Music Television - Prom 59: The Broadway Sound

And no Sondheim. Gosh.

This was John Wilson and his orchestra who has found an enthusiastic audience by reviving old Hollywood and Broadway scores and giving them the full orchestral CPR. The result is to hear the music as if for the first time. Loosed from their prison of wheezy old mono recordings, these scores once again sound energetic and alive. He's proving to be a regular hit at the Proms and returned this year with Prom 59: The Broadway Sound.

The important thing about John Wilson is that he's from Gateshead and has a sensible haircut. Most conductors don't. I think that this, as well as the popularity of Broadway tunes, accounts for the fact this particular Prom was not only televised but also bumped up to BBC2 rather than being squirrelled away on BBC4.

In general classical musicians don't look good on television. String players tend to loll and jerk in their chairs like drunken puppets; percussionists look like they'd rather not be there; the brass are all puffed-out cheeks and sweaty faces; and the wind look as if that's what they've got.

This is not simply to be rude about classical musicians. These are exquisitely trained and talented professionals. The problem is that the physical effort it takes to play so exquisitely and talented-ly can often lead to some odd-looking contortions. Generally speaking classical musicians are better heard than seen.

The same is true for singers. The kind of stamina, diaphragm and facial muscle it takes to sing like Domingo is Olympian. In contrast it's easier to look good whilst singing a showtune. Musical theatre performers tend to be better at some basics of a visual performance: how to gesture with your arms, how to smile when you sing, how to act with your eyes. And they tend to have better haircuts.

So the Broadway Prom made for decent television as well as a lovely concert with Sierra Boggess (ever-glorious) and Seth MacFarlane (a fine crooner - new name to me but, apparently, famous as a cartoon dog) putting in t'rrific turns. Elizabeth Llewellyn also did a stunning version of "Come Home" from Rodgers and Hammerstein's lesser-known Allegro. In fact much of the evening was not the usual playlist, with even the Frank Loesser songs being lesser-known ("Sue Me", "Joey, Joey, Joey"). Perhaps that was to highlight the work of the great Broadway arrangers - Robert Russell Bennett, Don Walker, Irwin Kostal, Hershy Kay, Hans Spialek - rather than just the composers.

There were some less successful elements. Personally I'm never convinced that using bits of scripted dialogue to lead into a song works in a concert setting. It always feels stilted. And the Albert Hall is just too grand for pure musical comedy ("Seven and a Half Cents", Another Openin', Another Show", "Don't Rain on My Parade"). Comedy is hard work and, funnily enough, the rehearsal footage with the orchestra decked in their working clothes felt a more appropriate look for these numbers.

But all was forgiven as they ended with a whizz-bang and the whizziest and bangiest of all Broadway composers. Yes, Jerry Herman finally took his place in the Proms pantheon:

"You coax the blues right out of the horn, Mame
You charm the husk right off of the corn, Mame" 

Roll over, Beethoven.

Interesting programme notes here.