BROADWAY MELODIES strings together well known songs from Broadway shows. Songs on this album have come been performed in one of the 40 Broadway theatres in Manhattan, New York City. These songs give rise to magical moments in our imaginations as the tunes transport us into the well-loved narratives and classic stories. You’ll be tempted to hum or sing along. This album has all the colorful ingredients to help you relive adventure, drama and fairy tale from musical theatre through the decades. Broadway Melodies is dedicated to the memory of Michele Jones.

The production of Broadway Melodies is supported by a grant from Purdue Pharma Canada.

Piano: Bev Foster
Tenor Saxophone:Kelly Jefferson
Playing Time: 62:58

Send in the Clowns

is from the 1973 musical A Little Night Music by Stephen Sondheim, a song he created specifically for Glynis Johns who created the role of Desirée on Broadway. It is a ballad from Act II. Sondheim used the word “clowns” not in a circus sense, but in a theatrical sense, meaning “fools”.

Ol’ Man River

is the most famous song from the 1927 musical Showboat by Kern & Hammerstein. It is sung by a black dock worker, Joe, who expresses the African American hardships of the time. The song is written as a metaphor to the Mississippi River where Joe was working on a showboat.

I Could Have Danced All Night

is a song from the musical My Fair Lady, written by Loewe/Lerner in 1956. It was first performed by Julie Andrews who portrayed Eliza Doolittle, the “Fair Lady” in the original Broadway production. The song expresses Eliza’s excitement after she has an impromptu dance with her tutor, Henry Higgins.

My Funny Valentine

is a jazz standard covered by hundreds of artists. It comes from the 1937 Rodgers & Hart musical Babes in Arms and is sung by character Billie Smith to Valentine “Val” LaMar. Although Billie pokes fun at Val, she admits she doesn’t want him to change.

On My Own

is a compelling song from the musical Les Misérables composed by Schoenberg with a libretto by Boubil based on the novel by Victor Hugo. Although it debuted in London’s West End, it has found success on Broadway. On My Own is sung by Epomine, the young caring daughter of the sinister Thénardias who secretly loves Marsius, a French student and revolutionary.

Love Changes Everything

is the famous song from Aspects of Love, book and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Black and Hart. Based on the novella called Aspects of Love by David Garnett, the story focuses on the aspects love takes in the lives of actress Rose Vibert, her admiring fan Alex Dillingham and other characters, for example between couples or between parents and children.

All I Ask of You

is a song from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, The Phantom of the Opera. It is a duet sung between Christine and Raoul at the end of Act I on the roof of the Paris Opera House. Christine is terrified of the Phantom after a stagehand is murdered during an opera – Raoul promises to keep Christine safe from the Phantom.

Other Songs: Sound of Music (Sound of Music), ‘Till There Was You (Music Man), Maybe (Annie), Some Enchanted Evening (South Pacific), Where is Love (Oliver), Feed the Birds (Mary Poppins), Beauty and the Beast (Beauty and the Beast), Sabbath Prayer (Fiddler on the Roof)