3 Comments
User's avatar
emptypictures's avatar

Also Chakiris I think is the major mover in the basement Jazz ballet of all the trapped non-pianists.

Expand full comment
emptypictures's avatar

While doing research I watched an interview somewhere with another boy who sang the songs for Tommy. Can't find it at the moment. He said Tommy was a pretty good singer, but they wanted the voice to be a little sweeter, so they hired him. He paid attention to the recorded scratch tracks of Tommy singing and tried to mimic his Midwestern accent.

Expand full comment
Benjamin Weil's avatar

Such a fascinating movie (though I’ve never seen the whole thing). It’s fun to note that it features George Chakiris as a dancer. Chakiris went on to win an Oscar for playing Bernardo in West Side Story, and is still alive today. I wonder if Tommy Rettig actually sang in Dr. T. Whoever did has a well-trained and surprisingly mature voice. Thanks for sharing.

Expand full comment