Anthony Perkins sings Never Will I Marry GREENWILLOW LIVE

[silvertopg]

His original broadway cast recording is very fine, but I think this is considerably better. That's amazing considering about 25 years had passed! Rounder tone, better musically, more nuanced, and with a wistful sense of regret. Wonderful. He just always gets to me. Can't explain it. Thanks so much for posting!

[cbnone1]

Poor Tony, he was till playing Norman Bates to the very end!

[lavernemariebutler]

Very nice! I knew he did this song first but now I have finally heard him sing it. Big fan of Anthony perkins. A fine actor in everything he did!

[silvertopg]

Just now discovering the special brilliance of Anthony Perkins. Don't know what it is about his performances, like this one, that gets to me so. He seems to hone straight in to the truth of the moment. Singing or acting - it's piercing like an arrow through the heart. What an exceptional artist. Such a poignant life. Hope he found happiness. Thanks so much for posting!

[Babyhowdy233]

For my money NO ONE but Tony can sing this gorgeous, poignant song!

I wish he had included here the wonderful intro, it really sets the song up beautifully. Tony was surely one of the BEST, most versatile artists-REAL artists-that America has ever produced!!!

[lavernemariebutler]

@Babyhowdy233 I give tony Perkins all the credit he is due. Love him as an actor. But Nancy Wilson was able to bring the song to a more contemporary audience (especially Jazz lovers) and made it famous again. Nonetheless, Tony is not well known as the first person to sing this great song, and that is a shame.

[ferociousgumby]

I jhave one more thing to say. This "grotesquely twisted mouth" thing is an obsession with Winecoff, and very cruel. Perkins had Bell's Palsy, which affected one side of his face, making it less mobile. Winecoff even says so! I think he uses his so-called vocal weaknesses very well here, flipping them over into strengths. He honors the lyrics, and there are lovely overtones he didn't have as a young man. THIS IS A GREAT, GREAT PERFORMANCE, WINECOFF. WAKE THE HELL UP!!!

[ferociousgumby]

Let me quote from Split Image by Charles Winecoff: "Sadly, his farewell performance of Never Will I Marry is one of the most horrific performances of his career. Looking wasted and gaunt - his sunken eyes shocked open with fear, mouth grotesquely twisted - he can barely carry the downbeat tune. His high notes sound like screams for help. . .." I see very little difference between this performance and the original cast album, which Winecoff praised as some of his finest singing. I don't get it.

[ferociousgumby]

Berry (his wife) was one of the victims of 9-11, on one of the planes. His son Osgood tried to have an acting career, but had to resort to bad parts in horror movies, and his other son Elvis is a successful rock musician who writes morbid songs inspired by his parents' deaths. This is the Perkins curse (his Dad dropped dead of a heart attack at 45). His biographer, who is not very charitable, calls this his worst performance, and I've heard him sing better, but it's still nice to see him.

[ChrisWalkenFan]

Ich glaub ich sollte mir auch mal seine Biographie durchlesen. Das was ich oben gerade lesen musste passt sehr gut zu Kenneth Williams der sich ebenfalls dafür hasste, schwul gewesen zu sein. Ich interessiere mich schon sehr lange für Menschen mit einem schweren Schicksal. Also danke schonmal im Vorraus, für das Interesse dass in mir geweckt worden ist ;) - PS: ich finde dieses Lied so traurig, dass ich gerade echt weinen musste.

[PhaedrusNYC]

I remember very well a special, hosted by Tom Bosley, with Broadway reenactments. It also had "Little Old New York" from Tenderloin. Is this that show? Any chance of some more clips? I've been looking for it for years.

[femmebot3000]

hey, he's better than Elvis Perkins

[soulacsurmer]

what show was this on ?

[iristacrat]

I just listened to the sound track -- I feel he sounds even better here -- the voice is a little warmer in the middle on the recording it was broader and harder ----probably a youthfull thing, but this clip is really ageless -- and the music is extraordinary -- Operatic orchestration, in the best way--

Regarding Perkins, he seemed like a charming young soul -- really beautiful inside and out

[iristacrat]

magnificent - unkown share it!

[melora72]

I think the soundtrack version is better. He had been singing regularly back then so he had a stronger voice. He's really good in this too.

Tony said that he was too nervous around women to have sex with them. That he got over it after he had a weekend fling with Victoria Principal. He was in his late 30's by then. I think it's most likely that he was more gay than bisexual.

[JackReturned]

Oh wie lange wollte ich das schonmal richtig von ihm dargeboten sehen. Vielen Dank für das Video! :)

Die Aufnahme ist echt toll und stimmlich ist er hier viel besser im Vergleich zum Mitschnitt, der auf CD veröffentlicht worden ist. Klasse Leistung hier.

[Daemona007]

@JackReturned : Hallihallo,endlich mal wieder ein deutscher Tonyfan =) Freut mich riesig,dass dir das Video so gut gefällt.Tony war und bleibt einmalig...

[cHoKoLatPYE]

he has a great voice.

[PhantomDawg594]

I love me some Greenwillow. It's such a charming little show, and Anthony Perkins is just perfect in it--as you can clearly see here. If only more people knew this gem!

[Myouqa]

great performance!

[LordRufus]

It's funny that the Anthony Perkins biography described this particular performance as extremely embarrassing, but to my ears he's perfectly credible. I have the Greenwillow cast album and it sounds at least as good as that. His ability to sustain notes is particularly fine. He also looks remarkably youthful. At certain points he actually looks like a young man again.

[ZeGreatZiegfield]

on his acting: he was good.

on his singing: again. good.

on his homosexuality: not important. although, I just thought this would be an interesting thing to bring up. I heard (and I don't know how reliable the source is, so don't take my word for it) that he slept with Sondheim.

[divinehumanism]

@ZeGreat: Of course, it doesn't matter either way that he was gay. But yes, according to the bio on him he prob slept with Sondheim. Of course, Sondheim was sleeping with Leonard Bernstein, some argue that's how he got to write the lyrics to West Side Story... but I suspect talent had a lot to do with that, too.

[MajorBarbara1955]

Daemona007: Oscar Wilde was married and had two kids. So was John Cheever. So was ... oh, heck, the list of gay men and women who entered into hetero marriages is too long to fit here. Not sure why you think getting married means you're straight. Perkins was gay and he died of AIDS. This is documented. No shame in it. (There is a good bio of him available.)

[Daemona007]

I know very well that Tony had sex with men ( I do not care about that anyway ) but I know a lot on Tony Perkins as well.Believe me..I have read all of his 3 biographies and this man hated himself for being gay.He wanted to "cure" himself and he finally found a woman he was able to love.Berry was a wonderful person and Tony loved her and his two sons a lot.He was an unique person and therefore I love him.

[divinehumanism]

@Daemona: You're absolutely right, he hated himself for being gay. Even after he married her he had his secret "fun" on the side, even tho she and their boys brought a lot of comfort to him.

I know a lot about the self-hatred, being gay myself and in my case being raised very religious. I feel lucky that I was able to learn to love myself just as I am!

Thanks for posting this. :)

[uKooKu]

Piss fights are boring. What do you think of this video?

[uKooKu]

I'm a dumb cluck who thought Anthony Perkins was only a good Psycho. Wow, this is powerful stuff.

[motowngirl65]

I recall reading that he lost his virginity to that broad that Andy Gibbs committed suicide over. What the HECK is her name? Anyway - she must be something. Tony later married Berry. I'm sure he swung both ways.

[choad45]

Not gay so much as slightly perverted, lol

[DeenMarie]

Yeah - he never married - was a homosexual.

[Daemona007]

Well,just read about Tony before you tell such silly lies.He married photographer Berry Berenson in 1973 !!!

[motowngirl65]

He will always be Norman Bates to me.

[choad45]

stick to acting

[enaj78]

Daemona007: Thanks so much for this. I knew it was out there somewhere.  I also wish someone would have this song by Katerina Valente. It's also beautiful.

[suziclem42]

God he was so lovely....miss him.

[heaven779]

He- ich fasse es ja nicht. Nun kann ich es endlich einmal sehen !!!!Many many thanks for posting!!