Alfred Drake
With his deep, baritone, vocals, Alfred Drake (born: Alfred Capurro) reigned over Broadway during the 1940s and ‘50s. Best known for his portrayal of Curly in Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1943 musical, Oklahoma, he debuted such classic songs as "Oh, What A Beautiful Morning", "Surrey With A Fringe On Top", "People Will Say We're In Love" and the title tune.
Drake appeared in some of the era's most influential productions. Making his stage debut in Mikado, in 1935, he starred, with Mitzi Green and Ray Heatherton, in Babes In Arms, two years later. With music composed by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, and choreographed by George Balanchine, Babes In Arms was one of few musicals to be successfully staged at the height of the Depression.
The 1930s offered only a hint of Drake's versatility. In the 1940s, he co-starred, with Burl Ives, in a folk musical, Sing Out Sweet Land", in 1944, portrayed a union organizer in a revival of Marc Blitzstein's The Cradle Will Rock in 1947 and appeared in an updated version of The Beggar's Opera, composed by Duke Ellington. He capped the decade as star of Cole Porter's Kiss Me Kate.
Drake continued to find interesting roles in the 1950s and early-60s. Although he turned down an offer to portray the lead in The King And I, in 1951, he showed his strength in the role when he substituted for Yul Brynner for several weeks. He received a Tony award for his portrayal of Hadji, a street poet who becomes Wazir of Baghdad, in the 1953 folktale, Kismet, and made his television debut, in 1957, in a Hallmark Hall Of Fame production of Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta, Yeomen Of The Guard. He appeared, with Richard Burton, in John Gielgud's Hamlet, in 1964.
Making his final Broadway appearance, in a 1973 revival of Gigi, Drake continued to make occasional appearances in films, including Trading Places in 1983, and television for the remainder of his life. With his passing on July 25, 1992, Broadway lost one of its greatest leading men.
© Craig Harris /TiVo
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Discography
12 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Oh! What A Beautiful Mornin' (From Theatre Guild Musical Play "Oklahoma" / Superhuman Remix)
Musicals - Released by Verve (Adult Contemporary) MC on 29 sep. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
PORTER: Kiss Me, Kate (Original Broadway Cast) (1949) / Let's Face It (1941)
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 1 apr. 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Broadway Cast Collection, Vol. 7: Alfred Drake in Sing Out, Sweet Land & Down in the Valley
Soundtrack - Released by Jube Legends on 20 jan. 2017
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Kurt Weill: Down in the Valley - Entire Production Under Supervision of Mr. Weill (10 Inch Album of 1958)
Maurice Levine, Orchestre, Alfred Drake, Chorus & Orchestra Maurice Levine, Jane Wilson
Pop - Released by September Song on 31 jul. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kean (original Broadway Cast Recording)
Originele soundtracks - Released by Classic Music International on 14 dec. 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Alfred Drake Reads the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
Humour/Spoken Word - Released by Saland Publishing on 18 jun. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Broadway - Kiss Me Kate
Alfred Drake, Patricia Morrison, Original Broadway Cast
Soundtracks - Released by Copyright Group on 18 okt. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Rubáiyát and Sohrab & Rustum
Literature - Released by Magic Gold Records on 1 nov. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Alfred Drake Reads Sohrab and Rustum
Humour/Spoken Word - Released by Saland Publishing on 18 jun. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Oklahoma
Alfred Drake, Joan Roberts, Original Broadway Cast
Soundtracks - Released by Copyright Group on 21 sep. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Down in the Valley
Opera - Released by SINETONE AMR on 3 jun. 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo