Asthmatic Kitty
It’s Christmas.’Tis the season to be jolly. If so, then it seems that some songsmiths really didn’t get the memo. Because while you can tune in to the festive hits on the radio to be told that “every song you hear seems to say Merry Christmas, may your New Year’s dreams come true”, there are a handful of Yuletide records that seem to say quite the opposite.
When Frank Sinatra recorded Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas for his album A Jolly Christmas he had original writer Hugh Martin change the lyrics to make it fit the “jolly” tone. (Martin had already had to rewrite the Meet Me In St Louis song once before when the film’s director Vincente Minelli had deemed it too depressing). Hence the line “until then we’ll have to muddle through somehow” became the more familiar “hang a...
It’s Christmas.’Tis the season to be jolly. If so, then it seems that some songsmiths really didn’t get the memo. Because while you can tune in to the festive hits on the radio to be told that “every song you hear seems to say Merry Christmas, may your New Year’s dreams come true”, there are a handful of Yuletide records that seem to say quite the opposite.
When Frank Sinatra recorded Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas for his album A Jolly Christmas he had original writer Hugh Martin change the lyrics to make it fit the “jolly” tone. (Martin had already had to rewrite the Meet Me In St Louis song once before when the film’s director Vincente Minelli had deemed it too depressing). Hence the line “until then we’ll have to muddle through somehow” became the more familiar “hang a...
- 12/23/2014
- by Jack Gann
- Obsessed with Film
Emile Sherman, Ben Mendelsohn and Lizzy Gardiner have been recognised for their services to Australian arts with inclusion into 2012′s Who’s Who in Australia book.
Recognising high achievers in the arts as well as media, business, politics and sport, Who’s Who in Australia is an annual biographical publication.
Sherman, the Oscar-winning producer of The Kings Speech, Mendelsohn, actor of Animal Kingdom, and Gardiner costumer designer of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert are joined by other arts and media figures such as author and journalist Peter FitzSimons, appointed CEO of the Ten Network James Warburton, and Ten news presenter Helen Kapalos as well as entertainer Tim Minchin and Masterchef host Gary Mehigan.
Hugh Martin, CEO of Who’s Who in Australia’s publisher, Crown Content told Encore: “Emile Sherman, to win an oscar is a huge achievement anyway. Not all that many do in the role of a producer,...
Recognising high achievers in the arts as well as media, business, politics and sport, Who’s Who in Australia is an annual biographical publication.
Sherman, the Oscar-winning producer of The Kings Speech, Mendelsohn, actor of Animal Kingdom, and Gardiner costumer designer of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert are joined by other arts and media figures such as author and journalist Peter FitzSimons, appointed CEO of the Ten Network James Warburton, and Ten news presenter Helen Kapalos as well as entertainer Tim Minchin and Masterchef host Gary Mehigan.
Hugh Martin, CEO of Who’s Who in Australia’s publisher, Crown Content told Encore: “Emile Sherman, to win an oscar is a huge achievement anyway. Not all that many do in the role of a producer,...
- 12/8/2011
- by Colin Delaney
- Encore Magazine
MGM meant musicals for more than a decade after the second world war. David Thomson looks at a time when a little cheer at the movies was appreciated – and wonders if the same couldn't be said now
There had been musicals before. In the 1930s, as soon as sound permitted, Warner Brothers developed what we call the Busby Berkeley pictures: they were black and white, and often aware of the harsh Depression times, but a choreographic lather of girls and fluid, orgasmic forms where the camera was itching to plunge into the centre of the "big O" – think of Footlight Parade, Gold Diggers of 1933 or 42nd Street. They had aerial shots of waves and whirlpools of chorus girls, opening and closing their legs in time with our desire. A few years later, at Rko Pictures, the Astaire-Rogers films came into being – where the gravity, beauty, and exhilaration of the...
There had been musicals before. In the 1930s, as soon as sound permitted, Warner Brothers developed what we call the Busby Berkeley pictures: they were black and white, and often aware of the harsh Depression times, but a choreographic lather of girls and fluid, orgasmic forms where the camera was itching to plunge into the centre of the "big O" – think of Footlight Parade, Gold Diggers of 1933 or 42nd Street. They had aerial shots of waves and whirlpools of chorus girls, opening and closing their legs in time with our desire. A few years later, at Rko Pictures, the Astaire-Rogers films came into being – where the gravity, beauty, and exhilaration of the...
- 11/11/2011
- by David Thomson
- The Guardian - Film News
Award-winning songwriter Hugh Martin has died at the age of 96. A message on his official website has confirmed that Martin passed away of an undisclosed ailment last Friday in Encinitas, California. He is perhaps best known for writing several tracks including 'The Trolley Song' alongside partner Ralph Blane for the 1944 musical film Meet Me In St Louis, which starred Judy Garland and Mary Astor. Martin also penned 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas' (more)...
- 3/15/2011
- by By Justin Harp
- Digital Spy
Los Angeles/New York - One of the United States' most successful film music composers, Hugh Martin, has died at the age of 96, the Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday. The musician had died at his home in Encinitas, north of San Diego in California, on Friday. His most well-known works were both made famous by Judy Garland. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas was sung by Garland in the 1944 film musical Meet Me in St Louis. It was later sung by Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Ella Fitzgerald, Christina Aguilera, Coldplay, John Denver and even Ernie and Bert from Sesame Street. It is a well-worn favourite among Christmas music repertoires and was most recently recorded by Grammy winner...
- 3/13/2011
- Monsters and Critics
42nd Street Moon proudly presents High Spirits, the musical version of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, opening March 21 and running through April 12 at the Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson Street in San Francisco. As previously announced, it replaces The Baker's Wife, which will be presented next season. High Spirits, with a book, lyrics and music by Hugh Martin and Timothy Gray, adheres closely to Coward's original text, which was about a man who is haunted by the mischievous spirit of his dead wife. The playwright was delighted with the adaptation, and agreed to direct the Broadway show, which starred Edward Woodward, Louise Troy, Tammy Grimes and Beatrice Lillie. The show garnered eight Tony nominations in 1964, and proved to be Ms. Lillie's final Broadway appearance.
- 2/12/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
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