Search - Jule Styne, Bob Hilliard, Helen Gallagher :: Hazel Flagg (1953 Original Broadway Cast)

HAZEL FLAGG will now indeed "Live Forever"!

Byron Kolln | the corner where Broadway meets Hollywood | 12/22/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This fantastic CD reissue of the ultra-rare 1953 original cast album of HAZEL FLAGG will be relished by show music fans. It captures Helen Gallagher in her first star vehicle (following her Tony-winning role in PAL JOEY) with an energetic score by Jule Styne and Bob Hilliard.



Based on Ben Hecht's story (which served as the basis for the classic Carole Lombard vehicle NOTHING SACRED and later got turned into the Jerry Lewis/Dean Martin musical LIVING IT UP), the musical recounts one Hazel Flagg who is given the prognosis that she is dying from radiation poisoning. On an invitation from a magazine company she gets an all-expenses-paid trip to New York, when Hazel learns that the prognosis was wrong and she's in perfect health. Too smart to pass up a golden opportunity, Hazel lives it up in New York before her cover is finally blown.



This score is an endless delight. Helen Gallagher's silvery voice is just perfect for Hazel, with a strong supporting cast including Benay Venuta and Thomas Mitchell. Standouts in the score include the showstopper "I'm Glad I'm Leaving", "You're Gonna Dance with Me, Willie" and "Everybody Loves to Take a Bow", though the score is best-remembered for yielding the chart-topper "How Do You Speak to an Angel?".



Having HAZEL FLAGG finally on CD is great, but it gets better! Sepia have filled out the CD with 10 bonus tracks including cover versions from Eddie Fisher, Sunny Gale, Guy Lombardo and Dinah Shore. The last 6 tracks are Benay Venuta's numbers from her ultra-rare 'Record Gazette' album (which she recorded in 1947).



This CD is superb value for money!"

NOT A GREAT SHOW, BUT FUN, NONETHELESS . . . .

J. T Waldmann | Carmel, IN, home to the fabulous new Regional Perf | 06/20/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"HAZEL FLAGG is a curious animal. The show, ' . . . a satire on the manipulation of people, especially the general public," is based on Ben Hecht's screenplay for the 1937 Carole Lombard/Frederick March vehicle, "Nothing Sacred," itself based on a story by James Street. Hecht is also responsible for the musical's book, with lyrics by Bob Hilliard. Jule Styne, fresh from the success of HIGH BUTTON SHOES and GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES, not only wrote the music but acted as the show's producer as well.



HAZEL's disappointing 190 performances (compared to over 700 for each of the previous shows) can be blamed on that old Broadway bugaboo: bad book. "The show did lose something in its transformation to a musical. The songs and dances tended to drag what was originally a fast moving story and, as many other show writers have found, satire is something that rarely works as a musical. Ben Hecht, who was successful as a playwright, was not at ease with a libretto and the inexperienced producer should have recognised this and brought in help. Even so, Jule Styne's score, whilst not quite top notch Styne, does include the enchanting 'How Do You Speak to an Angel?' and the popular 'Every Street's a Boulevard in Old New York." (from the liner notes by Rexton S. Bunnett)



Marc Miller, writing in "The TheaterMania Guide to Musical Theater Recordings," says HAZEL FLAGG was " . . . intended as Helen Gallagher's stepping-stone to stardom in the title role of a Vermont lass who's thought to be dying of radium poisoning and is transported to New York by EVERYWHERE magazine for a supposed last fling. (Guess what happens to her prognosis.) Gallagher works very hard here, and her contralto belt is strong and secure. She's supported by such Broadway reliables as Benay Venuta, Jack Whiting, . . . and Thomas Mitchell (who doesn't sing a note but took home a Best Musical Tony anyway). . . . the show does sport amusingly elaborate vocal arrangements by Hugh Martin."



The score is not nearly as dull as Mr. Miller would like us to believe. In addition to "Angel" and "Every Street," the score includes "I Feel Like I'm Gonna Live Forever," "You're Gonna Dance with Me, Willie," and the rather bizarre "Laura de Maupassant," all delivered in fine style by Ms. Gallagher. And "Salomee," here sung by Dean Campbell, became a minor hit for Dinah Shore.



The CD is blessed with a bunch of fun bonus tracks: a young, in-wonderful-voiced Eddie Fisher singing "How Do You Speak to an Angel?", Dinah Shore's recording of "Salomee," Guy Lombardo and the Royal Canadians performing "I Feel Like I'm Gonna Live Forever," and six tracks by Ms. Venuta, including "When Frances Dances with Me" and "Waltz Me Around Again, Willie" ("Willie Fitzgibbons who used to sell ribbons/and stood up all day on his feet/Grew very spooney on Madeline Mooney,/Who'd rather be dancing than eat./Each evening she'd tag him, to some dance hall drag him,/And when the band started to play,/She'd up like a silly and grab tired Willie,/Steer him on the floor and she'd say,/Waltz me around again, Willie . . . " What fun. The bonus songs alone are worth the price of admission.

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