STORY AND PHOTO
BY STEPHEN VRATTOS
The incomparable John Kenrick
returned to North Shore
Towers, Thursday evening,
November 30, with his tribute
to comedian extraordinaire Sid
Caesar. Hosted by the University
Club, “Hail, Caesar!” featured rare
video clips and archival footage,
delivered by arguably the premier
speaker of all things entertainment
related, whose knowledge of such is
only rivaled by his enthusiasm and
presentation prowess. Unsurprising
given Kenrick’s resume, which includes
serving as an assistant to six
Tony-winning producers, working
on such Broadway productions
as the Pulitzer Prize-winning hit
“Rent,” and numerous national
tours, including “Damn Yankees”
with Jerry Lewis. No stranger to
the creative end, Kenrick’s titles
include lyricist for short-lived, but
acclaimed, Off-Broadway production,
“Bats,” as well as writer and
producer for many premier New
York City clubs, such as Caroline’s
and Don’t Tell Mama.
Today, Kenrick specializes in
lecturing, as well as teaching
at New York University. “My
students at NYU only know the
world since ‘The Lion King.’ This
man is a mystery to them,” he
said of Caesar. Unlike fellow TV
pioneers and contemporaries,
Jackie Gleason and Lucille Ball,
whose respective historic series
“The Honeymooners” and “I Love
Lucy,” remained on television in
syndication for decades following
their cancelations, discovered
and loved by future generations,
Caesar’s equally as important “Your
Show of Shows” was not. Though,
given today’s current small screen
landscape with its hundreds of
channels, make them less (or more
depending on your view) easy to
find, Gleason’s and Ball’s iconic
shows can still be found, whereas
Caesar’s remains MIA, despite
technological advancements, and
the emergence of more esoteric
fare, such as color World War II
footage.
1922: The first use of insulin to
treat diabetes meant the disease
was no longer a death sentence
for millions of people; Mussolini
took control of Italy; the tomb
of Tutankhamun was discovered;
Eskimo Pies were invented; and
such prominent personages as
Doris Day, Betty White, Cartoonist
Charles Schulz and Telly Savalas
were born, as well as Isaac Sidney
Caesar, the youngest of three sons
born to a pair of Jewish immigrants
in Yonkers, New York. Father and
mother, Max and Ida Caesar, ran
a 24-hour luncheonette at which
Sid worked at a young age waiting
tables. It was during this time, hearing
the rhythms and accents of the
diverse clientele, Caesar discovered
his facility for mimicking the patois
of various languages, a technique he
termed “double-speak,” which he
used throughout his career.
It was young Caesar’s dream
to be a professional saxophonist,
which led him to Camp Tamiment
in the Poconos to play with a
Swing Band, which occasionally
performed comedy sketches. There
he befriended Max Liebman, the
eventual legendary Broadway and
TV producer/director, who would
create “Your Show of Shows” and
become known as the “Ziegfeld of
TV.” It was also in The Catskills in
1942 Caesar met his wife, Florence.
They married a year later and
remained together for 66 years until
Florence’s death in 2010.
“Your Show of Shows” traces
its roots to “Admiral Broadway
Review,” a weekly 90-minute variety
show broadcast on NBC and
sponsored by Admiral Televisions
from January to June 1949. As an
early television series, its makers
had no concept of the show’s lasting
affect or significance, and the
idea of reruns and syndication was
nonexistent. Admiral TV’s main
concern was promoting their product
via this growing new medium in
as economic a manner as possible.
Thus, “Admiral Broadway Review”
was filmed in Kinescope, a cheap
method, which produced a grainy,
inferior recording, serviceable for
the time, but unsuitable for later
use.
Even in this fledgling incarnation,
the review employed such
writing luminaries as Mel Brooks
and Mel Tolkien. Still, the roster of
writers was scant for a 90-minute
broadcast, keeping with the sponsor’s
Draconian budget, a line-up
Admiral refused to increase. To
bring Caesar on board, Brooks
footed the bill, paying the aspiring
writer/entertainer $40 a week out
of his own pocket.
One might assume the “Admiral
Broadway Review” was a flop, indicated
by its paltry six-month run. In
reality, it was a dizzying success, so
much so Admiral could not keep up
with the demand for televisions, so
the company ended the broadcast
to surcease orders. NBC bought the
rights, changed the name to “Your
Show of Shows,” and perhaps
most importantly, gave the writing
department carte blanche to hire
as many people as they wanted.
Already the TV comedy equivalent
to the Algonquin Round Table, this
impressive stable of writers added
Neil Simon, Joseph Stein, Michael
Stewart and Carl Reiner, who
would also serve as a featured performer
alongside Caesar, Imogene
Coca and Howard Morris.
“Your Show of Shows” ran for
more than four seasons, before
NBC got greedy and split Coca
from the troupe to start her own
program. “The Imogene Coca
Show” fizzled after one season
(1954-1955). “Your Show of
Shows” became “Caesar’s Hour,”
added Nanette Fabray and continued
until 1957.
Caesar had few successes thereafter.
The 1962 Broadway musical,
“Little Me,” written by pal Simon,
with music by Cy Coleman and
Carolyn Leigh, and choreography
by Bob Fosse, starred Caesar in
eight different roles, ran a respectable
257 performances and garnered
the comedian a Tony nomination
(He lost to Zero Mostel for
“A Funny Thing Happened on the
Way to the Forum.”). And he had
several sporadic, yet notable, turns
in film, such as 1963’s “It’s a Mad,
Mad, Mad, Mad World” and 1976’s
“Silent Movie.”
Caesar died in 2014 at 91, leaving
a comic legacy of writers and
creators, which still influences
television and movies today.
Hail, Caesar!
Kenrick in action
University Club meeting pays
tribute to comic great
January 2019 ¢ NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER 37