Sadly, the long-running Off-Broadway stage musical wasn't filmed with its original stars. This cut-down 1964 show for NBC gets it all wrong. The music is too loud and too orchestral. The two fathers' roles have been beefed up at the expense of the lovers' roles. The sets are cheesy. The singing is bad.
First off, Ricardo Montalban as El Gallo can't really sing. Neither can the fathers, as portrayed by Bert Lahr and Stanley Holloway. That they can't sing doesn't matter so much since they are characters parts, but there's no harmonizing and no chemistry. John Davidson as Matt is fine, but Susan Watson as Luisa is just plain awful and her high notes are weak and often sour. It doesn't help that the music drowns out the singers on several occasions.
Listen to the 1960 soundtrack from the original show if you want to really hear the terrific score by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones (no not THAT Tom Jones). The original production utilized a piano, harp, and xylophone. This TV production's full orchestra is too big and loud.
Jerry Orbach was the original Gallo and he had a good singing voice. Likewise Kenneth Nelson as Matt. Their numbers together featured two strong voices and nice harmonizing. Rita Gardner as Luisa had a great soprano voice and held her own with the men as well as being able to hold those high notes.
Major victim here is the elimination of "It Depends on What You Pay," in which Gallo sells the fathers on the idea of a rape (abduction) so that the boy can save the girl. They mutter a few lines in place of the song. "Rape Ballet" has already (this is 1964) been renamed "Abduction Ballet" and played confusingly. Also, the "Round and Round" number is cut in half and badly filmed in an artsy out-of-focus way.
As bad as this TV production is, the 2008 feature film was even worse. If you want to experience "Try to Remember," "Soon It's Gonna Rain," and "They Were You," by the CD of the original 1960 show.
Rita Gardner, Kenneth Nelson, and Jerry Orbach stand supreme in this one-of-a-kind musical.
