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No, No, Nanette — The New 1925 Musical: New Broadway Cast (1971), The Original LP Columbia Masterworks S 30563 (1971) Stereo/SQ Quadraphonic 30563, Vocalion CDLK 4645 (2022) (1 SACD Hybrid Multi-Channel).

This SACD is nothing less than a revelation! Restored and remastered by Michael J. Dutton from the original quadraphonic analogue tapes, this high-resolution reedition, released in 2022, of the triumphant 1971 Broadway revival, starring the 1930s tap-dancing screen star Ruby Keeler (61 years young at the time) and supervised by the equally legendary director Busby Berkeley (75 at the time), of the 1925 hit musical No, No, Nanette is a true surround experience with the rear speakers engrossing the listener fantastically. With a soundstage that is right as the rain – natural, airy, precise – one is in the heart and soul of the score, composed by Vincent Youmans with lyrics by Irving Caesar and Otto Harbach. That is, starting from the startlingly brilliant overture, marvelously orchestrated by Ralph Burns, the listener is centerstage, surrounded by music, singing, and tap dancing coming out of front and rear speakers. I have never heard rear speakers used so effectively, especially for the bouncy tap dancing in “I Want to Be Happy.” Equally thrilling is the chorus coming out of all four speakers. And what a glorious bouquet of songs! With such classics as “Tea for Two,” “I Want to Be Happy,” and “I’ve Confessed to the Breeze,” the great tunes and equally great lyrics joyously overflow from the stage to an enthralled audience caught up in this feel-good musical.

The twenties musical, with a plot too silly to summarize here, actually began its life in 1919 as the Broadway play My Lady Friends, written by Emil Nyitray and Frank Mandel, who co-authored the book for No, No, Nanette along with Otto Harbach. In 1924, the musical, in its pre-Broadway tour, opened in Chicago, where it played for over a year. In 1925, the show opened on the West End and Broadway, running a staggering 665 performances at the former and a respectable 321 at the latter. But the show’s history didn’t stop there. Film versions were made in 1930 and 1940, both of which featured Zasu Pitts, and in 1950, the movie Tea for Two, starring Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, Eve Arden, and Billy DeWolfe, was a loose adaptation of the show. Fast forward to the 1971 revival, which was well-received and ran for 861 performances. Clive Barnes, in his New York Times review, remarked that: “Time‐travelers of all ages will revel in the simplicity of Vincent Youmans's music. It is music to hum, and particularly music to dance to. Its rhythms suggest their own dancing feet, and the melodies are light, cheerful and exuberant, so that even the blues are not too blue… There are a number of standards, and near‐standards in the score, most notably “I Want to Be Happy” and “Tea for Two,” and they emerge fresh but with reverberations of the past. They have also been cleverly arranged and orchestrated, so that while they sound familiar they don't sound quite familiar enough to be impertinent… Note also the lyrics by Irving Caesar and Mr. Harbach. These are as neat as a playful kitten, and on occasion as daring as a trapeze star. Youmans specialized in short musical phrases, which set his lyricists special technical problems. Those are surmounted with a dexterity that deserves a place in any museum of American musical comedy, and yet live wonderfully today. I doubt whether we will encounter any cleverer or more purely musical lyrics than these all this season.” The revival garnered six Tony Award nominations - Best Actor in a Musical (Bobby Van), Best Actress in a Musical (Helen Gallagher/winner), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Patsy Kelly/winner), Best Costume Design (Raoul Pène Du Bois/winner), Best Choreography (Donald Saddler/winner), and Best Direction of a Musical (Burt Shevelove), and also won the Theatre World Award and four Drama Desk Awards. Finally, the musical was once again revived in an Encores! presentation at the New York City Center in 2008 starring Sandy Duncan and Rosie O'Donnell.

The rich 12-page brochure of the SACD, released on February 16, 2022, includes two texts from the original 1971 LP: “Nanette Through the Years” by Miles Kreuger as well as notes by Charles Burr, entitled “Nanette Now.” Also to be found are many wonderful photos of the recording session, which took place at Columbia’s 30th Street Studios in New York on January 24, 1971 at which Fred Plaut and John Guerriere were the recording engineers, Larry Keyes was the quadraphonic remix engineer who did the quadraphonic remix on July 27, 1971, Al Lawrence supervised the quadraphonic sound, all of which was produced by Thomas Z. Shepard.

That No, No, Nanette stands its ground almost a hundred years after its premiere is a sure sign of its timelessness. Like listening to Mozart or The Beatles in the 21st century, it is a pure delight. 1925 was a good year for pop music: immortal songs like the Gershwin brothers’ “That Certain Feeling,” Irving Berlin’s “Always,” Sam M. Lewis, Joe Young and Harry Akst’s “Dinah,” Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers’ “Manhattan,” Noël Coward’s “Poor Little Rich Girl,” and Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern’s “Who?,” were all published that year, and No, No, Nanette’s cornucopia of songs can rightfully stand besides these contemporary gems.

Scot Morehouse, a member of the learned online music forum Castrecl (castrecl@mit.edu), which is devoted to show music, attended a performance of No, No, Nanette before it’s Broadway run, and writes:

“I saw this show in Baltimore prior to its going to Broadway. It was one of the most delightful evenings in the theatre that I have ever experienced, and I would even venture to say legendary. You can imagine the thunderous applause that greeted Ruby Keeler when she appeared and broke into a tap dance! Helen Gallagher and Bobby Van were in top form, Jack Gilford was at his most whimsical, Patsy Kelly was hysterically hammy, and Susan Watson was charming. The orchestra's playing was simply grand, the sets and costumes were beautiful, and the rest of the talented cast sang and danced to perfection. It was absolutely thrilling! I might add that I am not easily carried away, but I certainly was that evening.”1 If there are clouds in your tea for two, just listen to this miraculous musical in this latest, astounding iteration. Run to procure this SACD. It will change your life".

Reviewed by Lawrence Schulman

ARSC Journal, Spring 2023

Endnotes
1. Scot Morehouse, email message to the author,
January 31, 2023.