In May 1965 the first Kander and Ebb musical premiered on Broadway. To remember the song is to remember its jaunty opening, or its humour until we dig deeper and face the depressing centre of the song, "Where are my colored lights?" That's what I hear in lyrics like, "It's hardly every day. Two of their earliest tunes were “My Coloring Book” and “I Don’t Care Much,” both of which were recorded by Barbra Streisand. But, Ebb and Kander have more to offer than tongue-in-cheek songs (though those tongue-in-cheek songs are fantastic). The performer is remembered for starring roles in Broadway’s The new play by Stephen Beresford will be live streamed from the Old Vic stage. It might even be my favorite song of all time. The video above, of the late Michelle Nicastro, is a pretty perfect answer to this real Goldilocks vocal conundrum. And the melody is nothing short of rapturous. I first became aware of this power ballad through Truth be told, "All That Jazz" is another one I tried to bump off the list — and not because there were other songs to which I felt more beholden (as was the case with "Isn't This Better? A bit of a trite thing to say, but it's such a terribly fun song it's impossible to resist its easy charm.This is such a deceptive song. For all the deft skill they display this duo are really something at crafting simple and evocative numbers, and “Maybe This Time” rises to the top for keeping their most common theme alight – a yearning for a better life. It’s the curse of Kander and Ebb whose songs take on a life of their own that they become too popular to think of on their own merits.

The line of the title does not appear until the song is more than half way through. It's a song about wasted potential wrapped up in a beautiful offering. This is partly to do with the title which aptly borrows a common catch-phrase, effectively aligning itself with the idiom so that the song is brought to mind whenever we hear those words — further advanced by the success of "Maybe This Time" is a great song. From that jaunty opening to the explosive key change this song works, making use of truisms about the city but never descending into triteness.This centre piece for Act One is actually two songs in one, in a way. It was hard to keep "Cabaret" on this list because I've listened to it and watched it sung by so many people and sung it myself at piano bars and karaoke so many times over so many years, that I'm kind of over it. The title suggests happiness, but the song is about the absence of those lights. It’s a battle to pare down their fantastic work to only 50 songs and this list is highly unscientific. It's hard to believe it wasn't written for "A Quiet Thing" is the quintessential mid-century Broadway ballad. Unfortunately, Fred Ebb’s death occurred during the creation of this musical, and he was not able to … It's one of the beautiful peculiarities about It’s pure coincidence these two love songs fall next to each other. I still feel it'd be pat to call them feel-good composers, but their music is truly among the most inspiring of musical theatre (even if the word inspiring suggests something more trite). Right on, Kander & Ebb. The trick to "A Quiet Thing" is that you ideally want a big, warm belt voice with expansive breath support to fill those long phrases like, "There are no exploding fireworks," but then the higher section wants to be sung sweetly in a mixed voice, not brash and belty, but not vibrato-laden and soprano-y. At the end of the day, though, there's no getting around "Cabaret." Find Kander & Ebb song information on AllMusic. Valentine, the jailed communist revolutionary, bonds with his cellmate by singing of his story – living in squalor with his mother and sister -- for the first two and a half minutes in touch with the bleak world of the present in the play, but the entire song is yearning, building up to the explosive climax when he sings, “Some day we’ll be free, I promise you we’ll be free. It rivals "New York, New York" for my favourite instrumental opening of a Kander and Ebb tune, and it's the easy highlight from Kander and Ebb have never been afraid to put their talents to writing about things which seem too huge to whittle down to a five minute song – the entire commerce vs art debate, one of the world’s most popular cities, the power of money -- but none is as large as the opening to I think the legend of this song has become so huge, it’s been sung so often, so many inferior covers have been done, it’s difficult to separate it from its legend and just listen to it for what it is – an excellent ode to a woman finding her way in a city that works for her. As we celebrate Andrew Kendall is a writer and editor. … Right on. They are so often pigeonholed into being considered writers who only do razzle dazzle, or writers who only work best on the ironic. "), but because there are other songs for which I have more affection than "All That Jazz." The stream benefits the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund.The annual event at the famed venue will not take place this year due to the pandemic.A new Massachusetts mandate has capped outdoor mass gatherings at 50 instead of 100, affecting current productions of The Netflix series from Ryan Murphy stars Sarah Paulson, as well as Tony winners Cynthia Nixon and Sophie Okonedo.Watch Alan Menken and Lin-Manuel Miranda perform together, take a virtual tour of the theatre district, and more. This really is junior league stuff. I can't be certain, but looking at so many of their songs together their inclinations are easier to unearth. top that list. Playbill.com correspondent Ben Rimalower offers a list of his top 10 songs by the Tony-winning duo of composer John Kander and late lyricist Fred Ebb.