June Moon

June Moon (1974) is a lesser-known entry in the Broadway Theater Archive series of televised performances, but there's plenty of reason to celebrate its inclusion. A hit when first staged in 1929, this comedy revels in the Jazz Age notion that New York City was the capital of nightlife sophistication. It balances George S. Kaufman's embrace of beautiful dreamers with Ring Lardner's darker angle on Tin Pan Alley and the occupational hazards of a boyishly naive songwriter (Tom Fitzsimmons) on a fast track to success. Susan Sarandon, appearing here shortly before she costarred in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, plays the jaded vixen who lures the rookie tunesmith under false pretenses, and TV great Jack Cassidy (who died in a house fire two years later) is terrific as the veteran composer who helps the kid while his own career is slumping. Playing another struggling songwriter is none other than Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim (!), paying scruffy homage to the composers who inspired him. --Jeff Shannon