The recording is superb, but what really registered in the theater was how s l o w l y he was singing it, so the audience just kept leaning in and leaning in, and when he was done everyone just screamed. (He did the same thing with "This Nearly Was Mine" in the Carnegie Hall South Pacific.)

Stokes later said that the showy added key change was a mistake, seemingly as if he had triumphed instead of still striving to reach his goal.

Also, I'm pretty sure I heard "chased silver" long before I saw it written down, and, well, it's confusing.

You're not the only one who's confused.

I was not a fan of that production. Frankly, once you’ve seen Richard Kiley, everyone else is only everyone else.

First show I ever saw on Broadway.

I wasn't wild about the production generally, and I thought that Stokes was a bit more lightweight/comical than the part calls for. But he sure sang the hell out of it. Also, erotic rape is a complete nonstarter (though I'd felt that when I was a tyke and saw the original too).

Because of the rape, my parents said I was too young to see a local dinner theatre production. When we saw Kiley, part of a two-show weekend (my first) for my thirteenth birthday, my younger brother was the same age I had been when my parents said no. Of course, I called them in this.

I’ve seen the show a lot and think maybe I like the score more than the show itself which has its occasional longeurs. At least the ending is always dependably strong.