In a recent article in The New York Times, Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio was one of many entertainers asked what their favorite Stephen Sondheim song was.
Trey was one of many performers from across the entertainment spectrum, including Barbara Streisand, James Corden, Cameron Crowe, John Mulaney, and more quoted in the article. Anastasio responded to the query with “Mr. Goldstone, I Love Y0u”, from the 1959 musical Gypsy, which features lyrics written by Sondheim and music by Jule Styne, and based on the memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee.
My mother was a huge fan of Broadway’s golden age. She had all the original cast recordings, and she gave them to me when I was about 10 years old. “Gypsy” was the one that I played until it wore out the grooves. My childhood favorite was probably “Mr. Goldstone”: “Have a lychee, Mr. Goldstone/ Tell me any little thing that I can do/ Ginger peachy, Mr. Goldstone/ Have a kumquat, have two!” The show had a huge effect on my career, as crazy as that sounds. It was just a giant, giant part of my musical upbringing and landscape.
Trey’s penchant for musical theatre and the theatrics of Broadway can be seen throughout his career, namely his senior project at Goddard College, The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday, commonly referred to as the Gamehendge saga. Additionally, this past New Year’s Eve at Madison Square Garden saw Phish sing an alternate version of “Send In The Clowns” from Sondheim’s A Little Night of Music. The band cleverly changed the refrain to “Send In The Clones”, just before they were joined by dozens of clones of each band member for the entire third set.
Listen to Trey Anastasio’s favorite Stephen Sondheim song, “Mr. Goldstone, I Love You” from Gypsy, below. Read the full article here.
Original Broadway Cast of Gypsy – “Mr. Goldstone, I Love You”
Anastasio is gearing up to return to the stage with his Oysterhead bandmates Les Claypool and Stewart Copeland, when they play April 17th at the Greek Theatre in Berkley, CA and the next night at Frost Amphitheater in Stanford, CA. Shortly thereafter, the supergroup will head to Chicago for two nights at the Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom on April 22nd and 23rd. For tickets and a full list of dates for all of his projects, head to Trey’s website.