Richard Bissell's (1913-1977) path to Broadway was not a usual one. A onetime riverboat man and plantation worker, his first literary work, 7 ½ Cents, was transformed into the very popular show The Pajama Game, with a score by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The show went on to a successful run and was turned into a film starring Doris Day.

His experience of being involved in turning his book into a show prompted Bissell to write Say, Darling (1957), which is a show about making a show. It’s an interesting concept as the songs rarely, if ever, reveal the actors innermost thoughts, as is usual in a musical show, but rather are mostly seen as rehearsal pieces for the fictitious show within a show.

The story is semi autobiographical, telling the tale of Jack Jordan (David Wayne), first time writer, brought to Broadway to develop his book, Paddlewheel, into a formulaic musical comedy called The Girl from Indiana.

Every theatrical stereotype is on show, with large and competing egos, the poor writer must navigate his way through very strange waters, which includes his leading lady Irene Lovelle (Vivian Blaine), self-obsessed composer Rudy Lorraine (Johnny Desmond) and Ted Snow (Robert Morse), who won a TONY for his efforts.

Being a show, within a show, there is less cohesiveness between the numbers, with Jule Styne, as composer, plus Betty Comden and Adolph Green as lyricists.

Following the usual overture, the show kicks off with 'Try to Love Me', the sort of soft, orchestrated ballad, which would not have sounded strange, being sung by Doris Day. 'It's Doom' is one of the weakest tracks on the recording, well that and 'The Husking Bee'. This could be seen as a novelty song, with over blown vocals and music which references an odd sort of Egyptian back beat over which a standard big band sound is layered. The second is a straightforward ho down number, which sounds like a poor mans Oklahoma, with extra layers of corn.

If this sounds a little negative, well some of the songs were designed to be parodies of popular genres. When the show is strutting its proper big band, jazz credentials it can present songs like 'The Second Time', which would not have seemed out of place, in a Sinatra, Dean Martin or Sammy Davis, Jr set, it’s certainly not strong enough to have become a standard, but in comparison to other similar songs it holds its own well.

The same can be said of the rest of the songs, with some very strong standalone songs, which had a chance to survive outside of the show. One interesting note about this recording is that the original show only had two pianos as the musical accompaniment, whereas the recorded version has the full orchestral treatment. I’m not sure if any recording of the actual show exists, but it would have been interesting to compare the two differing treatments.

In the end, for the entirely clever ‘show within a show’ motif, what really elevates this three act experience is the strength of the songs, which have successfully taken their influence from contemporary popular songs.

The full track listing is as follows:

Act I - 'Try to Love Me', 'It’s Doom', 'The Husking Bee''

Act II - 'It's the Second Time You Meet That Matters', 'Let the Lower Lights Be Burning', 'Chief of Love', 'Say, Darling', 'The Carnival Song'.

Act III - 'Try to Love Me', 'Dance Only with Me', 'Something’s Always Happening on the River', 'Say, Darling: Finale'.

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Charles Packer