The first time I ever heard “Cell Block Tango” and “When You're Good To Mama” was Memorial Day weekend 1995, at the IAGSDC (International Association of Gay Square Dance Clubs) convention in Chicago - which happened to be the first large-scale queer event I had ever attended.
The opening ceremony was hosted by a queen called “Tammy Whynotte” (sp?), a group of queens lip-synched the Tango (including one queen who had sworn his drag persona was “dead” - they hung his “corpse” up on a luggage cart with duct tape, and let him play the Hunyak), and a leatherwoman did a very hot lip-synch of “Mama.”
The original play was written in the 1920s which had a similar version of celebrity worship. Cole Porter's “Anything Goes” also has a gangster lead character who's trying to rise on the FBI Most Wanted list in order to make it in showbiz.
I get your devotion to this show. I saw the big Follies revival in 2011/2012 four times, starting in the orchestra and moving to cheaper seats with every viewing and would have gone more if I could. I was preparing to leave New York after 38 years and knew my chances of seeing a production of this quality and extravagance again were slim, and it was a privilege to watch that cast, fronted by Bernadette Peters. anyway, no regrets about starting my next life chapter, no desire to move back to a New York that is no longer mine. but I of course miss access to the extraordinary artistic events the city offers and am so glad I was able to indulge my passion for Follies before my run in town ended and I took my show on the road.
There was one episode where he and Merkerson (also a veteran of the stage) were on a stakeout, and started singing broadway tunes together. It was a hoot.
The first time I ever heard “Cell Block Tango” and “When You're Good To Mama” was Memorial Day weekend 1995, at the IAGSDC (International Association of Gay Square Dance Clubs) convention in Chicago - which happened to be the first large-scale queer event I had ever attended.
The opening ceremony was hosted by a queen called “Tammy Whynotte” (sp?), a group of queens lip-synched the Tango (including one queen who had sworn his drag persona was “dead” - they hung his “corpse” up on a luggage cart with duct tape, and let him play the Hunyak), and a leatherwoman did a very hot lip-synch of “Mama.”
The late, great Marcia Lewis performed the hell out of “When You’re Good To Mama.” I can’t listen to the song without doing some of her moves.
Chicago was definitely prescient about celebrity culture run amok fifty years before there was an internet and social media.
The original play was written in the 1920s which had a similar version of celebrity worship. Cole Porter's “Anything Goes” also has a gangster lead character who's trying to rise on the FBI Most Wanted list in order to make it in showbiz.
Love love love this show. Fosse was no prize as a partner or father, but he gave women some of the best roles in musical theatre.
The 2011 revival cast gave us one of the best memes on social media for reproductive rights: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/298645019011962265/
Thanks for the history of this great musical. I had no idea that the 1990s Broadway production was a revival.
I get your devotion to this show. I saw the big Follies revival in 2011/2012 four times, starting in the orchestra and moving to cheaper seats with every viewing and would have gone more if I could. I was preparing to leave New York after 38 years and knew my chances of seeing a production of this quality and extravagance again were slim, and it was a privilege to watch that cast, fronted by Bernadette Peters. anyway, no regrets about starting my next life chapter, no desire to move back to a New York that is no longer mine. but I of course miss access to the extraordinary artistic events the city offers and am so glad I was able to indulge my passion for Follies before my run in town ended and I took my show on the road.
Millions of “Law & Order” fans have no idea Jerry Orbach’s first life was as a song and dance man.
There was one episode where he and Merkerson (also a veteran of the stage) were on a stakeout, and started singing broadway tunes together. It was a hoot.