Monday, May 18, 2009

OK, she's not Katy Perry, but to some that's a good thing

When working on my Empoprise-MU music blog, I try to make sure that I read a variety of sources so that the blog, while concentrated on music, is not a one-note blog. I think most of you..well, some of you...would get pretty tired if I only talked about Depeche Mode, Alexa's Wish, and Slim Whitman. (Now THAT would be a supergroup.) Which is why my scouring of musical discussions uncovered this gem about Tyne Daly.

Yeah, Tyne Daly. Ex-cop, ex-judge. But Daly is not just a TV star. From Yahoo:

The daughter of actors James Daly and Hope Newell, Ellen Tyne Daly was the second of four children. Raised in Westchester County, New York, she began her acting career appearing in summer stock productions with her family and earned her Equity card at age 15 after being cast in the title role of "Jenny Kissed Me". Fate dealt her a blow, however, when a prominent agent dismissed her performance in favor of one of his proteges, relegating Daly to a supporting role.

She subsequently trained at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, appeared on Broadway in a revival of "The Butter and Egg Man," and began appearing in movies and television, culminating in her starring role on "Cagney and Lacey." (She was Lacey; I had forgotten which was which.) And after that show had run its course, Lacey headed to Broadway:

When "Cagney & Lacey" faded in 1988, Daly had the chance to become yet another "TV-Movie Melodrama Queen", but instead chose to risk her reputation by headlining a stage revival of "Gypsy", the 50s musical that starred Ethel Merman on Broadway and Rosalind Russell on the screen. Daly first took her Mama Rose on the road, beginning in Chattanooga, Tennessee in April 1989 with a July 1989 debut in L.A. to SRO crowds and rave reviews. In November, she premiered on Broadway and won that season's Tony Award as Lead Actress in a Musical.

She has continued to work in all media, and has recently appeared in a cabaret show in New York. This is what the New York Times said about Tyne Daly:

As Ms. Daly sings and tells stories, she dispenses good humor and wisdom with a self-effacing generosity that may bring to mind your favorite baby sitter from childhood. When in a playful mode, she makes the whole world seem brand-new and wondrous.

But running through this show is a seam of hard-headed adult realism exemplified by “Life’s a Funny Proposition After All,” a bouncy George M. Cohan song that stares fixedly into the void, and by “Killing Time,” an obscure Jule Styne-Carolyn Leigh ballad whose depressed, idle narrator drifts morosely through her later life, “dulling senses, lulling fears, chilling drinks, spilling tears, killing time.”


More here.
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