A Person Can Develop a Cold

Like I mentioned in the first post here on MTM, the first musicals I really remember being introduced to were Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera. This wasn’t necessarily a formal introduction – I grew up in a house with musical loving parents and was privy to their exploration of 80s musical theatre, but these shows opened a gateway into what is now a full blown obsession. However, the first song I remember someone deliberately sitting me down and making me listen to was “Adelaide’s Lament” from Guys and Dolls.

Lately my immersion into musical theatre consists of songs that I could possibly use at auditions and since Adelaide’s Lament was on the “DO NOT PERFORM UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES” list for most of my formative years – I always overlooked it. But it’s an excellent song rich with comedy and a really great money note at the end. It might even be safe to do at auditions again!

Fred Ebb, the lyricist behind Guys and Dolls had this to say about Adelaide:  

“Here's a girl who's got a cold all through the play and she says she has a cold 'cause somebody isn't going to marry her. That's a very rich comic notion. And she's got these hilarious punch lines. You know, "if she's getting a kind of name for herself and the name ain't his; if she's tired of gettin' the fish eye from the hotel clerk." Every line in it is worth something. It means something; has impact. It has vitality. It has humor and charm and appropriateness. And I don't know how you can get much better than that.”

I think it’s hard to rank my favorite Adelaide from the millions of times this show has been done, but below are some of my favorites. Faith Prince and Barbra (of course) have set the bar pretty high, but there’s something about Jessie Mueller’s version that I just love. The way Jessie sings “and the feelin’ she’s getting’ too old” adds a touch of humanity to a character that I think can sometimes be written off as only comedy and not much depth.

Who is your favorite Adelaide?