Vivian Blaine will forever be remembered for a signature role, Miss Adelaide, in the classic 1950 Frank Loesser musical, Guys and Dolls. One of musical theater's greatest characters, Miss Adelaide is a dancer who has waited fourteen years for her fiance Nathan Detroit to "pop the question." A highlight of the part was Blaine's unsurpassed rendition of the song "Adelaide's Lament," which amusingly fixed the blame of her "flu-like symptoms" on a frustrating long term engagement. Before creating this critically acclaimed and popular role, however, Vivian Blaine had already made her name as an accomplished singer and actress on the radio and in film.
Born Vivian Stapleton on November 21, 1921 in Newark, N.J., Vivian Blaine attended the American Academy of Dramatic Art, and launched into show business by appearing in nightclubs and touring with dance bands at the start of the 1940s. 20th Century-Fox signed her to a five year contract beginning in 1942. Much of her work there was forgettable, but occasionally a standout film came along - Jitterbugs (1943), in which she brought life to a script tailored for Laurel and Hardy, and State Fair (1945), the only original screen musical written by Rodgers and Hammerstein. In the latter, Blaine was featured in a cast with Dick Haymes, Jeanne Crain and Dana Andrews, and introduced the songs "That's For Me," and with Haymes "Isn't It Kinda Fun?"
Several films followed, and Blaine returned to the stage for a few years before actually making her Broadway debut in Guys and Dolls. The musical was a tremendous success and ran for 1,200 performances. Along with fellow performers Sam Levene and Stubby Kaye, Vivian Blaine followed the show to London in 1953, where it also played to enthusiastic houses for 555 performances.
When Hollywood filmed the musical in 1955, Blaine was the only one of the four principals from Broadway invited to repeat her original role, and she scored another triumph. Over the next 20 years, Vivian Blaine devoted Her career primarily to the theatre, and starred in Say, I Darling (1959) with Robert Morse, Enter Laughing (1963) ,with Alan Arkin and Don't Drink The Water (1967) with Guys and Dolls co-star Sam Levene. Not one to rest on past successes, Ms. Rhine was active in show business for the rest of her life. On stage she starred in the national tours of many musicals and plays, television appearances in several successful series and soap operas, and even the occasional small film. Vivian Blaine died of a heart attack on December 9, 1995.
Vivian Blaine Sings Selections from Pal Joey/Annie Get Your Gun was recorded in 1937, at the height of her stage and film career. Blaine had signed a three-year contract with Mercury Records in 1956 and produced three solo recordings. In addition to the aforementioned compilation, they included an album of Songs From the Ziegfeld Follies and Songs From The Great White Way, featuring favorites from old and current Broadway musicals such as Sally, Oklahoma! and My Fair Lady.
Pal Joey and Annie Get Your Gun are musicals with little in common, but both shows introduced songs which instantly became standards. Rodgers and Hart's Pal Joey opened on Broadway in 1940, but it was the revival in 1952, featuring Harold Lang and Vivianne Segal (reprising a role she created in the first production), which solidified the show's reputation. The film version of the musical, starring Frank Sinatra, Kim Novak, and Rita Hayworth, was actually in production as Blaine recorded her album of six songs. Irving Berlin's Annie Get Your Gun opened on Broadway in 1946, starring Ethel Merman, and ran for an outstanding 1,147 performances. The film, starring Betty Hutton in the title role, came along four years later.
Vivian Blaine never appeared in a production of either show, and despite her wonderful interpretation of many of the show's hits, Blaine would not have been ideally cast in either musical. Record collectors will recall the distinctive and somewhat odd packaging of the original LP - the front side advertising Pal Joey and the reverse Annie Get Your Gun (the latter featuring a glamorous Miss Blaine in Western-style gear and carrying two pistols.) The album jacket contained neither a track listing nor notes, so consumers were left to more or less presume what repertoire was included.
At last, with track listing and recording information provided, Vivian Blaine, that "Star of Stage and Screen" is on CD, and sounding better than she has in almost 50 years. |
