Before he Revisited, Ben Bagley created musical revues, starting with Shoestring Revue, which he produced at the ripe old age of twenty-one. Then there were other Shoestring revues, The Littlest Revue, The Decline and Fall of the Entire World as Seen Through the Eyes of Cole Porter – the revue was a world Ben loved, and he found and gave opportunities to a whole slew of songwriters who’d go on to have great success in musical theater. And so, this album was very dear to his heart, preserving the utterly delightful Make Mine Manhattan along with a slew of other revue songs in a bonus section called Great Revues Revisited.

Make Mine Manhattan opened on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theater in 1948 and was a smash hit, running 429 performances. The music by Richard Lewine is a tuneful delight and the lyrics of Arnold Horwitt are witty, smart, and frequently laugh-out-loud funny. The show was notable for introducing someone named Sid Caesar to Broadway audiences – just a short time later he’d team up with Make Mine Manhattan’s sketch director, Max Liebman, in a little TV show called Your Show of Shows.

The additional songs are from a variety of other musical revues by some great songwriters. Bagley’s cast for this recording is starry and wonderful and includes Nancy Andrews, Carleton Carpenter, Helen Gallagher, Dolores Gray, Estelle Parsons, Lynn Redgrave, Arthur Siegel, and Elaine Stritch. This is one of Ben’s most enchanting albums and features terrific arrangements by Dennis Deal and Judd Woldin.

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.

MAKE MINE MANHATTAN is limited to 500 copies only.

MAKE MINE MANHATTAN

1. Anything Can Happen in New York - Entire Company
2. Gentlemen Friend - Helen Gallagher and Girls
3. Noises in the Street - Arthur Siegel, Bob DeAngelis, Dennis Deal
4. My Brudder and Me - Estelle Parsons and Chorus
5. I Fell in Love with You - Nancy Grennan and SRO
6. The Subway Song - Arthur Siegel
7. Phil the Fiddler - Ken Parks and Girls
8. Schraffts - Helen Gallagher
9. I Don’t Know His Name - Estelle Parsons
10. Saturday Night in Central Park - Helen Gallagher, Arthur Siegel, and Company

Music by Richard Lewine Lyrics by Arnold B. Horwitt
Vocal and Musical Arrangements by Dennis Deal

GREAT REVUES REVISITED

11. Civilization - Elaine Stritch
12. Lend an Ear - Medley
13. After Hours - Ginger Ale
14. When Someone Loves You - Lynn Redgrave
15. Molly O’Reilly - Patrick Dougherty and Ginger Ale
16. This Had Better Be Love - Nancy Andrews and Arthur Siegel
17. Mr. Henderson - Lynn Redgrave
18. The Show-Off - Carleton Carpenter
19. Take Off the Coat - Dolores Gray
20. Miss Platt Selects Mate - Nancy Andrews
21. Darn it Baby, That’s Love - Lynn Redgrave and Carleton Carpenter
22. Saturday’s Child - Dolores Gray
23. I Gotta Have You - Lynn Redgrave and Company
24. Love in a Changing World - Arthur Siegel and Christine Ranck
25. The Good Old Days - Arthur Siegel, Robert Marks, William Cantor
26. Home By the Sea - Diane Carnevale
27. A Pretty Girl is Like a Pretty Girl - William Cantor, Robert Marks, Arthur Siegel