I'm surprised. There's a lot of really fun material here. Norbert Leo Butz scores as the more uncouth con-man Freddy, singing about how he'll be "Great Big Stuff" in his introductory number. He and Sherie Renee Scott as the heiress get the lovely "Nothing Is Too Wonderful To Be True," and there's witty satirical numbers like "Love Is My Legs." John Lithgow, who played the senior con-man Lawrence, pops up to tell people not to listen to the final three numbers if they don't want to be spoiled. Fortunately, I've seen the original film and the all-female remake The Hustle, so I'm quite familiar with the hilarious twist ending.
The CD I bought in Philadelphia came with an extra surprise. It took me a minute to realize the squiggly lines someone drew on the disc were signatures. According to Wikipedia, about a month after the show's opening, thousands of people stood in line at the Imperial Theater in New York to get free preview copies of the cast album before its May release. Several members of the cast and composer David Yazbek signed them. I know I see Butz and Scott's signatures there, and Joanna Gleason's, too. Wow. I'll bet the owner of Circa Gallery never checked the CD in the case, or this would have cost way more than a dollar. I'm going to treasure this one.
Hurried out just as the CD ended. Work mostly went fine, other than one incident. I almost got run over by a speeding car that went way too fast on the road between the parking lot and the Acme. Truth be told, I really should have been paying attention. It did rattle me and I wish I'd been more careful, but ultimately, no one was harmed.
In fact, we were dead almost the entire afternoon. First of all, the weather was utterly stunning. Brilliant blue sky without a cloud in it, cool fresh breezes. It was barely in the 70's. Pushing carts was mostly a pleasure. Second, there's not a whole lot going on right now. The kids start their first full week of school tomorrow, we're between holidays, and the Eagles don't play an afternoon game until my first day of vacation. It's too nice to be shopping!
Hurried home as soon as I finished, then took a shower, grabbed dinner, and went straight into tonight's Match Game marathon. Comedian Jimmie Walker goes way back on Match Game. He started in mid-1974 and continued appearing regularly through 1991, long after his breakout show Good Times was in re-runs.
Jimmie could be annoying, often yelling into the crowd when they booed one of his bad answers, or trying to agitate them in support for said answers. On the other hand, he also had a lot of really funny moments. In a 1976 episode, his response to a question about a modern Snow White would look like had him insisting she should look more like him. He appeared in two classic PM episodes, in 1975 with Kate Jackson, and in 1981 where Debralee Scott kept flirting with a cute contestant, until they finally kissed (and quite passionately!) after she helped him win the first Audience Match. Earlier in '75, he admired a very cute contestant who made the attractive green suit she wore.
Honestly, his most memorable appearances were probably in Match Game '90. He heard Sally Struthers announce her role as the voice of the younger sister in a new ABC show, Dinosaurs. He proved to be the Master of the Match-Up, flying through the answers like his words had wings. Twice, he got an especially pretty lady to the Audience Match. The second time, he was so enamored with the lovely miss, he picked her up and carried her off - twice!
You'll have a dyn-o-mite time flying through Match-Ups with the Prince of urban sitcoms in this hilarious marathon!
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