Before he Revisited, Ben Bagley created musical revues. Shoestring ’57 was the follow-up to his successful first attempt, Shoestring Revue, which he produced at the ripe old age of twenty-one. Bagley’s revues were delightful, tuneful, and funny concoctions, written by mostly up-and-coming writers, many of whom would go on to great success in musical theater. For Shoestring ’57, his writers included Charles Strouse and Lee Adams, Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones, Carolyn Leigh, Claibe Richardson, and other talented folks. And he assembled a stellar cast of revuers including Beatrice Arthur, Fay De Witt, Dody Goodman, Dorothy Greener, John Bartis, Bill McCutcheon, and G. Wood.

The sketches are still funny, the songs are still tuneful, lyrical, and a whole lot of fun and, as Walter Kerr raved in the Tribune, it was “A wicked and winning revue … Even the overture is funny.” Other critics were equally effusive. Brooks Atkinson writing in The New York Times said, “Ingratiatingly funny. A bountiful program of song, dance and sketch. Mr. Bagley has assembled a handful of vital young people, a bag of skits, put together some unusual songs and clearly being a man of taste has seen to it that everything about the production unrolls like a bolt of silk.”

As we’ve done for all the Ben Bagley releases, we’ve considerably spruced up the sound. And the cover art is, of course, by the great Harvey Schmidt.

Lyrics by Lee Adams, Anthony Chalmers, Tom Jones, Carolyn Leigh, Paul Rosner, G. Wood

1. Dress Rehearsal of Shoestring ’57 Entire Company
2. What’s a Show? John Bartis
3. Renoir, Degas, and Toulouse Fay de Witt
4. Lament on Fifth Avenue Entire Company
5. Tennessee Williams’ Notes for a Certain S.R.O. Dody Goodman
6. The Arts Beatrice Arthur, Dorothy Greener, Fay de Witt
7. Gonna Be Rich G. Wood
8. Coffee Fay de Witt
9. Rochelle Hudson Tango Dody Goodman and G. Wood
10. Laddie Fay de Witt
11. The Trouble with Miss Manderson Dody Goodman and G. Wood
12. At Twenty-Two John Bartis
13. Don’t Say You Like Tchaikovsky Entire Company
14. Family Trouble Dody Goodman and G. Wood
15. Grace Fogarty Dorothy Greener
16. On a Shoestring Entire Company
17. Always One Day More Michael Greenwood
18. The Sea Is All Around Us

Sheldon Harnick (Charles Strouse, piano)

SHOESTRING ’57 is limited to 500 copies.