Tawny Ballet

• Comedy

Episode overview

An opening dance number by the June Taylor Dancers is followed by Gleason's monologue. Art Carney appears near the end of a Nescaf instant coffee commercial. Announcer Jack Lescoulie sets up a sketch involving Charlie Bratton and Clem Finch. Gleason portrays Joe the Bartender. After soliciting contributions for the Red Cross, Lescoulie introduces Gleason's four-movement tone-poem ballet, "Tawny," which calls for fifty musicians and seventy-six dancers. Gleason conducts the theme. "Modern Blues," a black street-scene, features dancers Dolores Harper, James Riley, and Charles Queenan; "Period Waltz," with a late-eighteenth century look, features dancers Kathryn Lee, Duncan Noble, and Davie Lerner. The stylized "Formal Grand Finale" is danced by Marilyn Taylor, Peter Gladke, Rudy Tone, and others. The program concludes with thanks to all from Gleason.