A musical about Walter Winchell? A musical about Walter Winchell featuring Roger Daltrey, Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, F Murray Abraham, Adrian Zmed (hello memories of 80s TV show TJ Hooker), and James Robert Brown as Winchell?
Well, now, I couldn’t let this studio recording go without giving it a listen and reporting back. The show itself was meant to open on Broadway back in 1991, but the show was cancelled due to a scandal involving the producers. Sadly, I don’t know more, but those with long memories might be able to fill in the gaps.
Anyway, after more than thirty years, this musical is made available to the public for the first time in a sparkling new recording. The creators are Keith Levenson (book, music, lyrics) and Martin Charnin (book. lyrics).
The “all-star cast” includes Roger Daltrey, Sally Struthers, Kate Baldwin, Chip Zien, F. Murray Abraham, Julia Murney, Billy Idol, Michael Cerveris, Darlene Love, Kristin Duerr, Adrian Zmed, Jon Cryer, Claudia Schneider, Steven Mercurio, Jackie Turner, Alice Cooper, Angelina Carballo, and Jason Robert Brown as Walter Winchell.
Levenson is a renowned multi-tasker: not just a composer, he is also credited as musical director, conductor, arranger, orchestrator and more. He has worked closely with The Who (hence Daltrey’s involvement in Winchell: The Musical).Charnin (1934-2019) was a lyricist best known for Annie, plus a number of TV specials including the marvellous Dames at Sea (1971).
Winchell: The Musical has broad appeal to those who recognise and remember the Golden Age of the American musical fondly. I felt a definite synergy with Jerry Herman’s Mack and Mabel, which covers a similar subject, and the ensemble pieces are decidedly old-fashioned, but in a good way.
If you aren’t familiar with Winchell, a brief precis will suffice. Or a watch of the film Sweet Smell of Success (1957), which he inspired. A syndicated gossip columnist, he thrived for more than 40 years from the 1920s-1960s. He also had a successful radio broadcast for over 30 years.
You may recall him being mentioned in Pal Joey, in the song “The Lady Is A Tramp” (“I follow Winchell, and read every line”). He was abrasive, anti-Communist, and vicious about those he saw as his enemies. He almost destoyed French singer/actor Josephine Baker’s career, and coined the term ‘frenemy’.
A good topic for a musical! Yellow Sound Label assembled the cast in New York City to put the 18 songs down for posterity. A few notes on the songs and their delivery might mention that Julia Murney’s vocals on “Only God Knows Why” are more than a little Ethel Mermanesque. It might also be noted that the big name cast (other than Brown) is scattered throughout the recording.
Chip Zien, Darlene Love, Julia Murney and the full ensemble cast of Claudia Schneider, Jesse Janet Richards, Claire Howland Kenny, Giulianna Augello, Neal Mayer, Larry Kleiber, Peter Cormican, Angela Rose DeAngelis, Peter Green, David Josefsberg, Mallory King, Mark Megill, Dominque Plaisant, Tom Rocco, David Quinn, Lisa Spielman, Jonathan Marc Sherman, and Joy Donze do a lot of the heavy lifting.
Winchell: The Musical is pleasant, but hard to follow unless you know the context of the scenes and who is speaking/singing. The lyrics are sometimes a little clunky (“sometimes it’s right/go fly a kite”) but generally they are more than OK.
Can I see this one working on the stage at this distance? It’s possible, as the ensemble numbers do conjure up certain visuals, and a couple of numbers like “Lottie”, “Stay With Us” and “Teacher, Teacher” suggest some interesting twists in the storytelling.
You can find more about Winchell: The Musical here, and it can now be found on all major music streaming platforms.
I’m giving it 3 stars as a recording, simply because I want to know more of the story and how the songs fit into the show as a whole.