Search - Original Broadway Cast-Maggie Smith, Eartha Kitt :: New Faces of 1956

Two wonderful cast albums back in the catalogue

Byron Kolln | the corner where Broadway meets Hollywood | 04/22/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Leonard Sillman's NEW FACES Broadway revue series had made a star of Eartha Kitt in 1952, but (because Sillman was always so completely thorough in his quests for new talent) there hadn't been another revue until 1956, when Sillman recruited such promising talents as Inga Swenson, John Reardon, Jane Connell, Virginia Martin, Amru Sani, T.C. Jones; and a young British actress named Maggie Smith, to headline NEW FACES OF 1956.



While it only managed to launch one hit new song ("April in Fairbanks", a cabaret staple for singers like Gisele MacKenzie), NEW FACES OF 1956 is a milestone because of the pedigree of it's cast. Within a few short years, Inga Swenson would be the acclaimed, Tony-nominated star of the Broadway musicals 110 IN THE SHADE and BAKER STREET, Jane Connell would play frumpy Agnes Gooch in the original cast of MAME, and Maggie Smith would be hailed--on both continents--for her searing dramatic performances on stage and screen.



MRS PATTERSON was an entirely different kettle of fish. Designed by Leonard Sillman as a new vehicle for Eartha Kitt, it was an unhappy experience for the star, whose illness-related absences eventually forced the show to close after three months and only 101 performances. A "play with music", MRS PATTERSON starred Eartha Kitt as Teddy Hicks, a young nobody from Chicago who disappears into fantasies where she imagines herself to be Mrs Patterson, a renowned socialite. Standout numbers include "My Daddy is a Dandy" and the wistful Title Song.



Two great cast albums for one wonderful price. [STAGE DOOR RECORDS 9003]"