Anyone remember when they used to put out those film compilations, many years ago? Well, To Broadway, With Love is the theatrical equivalent, celebrating some of the greatest Broadway tunes as well as being self-referential in naming some of the more successful shows.

To Broadway, With Love, composed by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, has a surprisingly clear recording of the original 1964 New York World’s Fair version of the show. Like most sing-alongs, the tunes and show was deliberately upbeat, which shines through on this recording. Even non-musical theatre fans will recognise a number of the tunes, if nothing else, from their filmed counterparts

The track listing is:

01- 'To Broadway With Love/Old Folks At Home/Dixie'
02 - 'Yankee Doodle Boy/Mary's A Grand Old Name/Every Day Is Ladies' Day With Me/The 88 Rag'
03 - 'Over There/Three Wonderful Letters From Home/Would You Rather Be A Colonel'
04 - 'Rose Of Washington Square/Beautiful Lady'
05 - 'Another Op'nin', Another Show/There's No Business Like Show Business'
06 - 'Carousel Waltz'
07 - 'Speak Low/Buckle Down, Winsocki/Bali Ha'i/I Still Get Jealous/F.D.R. Jones'
08 - 'Mata Hari Mine/Remember Radio/Popsicles In Paris'
09 - 'Finale'

Which pretty much covers the best of the shows over a hundred year period. The original show was lavish in the extreme and became one of the main attractions at the World’s Fair, which makes it even more surprising, given that it was well received by the critics, that the show actually closed after less than a hundred performances. This is considered a bomb against other shows which if successful could expect to run for five or six hundred show.

The actual show aside, the recording, arranged by Philip J. Lang, is relentlessly cheerful, the perfect addition to a sunny day with a Pimms and lemonade.

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Charles Packer