This tribute to burlesque was a star vehicle for
Ethel Merman. The score by
Jule Styne and
Stephen Sondheim includes the
Merman standard "Everything's Coming Up Roses," and the song that is invariably used to introduce anything having to do with the strip tease, "Let Me Entertain You." A 702-performance hit in its original production (which is captured here), the show was considered the definitive
Merman performance and the crowning achievement of her long career. (It marked her final appearance in a new Broadway musical, though she later appeared in revivals.) It is also considered one of the great American musicals of all time, balanced between the broad show business entertainment represented by composer
Jule Styne and the modern, dark, psychological drama typical of
Stephen Sondheim, who, as with his previous effort, West Side Story, was contributing only lyrics, though he would go on to write music and lyrics for a series of musicals from the 1960s on. The 1999 reissue produced by
Thomas Z. Shepard reconceived the original
Goddard Lieberson production, returning to the original session tapes for several fixes, extensions, and alterations to the tracks "Baby June and Her Newboys," "All I Need Is the Girl," "You Gotta Get a Gimmick," "Let Me Entertain You," and "Rose's Turn." The reissue also added four bonus tracks, among them two songs cut from the score before it reached Broadway, "Momma's Talkin' Soft" and "Nice She Ain't," as well as scratchy piano demos of "Some People" (with different lyrics) and a medley of "Mr. Goldstone" and "Little Lamb," the latter sung by
Merman for the first time. ~ Marjorie Ellen Ruhlmann & William Ruhlmann