No, I didn't get nominated for a Tony Award as Leading Actress in a Musical, laughed Miss Margaret Whiting, the legendary hitmaker and saloon singer. In fact, I didn't get nominated for a damn thing from any of the awards. Nor did I expect to. And it's not that she doesn't deserve a few nominations. Here's a broad, and she doesn't mind being called one!, who has done it all and done it all memorably. Yes, I have, she says with a howl of laughter, and lived to tell about it. Growing up in Hollywood after relocating from Detroit, Whiting was close friends with Shirley Temple, Freddie Bartholomew, Mickey and Judy, and all the kids at Metro. Not to mention the Who's Who of music, Kern, Porter, Gershwin.
Some in the theatrical community are saying a special combat medal should be awarded Whiting for sticking through the long process of growing her dream of a musical, Dream, a salute to her mentor Johnny Mercer. [Others who don't know how long Whiting has struggled to see her dream realized say she should get a medal of some kind for holding up under the varied antics and phobias of her Dream co-star Leslie Ann Warren, who, if you believe Theater District scuttlebutt, must be the most despised and difficult person in show business -- displacing, allegedly, Betty Buckley, who didn't endear herself to many of the backstage and management souls connected with Sunset Boulevard.]
Whiting and husband Jack Wrangler (yes, that Jack Wrangler!), now a writer and cabaret director, conceived the idea of Dream 15 years ago. It grew out of a tribute to Johnny I did in the 80's at Georgia State University [where Mercer, a Savannah native, donated his scores.] But no one ever bought it until two years ago. Lavishly produced by Louise Westergaard and Mark Schwartz, Dream received a Best Choreography Tony nomination for Wayne Cilento, veteran of A Chorus Line and numerous musicals, who also directed (he won a 1990 Tony for his Tommy choreography).
Whiting can't remember the first time she sang. It seems I've been singing all my life. It's all I know. All these famous music people came to parties at our house and would always end up at the piano singing, and I'd join in. She definitely remembers the first time she met Mercer. He was the hot new lyricist in town, assigned by Warner Brothers to collaborate with my Dad [Richard Whiting, who wrote for Chevalier, Buddy Rogers, Temple, and Jeanette MacDonald]. At this party for him, Mom got me to sing. I was this stocky, gap-toothed kid. I sang, 'My Ideal,' one of Dad's famous tunes. Johnny told me I had what it took to become a professional but that I had a lot of growing up to do. What amazed me was how much time he spent going over the songs with me word by word, phrase by phrase. He became more than a mentor. He loved my father and was like family.
After Whiting's father died in 1938, Mercer came by twice a week to see how she and her mother were doing. Four years later, when Mercer founded Capitol Records, Whiting was one of the first to record. Johnny called and said he'd found this song that was perfect for me. It was 'My Ideal.' I told him Chevalier and Frank Sinatra had already recorded it. Johnny replied, 'I know your Dad would agree it would be great for you to start your career with a song he wrote.'
Whiting became a giant singing star at 18. Though also a cabaret and TV star, Whiting loves theater and over the years has done countless regional musical productions. Her hits include such Mercer gems as That Old Black Magic, Moonlight in Vermont, It Might as Well Be Spring, Come Rain Or Come Shine, and her only duet with Mercer, Baby, It's Cold Outside, a huge hit in 1949 in spite of a competing hit recording by Dinah Shore. Written by Frank Loesser, the tune's popularity increased after being in M-G-M's Neptune's Daughter. It won the 1949 Academy Award for Best Song.
Mercer, one of music's most important lyricists, co-wrote over 1,000 songs with such great composers as Hoagy Carmichael (Skylark), Harry Warren (On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe, Jeepers Creepers), Henry Mancini (Moon River, Days of Wine and Roses), Billy Strayhorn (Satin Doll), Harold Arlen (My Shinging Hour, One For My Baby, which Whiting memorably performs in one of Dream's few solo spots), Jerome Kern (I'm Old-Fashioned), and Richard Whiting (Hooray for Hollywood, Too Marvelous For Words). He was Oscar-nominated 17 times and won a total of four. Mercer also wrote the music for six Broadway musicals, including St. Louis Woman and Li'l Abner. Whiting described Mercer as shy and affable with a great sense of humor. He was a Southern gentleman until he had three Scotches, she said. Then a darker side emerged. He'd become pretty rough and was fast with the insults. But he always sent roses the next day. She knows why a majority of his songs have remained classics. Like him, they're real and honest. His lyrics were sheer poetry!
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