A couple of people have sent me this link to a musical spot from an episode of Charlie's Angels back in the eighties. It's not photographed well and it's not supposed to be a good number…but there's something oddly appealing about it. Most of those who sent it wanted to know if I could identify the ladies in it and, sorry to say, I can only identify two…
One is the lead performer — the one in the middle — Eileen Barnett, who was in a whole lot of musicals I saw in L.A. back then and since. Just a wonderful talent. One show that I recall as especially terrific was a revue called Movie Star that ran for a while at the Westwood Playhouse back in 1982. It was the creation of Billy Barnes, Ray Aghayan and Bob Mackie.
Aghayan and Mackie were, of course, the most celebrated costume designers in variety shows of the day and the many outfits created for Movie Star were stunning. I believe Mackie did most of them because Aghayan was busy directing the show…and it was the kind of show which, if the songs hadn't been as good as they were, you'd say that the audience left humming the wardrobe.
But the songs, which were by Billy Barnes, were all gems. Billy, who I once had the pleasure of working with, was the foremost writer of what they called Special Musical Material back then. He composed clever songs for revues, TV shows and other presentations. He did all the songs on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, for instance. Earlier, he had done a number of revues that played in local theaters and in New York.
The cast of Movie Star — at least when I saw it — consisted of Gale Baker, Eileen Barnett, Christopher Callan, Larry Cedar, Daniel Fortis, Katie Labourdette, Brad Maule, Henry Polic II, Leigh Scarritt, Kathryn Skatula and Barry Williams. Yes, that's the Barry Williams from The Brady Bunch.
Sadly, Movie Star did not have much of a life after the Westwood Playhouse. I believe there were one or two productions elsewhere, including one in La Mirada. Like the several revues created by Howard Crabtree (another designer of outrageous, colorful costuming) or like Beach Blanket Babylon, it was very expensive to duplicate what the performers wore on stage. And you might even have to cast the performers to fit the costumes…and worry about those costumes wearing out.
There was no real cast album of Movie Star but a record was released many years later of Billy singing its songs at the piano. Ms. Barnett accompanied him on a few but the album did not, in my opinion, do justice to the fine score he wrote. It used to be downloadable on iTunes but it doesn't seem to be now. Billy, when I ran into him, used to promise me a tape of the original production but I somehow never got it. I hope one exists somewhere…and my, I have gotten way off the subject, haven't I?
Apart from Ms. Barnett, the other performer I can identify in the Charlie's Angels number is my old friend, Nancy Fox. I haven't seen her in many years but I'm pretty sure that's her. Some of you may remember Nancy from a short-lived sitcom, Temperature's Rising, but she was all over television for a while, including several other episodes of Charlie's Angels.
In this video, Eileen Barnett is the lead singer in the middle and Nancy Fox is the blonde on the far left in a blue top and white boots. I believe in this episode, she got killed soon after this scene. If anyone can identify anyone else, let me know…