Following the success of "Guys and Dolls" in 1951, the show's producers decided to follow up with "Can-Can," Cole Porter's first musical since "Kiss Me Kate." Ultimately, "Can-Can" is a better idea for a musical than it is a musical, set in the freewheeling Paris of the 1890s and focusing on the wild girls of Montmartre who do the banned dance known as the "can-can" at the Bal du Paradis. The musical was inspired by the book "Moulin Rouge" about the artist Toulousee-Lautrec, the popular film version of which would appear late in 1952 with Joe Ferrar as the eccentric painter. Historically "Can-Can" is noteworthy because it is the show that made Gwen Verdon a star in one of those classic overnight success stories when the second lead steals the show from the star (in this case Lilo as La Mome Pistache). Verdon won the first of her four Tony Awards for her role of Claudine, the laundress. Any musical starring Gwen Verdon "suffers" from the fact that no studio recording can ever hope to capture what she was like on stage. Besides, she does not even sing "I Love Paris," far and away the best song in the show. The bottom line: This is a below average Cole Porter musical, which certainly does not make it terrible, taken from old mono recordings. It will be of interest to Porter's fans more out of a sense of completeness than anything else.

When "Can-Can" opened on Broadway in 1953, critics roared with approval for Michael Kidd's choreography and his fetching lead dancer, Gwen Verdon, who became a star overnight. They dismissed Cole Porter's score, for this show about the bohemian Montmarte culture of 1890s Paris, as "not up to his usual standard." Even though the score ended up producing five hits-"I Love Paris," "It's All Right With Me," "C'est Magnifique," "I Am In Love," and "Allez-Vous En, Go Away"-time and this original cast recording seem to agree with the critics of 1953. This is a rather hum-drum Porter score, most of which is not particularly memorable. Even the naughtiness of his lyrics seems to be there as a cheap shock rather than the usual sly wink. The hit songs aren't bad, but that's about it-even the best of these songs, "It's All Right With Me," is given a too-fast and not really well-sung rendition by Peter Cookson, a dramatic actor in, as far as I know, his only musical.

Thus, there isn't much to recommend this recording, except maybe its star. Not Verdon, who only appears in one song in which her trademark throaty quiver is virtually unrecognizeable (If only her spectacular dances had been preserved on film!), but Lilo, the French chanteuse for whom this show was supposed to provide a smashing American debut. Lilo actually does a pretty enjoyable job of belting out the standards and other songs she is given, but even she may not be enough to make the score seem any better than it is.

"Can-Can" was filmed with the story and score heavily changed in 1960. In addition to the glamorous evocation of Pais itself, what was left of the score, even when sung by plain American folk like Frank Sinatra and Shirley MacLaine, did manage to provide much more enjoyment than is available from this recording.

Capitol Records gave the score of CAN-CAN a lively cast album in 1953. Of necessity some music had to be cut: The Garden of Eden Ballet, The Apache Dance, The Overture. Lilo has a brassy Broadway belt voice and makes the most of her songs. Peter Cookson sounds dull, though in a way that does fit in with his stuffy character. The remaster is well done and as with others in this series the liner notes are fascinating and well written. The movie sountrack version of "It's All right With Me" by Sinatra is much better but that CD is now out-of-print. Given the number of hits this score yielded plus other shows set in Paris (SILK STOCKINGS, PARIS, FIFTY MILLION FRENCHMEN) it's clear that the city served as Porter's greatest inspiration.