Since March is Women’s History Month, we’ll be celebrating it on this week’s Dress Circle (3/24 7:00 p.m.) by looking at musicals that were written by women composers and many with women lyricists.
The earliest we’ll feature is Kay Swift who not only composed several musicals of her own but was also a friend to the Gershwins who helped Ira with several projects after the untimely death of George. Swift’s musical is “Fine and Dandy” which she wrote with her husband who used the pen name of Paul James. We’re using one of our favorite songs, “Let’s Go Eat Worms in the Garden.”
Another older show came from the pen of Marguerite Monnot and started in France before arriving to Broadway through a production in London. It’s “Irma la Douce” which was made into a film, and, of course, all of the songs were removed.
We’ll hear songs from two of Carol Hall’s “Whorehouse” musicals, the original and sequel, and we’ll also sample two songs from two different shows by Cyndi Lauper: “SpongeBob Squarepants” and “Kinky Boots.”
We couldn’t fit everyone into the program that we wanted to, but you’ll also hear songs from shows featuring the work of Lucy Simon, Janine Tesori, Barbara Anselmi, Mary Murfitt, Gretchen Cryer, Lisa Lambert, and Helen Miller as well.
Once again, we’re showcasing a wide variety of song styles, but they all came from the pen of women, and that is certainly to be celebrated.
