August 2007

Month: August 2007

Happy Birthday, Mister Adler

Monroe DressToday marks the 86th birthday of composer Richard Adler. In 1950 he began composing with Jerry Ross, and a few years later they cranked out The Pajama Game (1954) and Damn Yankees (1955.) The latter show contains the song “Hey There,” the opening of which is said to be based on the first theme of Mozart’s Piano Sonata in C major, K. 545. Judge for yourself.

Grove Music Online has an interesting bit of trivia about Mr. Adler: “He was also the producer and director for various celebrity productions in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, including Marilyn Monroe’s celebrated appearance in Madison Square Garden singing Happy Birthday to President Kennedy.” But we want to know who sewed her into The Dress.

Listen to or view some Richard Adler.

Send ‘Em In

clown graduateIt’s National Clown Week, proclaimed by Richard M. Nixon in 1971. We won’t even go there.

We think clowns are kind of scary, but not as scary as ventriloquists’ dummies. We’re talking the wooden kind with the hinged mouth. If you want to see something spooky, check out the International Ventriloquists’ Association web site. Yeesh.

National Clown Week also reminds us of a remark made by Bart Simpson to his dad when Homer expressed an urge to attend college: “Barber or clown?”

Here are our two favorite clown-related items in the Mudd: the electronic book Careers for Class Clowns & Other Engaging Types and Herb Gardner’s play A Thousand Clowns.