On October 7, 1948, a new musical by Kurt Weill and Alan Jay Lerner opened at the 46th Street Theatre, and although it was a moderate success, running 252 performances, there was no cast recording of any of the songs due to a musician’s strike. We’ll try to remedy that a bit on this week’s Dress Circle (8/11 7:00 p.m.) as we turn to various sources to present 12 of the 22 songs from the score. The show is “Love Life” which is subtitled “A Vaudeville,” and it follows the trials of a married couple who never age from 1791 to 1948.
The show starred Nanette Fabray, who won a Tony Award for her performance, and Ray Middleton, but unfortunately, we don’t have them performing any of the songs. Instead, we’ll be hearing from Jerry Orbach, Ann Miller, Bryn Terfel, Jo Stafford, John Reardon, Elizabeth Futral, Thomas Hampson, Lotte Lenya, and Alan Jay Lerner himself.
