Here's an extraordinary work of original New Yorker art by Charles Addams. The seafaring cartoon was offered for sale on eBay in February where it made quite a splash.
Charles Addams Original art The New Yorker, September 6, 1976, p. 23 Creature Comforts (New York, Simon & Schuster, 1981)
The composition is noteworthy for its overall symmetry. The humorous element is placed right in the middle.
Charles Addams Framed original art The New Yorker, September 6, 1976, p. 23 Creature Comforts (New York, Simon & Schuster, 1981)
The lettering is carefully done so it will reproduce clearly when shrunk down to the magazine page's size.
Detail
Charles Addams's signature
Verso
Verso
Charles Addams eBay listing ended February 4, 2023
Note:Michael Maslin linked to this original drawing and described it as "classic Addams" on his Ink Spill blog here on the very day when it sold with Buy It Now. Coincidence? You tell me.
When "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" was revived in 1996, composer Stephen Sondheim restored some complex harmonies to the third verse of "Pretty Little Picture" that had been dropped from the original 1962 Broadway production. The result is fresh and interesting although perhaps a little distracting. (These revisions can be heard starting at 1:39 on the video.) The 1996 production ended up dropping the number altogether—inexcusably, I know—but it was included in the cast recording.
"Pretty Little Picture"
"A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum"
1996 Broadway Revival
Nathan Lane as Pseudolus Jim Stanek as Hero Jessica Boevers as Philia
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Peter de Sève, Original 1996 Broadway Cast Recording
The drawing for last week's New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest by Frank Cotham got me to thinking about a Broadway score I've been familiar with for as long as I can remember. While galley slaves show up from time to time as a cartoon trope, they also make a darkly humorous appearance in a song by Stephen Sondheim. Early in the musical "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," the Roman slave Pseudolus paints a romantic "Pretty Little Picture" for an eager young couple in the hopes of being able to win his own freedom.
"Pretty Little Picture"
"A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum"
Original Broadway Cast Recording (1962)
Zero Mostel as Pseudolus
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Note: Be sure to explore this blog's archives for posts about Broadway in general and about Stephen Sondheim in particular.
Posts about Frank Cotham's Cartoon Caption Contests are also worth a look, especially if you like to see my captions go down in flames.
Here is my entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #457 for January 5, 2015. The drawing is by Frank Cotham.
"Your prospects are no better here than in the Democratic Party."
This started out in slightly different form:
"You came here because there's no future in the Democratic Party?"
Maybe I should have taken a different tack:
"Is it your first day?" "You big shots are always taking the aisle seats." "The whips go right through Armani" "No kidding? I was at Peabody the last time they cleaned house." "And how goes the insider trading these days?"
January 12, 2015 Update: The Finalists
January 26, 2015 Update: Winning Caption
Note: In the last contest Michael Maslin sent a public speaker to bed, podium and all. My caption needed a good speechwriter. See the unscripted outcome of Contest #456.
You're in luck! There are a few earlier cartoon caption contests here also with drawings by Frank Cotham.
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