In Performance at the White House; A Salute To Broadway: Chorus Lines

<v Speaker>Tonight's program is made possible by the Bell Companies of Ameritech serving <v Speaker>the Great Lakes region with state-of-the-art voice, data, and image products and services <v Speaker>by the enterprise companies of Ameritech, providing communications through ADR software <v Speaker>systems, Ameritech Mobile Communications and Ameritech pages plus. <v Speaker>And by the Ameritech Corporation leading these communication companies in combining <v Speaker>technology and teamwork to help people communicate anytime, anywhere. <v Speaker>Ameritech. <v Speaker>Tonight, Stubby Kaye. <v Speaker>Shirley Jones, Leroy Green. <v Speaker>The Morgan State University Choir. <v Speaker>The cast from the hit Broadway show A Chorus Line <v Speaker>and the combined orchestra of the United States Marine Band and the United States Army <v Speaker>Band. <v Speaker>Join master of ceremonies Marvin Hamlisch in a musical salute to Broadway.

<v Speaker>In performance at the White House. <v Speaker>Our hosts, president and Mrs. Reagan. <v Speaker>Good evening. During the past two years, I've had the honor and pleasure of serving as <v Speaker>musical director for our series In Performance at the White House. <v Speaker>Now in the East Room, we've presented the works of Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, <v Speaker>Porter, Sondheim and other geniuses of the musical theater. <v Speaker>This evening, our show is called Chorus Lines. <v Speaker>It's a celebration of Broadway show songs made great by singing and dancing <v Speaker>choruses. You know, like There's Nothing Like a Dame, Oklahoma,

<v Speaker>and Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat. <v Speaker>Now, when I thought about Broadway shows with chorus numbers, I remembered right away a <v Speaker>pretty zany one, Li'l Abner, in which Al Caps <v Speaker>cartoon village came deliriously to life. <v Speaker>Here is an original star of that show, direct from Dogpatch, <v Speaker>the remarkable Stubby Kaye. <v Speaker>Scarlett, honey, it's high time you knew that our beloved Dogpatch <v Speaker>USA was founded by Jubilation, T. <v Speaker>Cornpone, the greatest fightin general and military strategists the Confederacy <v Speaker>ever knew. <v Speaker>Was he brave? <v Speaker>Brave? Why, J.T. <v Speaker>Cornpone didn't know the meaning of the word fear.

<v Speaker>Terror. Yes, but fear never. <v Speaker>And all over the countryside there's monuments commemorating the names of his famous <v Speaker>battles. <v Speaker>Such as? <v Speaker>Cornpone's Disaster, Cornpone's Misjudgment, Cornpone's <v Speaker>Catastrophe and Cornpone's Humiliation. <v Speaker>[singing Jubilation T. Cornpone from Li'l Abner] <v Speaker>[applause] Thank you. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen, working on this show,

<v Speaker>I've made a new friend. <v Speaker>I mean I mean, this guy does it all from 42nd Street to A Terrific <v Speaker>Act. He sings, he dances. <v Speaker>And and now he's gonna do a chorus song for you. <v Speaker>That is is one of my all time favorites. <v Speaker>Ladies and gentlemen, Laroy Reames. <v Speaker>[singing There Is Nothin' Like A Dame from South Pacific] <v Speaker>[overlapping chatter].

<v Speaker>Bye girls! Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. It's an honor to be here at the White House <v Speaker>this evening. And what better place to sing some patriotic songs? <v Speaker>These chorus numbers have lasted for 75 years. <v Speaker>They're by the legendary Broadway composer, Mr. George <v Speaker>M. Cohan. <v Speaker>[singing You're A Grand Old Flag/Over There/Yankee Doodle medley] <v Speaker>?Only our taking tap?

<v Speaker>[laughter] Now, we've all seen it and we've all heard it, but what exactly <v Speaker>is a chorus number? You know, it's the kind of song that gets your head <v Speaker>hearing voices, other voices, lots of them. <v Speaker>It's the joy of a big sound. <v Speaker>So the next time you find yourself singing in the shower, <v Speaker>just think how much better you'd sound if you had this fabulous chorus backing <v Speaker>you up. Ladies and gentlemen, under the direction of Dr. <v Speaker>Nathan Carter, I am really privileged and proud to present to <v Speaker>you the Morgan State University Choir. <v Speaker>[singing Ezekiel Saw the Wheel] <v Speaker>If you remember the wonderful movie of Carousel, then you remember how

<v Speaker>your heart was broken by the gorgeous singing of Shirley Jones. <v Speaker>And there's a solo in that show that became a song <v Speaker>sung by choruses worldwide. <v Speaker>It's a beautiful stirring ballad. <v Speaker>Here to sing it, one of the stars of Carousel. <v Speaker>Pure delight. Ms. Shirley Jones. <v Speaker>[singing You'll Never Walk Alone and If I Loved You from Carousel] <v Speaker>Thank you very, very much, ladies and gentlemen.

<v Speaker>There were many beautiful chorus numbers in The Music Man, but <v Speaker>one very beautiful ballad. <v Speaker>And guess what? I got to sing it. <v Speaker>[singing Till There Was You from The Music Man] No, I. <v Speaker>Was. <v Speaker>When I found out that Stubby Kaye was going to be on this show, I thought immediately of

<v Speaker>a terrific musical song from a terrific show he created. <v Speaker>And as far as I'm concerned, it's his song. <v Speaker>And I know exactly what you mean. <v Speaker>You mean, Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat and you mean Guys and Dolls. <v Speaker>And I mean Stubby Kaye. <v Speaker>[singing Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat from Guys and Dolls] <v Speaker>Thank you, Stubby! In the history of the stage, there is one musical that has gone from

<v Speaker>being a hit show to an American classic. <v Speaker>I mean, of course, Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. <v Speaker>Gershwin really wrote a fusion of Broadway and the spiritual. <v Speaker>Of show music and opera. <v Speaker>From that show, we're going to hear a medley of Summertime, I'm On My Way. <v Speaker>And then we're gonna wind up this wonderful evening with a song that is, well, <v Speaker>it's possibly the best known chorus number of them all. <v Speaker>Once again, the Morgan State University Choir. <v Speaker>[singing Summertime/Oh Lord, I'm On My Way from Porgy and Bess and Oklahoma! from Oklahoma!] <v Speaker>Thank you. You know, this is a perfect place to

<v Speaker>just talk a little bit about an American dream because I <v Speaker>don't think when my immigrant parents came to America <v Speaker>they would ever think that this dream would come true tonight. <v Speaker>It gives me the greatest honor, the greatest thrill to be able to say to <v Speaker>you here, right here in this beautiful, beautiful, wondrous <v Speaker>set surrounding, I present to you two wonderful people, <v Speaker>the president of the United States and my friend, Mrs. Reagan. <v Speaker>Thank you. What a wonderful evening this has been. <v Speaker>I'm always thrilled by these White House concerts.

<v Speaker>But this one has has really been special. <v Speaker>In the past, we've heard the music of all the masters, Jerome Kern, Stephen Sondheim, <v Speaker>Cole Porter, so many others. <v Speaker>And the music has filled the White House with joy. <v Speaker>But this evening, under the stars here in the heart of the nation's capital <v Speaker>city, I think we may have filled all of Washington with joy. <v Speaker>You know, right from the beginning, which means sometime before this administration <v Speaker>[light audience laughter] the White House has <v Speaker>extended a warm welcome to music, although it isn't true that I danced <v Speaker>the minuet with Dolly Madison and Abigail Adams [audience laughter] <v Speaker>down through the years, this grand old house glowed with the talents of so many <v Speaker>performers from so many worlds. <v Speaker>Classical, gospel, jazz, country and Western.

<v Speaker>Just about every form of music. <v Speaker>For the past two years now, we've presented Broadway show music. <v Speaker>Hello, Dolly. From- from Strike Up the Band, <v Speaker>The Company we thrilled, we thrilled to it all. <v Speaker>And songs that we've heard are products of a special kind of genius, <v Speaker>a distinctly American genius. <v Speaker>And we've exported them all over the world. <v Speaker>You can da- walk down the street in London or Tokyo or Paris <v Speaker>and around you, there will be people that might be humming or whistling <v Speaker>Cole Porter and George Gershwin, Irving Berlin. <v Speaker>Now, I wouldn't mind one bit if this went on forever. <v Speaker>It won't be too many months now before my roommate and I <v Speaker>are back home in California.

<v Speaker>So, yes, this is our last In Performance at the White <v Speaker>House. <v Speaker>But you can be sure that we'll remember this evening as a very special, <v Speaker>magical evening. <v Speaker>But I'd like to take this opportunity now to thank our musical director and <v Speaker>my very good friend, Marvin Hamlisch. [applause] <v Speaker>Throughout these concerts, first of all, I don't know what I've done without him, <v Speaker>but throughout these concerts, he's really done the greatest job anyone could <v Speaker>ever possibly do. <v Speaker>Well, I want to thank you very much. <v Speaker>I'm really thrilled. You know, we started out to just do one and we ended up doing seven <v Speaker>and I don't really want to be pushy, but if you noticed on all these shows, we keep <v Speaker>doing, you know, Porter and Sondheim and Rodgers and we've never done a <v Speaker>Hamlisch song here. And since it's the last one, I'm just thinking you're so influential <v Speaker>here. I mean, couldn't they just do one of my songs?

<v Speaker>Marvin has a point. What do you think? <v Speaker>I think you're right. <v Speaker>Can't we just do... One. <v Speaker>[singing One from A Chorus Line] <v Speaker>Tonight's program is made possible by the Bell companies of Ameritech serving

<v Speaker>the Great Lakes region with state of the art voice data and image products and services <v Speaker>by the enterprise companies of Ameritech, providing communications through ADR software <v Speaker>systems, Ameritech Mobile Communications and Ameritech pages plus and <v Speaker>by the Ameritech Corporation leading these communication companies in combining <v Speaker>technology and teamwork to help people communicate anytime, anywhere. <v Speaker>Ameritech.