558. The Rhythm of Life (Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields)

"Sweet Charity" is a musical based on Federico Fellini's movie, "Nights of Cabiria," which in turn became a movie, starring Shirley MacLaine.

The original Broadway production, directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse opened in January, 1966, at the Palace Theatre and ran for 608 performances. It was nominated for 12 Tony Awards, winning for Fosse's choreography. Fosse also directed and choreographed the film version in 1969.

"The Rhythm of Life," which is performed early in the second Act, is probably the best-known song from the show, and is popular with choirs.

Here it is sung by the Hong Kong Welsh Male Voice Choir, at the 20th wedding anniversary party of Tony and Gidget Wong. It has been partly rewritten for Hong Kong audiences.

This is not a concert performance and there are other things going on, so there is a lot of background noise, but it is a chance to see the choir in casual mode, without the usual rule about not drinking before a performance.

You can see a playlist of my songs from shows here: http://www.youtube.com/my_playlists?p=32E9752D4EE9BBFA

For lyrics and chords of my songs please see my website: http://www.raymondcrooke.com

Category:

Music

Tags:

• folk
• song
• sweet
• charity
• hong
• kong
• welsh
• male
• voice
• choir
• tony
• wong
• anniversary
• hkwmvc

[elfinia]

Cy Coleman... great genius.

Fun rendition !

[raymondcrooke]

Thanks for joining us.

[TRWolf]

What were the changed lyrics?

[raymondcrooke]

Mainly this bit:

Go and spread the Gospel, Peak to Harbour

Take the MTR as far as Causeway Bay

Tunnel through the Lion Rock on to MongKok

Tell it on the ferry to Discovery Bay

but it wouldn't mean much to you unless you know Hong Kong.

[barttheanorak]

You should do your choral stuff separately from your 1001 songs - otherwise it's cheating I reckon.

Great song though!

[raymondcrooke]

You could also say I'm cheating by putting up videos of my friends in the folk society. At least I'm actually singing in the choir videos! I know I'm stretching the definition of folk music in some of these, but the same applies to a few of the solo songs I put up.

Thanks for the suggestion but I think I'll opt for variety on one channel rather than branch out into new channels!

[kaburto1966]

It is very progressive. It's a UU church. I love it. I'm always learning something new there and I get to know lots of interesting people.

[raymondcrooke]

Interesting. It must be quite a progressive church - this is not exactly a hymn.

[raymondcrooke]

Thanks for commenting, Alex.

[raymondcrooke]

Thanks for your feedback. The choir videos are a bit different from what I usually put up, so it's useful to know that they are appreciated.