Hot September premiered in Boston in September of 1965 but closed less than a month later canceling the New York opening planned for that October. It was based on William Inge's play "Picnic". The music, written by Kenneth "what else did he write" Jacobson is actually quite interesting at times. The lyrics by Rhoda Roberts are not bad at all, I don't think I cringed even once. Frank Sinatra even recorded one song, Golden Moment, for the charts. In addition to that ditty, there are plenty of other wonderful tunes worth listening to more than once. I especially liked "What Do You Do", "I Got It Made", and "Tell Her". The orchestrations are pretty much nonexistent. All you really hear is piano and drums. Bonus tracks on the CD have great arrangements that make you wish the entire scored were recorded in that way. This recording is a great representative of the transition in musical theater sound of the late 50's/early 60's to the more pop style of the late 60's/early 70's. Check it out.
3 comments:
Oh my gosh! You forget "Golden Moment." It's lovely, bittersweet song, which described the drifter played by Bill Holden in the movie "Picnic." It's one of my favorite songs on Sinatra's "My Kind of Broadway" album. Here are some of the words, to give you an example. BTW, you can hear Sinatra's version on the MP3 Juices website.
"You're young for golden moment.
You sigh and it goes away.
And there in the silent September,
you dream of the music of May..."
Thank You!
BTW YouTube has a grand array of music from musicals with comments by people like Don Pippin, who was the music director for Nymph Errant in London and Mame on Broadway. Check it out!
Ah yes, indeed! Josh Logan directed the stage and movie versions of PICNIC. Then he directed the musical based on the Bill Inge play called HOT SEPTEMBER. And yes, Frank Sinatra has a wonderful version of the song GOLDEN MOMENT from that musical. Ahhhhh!
Is there sheet music available for GOLDEN MOMENT/
Post a Comment