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A Thurber Carnival - Original Broadway Cast


Release Date: 01/24/2012 
Label:  Sony   Catalog #: 91138  
Composer:  Don Elliott
Performer:  Charles Braswell,  Wynne Miller,  Alice Ghostley,  Paul Ford,   ... 
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Don Elliott Quartet
Number of Discs: 1 
Recorded in: Stereo 
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Notes and Editorial Reviews

REVIEWS OF THE ORIGINAL BROADWAY PRODUCTION:

“Both the freshest and funniest show on Broadway, and it establishes some sort of standard in skill, taste and comic dexterity ... In style and taste A Thurber Carnival is wonderful – a glorious world of meaningful nonsense.” ATKINSON, The Times

“Completely captivating ... between the meaningful silences and the great guffaws there are dandy chuckles ... A Thurber Carnival is sheer delight ... The whole thing is dandy. And very advanced.” KERR, Herald Tribune

“About as agreeably comic as it can be ... very often we find ourselves laugh- ing at what was said a couple of lines ago ... From the opening dance ... we feel perfectly adjusted to the dry cli- Read more mate of (Mr. Thurber’s) unostentatious humor ... (and) comfortably participating in the chaos of our times.” HEWES, Saturday Review

“A tonic anthology of the great man’s work compiled by himself, and easily the funniest show on Broadway ... music which is unfailingly spruce and witty.” TYNAN, The New Yorker

“If there is one proposition upon which every intelligent English-speaking man, woman and child is in hearty agree- ment, it is that James Thurber is incom- parable as wit, humorist and sage ... (A Thurber Carnival) is a civilized joy ... there is cause for nothing but delight.” WATTS, Post

“A joyous, magnificently lunatic festival ... anybody who shuns this house of laughter is crazy...” CHAPMAN, News

COMPLETE TRACK LIST:

1 . OPENING 2:30 Don Elliott Quartet
2 . WORD DANCE (PART I) 4:56 Peggy Cass, Paul Ford, John McGiver, Alice Ghostley, Peter Turgeon, Wynne Miller, Margo Lungreen, Charles Braswell
3 . THE NIGHT THE BED FELL 10:00 Tom Ewell
4 . THE UNICORN IN THE GARDEN 2:58 Narrator: Peter Turgeon Man: Paul Ford She: Alice Ghostley Psychiatrist: John McGiver Policeman: Charles Braswell
5 . THE LITTLE GIRL AND THE WOLF 1:37 Narrator: Peggy Cass Wolf: Paul Ford Little Girl: Wynne Miller
6 . MEMORIAL TO A DOG 5:02 Tom Ewell
7 . CASUALS OF THE KEYS 8:10 Visitor: John McGiver Darrel Darke: Paul Ford
8 . THE LAST FLOWER 3:16 Tom Ewell
9 . FILE AND FORGET 13:29 James Thurber: Tom Ewell Miss Bagley: Margo Lungreen Miss Alma Wineage: Peggy Cass Miss Wynne: Wynne Miller Jeannette Gaines: Alice Ghostley Clint Jordan: Paul Ford H.F. Cluffman: John McGiver
10 . WORD DANCE (PART II) 3:06 Tom Ewell, Peggy Cass, Paul Ford, John McGiver, Alice Ghostley, Peter Turgeon, Wynne Miller, Margo Lungreen, Charles Braswell, Don Elliott Quartet

A Thurber Carnival opened at the ANTA Theatre in New York City on February 26, 1960 and ran for 223 performances, with a break from June 25 to September 5. It closed on November 26, 1960.

Produced for records by GODDARD LIEBERSON.
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Works on This Recording

1. A Thurber Carnival by Don Elliott
Performer:  Charles Braswell (Spoken Vocals), Wynne Miller (Spoken Vocals), Alice Ghostley (Spoken Vocals),
Paul Ford (Spoken Vocals), Peggy Cass (Spoken Vocals), John McGiver (Spoken Vocals),
Peter Turgeon (Spoken Vocals), Margo Lungreen (Spoken Vocals), Tom Ewell (Spoken Vocals)
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Don Elliott Quartet

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review:  ( 2 Customer Reviews )
 Waited a long time for this August 28, 2012 By D. Kennedy (Falls Church, VA) See All My Reviews "I go way back with this, to the days when I had access to the LP. This single recording turned me on to ArkivMusic and it is great that they have reissued this CD. Thurber is truly timeless. I have told many of these stories to my children and now grandchildre. The "Unicorn in the Garden" is a favorite but all tracks are great!" Report Abuse
 AT LONG LAST ... June 20, 2012 By Des Francis (Edmonton, AB) See All My Reviews "I am eternally grateful to Arkiv & Masterworks Broadway for finally making this superb item available on CD. I've been bugging outfits like DRG Records & Kritzerland, etc. for years about it; even went to the length of having my carefully-preserved LP digitized onto disc. This is so much better, though. Thurber's writing, the powerhouse cast & Elliott's droll music make the whole production one for the ages, in my view. God bless Goddard Lieberson for producing the thing in the first place; it's a study in lunacy & wit you don't find very often." Report Abuse
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