (Ronny Graham) in financial trouble on opening night. A wealthy Texan offers to help out, on the condition that his daughter be in the show.
The song order was changed and expanded to include:
- "Crazy, Man!" (Lynde, Graham)
- "Time for Tea" (Carroll, Siegel)
- "He Takes Me Off his Income Tax" (de Luce)
- "Convention Bound" (Graham)
- "Uska Dara"
- "C'est si bonC'est si bon"C'est si bon" is a popular song, sometimes also referred to by the English translation of the title, "It's So Good". The music was written in 1947 by Henri Betti, the French lyrics by André Hornez, and the English lyrics by Jerry Seelen...
" - "Santa BabySanta Baby"Santa Baby" is a 1953 Christmas song written by Joan Javits and Philip Springer. Although Tony Springer is listed as co-writer, he was a legal fiction created for purposes of membership in the performing rights organization BMI.The song is a tongue-in-cheek look at a Christmas list sung by a...
" (Joan Javits, Philip Springer, Tony SpringerTony SpringerTony "Wild T" Springer is a Canadian blues-rock guitarist.Born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago, Springer played with a number of reggae and calypso bands as a teenager. He later moved to Canada, settling in Toronto and playing local clubs in a Jimi Hendrix tribute band...
)
However, some songs were omitted, or had their lyrics updated. The song "Natty Puts her Hair Up" was omitted, however, an abridged version was used as an instrumental in a dance routine. The song "Don't Fall Asleep" was omitted. The song "Love is a Simple thing" omitted the final verse, being the Charles Addams character verse, because it was too outdated. Also, an extra verse was added to "Lizzie Borden". Some of the lines in "Monotonous" were replaced and updated, omitting the line "Ike Likes Me", and being replaced with writing the "Dragnet" theme instead.