John Wilson on Broadway BBC Proms

It's becoming one of the most eagerly anticipated nights at the Proms -

the annual appearance of John Wilson

and his hand-picked, show-stopping orchestra.

Since 2009, they've raised the roof here

with concerts celebrating MGM musicals,

Rodgers and Hammerstein and last year, we had Hooray For Hollywood.

But this year, they're leaving America's West Coast

and taking us to New York, to Broadway.

John's magic is to recreate

that authentic glamorous sound of the Broadway stage,

taking us back to the golden days of George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers,

Cole Porter and Leonard Bernstein.

With him on stage tonight are his orchestra, led by Warren Zielinski

and the Maida Vale singers.

Waiting backstage are some seriously starry soloists.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

So take your seats, sit back

and join us in this celebration of the composers, arrangers,

singers and instrumentalists who created the Broadway sounds.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

And there he is, the man himself,

John Wilson joining his own orchestra

to start this evening's concert in style

with the overture to George Gershwin's musical Funny Face.

APPLAUSE

The overture to Gershwin's Funny Face,

arranged by Don Rose and played by John Wilson and his orchestra.

Call them on, Ralph.

On stage, everybody.

I want to thank you all

for the fine spirit you've shown all through rehearsals.

Now, there'll be a gang down from New York. Don't let that worry you.

This is a try-out

and I know we're going to make a hell of a show out of this room.

After all, we owe it to Shakespeare,

not to mention the other six guys

who've been sitting up nights rewriting him.

That's all. Thank you.

# Another opening, another show

# In Philly, Boston or Baltimo

# A chance for stage folks to say hello

# Another opening of another show

# Another job that you hope at last

# Will make your future forget your past

# Another pain where the ulcers grow

# Another opening of another show

# Four weeks You rehearse and rehearse

# Three weeks and it couldn't be worse

# One week, will it ever be right?

# Then out of the hat It's that big first night

# The overture is about to start

# You cross your fingers

# And hold your heart

# It's curtain time and away we go

# Another opening of another show

# Another opening, another show

# In Philly, Boston or Baltimo

# A chance for stage folks to say hello

# Another opening of another show

# Another job that you hope at last

# Will make your future forget your past

# Another pain where the ulcers grow

# Another opening of another show

# Four weeks You rehearse and rehearse

# Three weeks and it couldn't be worse.

# One week, will it ever be right?

# Then out of the hat It's that big first night

# The overture is about to start

# You cross your fingers and hold your heart

# It's curtain time and away we go

# Another opening of another show!

# Four weeks You rehearse and rehearse

# Three weeks and it couldn't be worse

# One week, will it ever be right?

# Then out of the hat It's that big first night

# The overture is about to start

# You cross your fingers and hold your heart

# It's curtain time and away we go

# Another opening Just another opening

# Of another show! #

APPLAUSE

Anna-Jane Casey and the Maida Vale Singers

with Another Op'nin', Another Show

from Cole Porter's most successful ever show, Kiss me Kate.

# Who cares if my boat goes upstream

# Or if the gale bids me go with the river's flow?

# I drift along with my fancy

# Sometimes I thank my lucky stars my heart is free

# And other times I wonder

# Where's the mate for me?

PIANO PLAYS SOLO

# The driftwood floating over the sea

# Sometimes finds a sheltering lee

# So somewhere there surely must be

# A harbour meant for me

# I drift along with my fancy

# Sometimes I thank my lucky stars my heart is free

# And other times I wonder where's the mate... #

Hello.

Oh, er, how do you do?

-Do you live here?

-Oh, no, no.

I'm just a wayfarer along the river.

So am I.

Which way are you going?

Oh, either way. Which way are you going?

Anywhere Poppa gives shows.

Oh. Are you a player?

You mean like on the piano? Yes, I play a little.

Is that you I heard just now?

Yes. That was me.

Oh, what a pity.

LAUGHTER

What did you say, Mister?

Oh, when I asked if you were a player, I meant, are you an actress?

-Oh! No, but I'd give anything if I could be.

-Why?

Well, because you can make believe so many wonderful things

that never happen in real life.

Wonderful things DO happen.

This very day, I was standing here on the levee, feeling blue

and suddenly, I looked up and I...

Oh. I must go.

Why?

Well, you see, you're talking to me, and...

I don't know you.

Does that really matter so much?

No, not to me.

But they say it isn't nice.

Well, if you like to make believe things,

why can't we make believe we know each other?

Oh, yes! And we haven't seen each other in 75 years,

and you're my long lost nephew.

There's a scene like that in a play called The Village Drunkard.

No, no, 75 years is too long.

Besides, I don't think I like the idea of being your nephew.

Let us imagine we've... we've just met.

But we really have.

Yes, but let's just suppose we've fallen in love at first sight.

# Only make believe

# I love you

# Only make believe

# That you love me

# Others find peace of mind in pretending

# Couldn't you?

# Couldn't I?

# Couldn't we?

# Make believe our lips

# Are blending

# In a phantom kiss

# Or two or three

# Might as well make believe I love you

# For to tell the truth

# I do

# Your pardon I pray

# 'Twas too much to say

# The words that betray my heart

# We only pretend

# You do not offend

# In playing a lover's part

# The game of just supposing

# Is the sweetest game I know

# Our dreams are more romantic

# Than the world we see

# And if the things we dream about

# Don't happen to be so

# That's just an unimportant technicality

# Though the cold and brutal fact is

# You and I have never met

# We need not mind convention's Ps and Qs

# If we put our thoughts in practise

# We can banish all regret

# Imagining most anything we choose

# We could make believe

# I love you

# We could make believe

# That you love me

-BOTH:

-# Others find peace of mind in pretending

# Couldn't you?

# Couldn't I?

# Couldn't we?

# Make believe our lips are blending

# In a phantom kiss

# Or two or three

# Might as well make believe I love you

# For to tell the truth

# I do. #

Ravenal.

The judge would like to see you now.

-What for?

-Nothing serious,

but I reckon you're better coming along and talking to him.

If you'll excuse me, ma'am,

I hope to see you again in a little while.

Oh, Joe! Did you see that young man I was just talking to?

Morning, Miss Nolan. Yep, I seen him.

I seen a lot like him on the river.

Oh, Joe. He was such a gentleman.

Have you seen Miss Julie?

I got to tell her. I got to ask her what she thinks.

Better ask the old river what he thinks.

He knows about everybody.

He knows about everything.

# There's an old man called the Mississippi

# That's the old man that I'd like to be

# What does he care if the world's got troubles?

# What does he care if the land ain't free?

# Old Man River

# That Old Man River

# He must know somethin'

# But don't say nothin'

# He just keeps rollin'

# He keeps on rollin' along

# He don't plant taters

# He don't plant cotton

# And them that plant 'em

# Is soon forgotten

# But Old Man River

# He just keeps rollin' along

# You and me, we sweat and strain

# Body all achin'

# And racked with pain

# Tote that barge!

# Lift that bale!

# We gets a little drunk

# And we lands in jail

# I gets weary

# And sick of tryin'

# I'm tired of livin'

# And scared of dyin'

# But Old Man River

# He just keeps rollin'

# Along! #

APPLAUSE

Rodney Earl Clarke with Ol' Man River.

Before that, Make Believe, sung by Sierra Boggess and Julian Ovenden

from Jerome Kern's Showboat.

Either you're closing your eyes

to a situation you do not wish to acknowledge

or you are not aware of the calibre of disaster

indicated by the presence of a pool table in your community.

Well, ya got trouble, my friends.

Right here, I say trouble right here in River City.

Why, sure, I'm a pool player, certainly mighty proud,

I'm always mighty proud to say it.

I consider that the hours I spent with a cue in my hand are golden.

Help you cultivate horse sense, and a cool head and a keen eye.

Do you every take and try to give an ironclad leave to yourself

from a three-rail billiard shot?

But just as I say it takes judgement, brains and maturity

to score in a balk line game,

I say that any boob can take and shove a ball in a pocket.

And I call that sloth,

the first big step on the road to the depths of degrada...

I say first, medicinal wine from a teaspoon, then beer from a bottle.

# And the next thing you know your son is playing for money

# In a pinch-back suit

# And listening to some big out-of-town jasper

# Here to tell about horse race gambling... #

Not a wholesome trotting race,

but a race where they set down right on the horse!

Like to see some stuck-up jockey boy sitting on Dan-Patch?

Make your blood boil! Well, I should say.

Now, friends, let me tell you what I mean.

You got one, two, three, four, five, six pockets in a table.

Pockets that mark the difference

between a gentleman and a bum with a capital B

and that rhymes with P and that stands for pool.

# All week long, your River City youth'll be fritterin' away

# I say your young men will be fritterin'... #

Fritterin' away their noon time, supper time, chore time too.

Get the ball in the pocket, never mind getting dandelions pulled

or the screen door patched or beef steak pounded.

Never mind pumping any water

till your parents are caught with a cistern empty on Saturday night

and that's trouble. You got lots and lots of trouble.

I'm thinking of the kids in the knickerbockers,

shirt-tailed young ones peeking in the pool hall window after school.

You got trouble, folks! Right here in River City.

Trouble with a capital T, that rhymes with P and that stands for pool.

Now, I know all you folks are the right kind of parents.

I'm going to be perfectly frank.

Would you like to know what kind of conversation goes on

while they're loafing round that hall? They'll be trying out Bevo,

trying out Cubans, trying out Tailor Maids like cigarette fiends

and bragging all about

how they're going to cover up a tell-tale breath with sen-sen.

One fine night, they leave the pool hall,

heading for the dance at the armoury,

libertine men and scarlet women and ragtime, shameless music

that'll grab your son, your daughter with the arms of the jungle,

animal instinct, mass 'steria!

# The idle brain is the Devil's playground

-# Trouble!

-We got trouble

-# Right here in River City!

-Right here in River City

# With a capital T and that rhymes with P

-# And that stands for pool

-That stands for pool

-# We surely got trouble

-We surely got trouble

-# Right here in River City

-Right here

# Got to figure out a way to keep the young ones moral after school

# Our children's children gonna have trouble, trouble... #

Mothers of River City, heed that warning before it's too late.

Watch for the tell-tale signs of corruption.

The minute your son leaves the house,

does he rebuckle his knickerbockers below the knee?

Is there a nicotine stain on his index finger?

A dime novel hidden in the corn crib?

Is he starting to memorize jokes from Captain Billy's Whiz Bang?

Are certain words creeping into his conversation?

-Words like "swell"?

-# Trouble

-Ah, and "So's your old man?"

-# Trouble

Well, if so, my friends...

-# Ya got trouble

-Oh, we've got trouble

-# Right here in River City

-Right here in River City

# With a capital T And that rhymes with P

-# And that stands for pool

-That stands for pool

-# We've surely got trouble

-Surely got trouble

-# Right here in River City

-Right here... #

Remember the Maine, Plymouth Rock and the Golden Rule!

# Our children's children gonna have

# Oh, we've got trouble

# We're in terrible, terrible trouble

# That game with the 15 numbered balls is the devil's tool

# Devil's tool

# Yes, we've got trouble Trouble, trouble

# Oh yes, we've got trouble here Big, big trouble

-# With a T

-# Capital T

-# That will rhyme with P

-# That rhymes with P

-# And that stands for pool

-# That stands for pool. #

APPLAUSE

Family Guy himself, Seth MacFarlane,

with Ya Got Trouble from Meredith Wilson's The Music Man.

# I weave with Brightly coloured strings

# To keep my mind off other things

# So, ladies, let your fingers dance

# And keep your hands out of romance

# Lovely witches let the stitches

# Keep your fingers under control

# Cut the thread but leave

# The whole heart whole

# Merry maids can sew and sleep

# Wives can only sew and weep

# Falling in love with love

# Is falling for make believe

# Falling in love with love

# Is playing the fool

# Caring too much Is such a juvenile fancy

# Learning to trust is just for children in school

# I fell in love with love

# One night when the moon was full

# I was unwise with eyes unable to see

# I fell in love with love

# With love everlasting

# But love fell out with me

# Falling in love with love is falling for make believe

# Falling in love with love is playing the fool

# Caring too much is such

# A juvenile fancy

# Learning to trust is just for children in school

# I fell in love with love

# One night when the moon was full

# I was unwise with eyes unable to see

# I fell in love with love

# With love everlasting

# But love fell out

# With me. #

APPLAUSE

Sierra Boggess with the women of the Maida Vale Singers, singing

that shimmering waltz from Rodgers and Hart, The Boys From Syracuse.

# I touch your hands and my arms grow strong

# Like a pair of birds that burst with song

# My eyes look down at your lovely face

# And I hold the world

# In my embrace

# Younger than springtime, are you

# Softer than starlight, are you

# Warmer than winds of June

# Are the gentle lips you gave me

# Gayer than laughter, are you

# Sweeter than music, are you

# Angel and lover

# Heaven and earth are you to me

# And when your youth

# And joy invade my arms

# And fill my heart as now they do

# Then

# Younger than springtime, am I

# Gayer than laughter, am I

# Angel and lover Heaven and earth

# Am I with you

# And when your youth

# And joy invade my arms

# And fill my heart as now they do

# Then

# Younger than springtime, am I

# Gayer than laughter, am I

# Angel and lover Heaven and earth

# Am I

# With

# You. #

APPLAUSE

Julian Ovenden singing that number from South Pacific.

Handsome Lieutenant Cable is poleaxed by beautiful young Liat.

# I figured it out

# I figured it out

# With a pencil and a pad I figured it out

# Seven and a half cents doesn't buy a hell of a lot

# Seven and a half cents doesn't mean a thing

# But give it to me every hour 40 hours every week

# That's enough for me to be living like a king

-# I figured it out

-He figured it out

-# I figured it out

-He figured it out

# With a pencil and a pad I figured it out

# Only five years from today

# Only five years from today

# I can see it all before me

# Only five years from today... #

Now, let's see. Five years.

That's 260 weeks, times 40 hours every week,

and roughly two and a quarter hours overtime

at time and a half for overtime.

Comes to exactly 852 and 74 cents!

Hooray!

# That's enough for me to get

# An automatic washing machine

# A year's supply of gasoline

# Carpeting for the living room

# A vacuum instead of a blasted broom

# Not to mention a 40-inch television set

-TOGETHER:

-# So although

# Seven and a half cents doesn't buy a hell of a lot

# Seven and a half cents doesn't mean a thing

# But give it to me every hour 40 hours every week

# That's enough for me to be living like a king

-# I figured it out

-She figured it out

-# She figured it out

-I figured it out

# With a pencil and a pad I figured it out

# Only ten years from today

# Only ten years from today

# I can see it, clear as daylight

# Only ten years from today... #

Ten years. Now, let's see...

That's 520 weeks, times 40 hours every week,

and roughly two and a quarter hours overtime

at time and a half for overtime,

comes to exactly 1,605 and 48 cents!

Hooray!

# That's enough for me to buy

# A trip to France across the seas

# Motorboat with water skis

# Maybe even a foreign car

# A charge account at the corner bar

# Not to mention a Scrabble board with letters made of gold

-TOGETHER:

-# So although

# Seven and a half cents doesn't buy a hell of a lot

# Seven and a half cents doesn't mean a thing

# But give it to me every hour 40 hours every week

# That's enough for me to be living like a king

-# We figured it out

-We figured it out

-# We figured it out

-We figured it out

# With a pencil and a pad We figured it out

# Only 20 years from today

# Ooh wah

# Only 20 years from today

# Ooh wah

# I can see it like a vision

# Only 20 years

# From today... #

20 years. Now, let's see...

-That's 1,040 weeks...

-Times 40 hours every week.

Add roughly two and a quarter hours overtime...

At time and a half for overtime.

-Comes to exactly...

-3,411!

-And 96 cents!

-ALL:

-Wow.

# That's enough for me to be

# A sultan in the Taj Mahal

# In every room a different doll

# I'll have myself a buying spree

# And buy a pyjama factory

# Then I could end up having Old Man Hasler work for me

# So although

# Seven and a half cents doesn't buy a hell of a lot

# Seven and a half cents doesn't mean a thing

# But give it to me every hour 40 hours every week

# That's enough for me to be

# Living like a

# King. #

APPLAUSE

Seven And A Half Cents from The Pyjama Game,

the only show about a strike over a seven and a half cent

wage rise at a pyjama factory,

sung by Seth MacFarlane and Anna-Jane Casey.

APPLAUSE

The climactic ballet, Slaughter On Tenth Avenue,

from the Rodgers and Hart classic, On Your Toes.

Performed by the electrifying John Wilson Orchestra.

That fabulous orchestration by Don Walker,

written for the show's Broadway revival in 1954.

APPLAUSE

Broadway musicals have given us

some of the finest tunes in the great American songbook.

One fan completely smitten is the offensively multitalented

Seth MacFarlane, most famous as the creator of the hugely

successful cartoon Family Guy.

We spoke to the Seth and conductor John Wilson in rehearsal.

This era was sort of the peak

of high musicality in America.

The '40s through the early '60s.

That was when orchestras and composers

really captured the best of what an orchestra could do.

MUSIC: "Slaughter On Tenth Avenue" by Richard Rodgers arr. by Don Walker

SETH: 'It's just a pleasure to listen to,

'because it constantly surprises you.

'It doesn't just give you the same'

three chords over and over.

If it's playing the same tune repeatedly,

it's going to find a different way to express it and orchestrate it.

-JOHN WILSON:

-The Broadway sound, to me, is the sound of the arrangers.

It's very unusual for a composer of theatre music,

however distinguished, whether it's a Cole Porter

or a Stephen Sondheim, to do his own orchestration.

Jerome Kern, Porter, Gershwin

would write the tunes, but they would all be clothed

in the orchestral colours by a handful of the top guys on Broadway.

Seth is an authentic big band-style singer

and there are very few of those around.

John's drummer, Matt, Matt Skelton,

was a Family Guy fan and so he was aware

of the kind of music we had done on the shows and he said to John,

"I think this guy might be somebody who kind of gets what we do."

And John said, "This American, I don't know. I'll have to see proof."

# Only 20 years from today

# Ooh wah

# Only 20 years from today

# Ooh wah... #

-JOHN:

-'That's how he first came to my attention.'

I heard him sing The Things We Did Last Summer as the dog

in the cartoon show and I thought, "That's first-rate singing."

John and I hit it off immediately

and we both are obsessed with great old orchestrations.

# That's enough for me to be

# A sultan in the Taj Mahal

# In every room a different doll... #

SETH: 'This orchestra is able to capture the dialect of the older

'orchestras that played this music originally.'

Each player is the best at what they do,

so you have the sort of, you know, as you say,

fantasy football league of musicians.

# Doesn't mean a thing

# But give it to me every hour

# 40 hours every week... #

SETH: 'You want to be facing the other way.'

Your back is to the orchestra and you're performing and really...

If only there were a way to do this where you could actually

face these guys and be enveloped by that sound,

but of course that would ruin the show.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

# Tra-la!

# It's May! The lusty month of May

# That lovely month when everyone goes blissfully astray

# Tra-la! It's here

# That shocking time of year

# When tons of wicked little thoughts merrily appear

# It's May! It's May!

# That gorgeous holiday

# When every maiden

# Prays that her lad

# Will be a cad

# It's mad! It's gay!

# A libellous display

# Those dreary vows that everyone takes, everyone breaks

# Everyone makes divine mistakes

# The lusty month of May

# Whence this fragrance wafting through the air?

# What sweet feelings does its scent transmute?

# Whence this perfume floating everywhere?

# Don't you know it's that dear forbidden fruit

-# La-la-la

-Tra-la-la-la-la

# That dear forbidden fruit!

-# La-la-la-la

-Tra-la-la-la-la

# Tra-la-la-la-la

# Tra-la-la-la-la

# Tra-la

# Tra-la

# Tra-la

# Tra-la

# Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la

# La-la-la-la

# It's May! The lusty month of May

# That darling month when everyone throws self-control away

# It's time to do

# A wretched thing or two

# And try to make each precious day one you'll always rue

# It's May! It's May!

# The month of "Yes, you may"

# The time for every frivolous whim

# Proper or "im"

# It's wild! It's gay!

# A blot in every way

# The birds and bees with all of their vast amorous past

# Gaze at the human race aghast

# The lusty month of May!

# Tra-la! It's May!

# The lusty month of May!

# That lovely month when everyone goes blissfully astray

-# Tra-la!

-Tra-la!

-It's here!

-It's here!

# That shocking time of year

# When tons of wicked little thoughts merrily appear

# It's May! It's May!

# The month of great dismay

# When all the world is brimming with fun

# Wholesome or "un"

# It's mad! It's gay!

# A libellous display!

# Those dreary vows that everyone takes, everyone breaks

# Everyone makes divine mistakes

# The lusty month of May! #

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Sierra Boggess singing The Lusty Month Of May

from Camelot, the musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe.

Nathan, that is the biggest and most unforgivable lie

you have ever told me.

It's true, I promise you.

# You promise me this You promise me that

# You promise me everything under the sun then you give me a kiss

# And you're grabbing your hat You're off to the races again

-# When I think of the time gone by...

-Adelaide, Adelaide!

-# And I think of the way I tried!

-Adelaide!

# I could honestly die!

# Call a lawyer and sue me

# Sue me

# What can you do me?

# I love you

# Give a holler and hate me

# Hate me

# Go ahead, hate me

-# I love you...

-The best years of my life, I was a fool to give to you

# All right, already

# I'm just a no-goodnik

# All right, already

# It's true, so new

# So sue me, sue me

# What can you do me?

# I love you...

# You gamble it here You gamble it there

# You gamble on everything All except me

# And I'm sick of you keeping me up in the air

# Till you're back in the money again

-# When I think of the time gone by...

-Adelaide, Adelaide!

-# And I think of the way I tried...

-Adelaide!

# I could honestly die!

# Serve a paper and sue me, sue me

# What can you do me?

# I love you. #

Atchoo!

# Give a holler and hate me, hate me

-# Go ahead, hate me. I love you...

-When you wind up in jail

# Don't come to me to bail you out!

# All right, already, so call a policeman!

# All right, already, it's true

# So new

# So sue me, sue me

# What can you do me?

# I love you

# You're at it again You're running a game

# I'm not going to play second fiddle to that

# I'm sick and I'm tired of stalling around

# And I'm telling you now that we're through!

-# When I think of the time gone by...

-Adelaide, Adelaide!

-# And I think of the way I tried...

-Adelaide!

# I could honestly die!

# Sue me, sue me

# Shoot bullets through me

# I love you. #

APPLAUSE

Ah, the great Guys And Dolls. Seth McFarlane as Nathan Detroit

and Anna-Jane Casey as "the well-known fiancee", Miss Adelaide.

# Like a perfumed woman

# The wind blows in the bunkhouse

# Like a perfumed woman

# Smelling of where she's been

# Smelling of Oregon cherries

# Or maybe Texas avocados

# Or maybe Arizona sugarbeets

# The wind blows in

# And she sings to me

# Cos I'm one of her ramblin' kin

# She sings

# Joey

# Joey, Joey

# Joey

# Joey, Joe

# You've been too long

# In one place

# And it's time to go

# Time to go-o-o-o-o

# Joey

# Joey, Joey

# Joey

# Travel on

# You've been too long

# In one town

# And the harvest time's come and gone

# That's what the wind sings to me

# When the bunk I've been bunkin' in

# Gets to feelin' too soft and cosy

# When the food they've been cookin' me

# Gets to tastin' too good

# When I've had all I want

# Of the ladies in the neighbourhood

# She sings

# Joey

# Joey, Joey

# Joey

# Joey, Joe

# You've been too long

# In one place

# And it's time to go

# Time to go-o-o-o-o

# Joey

# Joey, Joe! #

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Seth McFarlane with Joey, Joey, Joey

from Frank Loesser's The Most Happy Fella.

APPLAUSE

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Leonard Bernstein's shimmering score from On The Town,

the story of those three sailors

on 24-hour shore leave in New York City.

That was the imaginary Coney Island Ballet section,

the moment where the sailor Gabey, played by Gene Kelly,

falls asleep on a subway.

# Bess

# You is my woman now

# You is

# You is

# And you must laugh and sing and dance for two

# Instead of one

# Want no wrinkle on your brow

# No how

# Because the sorrow of the past is all done now

# Oh, Bess

# My Bess

# The real happiness has just begun

# Porgy

# I's your woman now

# I is

# I is

# And I ain't never goin' nowhere

# 'Less you shares the fun

# There's no wrinkle on my brow

# No how

# But I ain't goin'

# You hear me sayin'

# If you ain't goin'

# With you I'm stayin'

# Porgy

# I's your woman now

# I's yours forever

# Mornin' time and evenin' time

# And summer time and winter time

# Mornin' time and evenin' time

# And summer time and winter time

# Bess

# You got your man

-# Bess, you is my woman now

-Porgy, I's your woman now

-# And forever

-I is

-# This life is just begun

-I is, and I ain't goin' nowhere

-# Bess, we two is one

-'Less you shares the fun

# Now and forever

-# Oh, Bess, don't mind those women

-There's no wrinkle on my brow

-# You got your Porgy

-No how

# You got your Porgy

-# But I ain't goin'

-I knows you means it

# You hear me sayin'

-# I seen it in your eyes, Bess

-If you ain't goin'

# With you I'm stayin'

-# We'll go swingin'

-Porgy, I's your woman now

-# Through the years a-singin'

-And there's no wrinkle

# Mornin' time and evenin' time

# And summer time and winter time

# Mornin' time and evenin' time

# And summer time and winter time

-# Oh, my Bess

-Oh, my Porgy

-# My Bess

-My man, Porgy

-BOTH:

-# From this minute I'm tellin' you

# I keeps this vow

-# Oh, my Bessie

-Oh, Porgy

# We's happy now

# We is one now. #

APPLAUSE

Elizabeth Llewellyn and Rodney Earl Clarke

singing Bess, You Is My Woman Now

from George Gershwin's great fusion

of American opera and Broadway musical, Porgy and Bess.

# Mr X May we ask you a question?

# It's amazing, is it not?

# That the city pays you slightly less than 50 bucks a week

# Yet you've purchased a private yacht

# I am positive your honour must be joking

# Any working man can do what I have done

# For a month or two I simply gave up smoking

# And I put my extra pennies one by one

# Into

# A

# Little tin box A little tin box

# That a little tin key unlocks

# There is nothing unorthodox about a little tin box

# About a little tin About a little tin

# In a little tin box

# A little tin box

# That a little tin key unlocks

# There is honour and purity lots of security

# In a little tin box... #

Next witness!

# Mr Y We've been told you don't feel well

# And we know you've lost your voice

# But we wonder how you managed on the salary you make

# To acquire a new Rolls-Royce?

# You're implying I'm a crook and I say no, sir

# There is nothing in my past I care to hide

# I've been taking empty bottles to the grocer

# And each nickel that I got was put aside

# Was put aside

# Into

# A

# Little tin box

# A little tin box

# That a little tin key unlocks

# There is nothing unorthodox about a little tin box

# About the little tin About the little tin

# In a little tin box

# A little tin box

# There is a cushion for life's rude shocks

# There is faith hope and charity Hard-won prosperity

# In a little tin box... #

Next witness take the stand.

# Mr Z, you're a junior official and your income's rather low

# Yet you've kept a dozen women in the very best hotels

# Would you kindly explain how so?

# I can see your honour doesn't pull his punches

# And it seems a trifle fishy I'll admit

# But for one whole week I went without my lunches

# And it mounted up Your honour, bit by bit

# Up, your honour bit by bit

# It's just a

# Little tin box

# A little tin box

# That a little tin key unlocks

# There is nothing unorthodox about a little tin box

# About a little tin

# About little tin

# In a little tin box A little tin box

# All the glitter with blue-chip stocks

# There is something delectable Almost respectable

# In a little tin box

# In a little tin box! #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

The Maida Vale Singers featuring Andrew Playfoot, Nigel Richards,

Dave Cambes and Garth Bardsley. That was Little Tin Box

from Fiorello by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick.

# Friends that you left behind

# You need us, Joe And we need you

# We can bring happiness and peace to your mind

# We want to, Joe

# We want to

# Tonight

# Come home

# Come home, come home where the brown birds fly

# To a pale blue sky

# To a tall green tree

# There is no finer sight for a man to see

# Come home, Joe

# Come home

# Come home and lie by a laughing spring

# Where the breezes sing

# And caress your ear

# There is no sweeter sound

# For a man to hear

# Come home, Joe

# Come home

# You will find a world of honest friends who miss you

# You will shake the hands of men whose hands are strong

# And when old We're wise

# And kids run up and kiss you

# You will know that you are back where you belong...

# You know you're back where there is work to do

# Where there's love for you

# For the love you give

# There is no better life

# For a man to live

# Come home, Joe

# Come home

# Come home, Joe

# Come home... #

APPLAUSE

Elizabeth Llewellyn singing Come Home, that beautiful song

from one of Rodgers and Hammerstein's

less well-known musicals Allegro.

Maria. Maria!

-Shh!

-Maria.

-Quiet.

-Come down.

-No.

-But we are...

-Please, if Bernardo...

-He is at the dance, come down.

He will soon bring Anita home.

Just for a minute.

-A minute is not enough.

-For an hour then.

-I cannot.

-For ever.

-Shh!

Then I'm coming up.

-Maria?

-Momentito, Mama.

Maria. Maria.

Shh.

It's dangerous.

-I'm not one of them.

-You are.

-But to me you are not, just I am one of them.

-To me you are all.

-Maruca!

Si, yo vengo, Papa.

-Maruca?

-His pet name for me.

I like him.

-He will like me.

-No. He is like Bernardo. Afraid.

MARIA GIGGLES

-Imagine being afraid of you.

-You see!

I see you.

See only me.

# Only you, you're the only thing I see for ever

#In my eyes, in my world and in everything I do

# Nothing else but you Ever

# And there's nothing for me but Maria

# Every sight that I see is Maria

# Tony Tony

# Always you Every thought I'll ever know

# Everywhere I go you'll be

BOTH: # There's only you and me

# Tonight, tonight

# It all began tonight

# I saw you and the world went away

# Tonight, tonight

# There's only you tonight

# What you are, what you do What you say

# Today all day I had the feeling

# A miracle would happen

# I know now I was right

# For here you are

# And what was just a world is a star

# Tonight...

BOTH: # Tonight

# Tonight

# The world is full of light

# With suns and moons all over the place

# Tonight, tonight

# The world is wild and bright

# Going mad Shooting sparks into space

# Today the world was just an address

# A place for me to live in

# No better than all right

# But here you are

# And what was just a world is a star

# Tonight... #

-Maruca.

-Wait for me.

# Tonight

# Tonight

# It all began tonight

# I saw you and the world

# Went away... #

I cannot stay. Go quickly.

-I'm not afraid.

-They are strict with me. Please.

Good night.

Buenas noches.

I love you.

Yes, yes! Hurry.

Wait! When will I see you?

-Tomorrow.

-I will be at the bridal shop, come there.

-At sundown?

-Yes. Good night.

Good night.

Tony!

Shh.

-Calm to the back door.

-Si.

Tony.

What does Tony stand for?

Anton.

Te adoro, Anton.

Te adoro, Maria.

# Good night

# Good night

# Sleep well and when you dream

# Dream of me...

# Tonight... #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Not a dry eye in the house.

The balcony scene from Leonard Bernstein's masterpiece

West Side Story.

Sierra Boggess singing Maria and Julian Ovenden singing Tony.

# Don't tell me not to live Just sit and putter

# Life's candy and the sun's a ball of butter

# Don't bring around a cloud to rain on my parade

# Don't tell me not to fly I've simply got to

# If someone takes a spill It's me and not you

# Don't bring around a cloud to rain on my parade

# I'll march my band out

# I'll beat my drum

# And if I'm fanned out

# Your turn at bat, sir

# At least I didn't fake it Hat, sir

# I guess I didn't make it

# But whether I'm the rose of sheer perfection

# A freckle on the nose of life's complexion

# The cinder or the shiny apple of its eye

# I gotta fly once I gotta try once

# Only can die once, right, sir

# Ooh, life is juicy Juicy and you see

# I've got to have my bite, sir

# Get ready for me, love Cos I'm a comer

# I simply gotta march My heart's a drummer

# Don't bring around a cloud to rain on my parade

# I'm going to live and live now

# Get what I want I know how

# One roll for the whole she-bang

# One more that bell will go clang

# Eye on the target and wham!

# One shot, one gunshot and bam!

# Hey, Mr Arnstein

# Here I am

# I'll march my band out

# I'll beat my drum

# And if I'm fanned out

# Your turn at bat, sir

# At least I didn't fake it, hat, sir I guess I didn't make it

# Get ready for me, love, cos I'm a comer

# I simply gotta march My heart's a drummer

# Nobody, no, nobody

# Is gonna rain on my

# Parade. #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

The fabulous Anna-Jane Casey. Don't Rain On My Parade from Funny Girl.

The role made famous by Barbra Streisand.

A-one, two, three.

# You coax the blues right out of the horn

# Mame

# You charm the husk right off of the corn

# Mame

# You got the banjos strummin'

# And plunkin' out a tune to beat the band

# The whole plantation's hummin'

# Since you brought Dixie back to Dixieland

# You make the cotton easy to pick

# Mame

# You give my old mint julep a kick

# Mame

# Who ever thought a Yankee would put a little Dixie mouse to shame?

# You've made us feel alive again

# You've given us the drive again

# To make the South revive again

# Mame

# You've brought the cakewalk back into style

# Mame

# You make the weepin' willow tree smile

# Mame

# Your skin is Dixie satin

# There's rebel in your manner and your speech

# May come from old Manhattan

# But Georgia's never had a sweeter peach

# You make the old magnolia tree bud

# Mame

# You make camellias bloom in the mud

# Mame

# You make the bougainvillea turn purple at the mention of your name

# We're bakin' pecan pies again

# Tonight the chicken fries again

# Tonight the South will rise again

# Mame

# Well, shut my mouth and freeze my face

# You've brought some elegance to the place

# There's sowbelly, hominy, catfish and tripe

# Mame

# Well, shut my mouth and damn my eyes

# You've made the price of tobacco rise

# The old watermelon is suddenly ripe

# Mame

# And down on the levee a beautiful bevy of crinoline ladies has flocked

# The way that they're squealin'

# They give me the feelin' that Robert E Lee must have docked

# The strummin' and ringin' The hummin' and singin'

# Is startin' to get out of hand

# Since you brought Dixie back to Dixieland

# You make our black-eyed peas and our grits

# Mame

# Seem like the bill of fare at the Ritz

# Mame

# You came, you saw, you conquered

# And absolutely nothing is the same

# Your special fascination'll

# Prove to be inspirational

# We think you're just sensational

# Mame

# Hyah!

# Hyah!

# Since you brought Dixie back to Dixieland

# You coax the blues right out of the horn

# Mame

# You charm the husk right off of the corn

# Mame

# You've got the banjos strummin' and plunkin' out a tune to beat the band

# The whole plantation's hummin'

# Since you brought Dixie back to Dixieland

# You make the cotton easy to pick

# Mame

# You give my old mint julep a kick

# Mame

# Who ever thought a Yankee could put our little Dixie belles to shame?

# You've made us feel alive again

# You've given us the drive again

# To make the South revive again

# Mame

# Mame

# Mame

# Mame

# Mame! #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

The whole company there,

performing Mame from Jerry Herman's hit show of the same name.

Lindsay Benson and Heather Cairncross were the soloists there,

but the whole of John Wilson's orchestra and the cast really giving it some!

Elizabeth Llewellyn.

Julian Ovenden.

Sierra Boggess.

Seth MacFarlane.

Anna-Jane Casey.

Rodney Earl Clarke.

And the loudest cheer of all for John Wilson.

And you can hear the sound of stamping and clapping

here in the Royal Albert Hall as he brings his orchestra to their feet.

And the Maida Vale Singers, who have done such a brilliant job tonight.

Their director, Christopher Dee.

CHEERING

John Wilson coming back to the stage

to, I suspect, give us another little encore.

Not before, though, he brings...

..the entire orchestra to their feet, or at least... Who have we got there?

We've got Howard McGill, the clarinet and sax soloist.

HE MOUTHS

HE MOUTHS

Principle trombone Gordon Campbell,

we've got Michael Lovatt, the principle trumpet.

Matt Skelton on drums.

We've got him to thank for bringing Seth MacFarlane

and John Wilson together.

The whole string section, led by Warren Zielinski, on their feet.

KATIE CHUCKLES

Special cheer there for the viola section.

And now the cellos.

And the double basses.

LOUDER CHEERING

As suspected, it's not quite over yet.

MUSIC: "Tap Your Troubles Away"

# Tap your troubles away

# You bounced a big cheque

# Your mom has the vapours

# Tap your troubles away

RIPPLE OF EXCITEMENT # Your car had a wreck

# They're serving you papers

# When you're the one that it always rains on

# Simply try puttin' your Mary Janes on

# Your boss just gave you the axe

# There's years of back tax

# You simply can't pay

# If a skyful of crap always lands in your lap

# Make a curtsey and tap your troubles away

ANNA-JANE WHOOPS

SHE WHOOPS, CHEERING

# Tap your troubles away

# You're sued for divorce

# Your brother gets locked up

# Tap your troubles away

# You're fat as a horse

# And find that you're knocked up

# When you need something to turn your mind off

# Why not try tapping your poor behind off?

# Your boat goes over the falls

# The plane you're on stalls

# The pilot yells, "Pray!"

# If your parachute strap

# Is beginning to snap

# Smile a big smile and tap, tap

# Tap your troubles away

SHE WHOOPS

# Whoo!

# Hey!

# Ha!

# Whoo!

# Ha!

ANNA-JANE WHOOPS

# When the wolf's at the door

# There's a bluebird in store

# If you glide cross the floor

# Till your ankles get sore

# Just tap your troubles away

# Your troubles away

# Ha! #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

SONG RESUMES

ANNA-JANE WHOOPS

# When the wolf's at the door

# There's a bluebird in store

# If you glide cross the floor

# Till your ankles get sore

# Just tap your troubles away

# Your troubles away

# Ha! #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

A rip-roaring encore of Tap Your Troubles Away

from the musical Mack & Mabel by Jerry Herman.

Featuring the irrepressible Anna-Jane Casey,

the Maida Vale Singers,

a wonderful cast of dancers expertly choreographed by Josh Prince,

and of course the John Wilson Orchestra led by Warren Zielinski

and conducted by John Wilson.

Well, that, I'm afraid, really IS it for tonight.

For now, though, as we all tap our troubles away, I do hope you've

enjoyed this evening's concert as much as everybody here in the hall.

Good night.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd