Do Re Mi [RCA Original Broadway Cast]

Jule Styne's followup to Gypsy was this sendup of the music business, starring Phil Silvers, fresh from his years on TV's "Sgt. Bilko," and Nancy Walker. Other principals were lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green and book writer/director Garson Kanin. With all that proven talent, the show should have been better, and as it was, it wasn't a total flop: it got good reviews and ran for about a year, although it closed at a loss. The score proves to have been one of Styne and Comden/Green's less successful ones, with the one memorable song being "Make Someone Happy," although the irrepressible Silvers, one of the great clowns of the era, makes a strong impression. (Originally released in 1961, this cast album was reissued on CD in 1994 with extensive liner notes by theater historian Steven Suskin.)