Lucy Conducts the Symphony
S2;E13 ~ December 30, 1963
Synopsis
When Viv's nervous cousin can't perform in his debut with the Manhattan Symphony, Lucy takes his place – with disastrous results!
Regular Cast
Lucille Ball (Lucy Carmichael), Vivian Vance (Vivian Bagley), Ralph Hart (Sherman Bagley), Candy Moore (Chris Carmichael) and Jimmy Garrett (Jerry Carmichael)
Gale Gordon (Theodore J. Mooney) does not appear in this episode.
Guest Cast
Wally Cox (Wally / Harold Tuttle) was a beloved character actor best known as “Mr. Peepers” (1952-55) and one of the original “Hollywood Squares” (1965-73). This is his first and only appearance on “The Lucy Show” but he will do four episodes of “Here's Lucy.”
The character was originally named Harold Tuttle, but during rehearsals was changed to Wally. The closing credits still credit Wally Cox as Harold Tuttle. He is Viv's cousin. His wife's name is Edna and they have children.
Jack Donohue (Conductor) was the director of this episode and 106 others. He also directed 35 episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” He was previously seen as Man in the Bank in “Lucy and the Bank Scandal” (S2;E7).
Leon Belasco (Concert Master) was born in Russia in 1902. He was in three films with Lucille Ball before playing the art store clerk in “Lucy Becomes a Sculptress” (ILL S2;E15). He previously played the violin in “No More Double Dates” (S2;E21) and will play a Maitre d’ when “Lucy Meets Danny Kaye” (S3;E15).
Roy Rowan (Symphony Announcer) was the off-camera announcer for every episode of Lucy’s radio series “My Favorite Husband,” “I Love Lucy” as well as “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy.” He was also the voice heard when TV or radio programs were featured on the plot of all three shows. He was heard announcing the TV football game in “Lucy is a Referee” (S1;E3).
Appearing (uncredited) as the Manhattan Symphony was the 46-piece Glendale Symphony Orchestra of Glendale, California.
“I've Got A Secret” preceded “The Lucy Show” on the CBS Monday night schedule. Host Garry Moore wrapped up that week's episode by telling viewers to stay tuned for “Lucy.” He had seen an advanced copy of the episode and raved about Lucy's tour-de-force performance. Lucy also plugged the episode a few nights earlier when guesting on “Password”.
Lucy's opening lines refer to the fact that the carpenters have just left and they have just finished re-decorating. This was originally episode #39, filmed a week after “Lucy Decides to Redecorate” (S2;E8), but then aired out of sequence.
Miss Pierson is Jerry's arithmetic teacher.
When Chris hides her rock and roll records from Wally, Lucy says it won't hurt her to go 24 hours without hearing “The Surfer's Stomp.” This song, a 1962 hit for The Mar-Kets, was also mentioned in the beach-themed “Lucy is a Chaperone” (S1;E27).
To try to distract Wally, Lucy tells him an elephant joke. Elephant jokes were a fad in the 1960s. Lucy had as a guest on her radio show “Let's Talk to Lucy” comedy writer Leonard Stern who published elephant joke books.
Wally Cox gets entrance applause from the studio audience. This is “The Lucy Show's” first recognizable 'celebrity' guest star. Viv’s cousin Wally was formerly with the McKeesport Businessman's Symphony. McKeesport, Pennsylvania was the birthplace of writer Bob Carroll Jr.
In the living room, Wally rehearses the percussion part from The Nutcracker Suite by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. This is also the music performed by the symphony. Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty Ballet was mentioned in “Lucy the Music Lover” (S1;E8).
Lucy mentions Audrey and Harvey Simmons, who hypnotized a man during a party. Although she does not appear in this episode, Audrey was played by Mary Jane Croft.
In “Lucy the Stockholder” (S3;E25) Lucy and Viv pretend to be under hypnosis for an age regression experiment.
In season five, Lucy and Mr. Mooney will have an encounter with Pat Collins “the hip hypnotist.”
This is the only Lucy program ever to have its entire second half performed completely in pantomime, with not a single word spoken!
A short clip from this episode was incorporated into the season 3 opening credit sequence.
Callbacks!
In “The Kleptomaniac” (ILL S1;E27) Lucy Ricardo was hypnotized by a psychiatrist (Joseph Kerns) and regresses to childhood.
Fast Forward!
In May 1964, nearly five months later, Lucy joined the Oakland Symphony for a special performance. Entertaining a crowd of 4,000 at the Oakland Auditorium, she recreated her entire act from this episode.
Blooper Alerts!
Vocabulary Test! Viv uses the word "credenza" when referring to a musical performance. A credenza is an item of furniture. She means "cadenza."
“Lucy Conducts the Symphony” rates 4 Paper Hearts out of 5
