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Article: Holy Stravinsky, The Russians Are Back!(Arts&Entertainment)(Review)
- Article from:
- The New York Observer (New York, NY)
- Article date:
- January 20, 2003
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The New York Observer. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Rex Reed
Years before the plague called reality TV, Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin wrote the ultimate celebrity challenge--a song entitled "Tchaikovsky (And Other Russians)". Performed by an unknown chorus boy named Danny Kaye, the song made its historic debut in the 1941 Broadway musical, Lady in the Dark. It also made Danny Kaye a star. This tongue twister--which consisted of the names of 49 unpronounceable Russian composers that Mr. Kaye rattled off like artillery fire in a breathtaking 39 seconds--has, for obvious reasons, rarely been performed since.
But musical legerdemain is now being repeated nightly by a nimble Jack-in-the-box named Mark ...