The glowing notices from Shoestring enabled him to mount a more lavish and sophisticated revue, The Littlest RevueOff-Broadway in 1956.[2] This revue featured the young, unknown Joel Grey, Larry Storch, and Charlotte Rae, as well as Tammy Grimes making her Off-Broadway debut. Contributing lyricists and composers included Vernon Duke, John Latouche, Ogden Nash and others.[1] Particularly memorable was a snappy number by Sammy Cahn and Vernon Duke, called "Good Little Girls." Performed by flame-haired newcomer Beverly Bozeman, this song had originally been written for Bette Davis in a 1952 musical revue, "Two's Company." Resurrecting unused and forgotten songs by major songwriters eventually became a hallmark of Bagley shows and recordings. The Littlest Revue closed after 32 performances,[2] possibly because its venue, the Phoenix Theatre at 2nd Avenue and 12th Street, was too inaccessible for the casual theatergoer. Critics noted the revue's pleasant songs and dull, overlong sketches.
Bagley returned a few months later with Shoestring '57 at the Barbizon-Plaza on Central Park South,[1] and this turned out to be his most successful show yet with 119 performances.
Bagley's Off-Broadway revue The Decline and Fall of the Entire World as Seen Through the Eyes of Cole Porter drew on the composer's lesser-known songs. It ran Off-Broadway from March 1965 to November 1965 for 273 performances at Square East (West Fourth Street), and starred Carmen Alvarez, Kaye Ballard, William Hickey, Harold Lang, and Elmarie Wendel.[1][3]
He began recording albums dedicated to American Popular Song (later collectively referred to as Great American Songbook) and licensed them to various companies, including MGM and RiC in the United States, and CBS in the United Kingdom.
The Playbill writer has called Bagley's liner notes for his "Revisited" albums "odd and iconoclastic." The recordings themselves are "hardly scholarly and sometimes downright unpleasant to listen to (note the antic, drowsy, caffeinated, tinny arrangements and uneven voices — a festival of sharps and flats)." However, "the discs are nonetheless embraced by fans hungry to explore old, mothballed material by extraordinary songwriters."[6]
Personal
Shortly after his 1958 revue, Shoestring Revue in Fort Worth, Bagley was diagnosed with tuberculosis. He was hospitalized until 1960. During this time of sickness and recuperation, he learned what true friendship was and what else he could do with his career.
Bagley shared credits on his Painted Smiles series with his beloved tom cat, Butch.
Death
Bagley died of emphysema at home in Queens, NY, on March 21, 1998, at age 64. [7]
Jerome Kern Revisited, vol.1 with Barbara Cook, Rod McKuen, Kaye Ballard, Nancy Andrews, Bobby Short, George Reinholt, Harold Lang, Cy Young, Henrietta Valor.
Jerome Kern Revisited, vol.3 with Kaye Ballard, Dody Goodman, Arthur Siegel, Armelia McQueen, Ann Hampton Callaway, Susan Kreutzer, Bruce Hubbard, Ron Raines, Craig Pomranz, Angelina Reaux, Sarah Rice, Adelle Sardi, Blythe Walker.
Alan Jay Lerner Revisited with Blossom Dearie, Dorothy Loudon, Roddy MacDowall, Jerry Orbach, Nancy Walker, Ann Hampton Callaway, Robert Marks, and Arthur Siegel.
Arthur Schwartz Revisited with Charles Rydell, Blossom Dearie, Gloria DeHaven, Phyllis Diller, Warde Donovan, Cab Calloway.
Vernon Duke Revisited with Blossom Dearie, Gloria DeHaven, Tammy Grimes, Anthony Perkins, Rex Reed, Joan Rivers, Jack Haskell.
Harold Arlen Revisited with Nancy Andrews, David Burns, Blossom Dearie, Gloria DeHaven, Phyllis Diller, Estelle Parsons, Charles Rydell, Ann Hampton Callaway, Arthur Siegel, Sandy Stewart.
