Showgirl Pig, "Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home?":
Old Gray Mare, "The Old Grey Mare" (well, it's a nice shot of the automobile!):
Fox, "Bird in a Gilded Cage":
"Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay":
I should have mentioned this previously, but these America Sings photos are all from 1974, its opening year. Tomorrow we'll step outside the attraction and travel 24 years into the future...
This is an "exinct attraction" that has LOTS of documentation, in audio, video, and now photo forms. If only other lost attractions had this kind of coverage!
ReplyDeleteFascinating posts, many thanks for publishing them on the web.
ReplyDeleteThree points about America Sings: all of them musical.
1: The Tiki Room was the first and only musical show at DL that actually performed each 3 minute song from start to end. I think somebody realized that the pacing of the show could be greatly quickened by only performing a few bars and the rest of the song would not be missed, especially if they were well-known.
2: I've heard Disney got scalped on the rights to perform "Hawaiian War Chant": The fact that 90% of the America Sings material is in the public domain must have pleased the Legal Dept. immensely.
3: I've done some research into the songs and they are performed pretty much as originally written with the exception of "Where is my Wondering Boy Tonight?" In its original form it's a fairly leaden, dispirited "temperance" ballad. Who ever did the Disney version managed to make it funny and musical. (I was always curious about the original song, "Darling Clementine" is of the same period - It was originally a serious ballad, but in the 90's (the 1890's thank you) college kids realized it was just maudlin camp and would sing it in a style that today would be called "snarky." I always wondered if "Wondering Boy" was a rowdy college song that Disney sentimentalized? I can see that changes in the song really pushed it in the other direction.
Flash Pole:
ReplyDeleteHow many readers actually remember seeing the show when "Who Shot the Hole in my Sombrero"? was sung with a Mexican accent?
The Disney version cuts it short, but in the original version, it's about a Mexican with too many girlfriends who have just discovered each other and are now looking for him.
I am SO glad you posted these wonderful photos. Thanks!!!
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