Song:Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered
Album:Broadway: The Great Original Cast Recordings
Vivienne Segal was a popular Broadway musical performer in the first half of the 1900s. She is probably best known for introducing Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered in the 1940 production of the Rodgers and Hart musical Pal Joey. She was born Apr. 19, 1897 in Philadelphia. Her father was a physician and he financed Vivienne's stage debut at the Philadelphia Operatic Society at age 15. He also financed her Broadway debut in the 1915 Sigmund Romberg musical The Blue Paradise. This led to roles in the 1918 Jerome Kern musical Oh, Lady! Lady!! and the 1919 musical The Little Whopper. Vivienne also appeared in the 1924 and 1925 editions of The Ziegfield Follies. She also went to Hollywood and appeared in some early film musicals like the 1930 film Viennese Nights. That's where she met Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. Vivienne appeared in the 1938 Rodgers and Hart musical I Married An Angel. She then played Vera Simpson in the 1940 show Pal Joey. And of course she sang Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered which is now a standard. There was no cast recording for that. So when record companies started making albums in the late 40s, Columbia asked Rodgers and Hart to assemble the Pal Joey cast for a studio recording. Vivienne appeared in that and she also returned to Broadway in the 1952 revival of Pal Joey. The studio cast is available on CD but it's too expensive. The 1952 cast is available on a poor quality European version that I can't recommend. Sony thought Vivienne's recording of Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered was significant enough to include it on their massive 100 Years of Sony Music box set. They split that into 2CD sets like this Broadway one. It has plenty of great performances. The 1952 Pal Joey was Vivienne's final Broadway appearance. After some TV appearances, she retired in 1966 and died on Dec. 29, 1992 at age 95. Here's a video of Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered by Vivienne Segal from the 1950 studio cast of Pal Joey.
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