Cole Porter's Aladdin

The three television networks, in the '1950's - Golden Era ..." - could use Cole Porter's "Aladdin" musical composition "Opportunity knocks but once ... on the door"... as each networks' objective in programming original Producer Showcase 90 minute Prime-Time Broadcast Specials! NBC-RCA's objective was to sell RCA Color Television Sets - consequently, the NBC TV Network was broadcasting in glorious COLOR, as well as in B&W! Not to be outdone, the CBS Television Network was also scheduling five star talent personalities featured in their broadcast Programming Specials. CBS (Columbia Broadcasting) had also engineered their own ColorTelevision Cameras to broadcast their own Color Television Productions, except CBS was not marketing color television receiving sets! The ABC Network never joined the Color programming schedule until in the mid-1965/66 (era) when both the Saturday Night "The Lawrence Welk Show" - followed by "The Hollywood Palace" became a Week-End Prime-Time Broadcast Special Event! Curiously, CBS' Sunday Night "The Ed Sullivan Variety Hour" - THE BIG SHOW - transitioned into being a standard broadcast 'Color' show the following year in 1966/67. Curuiosly, "The Hollywood Palace" served seven years until this musical variety program was cancelled in January 1971 after seven years of 'live studio-audience-performance' production. "The Lawrence Welk Show" was then cancelled by the ABC Network in 1972, which Welk - then - syndicated his variety show for another six years as a syndicated TV entertainment program, still, as popular as ... Evaahhh. And CBS's "The Ed Sullivan Show" was also dumped in 1972/1973.NBC programmed an Original Event Special broadcasting Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II "made for television" - the musical production - "Cinderella." To counter NBC's Producer's Showcase once a month broadcast specials, CBS also created their own once-a-month Producers Showcase Event Specials - broadcast in Color! Regrettably, these Prime-Time 'Live-Performance' Events were never given a secondary broadcast airing! The New York CBS "Genius Programmers" were constantly coming up with worthy ideas for their own broadcast event specials - and, this was how Cole Porter was engaged to create an original TV Color musical titled "Aladdin" ... With all the ingredients to create a broadcast plum-cherry!Really making this "Aladdin" CD release a very unique historic-archival-creative-material of the composer, Cole Porter, so valuable !!!The CD Notes tell quite a story - this "Made-For-Television Event Special" has an interesting background history, which literally ended Cole Porter's composing efforts and his musical career! This was his LAST JOB! The musical material consists of eight melodies, additionally, an Overture and a Finale (walk-out) for the cast to parade at the conclusion of the TV Event Special. Casting of the musical was important! Sal Meneo and James Dean had both been put under a WARNER Brothers contract in 1954, brought to Hollywood from New York City, where both had been appearing in TV anthology programming! The two actors joined WB's talent roster which featured Tab Hunter as the studio's newest teen heart-throb. Tab Hunter originally was to star in the role James Dean was given in the feature film "Rebel Without A Cause" ... With Sal Mineo also cast in the 1955 film project. CBS borrowed (1957) Sal Mineo from WBs to star as Aladdin. Opera's young talented and pretty Anna Maria Alberghetti was cast as the Emperor's Princess. CBS assembled a production team creating an ensemble of magnificent talented creative members. Robert Russell Bennett was engaged to orchestrate the score! Robert Russell Bennett's orchestration for a full symphonic orchestra is absolutely outstanding in his use of every member in musical instrumentation. Mind, Bennett's orchestral arrangements was the epitome for his class of musical's presentation. The assemblage of this CD is the result of the discovery of the original Two-Three Track stero-audio tape recordings for the television production. CBS spared no expense in doing the show's music material as a bonus justice. The Hollywood Film Score Sound is very unique compared to the tin-sound of TV broadcast material. This CD's stereo channel delivery is a thrill to listen. Understandably, the Robert Russell Bennett orchestration contribution really establishes the importance of Cole Porter's creative musical material, especially, because this - IS - HIS LAST JOB... DAMM IT !!! Critics B DAMM !!!You can view a B&W kinescope film of the CBS "Aladdin" Special 90 minut Event Musical on the Internet U Tube blog.

This isn't Cole Porter's best work, but it's very good.I saw the original TV show when I was quite young. I loved it. My parents bought it for me and I listened to it almost endlessly. It's the only Broadway show original cast recording I ever enjoyed (if you know what I mean).Streisand sang one song and that keeps the show from sinking into absolute obscurity. As it is, "Aladdin" is not to be found on IMDB (but it was a TV show) or in the biographies of the creative talent.

The disc may be a CD-R, and the English/German/French/Italian booklet is just slightly fuzzy in reproduction. Otherwise, good sound.

Saw the TV show many years ago. Cyril Richard and Dennis King both have excellent performances.

Love having the cd. It's so much fun!

This is a nice recording of, I believe the last Cole Porter Score, this one of course expressly written for Television in the early days of doing TV versions of musical plays, etc. Cole Porter was on the downside of his career at this point as the liner notes indicate and as we know from the biographies written of him....the only song I know of on other of his recordings is "Wouldn't it Be Fun" which was supposedly the last song he ever wrote, but the title song and "I Adore You" are done as extra tracks on this CD by the Session Singers and are very well done.....Sal Mineo's version of I Adore You is all right, but he really was not much of a singer, more known for his acting in his short career....Anna Maria Alberghetti shines in this recording and we will get more of her talent a few years later in the Broadway hit of "Carnival" All in all a worthy investment for Cole Porter Completists..

On the plus side we have Cyril Ritchard and his opening song, 'Come to the Supermarket in Old Peking' as well as the later 'No Wonder Taxes Are High.' The unused 'Wouldn't It Be Nice' is supposed to be the last song Porter ever wrote (they took his leg off immediately afterwards), and it is done nicely here by Basil Rathbone. The rest of the songs are serviceable, but never rise above the production value of this soundstage TV show, with its commercial-jingle chorus. The pre-overture introduction by Cole Porter himself is a nice touch, if startling--"I hope you will enjoy my sssthongs!"The casting reflects the times more than production needs. Dennis King was Pooh-Bah in the Groucho Marx TV 'Mikado,' hence his part here. Anna Maria Alberghetti and Sal Mineo were both rising young juveniles in mid-50s showbiz (she in TV opera, he in drama), and since they're both Italian they can be romantically paired without raising any ethnic or racial hackles.I haven't seen any visuals, but know that nobody looks particularly Chinese, and only Cyril Ritchard has the proper pantomime panache to bring it off. Still I appreciate the fact that this IS set in China, as it properly should be, as that's where it is in the Arabian nights, and where it has remained through many generations of comic pantomime. Only the Disney animators, weirdly, transplanted the story to Arabia.There was no doubt a lot of irony and wordplay in the script by S. J. Perelman, but it's not here on the record.