We're spending an awful lot of time on this old That's Singing TV special but here's Dave Sikula…
Just some personal memories of the show. It was taped at the La Mirada Theatre in those days when they did a lot of stuff for cable. (I remember a particularly gruesome Charley's Aunt with Charles Grodin. One of the most foolproof comedies in the canon just laid there. Transplanting it to Yale did not help it.) The IMDb tells us it was made for "The Entertainment Channel," whatever that was. I was there — and my laugh is even audible at one point. On the night, Tom Bosley found it so unique, he actually stopped tape to comment on it. (In my defense, I wasn't trying to be obnoxious; I just have a distinctive hooting tone.)
I was able to knock seeing a lot of performers off my bucket list that night: Merman opening the show; Mary Martin, Glynis Johns, Len Cariou; Donna McKechnie (whom I'd already seen six times in A Chorus Line at the Shubert; student rush was $20 in those days); Jerry Orbach; Chita Rivera; Barry Bostwick; Bosley himself. I seem to recall a few performances that didn't make the tape, but I'd have to dig through too many boxes to find the program to verify that feeling.
Being that this was the theatre where — in its original incarnation as a movie house — I'd seen The Three Stooges in the early 60s, had seen Cary Grant do his one-man Q&A show in the 80s, and had performed one of the most memorable shows of my life — a Paint Your Wagon in 1980 that had more on-stage insanity than any other show in which I've participated — the house holds a lot of memories.
In memory, Mr. Walston did not give the finest performance that evening. He was consistently behind the orchestra, and I seem to recall he even went up in his lyrics once — which would have been surprising given how many times he'd performed it by that time. (Again, this may be faulty memory.) He still seems behind the music in the clip, but I don't know if that was the original performance or a retake.
All in all, one of the great theatre-going nights of my life.
It was said that Ray Walston was a musical comedy performer in the Rex Harrison tradition. That means he would just ignore the conductor and start singing whenever he felt it was the right moment. Same with Harrison. He did not follow the music. The music had to follow him. It's why most of Rex Harrison's numbers in the movie of My Fair Lady were sung live on the set and not pre-recorded.
Harrison also said that he had problems performing songs from My Fair Lady out of the context of the show. He was never happy with his performances and he sometimes forgot lyrics. Perhaps that was true of Mr. Walton, also.
The La Mirada is a great theater but a bit of a drive for me. Every time I go there, I see something good, though not always good enough to justify the bumper-to-bumper freeway traffic going to and fro. I wish we had more places like that…and more centrally located. When people lament the decline of live theater in Los Angeles, I don't think they always realize how difficult it is to get to some places and park. When I go to the Pantages now, I park far away and take the subway because to park nearby is [fill in your own joke]. Alas, few theaters have a subway stop directly across the street. Wish the La Mirada did.