I've been listening to the original cast recording of The MAD Show -- A New Musical Revue based on MAD Magazine, which opened Off-Broadway at the New Theatre on January 9, 1966 and ran for 871 performances.

Being a big reader of MAD Magazine since I could read, (I especially loved the "Sung to the Tune of" comedy songs) I was excited to get the CD. The music is by Mary Rodgers, lyrics by Marshall Barer, Larry Siegel and Steven Vinaver, and book by Larry Siegel and Stan Hart. The cast includes Linda Lavin, Macintyre Dixon, Dick Libertini, Paul Sand and Jo Anne Worley (how great is that line up!). Of course, the production was conceived and directed by "Alfred E. Neuman".

There are some wonderful anecdotes in the liner notes (hey, that rhymes!) written by Mary Rodgers in 2004. In 1965 the creators got permission from Bill Gaines, the publisher of MAD, to create a musical revue on the condition that he had the right to toss out any material he didn't like. She goes on to say:

So anyway, two days before rehearsals were to begin, Bill Gaines finally decides to exercise his option. He wants to hear the material. Picture this: A nasty, hot little attic room above the New Theatre. Bill Gaines and his MAD Mag suits, Columbia Records execs (they had, sight unseen or heard, agreed to produce the album) and their suits, Steven Vinaver in his suit (tweedy) Stan, Larry and Mary, nondescriptly attired, huddled in a corner, Sam Pottle the musical director looking like your normal Yalie, which he was, poised to play the out-of-tune upright, and: Marshall wearing pointy boots, jeans, a shirt festooned with yesterday's tuna fish sandwich, and a fringed leather jacket. He is foaming at the mouth from an overdose of Tums, squinting at his coffee-stained, unpaginated bunch of lyrics, putting on his distance glasses, taking off his distance glasses, losing his distance glasses (resting on his head). He stumbles through the entire score at the end of which SILENCE. Bill Gaines rises. Reminds the room of his right to toss out any material he doesn't like. And what doesn't he like? Everything. He doesn't like everything. Couple of tunes, maybe, but otherwise, forget it. This is Friday, remember? And we start rehearsal on Monday. What me worry? You betcha!

Needless to say rewrites were done, presented and approved. The MAD Show opened on time "to some pretty terrific reviews" and ran for over two years.

Listening to the show you get an overwhelming sense of the good-natured, innocent, and joyous parody. Despite the hilarious parody it never feels cynical, or bitter, or self-congratulatory. I loved it. It's definitely comedy first, and music second but it totally works. It also really feels like a musical version of MAD magazine, which stands in comparison to the current late night show MAD TV, which although funny at times doesn't feel like MAD magazine at all. My favorite numbers are "Misery Is" (a charming send up of "Happiness Is" from You're A Good Man Charlie Brown), "The Boy From..." ( the classic parody of "The Girl From Ipanema") and Kiddie TV (Pompus Room is a hilarious send up of Romper Room).

The lyrics to "The Boy From..." are credited to Esteban Ria Nido. Ted Chaplin explains this in a super cool anecdote:

Spanish to English: Esteban = Stephen. Ria = river. Nido = nest. German to English: Sond = sound, or body of water, as in "Long Island Sound." Heim = home, or nest. In the Playbill for The MAD Show the lyricist of "The Boy From..." is listed as Nom De Plume. Here is what this all means: when Mary Rodgers was in the pickle she describes above, she called on her friend Stephen Sondheim to help out. This was the year of "Do I Hear A Waltz?" Sondheim was a determined as ever to make his mark as a composer and lyricist. So instead of telling the world right off that this would be another set of Sondheim lyrics -- brilliant, one might add -- he decided to take a "nom de plume", or pen name, and translate his own name into Spanish, in keeping with the South American nature of the song parodied, "The Girl From Ipanema." (Musical theater buffs take note: turns out "The Girl from Ipanema" was originally intended for a musical comedy entitled "Blimp" which, as far as we know, was never produced.) Once Sondheim's career became established with "Company" and "Follies" and the rest, he removed the puzzle from his own participation in "The Boy From...".

Wow. Sondheim is connected to MAD Magazine. I have a whole new level of respect for him!

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