Bernadette Peters
made her Broadway debut at age ten in a revival of
The Most Happy Fella
in 1959 and earned notice for a small part in
George M!
in 1968. But she made a breakthrough, still only 20 years old, when she starred in
Dames at Sea
, an Off-Broadway
musical
that opened on December 20, 1968, and ran an impressive 575 performances. The show was an attempt to write a new version of a '30s movie
, sort of a cross between
42nd Street
and
Follow the Fleet
, on a tiny stage and using a cast of six. Audiences were charmed, and some of that appeal comes across on the cast album, although this is the sort of show that works better when performed live. On record, it just sounds alternately like a parody or a second-rate score by
Al Dubin
Harry Warren
, despite the vivacity of the singers. But, especially as the years went by, it was possible to listen to it waiting for
Peters
to make another appearance with her distinctive voice and winning manner. Decades later, she still put
"Raining in My Heart"
(not the
Buddy Holly
song) in her concerts, complete with the umbrella routine that had accompanied it, and her performance of
"The Sailor of My Dreams"
is equally entertaining. This is not to slight the rest of the cast, particularly the deliberately hammy
Tamara Long
. But, despite some later productions,
(and particularly its Original Off-Broadway Cast album) came to be remembered as an early effort by
, just as
I Can Get It for You Wholesale
was remembered for
Barbra Streisand
. ~ William Ruhlmann