Twitter
Facebook
Showtune Sunday: Dean Jones and the original cast of “Company” perform “Being Alive”
Elaine Stritch’s Ladies Who Lunch is not the only gem on the soundtrack to the original Broadway production of Company. I just love this rendition of Being Alive as it is sung by Dean Jones.
Dean is best known for his roles in such Disney films as That Darn Cat! The Love Bug and Snowball Express but had scored on Broadway previously in Under the Yum Yum Tree.
What’s really interesting is that during out-of-town previews of Company, Jones was uncomfortable with the negative reaction to his character he received from the audience and asked to withdraw from the show.
Director Harold Prince agreed to replace him with Larry Kert if Jones would open the show and record the cast album. He agreed and that’s why his performance is preserved although it was Kert who received the Tony nomination for Best Actor in a Musical.
Bonus Videos: The Patti LuPone and Bernadette Peters versions of Being Alive:
Comments
(All comments are reviewed before being published, and I review submissions several times per day.)
RJ says:
Greg, I’m not sure if you are aware that Dean Jones, a conservative born-again Christian, is on record as being against legalizing same-sex marriage in the U.S.
Ironically, Dean Jones had replaced Anthony Perkins (who was reputedly bisexual, if not outright gay) for the role in Company, then was replaced in turn by the openly-gay Larry Kert. Sadly, both Perkins and Kert died at the age of 60 from complications due to AIDS.