today’s audio is irving berlin’s “there’s no business like show business” from the 1946 hit broadway show, “annie get your gun”. i recorded it live backstage at the danforth music hall in toronto while on tour with my friends welcome to night vale.
the danforth was built in 1919 as a place to experience the then new technology of cinema. i can’t tell you what a thrill and an honor it is to get to perform in these old venues. for me, it feels like coming home. i was made to be in old theaters, and that’s how i see myself. the next in a long long lineage of working performers: show people.
i’ve always loved the song “there’s no business like show business” for the way it speaks to membership in this lineage. it perfectly describes all the great things about being a performer and also the terrible conundrum of show business: you love it but it has its price.
i can’t recall how i first heard this song, but it was likely in some kind of review i might have seen growing up. my father often performed in community music groups - so i might have heard it at one of his barbershop quartet shows or a variety show to benefit the hospital auxiliary perhaps. it’s that kind of song.
like at most schools, my high school’s spring senior musical was a big deal. by that time, i had gotten over my stage fright and begun to perform, even to take a drama class. our theater director was choosing between two shows: irving berlin’s “annie get your gun” or rodgers and hammerstein’s “cinderella”. if she chose “annie get your gun” there was no doubt who would play the lead. i quivered with fear and excitement at the prospect.
in the end, our director chose “cinderella”, for good reasons. “annie get your gun” has not aged well. and even in 1996, it was too racist to perform in its entirety. i ended up playing one of the evil stepsisters and it was great fun.
being too racist didn’t stop the 2001 broadway revival with reba mcentire, though they did excise some of the most egregious stuff. i was lucky enough to see this production, and reba was everything you would expect: stiff and wooden as an actor, incredible as a singer. the perfect annie.
year’s later, watching the credits of some prestige cable show, my ears perked up with an unusually slow and melancholy version of the song. looking it up i found this wierdo gem by mary hopkins.
i’ve always thought this song was a lament underneath the greasepaint, and this cover brought that out beautifully.
in my own writing, i have tried to express this wrestling match between glitz and sadness. most explicitly in my song “the business of show”, which has appeared on this pod before:
we do it all for the glitter and shine
those magic moments
the gift and the curse of the business of show
there’s no difference
this all leads me to our guest for today…. and i’ll introduce her after the break
hey yall - i’m currently on tour until april 8 as the weather with my pals Welcome To Night Vale. we’re in st louis tonite april 3 and then louisville, columbus, pittsburgh, jersey city, and northampton.
the early summer will be full of shows, so heads up to folks in new england, virginia, and all the spots in between. i just announced a few shows with my favorite band on the planet SPOUSE. including re-opening the legendary iron horse and in woodstock NY. plus i’ll be at the 25th annual virginia women’s music fest on memorial day weekend. more dates to be announced. check the tour dates listed below or erinmckeown.com/shows for all the info.
my guest today, symphony sanders, is straight up one of my favorite people on this planet or any other. she is a multi-talented voice artist, actor, acrobat, fitness advocate, and style icon. and she is “show people” through and through.
she was kind enough to take some of our precious downtime on the road to chat with me from a hotel bed in toronto.
listen to my conversation with symphony via the player above, the substack app, or on spotify or apple.
¡ME GUSTA! : SOME OF MY FAVORITE THINGS!
it’s a disservice to call WARRIOR “the asian peaky blinders”, but it is that and so so much more. and to be clear i think they’re *both* brilliant shows. cw: violence!!
why is kevin bacon’s instagram so watchable?
the score of “oppenheimer” beautifully explained by its composer.
two of my favorite pods collide!! (on the bleachers x switched on pop)
i love stories about athletic uniforms, just in time for march madness.
UPCOMING SHOWS
April 3, 2024 - St. Louis MO
performing as The Weather with Welcome To Night Vale
TICKETS
April 4, 2024 - Louisville KY
performing as The Weather with Welcome To Night Vale
TICKETS
April 5, 2024 - Columbus OH
performing as The Weather with Welcome To Night Vale
TICKETS
April 6, 2024 - Pittsburgh PA
performing as The Weather with Welcome To Night Vale
TICKETS
April 7, 2024 - Jersey City NJ
performing as The Weather with Welcome To Night Vale
TICKETS
April 8, 2024 - Northampton MA
performing as The Weather with Welcome To Night Vale
TICKETS
May 17, 2024 - Northampton MA
Iron Horse (with SPOUSE)
TICKETS
May 19, 2024 - Woodstock NY
Colony (with SPOUSE)
TICKETS
May 25, 2024 - Kents Store VA
Virginia Women’s Music Festival
TICKETS
June 1, 2024 - Hingham MA
World’s End Hiking Concert
SAVE THE DATE!
If you have further questions or concerns about COVID protocols, please contact the venues directly.
Reminder, Erin does not appear in productions of Miss You Like Hell
show people (with symphony sanders)