Musical Comedy Tonight - 1979

MUSICAL COMEDY TONIGHT is an overview of American Musical Comedy through four significant eras."The twenties illustrated by 'Good News', the thirties by 'Anything Goes', the forties by 'Oklahoma', and the seventies by 'Company'. Each era is introduced by a 'newsreel' of the current events, personalities and theatre customs of the time and by a description and analysis of each show. Included are interviews with Ethel Merman on 'Anything Goes' and Agnes de Mille on the use of American Folk Ballet in 'Oklahoma'. The host and narrator is Sylvia Fine Kaye.
The first performance is the title song from "Good News," a large group musical number. The host Sylvia Fine Kaye discusses other musical comedies of the 1920s and how "Good News" fit into that era. Kaye sings an excerpt from the opening number of "Good News," and the next performance features Bernadette Peters and Bobby Van singing "The Best Things in Life Are Free." Sandy Duncan and company perform "Varsity Drag." Kaye introduces "Anything Goes", giving historical and cultural context of the 1930s that lead to "Anything Goes" being created. Ethel Merman performs "I Get a Kick Out of You," and Kaye interviews Merman about her experience in "Anything Goes." Then, Merman and Rock Hudson perform "You're the Top," and Merman and company perform the title song. The next era is the 1940s with "Oklahoma," given historical and cultural context. Kaye talks about how "Oklahoma" changed the entire genre of the musical comedy, and John Davidson performs "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'." Carol Burnett sings "I Cain't Say No," and Kaye interviews choreographer Agnes DeMille about the famous "Dream Ballet." Jamsie Delap and Blaine Savage dance the dream ballet while DeMille gives commentary, and afterwards Davidson and company perform the title song. The final musical is "Company" from the 1970s, representing the first major shift in musical comedy since "Oklahoma." Sandy Duncan performs "Another Hundred People", with Richard Chamberlain as Robert and Bernadette Peters as April, then Chamberlain and Peters sing "Barcelona," and Carol Burnett sings "The Ladies Who Lunch." Finally, the company performs "Side by Side by Side/What Would We Do Without You." - End of video cut off