GEORGE GERSHWIN (PORGY & BESS) ORGINAL SCORE BOOK Start Price USD 250.00 Current Price USD 250.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price USD 350.00 Reserve Price - Start Time Monday, October 06, 2008 End Time Thursday, October 16, 2008 Location LAS VEGAS, NV See more about 'GEORGE GERSHWIN (PORGY & BESS) ORGINAL SCORE BOOK' Description 1935 1ST EDITION SCORE BOOK FROM THE ESTATE OF GORDON MUFORD. THIS HAS THE FIRST ORIGINAL CAST THEIR ARE NOTES IN PENCIAL FROM MR. MUNFORD IN THIS BOOK. AND HIS NAME CARD IS ON THE FRONT COVER. THIS IS TRUELY A ONE OF A KIND FIND IN MUSIC HISTORY. THE BINDING IS OLD AND HAS BEEN TAPED, SOME OF THE TAPE IS LOOSE. GORDON MUNFORD ’51, of Las Vegas, Nev.; Sept. 18, 1999, at the age of 70. He was a musical arranger and musician, earning his degree in music composition at USC, where he was a student of Academy Award-winning composer Miklós Rózsa. While at USC, he was student musical director and arranger for the Trojan Marching Band. He went on to enjoy a career in the field of musical theatre, serving as musical director and conductor for more than 65 musicals. His first show was the long-running, off-Broadway hit Little Mary Sunshine – his last Broadway show was the hit musical 1776. The artists he conducted in these and other shows included Eileen Brennan, Tony Bennett, Shirley Jones, Ginger Rogers, John Davidson and Florence Henderson. He left 1776 to become conductor and arranger for Jane Powell and later, for 14 years, served in the same capacity for the late Gordon MacRae. Other collaborators following MacRae included the late Billy Daniels, Giselle MacKenzie, John Raitt and Melba Moore. Munford was the guest pops conductor for more than 75 orchestras, among them the Cleveland Orch-estra, the Baltimore Symphony, the Denver Philharmonic, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Erie Philharmonic and the Dallas Symphony. He is survived by his wife, Gail, who has donated his original musical arrangements to USC’s Thornton School of Music to help students learn the art of arranging. Home Our Musical Shows Contact Us Company History Special Features-->      Tams-Witmark Music Library, Inc. was incorporated in January 1925 as a result of the consolidation of the Arthur W. Tams Music Library, which began operations in approximately 1870, and the Witmark Music Library. These two companies represented the two largest collections of printed and manuscript music then existing. The Tams organization controlled the largest collection of cantatas, oratorios and masses, as well as the works of John Philip Sousa and Franz Lehar, among others. The Witmark organization controlled the works of such renowned composers as Victor Herbert and Reginald DeKoven.      In the fifteen years following the consolidation (until World War II), Tams-Witmark added to its collection works by George and Ira Gershwin and Cole Porter, as well as the works of Jerome Kern, Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, including the famous Princess Theatre musicals. These works included ANYTHING GOES, which was later revived in 1962 and 1987, and GIRL CRAZY, which became the inspiration for the musical CRAZY FOR YOU®. ANYTHING GOES and CRAZY FOR YOU® remain among Tams-Witmark's most popular musicals.      In the years following World War II, Tams-Witmark added several of the greatest musicals of that era, including BRIGADOON, FINIAN'S RAINBOW and KISS ME, KATE. The Library grew considerably in the late 1950's and 1960's with the addition of such works from Broadway's Golden Age as the Tony Award-winning musicals MY FAIR LADY, BYE BYE BIRDIE, HELLO, DOLLY!, CABARET and MAN OF LA MANCHA. The Tams-Witmark collection continued to expand in the 1970's and 1980's with two of the longest-running musicals in Broadway history, A CHORUS LINE and FORTY-SECOND STREET, and in the 1990's with four Tony Award-winning musicals, THE WILL ROGERS FOLLIES, CRAZY FOR YOU®, TITANIC and CITY OF ANGELS.      Tams-Witmark has always been an innovator in the licensing of musical plays. It licensed the first large high school production of a Broadway musical approximately 75 years ago to James Monroe High School in New York City, which performed the operetta ROBIN HOOD. Later, in the 1930's, it created the market for the licensing of musicals to schools and other amateur groups. Today, thousands of schools and community theatres are presenting Tams-Witmark musicals each year.      Tams-Witmark was responsible for the creation of several current musicals from popular musical motion pictures. They include the MGM motion picture version of THE WIZARD OF OZ, first produced on stage by the Municipal Theatre of St. Louis in 1942, MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS, first produced on stage by the Municipal Theatre of St. Louis in 1960, and CALAMITY JANE!, first produced on stage by Casa Mañana Musicals in 1961. Tams-Witmark was also responsible for the creation of the musical GEORGE M!, produced on Broadway in 1968 MORE TO COME On the Road With the Two Gordons by Gail Munford On the Road With the Two Gordons Goodman, and Glenn Miller, was a musical genius far ahead of his time. He relegated music to mathematical charts and showed his students sixty years ago how to compose the type of music that has evolved today, i.e., "rock" as well as the more traditional music of his time. Completing the Schillinger course is quite an accomplishment in itself and the knowledge he gained from taking that course Gordon has used ever since for both arranging and conducting.Chapter 8 ASSORTED MUNFORD GIGS There was the "Freeway Connection" in 1979. Coca-Cola's industrial producer, Bill Quillin, told Gordon that Coke was going to do an industrial show in Palm Springs, California sometime in February. MacRae, meanwhile, had been negotiating with C. Dale Jenks, producer of the San Bernardino Civic Light Opera, to star in "SHENANDOAH"" sometime in the winter of 1979. Months passed and Skipper heard nothing about either job. One unusually nasty, cool January Sunday in Los Angeles, about 2:00 P.M., the phone rang. It was Gordo telling Skip that he had finalized his plans for "SHENANDOAH", and there would be one week of rehearsal and one week of performances, and gave him the February dates for both. When he hung up, Skipper said he was happy that one of the jobs had come through. In his type of business, Gordon never knows when his next paying job will come along. It's not like working nine to five and knowing where you're going every Monday morning. However, less than two hours later that very same Sunday afternoon, Bill Quillin called to say that the Coca-Cola show was set for Palm Springs with rehearsals to begin the very same two weeks of "SHENANDOAH"! So I packed lots of clothes, tuxedos and foodstuffs. You can't always go out or pay exorbitant room service prices , or even have twenty-four hour room service in a hotel when you're working all hours for days on end, but you can have a little refrigerator in your hotel room. Gordon took the legs off his portable electronic Wurlitzer piano so he could get it in the car, along with lots of music paper and pencils, and a reliable pencil sharpener (very important). We took up residence at the San Bernardino Hilton Hotel, about an hour or so outside of Los Angeles, and Gordo and Skip started rehearsals of "SHENANDOAH". The role of the patriarch, Charlie Anderson, was an ideal one for Gordo who all through his life believed in marriage and fatherhood. There's a wonderful song, "MEDITATION", that Charlie sings while kneeling at his late wife Martha's grave, and Gordo sang it beautifully each time. A few days into rehearsal, we started traveling to Palm Springs which, luckily , was only a bit over an hour from San Bernardino (otherwise we could never have pulled this off) for production meetings. Unfortunately, we also had to drive to Los Angeles for one meeting in all that heavy traffic. Usually an industrial show has a set theme and the producer, director and musical director know what they are trying to emphasize to the company's dealers who will see the show. However,this time it was harder than a usual because Alec, the director, kept changing his mind about the theme. One day, he decided to have Gordon write "THE COCA-COLA RAG". Gordon liked the idea because "rags" were very popular due to the movie, "THE STING". When Gordon went to the next rehearsal, Alec had discarded the rag, but neglected to call and tell Gordon to stop working on it which wasted a full day and a half of precious time. Gordo heard some of Skip's songs for Coke in our hotel room and was truly in awe of his abilities. The last few days of performances of "SHENANDOAH", we'd rumple the bed in our San Bernardino hotel room, sneak down the back stairs with a fresh change of clothes and the Wurlitzer, and drive to Palm Springs right after the show where we had taken up residence in the Riviera Hotel. One of the brass players in the San Bernardino band, Roger, was copying musical parts for Gordon for the Coke show, and so he would go with us. I drove as Gordon and Roger would sleep in the back of the car. Luckily, it was late at night and very little traffic on that particular stretch of freeway as I was not a very experienced freeway driver at that time. Thankfully, "SHENANDOAH" came to a close, and we moved everything to the Riviera. For ten years, Gordon and I never got past the Riviera Hotel in Palm Springs, which is at the beginning of the town, as it always seemed to be the sight of his business and his schedule was too tight for us to stay in Palm Springs any longer than necessary. One afternoon, after returning from two weeks in Dallas the night before, Skipper got a call from the Bob Hope Golf Tournament in Palm Springs. Robert Goulet was supposed to entertain at the banquet that night but couldn't make it at the last minute. They had reached Gordo who was already on his way to the tournament. He said, if his musical director (Munford) would bring the music to Palm Springs and conduct for him, that he'd be happy to fill in. So we put a fresh tuxedo in a suit bag, changed our clothes and ate a fast dinner . I used to leave cooked meals in the freezer before going out of town so all I had to do the first couple of nights after our return was defrost and heat, which I did this particular night. We got into the car and drove to Palm Springs. MacRae arrived shortly after we did. The two Gordons put on their usual super show. Skipper had two business appointments the next morning in Los Angeles so we declined the hotel room we were offered. He had asked Les Brown, whose band was playing for the guest artists, to have the guys pass back MacRae's music to him so he could pack up and leave. Brown complied . I was in the dressing room packing us up. Gordo was sitting out front schmoozing. Skipper had this big pile of music to carry to the music box in the dressing room. As he leaned over to pick it up, someone tapped him on the shoulder. "You can't carry all that by yourself. Here, let me help," President Gerald Ford said! So my husband, aided by the President of the United States, carried the music into the dressing room. President Ford, an avid golfer and friend of Bob Hope's, was playing for one day in the tournament. Back to Coca-Cola. The night before the first early morning industrial show, Gordon had three copyists working for him due to the constant last minute script changes. We were all staying at the Riviera but in different wings of that spread-out hotel, and I spent all night taking Gordon's finished pieces of music from one copyist to another, as each one only filled in certain instruments' notes, i.e., one was writing for percussion, one the brass, one the reeds, etc. However, as with all of Gordon Munford's work, the show went off with out a hitch, musically. My parents, who had driven to San Bernardino to bring Gordon a different outfit for the Coke show when they changed the motif, then drove to Palm Springs to see the shows along with our dear friend, Dr. Danny Landauer, the "desert rat", his nickname as he had lived for so many years in Palm Springs. My folks said no one would ever believe Gordon had written this delightful show under the circumstances that he had done so. However, when Gordon received his money from producer Bill Quillin, after he paid the three copyists, there was very little left to show for all his hard work. Quillin contended that it was the amount Gordon had contracted for. Gordon agreed with that, but also felt the show's director, Alec, had forced him to write much more than usual, and to use so many copyists due to his constant changes. Quillin, who had employed Gordon a number of times before knew this to be true, but said nothing. So, I wrote the Executive Vice President of Coca-Cola at that time, Herb Arnold, whom I had come to know during the two shows Gordon did for Coke. I explained the whole situation to him. Mr. Arnold was very understanding. A few days later a substantial check arrived from Mr. Quillin. And a week later Gordon MacRae, known only to Liz MacRae, Gordon and myself, had a benign polyp removed from his vocal chord and canceled all engagements for three months to heal. We lived on that check from Bill Quillin which Gordon had more than earned. My parents, Celia and Morris Bellar, as well as Gordon's mother, Cleo Munford Schance (his father passed away when Gordon moved to New York), were all very proud of his accomplishments. We tried to arrange for them to attend as many rehearsals and performances and events as we could possibly manage. Gordon's artists were always very thoughtful and gracious to our parents. In addition to our parents, when Gordon performed in southern or northern California, we tried to get tickets for his step-sister, Carolyn, and her family, who was always very helpful with Cleo, and for his aunts, cousins, old school chums and our friends. Sometimes this was not so easy , but was always worth the effort. People always asked me why I did all my chores as soon as possible after Gordon left on a short trip. I'd reply that I always knew exactly when he was leaving, but I couldn't always be sure when he'd come home. This is best illustrated when Gordo and Skip went off to Phoenix to do a little gig. Unfortunately, the program ran very long that evening and Gordo, who was forced to wait around much too long, did his waiting at the bar while Skip sat and listened to the program thinking Gordo was watching TV in his room. By the time they were ready for him, poor Gordo was in no shape to go on. Everyone got mad and blamed Skip, as if he were MacRae's babysitter, and practically chased him out of the place. He called me and said, "Pick me up at 3:00 A.M. at LAX. I'll explain later." So I always had to be ready for Gordon's unexpected returns. Sometimes artists forget that others are dependent upon them for a living. Gordon had a brief association conducting dynamic song stylist, Melba Moore. He fixed up some of her arrangements, then flew to Los Angeles from New York with her and conducted Melba on "THE TONIGHT SHOW". A short time later, Melba asked Gordon to conduct for her in Paris, France. They rehearsed for a few days in New York. I was in California at the time, after having accompanied Gordon to Las Vegas for a Mobil Oil industrial and then to Sacramento and finally to Los Angeles, and was scheduled to meet him in Miami to where he could fly directly from Paris. It took me many hours to pack for both our trip west and Gordon's trip to Paris! The shows in Paris were held at the famous Olympia Nightclub. Melba,who was accompanied by her husband/manager, Charles Huggins, and a small entourage of friends, was a tremendous hit with the French audiences. They hated to let her leave the stage each night, screaming her name over and over. Gordon was thrilled working with the French musicians who were outstanding, especially the first trumpet player, and with an exciting vocalist who had the range Melba possessed. However, Melba and Charles and their friends didn't associate with Gordon during the whole rainy week in Paris, and Gordon got quite lonely and called me in Los Angeles a number of times resulting in a big phone bill. I probably could have bought an airline ticket and gone with him for the price of the phone calls. Hindsight is great, isn't it? His last morning in Paris, Gordon woke up to pounding on his door. It was the hotel manager who told him that Melba and entourage had left during the night without paying the bill and he expected Gordon to pay it! Somehow, Gordon fast talked his way out of the hotel and left quickly for the airport and Miami. After a short visit with the Wills and a one night gig, we returned to New York. Gordon told Charles and Melba about the hotel problem in Paris,and, although Charles didn't apologize, he said he'd take care of it and he eventually paid Gordon for the engagement. Then Melba was booked to do a concert with the Pittsburgh Symphony and asked Gordon to write many intricate symphonic arrangements for her. He billed and called Melba and Charles several times about getting paid for the arrangements long after the very successful concert, but nothing happened. So one day I stood outside their Manhattan apartment building in the cold, waiting for the doorman to be called away. When he finally was, I snuck into the building. I had been there previously and ran to the elevator and took it up to the Huggins' floor and knocked on their door. Charles was there alone and opened the door. I marched into the living room and sat down in a chair. "You'll have to call the police to remove me, Charles," I said, "unless you give me check for what you owe Gordon for Melba's arrangements." Charles was so startled that he sat down and wrote me a check. I left and ran down the street to the lobby of another building where Gordon was waiting with his passport. We took the check to Charles' bank and cashed it before he could put a stop payment on it. I only experienced the Kenley Players for one season in 1978. Gordon was, of course, musical director, and I worked in the box office. That was the year producer John Kenley had moved his operation from Warren to Akron, Ohio where he was given use of the university's fine theatre, but the move was costly and he lost a number of regular patrons. John Kenley was a big name in summer star theatre. He convinced a number of major celebrities to play roles they might not have ever tried. He brought quality star theatre at a very reasonable price to an urban area dominated by the fluctuation in the price of steel and rubber and reached an audience who otherwise would never have seen this type of theatre. A great deal of Warren, Ohio's summer economy had revolved around the Kenley Players, who were there for many years at Packard Hall, including motels, restaurants, local stage crews, musicians, etc. When Kenley moved to Akron, much of Warren was quite devastated. We were put in a ghastly HUD apartment hotel in downtown Akron and had to rent furniture so we'd have a bed to sleep on. It was stifling hot and humid, and we had no air conditioning. However, there were some bright spots: Quaker Square, the old Quaker Oats cereal plant converted to a mall of lovely shops and restaurants; Gordon conducting Mickey Rooney in "SHOWBOAT"; and my trip to Dayton , the one Saturday night Gordon was there with "SHOWBOAT" (each show at Kenley rehearsed for a week in Akron and then played Akron for a week, going on to Dayton for a second week and finally to Columbus for a third week), on the Greyhound bus with four Amish people in ninety-six degree heat. The other passengers on the bus and myself were dressed as comfortably as possible in shorts and loose fitting tops, but the Amish, who seldom use public transportation, were wearing long black coats, heavy pants or skirts , white starched shirts or blouses and had on hats.Sally and John Maloy took us out to dinner on Gordon's birthday in Akron. Allen Ludden, the popular host of TV's "PASSWORD", and star of the season's opener, "CHICAGO", looked all over Akron for us so he could buy Gordon a birthday drink finally finding us in Quaker Square. Gordon had worked previously with Allen and his wife, Betty White. In fact, it was at their beautiful Connecticut home that Gordon saw his first small cassette recorder which Betty was using to help her remember her lines. During the run of "CHICAGO", the Luddens celebrated their fifteenth, I believe, anniversary, and Betty flew into Akron. Allen threw a big party for the cast and crew of "CHICAGO" at a local restaurant after the show. We could all easily see how happily married these two lovely people were. By August, Akron was hotter and muggier than ever, but (as I sometimes referred to Gordo in my mind) our "knight in shining armor" was about to rescue us. He starred for Kenley in "PAINT YOUR WAGON" , with talented singer, Karen Wyman,and when the show was ready to move to Dayton, we bid Akron a last adieu. Dayton was a real treat after Akron, and fun. Two members of the "WAGON" cast, Jackie and Prudence, had become friendly with us and made a foursome. The little hotel where the company stayed in Dayton was unpretentious but comfortable, and their coffee shop served the best, tastiest French toast in the country. There was lots of convenient shopping nearby and streetcars to ride on. A couple by the name of Stephen and Mary Beth Langer contacted MacRae that week. They were "dyed in the wool" Gordon MacRae fans and they owned a steel manufacturing business in Dayton. They invited MacRae to dinner at their exclusive club and suggested that he bring along a "couple" " of others from the show. Gordo had me act as liaison with the Langers while he invited about fifteen members of the large company, as well as Skip and myself, to join him and Langers. On the night the Langers attended the performance of "PAINT YOUR WAGON", after the show we all followed them over to their club on top of a tall business building, where we were seated at a long, long table in elegant surroundings, including marble columns, and meticulously served a delicious meal from soup to nuts. Quite a treat for us but quite an expensive evening for the Langers who continued to correspond with Skip and me for a number of years, and whose son, the marine, served bravely in Desert Storm. My favorite city on the Ohio circuit was Columbus. We stayed at a lovely hotel which had a great pool and good restaurant. However, the city of Columbus had many fine restaurants starting with "Kahiki", a Polynesian paradise, complete with aquariums, waterfalls, bamboo, and rum drinks. Hardly a typical mid-western restaurant. Columbus was also the home of "Stottlemeyers", a German nightclub where we all went to see Karen Wyman perform one winter evening. Gordo and Skip got into a squabble in the car on the way back to the hotel, and Skip stepped out of the car while it was still moving in an effort to get a point across to Gordo, which he sure did scaring me in the process. As nice as Gordo was to be with, there were times when his quick temper would flare at a moment's notice, and it took a lot of cajoling to smooth his ruffled feathers. We three GM's once drove across Florida from Fort Lauderdale to Fort Myers with Joyce Hall, a lovely soprano, in the car. She was performing with Gordo in a Rodgers and Hammerstein concert as she had done previously. When we arrived at our destination, Joyce got out of the car and she was shaking. "How do you deal with that?" she asked me. Gordo had been particularly quarrelsome the whole drive, annoying Skip who was driving. "I just think of the good times", I responded. Columbus was also the location of Bob Allen at the Christopher Inn. Bob, blind from birth, was the best damned jazz pianist you ever heard, and was accompanied by bass and drums. The hotel had designed the showroom so that you could hear and see Bob and his group, who were in in a little circular pit in the center of the room, wherever you sat for cocktails. When Bob would start to play, everyone kept quiet and listened. We all went to hear him almost every night we were in Columbus, as you never tire of his type of music. Gordo, Jackie, Prudence, Skip and I enjoyed those evenings together and laughed when Bob told us that he had driven the car home one night when his bass player was too drunk to do so! Skipper wanted Bob to join him in a symphony concert in Erie, Pennsylvania, but Bob felt he could not carry it off. What a shame. He probably would have been great. We play his records often. Columbus was also the home of a unique restaurant called the "Waterworks", where patrons sat in booths formed like bathtubs and were given washcloths instead of linen napkins. There was also a great Chinese restaurant that served till about midnight which was perfect for dinner after the show, especially for Skip who loves Chinese food, and a bar in another restaurant made out of one piece of wood that was about forty-five feet long, and had been exhibited at the Chicago World's Fair. Sometimes Gordo upset the apple cart. Like the time he was engaged by the Broward Symphony Orchestra in Florida for a pops concert. I was moving us from New York to Los Angeles, a tour de force all its own. Music paper is very, very heavy and Gordon Munford possesses an extensive musical library. Skipper was the musical director of a ten day workshop for DeWitt Asher and the Akron School District. The Broward rehearsals were scheduled the same week as the workshop and move. Just a fact of life in show biz. Without telling anyone, not even me because he knew I would have worried too much, my husband flew from Akron to Atlanta and then hopped a shuttle to Fort Lauderdale. In order to make those connections for three days and not be late returning to Ohio where many young people were depending on him, Gordon had to hire cars at each stop for ground transport. Considering the logistics, everything worked out smoothly enough, and, even though Gordon didn't get more than three hours sleep each of the three nights, he was able to satisfy both Akron and Broward. Once he commits to a job, Gordon Munford gives it his best effort. However, the night of the concert, MacRae got "sick" at the last minute and the concert had to be canceled. So all of Skipper's efforts and expenses would have gone for naught, except that the musical director of the Broward Symphony, Jimmy Woodle, was determined to have a pops concert with Gordon MacRae and satisfy all his disappointed ticket holders. A few months later this was accomplished in a brilliant concert by the two Gordons. It was an especially gratifying evening for me as my dear Aunt Rose and Uncle Moe, who lived in Miami Beach, attended the concert and visited with us in the dressing room. Gordo even kissed Aunt Rose on the cheek and offered Uncle Moe a beer, and we sent them home in a limousine. Jimmy Woodle, and his darling wife, Kitty, had called us earlier that evening at the Wills' and said if Gordo were to cancel again, we'd better get one of John Wills' boats and pick them up and sail off to the Caribbean! Numerous times, such as during the rehearsal with the Broward Symphony, one or two members of the orchestra would come up to Skipper and say something to the effect that they had not wanted to play the pops concert because they were classical musicians. They felt most pops concerts did not give them a lot of good music to play and most pops conductors were not too knowledgeable musically. However, now that they had seen Gordon's charts and his skill as a conductor, they were very glad they were playing the concert. Sometimes an orchestra's regular conductor,insecure in his position, would "sabotage" the orchestra by not letting his principal players perform for Gordon's pops concert. They did this thinking Gordon was after their jobs which couldn't have been further from the truth. Gordon is a "guest conductor" which is exactly what he wants to be so he can devote his time to arranging. They had hoped the lack of musicians would make Gordon look and sound bad, but they hadn't counted on Gordon being so adept at his craft. In one three hour rehearsal with good charts, a well prepared guest artist and an authoritative yet gentle baton, Gordon was able to create a professional pops concert enjoyed by all. Even a few times when blizzards and disabled aircraft prevented him from arriving in time for rehearsal, he would sight-read the music through with the orchestra before the concert, and each time the performance turned out well. For one engagement with Gordo, in Saginaw, Michigan in the dead of winter, Skipper flew from Los Angeles to Detroit. When he arrived, he was told that his flight to Saginaw had been canceled due to the blizzard raging outside! However, Skipper was anxious to get himself and the music to Saginaw in time for rehearsal. So he rented a car at the airport and drove for over two hours through the snow to Saginaw. The next week, when he sent Gordo his receipts for his expenses on that trip, MacRae called up screaming and yelling that he had not authorized Skip to rent a car, and he would not pay the rental charge. For some stubborn reason, he wouldn't let himself be talked out of this position, even though it was explained that he would be getting a refund for the unused airline ticket to Saginaw. The situation got blown all out of proportion. We left Los Angeles for about a week to do some out concerts (in the suburbs and areas around but not far from the city that is the orchestra's home) with the Erie Philharmonic in Pennsylvania, and when Skipper phoned into Los Angeles to get his messages, every other message on the phone machine was Gordo apologizing (he always knew he was wrong about this), and asking Skipper to please call him and tell him he was no longer mad at him. Skipper let him stew in his own juices for a few days. One New Year's Eve the two Gordons were booked to play December 31st and January 1st in Toronto, Canada. I was recuperating from gall bladder surgery. MacRae was living in Lincoln, Nebraska by then, and the weather all across the country was stormy. Skipper was leaving December 30th and implored Gordo to do the same. Skipper flew to Toronto and had a fine rehearsal the afternoon of December 31st. Gordo flew to Chicago that afternoon, where he stayed until the next day because he was snowed in! Skipper had told him if he wasn't going to leave early, to at least fly to Cleveland instead of Chicago and then on to Toronto. The producers in Toronto were very mad and took it out on Munford. They substituted a dance act on New Year's Eve and at least Gordo did make the show on January 1st which helped calm them down. The MacRaes lived in a condo in Beverly Hills. In fact, Ed McMahon was their neighbor for awhile when he had the penthouse in the same building while his new home was being built. Liz was anxious to move to Nebraska and finally talked Gordo into selling the condo. They did so just a year before real estate prices shot up and they would have gotten twice as much as they did. They went to Lincoln when school was out, as they usually did, but this time to stay in Liz's hometown. For whatever reason, they changed their plans and decided to return to Beverly Hills that September. I bet Skipper one dollar that they would rent a condo within ten blocks of the one they had sold so Mandy could attend the same school. Skipper told Gordo about our bet. One day, Gordo called and told Skipper to pay me two dollars. They had rented the same condo they had sold from the new owner! Writing arrangements for pops symphony concerts was a natural thing for Gordon to do because he had such a wonderful background as a classically trained arranger. He loved popular music, not rock nor country , but ballads and particularly show tunes. To this day, he is a much sought after vocal coach who gives his students beautiful songs from Broadway shows that were not necessarily long-running shows, nor the hit song of the show, nor always got into the final version of the show, but were written by the best composers including Rodgers and Hart and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Jule Styne, Cy Coleman, Irving Berlin, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, Jerry Herman, Bob Merrill, Steven Sondheim, etc. Gordon is very proud to have known and worked with Richard Rodgers and has his book which Rodgers signed, "Dick" , a name that only his friends were allowed to call him. Gordo, who starred in the movie versions of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "OKLAHOMA" and "CAROUSEL" was at Oscar Hammerstein's home one weekend. "Ochie", as he was called by intimates, was working on the lyrics to a new song, "MY FAVORITE THINGS", and Gordo sang it for him. Needless to say, it became one of the big hit songs from "THE SOUND OF MUSIC", and Gordo always included it in his nightclub and symphonic acts and told the "Ochie" story. Gordo had been chosen for the role of Curly in "OKLAHOMA", in which Alfred Drake starred on Broadway, because of his vocal abilities and good looks. Frank Sinatra was set to do the movie version of "CAROUSEL" which John Raitt had originated on Broadway. Gordo had hoped to be asked to star in that film also by Rodgers and Hammerstein. They started filming "CAROUSEL" in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, and Frank Sinatra came to the conclusion that he was not right for the part of Billy Bigelow and bowed out. Oscar Hammerstein located MacRae, who was singing in Lake Tahoe, and asked him if he wanted to play Billy Bigelow. Did he ever! Even though he'd made a number of movies previously, these two films, "OKLAHOMA" and "CAROUSEL" are the films the public remembers Gordon MacRae for, and why they came to see him perform in person in later years. This is also true, to a lesser degree, of his co-star in both films, Shirley Jones, who also gained popularity on television. John Raitt was singing professionally in Southern California when he was hurriedly interviewed by a representative of Rodgers and Hammerstein. He thought nothing would come of that interview, but shortly afterward was sent a ticket and asked to come to New York by the two famous composers. Rodgers and Hammerstein had planned to put John in "OKLAHOMA" because Alfred Drake was leaving the show, but after taking one look at him, they decided he was their Billy Bigelow for "CAROUSEL", which they were writing at the time. So they sent John on a national tour of "OKLAHOMA" and brought him to Broadway as the star of "CAROUSEL". John does an autobiographical singing act in which he explains all this and more. At this writing, we saw John perform in Las Vegas about six months ago, and he's still singing beautifully. At one gig, Shirley Jones and her manager/husband, Marty Ingels, were headlining a local telethon and asked Gordo to make a non-singing appearance. Skip, who was watching on TV from his hotel room, called up and gave his name and position and pledged a small amount. When Gordo appeared, Marty told him about Skip's call and said, "You don't pay your conductor enough money." He had that right! Gordo and Skip did appear on many telethons throughout the country for which they were always paid a salary plus expenses. In fact, they were with Marilyn Michaels at one or two telethons in the early eighties. When Gordon was in high school in Sacramento, he heard that a famed French composer, Darius Milhaud, was holding summer workshops in musical composition at Mills College in Oakland, California. Friends had sent Milhaud to the United States to escape World War II in Europe because he was famous, Jewish and disabled by polio. Mills was normally a girls' school except for those summer sessions when it became co-educational. Milhaud's courses were for college students, not high school. Gordon, determined to study with Milhaud especially after one of his high school music teachers told him he'd never qualify, lied and added a couple of years to his age on his application and was accepted. His parents had hoped he'd get a summer job in Sacramento, but Gordon took the money he had earned all year playing dance jobs and used it to attend Mills. It turned out to be the first of two wonderful summers for Gordon. Milhaud opened Gordon's eyes wider musically and taught him to compose all styles and sizes of musical compositions. He took his small class, which included such later luminaries as Dave Brubeck and Peter Rugolo, to many concerts in nearby San Francisco. Of course, when the orchestra began to play Brahms, Milhaud and his entourage would troop out as he was Milhaud's least favorite composer. Madame Milhaud and artist son Daniel, near Gordon's age, helped to create a happy family type situation for the young students. Gordon lived in a dorm on campus and attended concerts with Yana Croyt, the young daughter of Boris Croyt, a member of the Budapest String Quartet, who were also in residence at Mills. Yana and Gordon discussed music for hours on end and were quite sweet on each other. One day, Daniel Milhaud knocked on Gordon's door and told him that his parents would like him to come to dinner at their house that evening, but not to tell anyone else as he was the only student invited. When Gordon arrived at the Milhaud home, he was introduced to their only other guest for the evening, Igor Stravinsky! What a world for a young boy from Sacramento to be thrust into even if world renowned composers Milhaud and Stravinsky lapsed into speaking French more than English that night. When Milhaud's second summer at Mills drew to an end, he made plans to return to France. He called Gordon's parents and asked them to come see him. He wanted, out of all his students those couple of years, to take only "Baby" (as he called Gordon, his youngest student) back to France with him to study music at the Sorbonne! Gordon's parents said they were flattered, but, in reality, they didn't even consider the future possibilities for Gordon from such an offer because their understanding of the arts was very limited. They told Milhaud they thought it better for Gordon to finish his education in the United States and get a teaching credential which they felt would insure his ability to always earn a living. However, the offer certainly points out how much respect Milhaud had for "Baby's" potential. Gordon's life would have been completely different had he accepted Milhaud's offer, but, then again, I never would have met and married him and become a "GM"! Gordon Munford's star has shone brightly many times, but never more than the night he was the musical director for the American Guild of Authors and Composers' tribute to Henry Mancini. When MacRae had performed for the Fords at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, we had invited producer Marion Stoneking to attend the banquet with us. Gordo was in splendid voice. Marion was so thrilled with MacRae and Munford (after a disastrous evening in Cypress) that he booked them to open his new theatre, the Forum, in Yorba Linda, California, and they and Billy Daniels and Gisele MacKenzie played there numerous times. After one concert at the Forum, Gordon and I wanted to attend the reception. By the time we collected and packed all the music and loaded it into the car and arrived at the reception, it was in full swing. There were only two empty seats in the room, and, after we sat down in them, Gordon looked at the man across the table from him and said, "I know him from the Friars Club in New York. It's Bernie Wayne, the songwriter." Bernie is the composer of "THERE SHE IS, MISS AMERICA", performed every year at the Miss America Pageant, "BLUE VELVET", made popular by singer Bobby Vinton, "LAUGHING ON THE OUTSIDE, CRYING ON THE INSIDE," "CHOCK FULL OF NUTS IS THAT HEAVENLY COFFEE", "VANESSA" and many other songs. Bernie and Gordon rekindled their relationship, and we found out that Bernie and his wife, Phyllis, lived in Hollywood only a few minutes from us. Bernie had played for MacRae's opening act that night, disc jockey comics Lohman and Barkley, but he had come in at the last minute and Gordon had not seen him at the theatre. Bernie and Gordon went on to collaborate on a few projects including a wonderful symphonic concert of many of Bernie's songs, arranged by Gordon for a full orchestra, including "THE MISS AMERICA RHAPSODY" performed by Bernie at the piano with the orchestra, which debuted in Stoneking's Forum Theatre. The opening number of this pops concert used three vocalists, including Nolan Van Way and George Wallace, and two tap-dancing kids, Joey and "Peanut", who has gone on to star on Broadway. It was a production unto itself. The audience was hooked from that first elaborate number through the entire concert. Unfortunately, no venue has ever booked this concert, and it has never been seen or heard anywhere else, although not for lack of trying. When Bernie was asked to produce the American Guild of Authors and Composers' tribute to Henry Mancini, on a minuscule budget, he asked Gordon to find him an orchestra they could afford, as he felt Mancini's music deserved more than just a piano rendition. At that time, Gordon was writing orchestral vocal arrangements for choral director, Johnny Carl, at the magnificent Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, about an hour from Los Angeles. For a small donation to the church, he was able to obtain the services of the cathedral's orchestra for the event, including their bus. The orchestra members received an entire education about "show biz" in one day and evening. Gordon went to Henry Mancini's office to get the music, and when he told him what he intended to do and the size of his orchestra, Mancini doubted his ability to pull it off. Gordon, however, an arranger par excellence, devoted himself to this project for weeks, rearranging many of Mancini's most popular arrangements to fit the cathedral's limited orchestra, prompting Mancini to concede after the tribute that Gordon was one of the best arrangers for strings that he knew. After each song was played on the evening of the tribute, Gordon would turn and look at Mancini two rows back in the audience with his sweet wife, Ginny, and Mancini would flash him the thumbs up sign. The performers at this tribute included Doc Severinsen, the debonair Buddy Ebsen who did a classic soft-shoe, Herschel Bernardi, Gary Owens, a popular L.A. disc jockey, Elaine Joyce and her daughter Taylor Van, Sid Miller, Bernie's sometimes writing partner, Peter Marshall, who sang with Mancini's daughter, Monica, and Tom Poston among others. The audience was comprised of many major composers from John Green on down. When the entertainment ended and Mr. Mancini was presented his award, his first comments were about the wonderful job Gordon and the orchestra had done, and he asked them to take a bow. Charles Champlin, the head entertainment columnist for the LOS ANGELES TIMES, wrote a page and a half complimentary review of the event, and John Green had nothing but compliments for Gordon. A night to remember forever. Tom Poston did a cute bit that evening. He came on stage dressed like a janitor, sort of like the role he played on Bob Newhart's show. He was supposedly cleaning Mancini's office. There was music on the piano. Tom sat down and played a couple of bars of "THE DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES", including a sour note. Then he picked up a pencil, erased that sour note and wrote a new one, playing the music again the way it should sound! Everyone screamed with laughter. For all his success that evening, Munford never received one job offer related to that event. When Gordon first worked in New York, he wanted to meet agent Howard Hoyt and was told one day by Hoyt's secretary that he was at the Lambs Club. Gordon went to the famed theatrical club, but was not allowed in because he was not a member nor the guest of one. He vowed that day to become a member of the Lambs as soon as possible and made good on that vow even though he had to appear before the slightly intimidating, stately actor, Conrad Nagel, head of the admissions committee, and tell why he wanted to join the club. The Lambs was an easy going comfortable place for Broadway performers, theatre managers, directors, musicians, agents, ticket brokers and other theatrical personnel to relax , enjoy a drink at the bar with a fellow thespian , shoot a game of pool or entertain friends with a delicious , moderately priced dinner. Gordon's favorite entree was veal holstein, and all he had to say to his regular waiter, Mario, was , "The usual, please," which always impressed his date. The Lambs owned a wonderful building on West 44th Street, which included the clubhouse and a few rooms upstairs where members could stay for a very reasonable fee. Gordon was proud to be a Lamb. I, unfortunately, arrived on the scene too late and only had dinner at the club once , because it was on the decline due to poor financial management. I remember being served at the bar by the charming Brendan a few times, and he gave us some glasses and matches before the bar was shut down and the building sold. The Lambs, including Gordon's good friends, Ed Herlihy and Tommy Dillon, still meet every so often in Manhattan, sometimes at the Women's Republican Club, and we've been fortunate enough to be in New York for a couple of these gatherings. It was through the Lambs Club that Frederick Loewe knew Gordon who played piano at various club events. When Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner started rehearsals for their new show, "CAMELOT", Gordon was hired as audition pianist. A few weeks later, Gordon met Loewe one evening at the Lambs. Loewe told him that Richard Burton wanted to leave the show because he was having great difficulty learning to sing the role of King Arthur, and no one brought in had been able to help him. Loewe asked Gordon if he thought he could help. Gordon agreed to try and met Burton every day for two weeks, not at the theatre, but at a bar, where he taught the Welshman to use his natural rhythm and talk-sing the part, just like he'd taught Ray Milland, another Welshman, to do "MY FAIR LADY", Gordon's very first show for the Kenley Players. John Kenley had told Gordon that Mr. Milland would be coming to his office at 10:00 A.M. By l0:30, he had not yet arrived so Gordon left his office to check with Mr. Kenley. A bald-headed man with glasses was walking down the hall and asked Gordon where the rehearsal was. Thinking he was a member of the chorus, Gordon pointed to where they were rehearsing. Then he went to Kenley's office and said, "Ray Milland is not here yet." "I just sent him down to your office, " Kenley replied. Gordon had not recognized Milland who hardly looked anything like he did in the movies! Most people connected with "CAMELOT" never knew about Gordon's role in keeping Burton in the show, but Frederick Loewe certainly did, and he was grateful. When the first national company of "CAMELOT" was being put together, the manager called Gordon and told him the company was "his", i.e., as musical director. Gordon was very happy as he had hoped that would be the case and wanted and needed the show. However, as the telephone negotiations went on, Gordon asked who had been signed to play the leading roles. When told Kathryn Grayson was playing Guinevere, Gordon said, "I have to decline taking the show." The manager was startled. "Why?" he asked. Gordon (who was usually a tolerant, patient, flexible conductor) related to him that he had worked with Kathryn Grayson, who starred for Herb Rogers in his Chicago theatre, in "THE MERRY WIDOW". "She was much too difficult and changeable to work with", he said, "and nearly drove everyone connected with the show, particularly the orchestra, crazy." When Kathryn Grayson was happy with the way she was singing, she'd hold notes for a long time though that wasn't the way they had been rehearsed nor set by the orchestra musicians nor sung previously. The first time she did this, when Gordon asked her why, Miss Grayson said, "I was singing so good I just wanted to hear my voice!" She constantly took the fan, the key to the plot of "THE MERRY WIDOW", offstage with her. On opening night, the widow, who makes her first entrance from the top of a long staircase, was not there. Gordon and the orchestra played her entrance music again. Still no widow. This went on over and over for nearly five minutes while the stage manager frantically searched for her backstage only to find Miss Grayson brushing her hair in her dressing room. "Oh, is it time for me to go on?" she innocently asked the harried stage manager. Gordon was very disappointed at having to turn down "CAMELOT", but about nine or ten months later he bumped into the company manager who told him that, due to Kathryn Grayson, they had already gone through a dozen musical directors (one had run off to Australia never to be heard from again), and over half a dozen stage managers. Now he understood perfectly why Gordon had declined to do the show with her. When George M. Cohan was thrown out of the Lambs Club due to his rebellious behavior and nonpayment of bills, he started a rival club called the Friars Club. Many thespians belonged to both the Lambs and Friars. When he was established and known in New York, Gordon applied for membership and was accepted by the famous Friars Club. The Friars is a thriving organization today with clubs on East 57th Street in New York and on "little" Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles. They opened their membership to women a few years ago, which gave a big boost to their entire organization. Marilyn Michaels joined the New York Friars and has had a few showings of her paintings there. I still have an original oil by Marilyn, of a rabbi blowing the ram's horn, which I treasure. The Friars now comprises theatrical as well as business professionals. The New York clubhouse has many different wonderful rooms, each named for a famous Friar, as well as a gym and barbershop and organizes theatre parties, charitable events, "roasts" of famous celebrities, prints a regular publication and celebrates most holidays with special dinners. My favorite dinner at the Friars is the Friday night shore dinner of steamed clams and Maine lobsters. One night, I actually consumed three lobsters as they are a great favorite of mine and not so readily available in the west. The Los Angeles Friars Club was never as appealing to us as the one in New York because we did not know the film crowd as well as the theatre people, and, although we did go there a couple of times with Bernie and Phyllis, it never became a regular habit. Skip tried to get MacRae to join, but Gordo was more interested in golf clubs. When Gisele MacKenzie was hired by Marion Stoneking to star in a pops concert at the Forum, Gordon conducted for her. Gisele is a highly accomplished musician. Remember her playing violin on television with Jack Benny? She and her brother had written most of her charts, but Gordon told her they could use a little cleaning and updating. After working with him, Gisele realized he was musically competent and so he did some arranging and conducting for her for a few years. Gewald, his manager, booked Gisele in a number of concert dates. A charming lady, this former honorary mayor of Encino, lived in a beautiful home. She's an animal lover and especially enamored of birds. She had a small green parrot, a canary and three cockatiels. When a friend, she had given a canary to, passed away Gisele wound up with a second canary. Two male canaries dislike sharing the same household and usually stop singing. So one day, Gisele called Gordon and asked him to come out to the valley to discuss some music, and also said that she had something for him. She was always giving us cute little novelties, so when Gordon picked me up later that day, I asked what Gisele had given him. All he would say was , "You'll see". What I saw was "Frisky", a beautiful canary, complete with cage and other paraphernalia, in our kitchen. We soon moved Frisky's cage to the living room, the center of our household, next to Gordon's contact us for more info and history on Gordon Munford Place a Bid!