The Straw Boater Rag (Hundreds of Hats) | Partial Demo | Howard Ashman & Jonathan Sheffer | Diamonds

Here is an incomplete demo to "The Straw Boater Rag (Hundreds of Hats)" from Hal Prince's musical revue Diamonds, written and performed by lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Jonathan Sheffer.
This two-minute clip comes from the official Howard Ashman website run by his sister, Sarah Ashman Gillespie. For more information about Howard and his work, and to join the discussion on his legacy, go to howardashman.com
Running Off-Broadway at the Circle in the Square Downtown theater, Diamonds premiered on December 16, 1984 and closed on March 31, 1985, after 122 performances. A musical revue, a plethora of lyricists and composers contributed to the score, including but not limited to Larry Grossman, Comden and Green, Cy Coleman, Kander and Ebb, David Zippel, and Alan Menken.
Howard Ashman and Jonathan Sheffer contributed one other song to the score, "Song For a Hunter College Graduate." As far as I know, no public recording of it exists. In the late eighties, the two would also begin work on the musical Fat Kid From Philly, based on the story of Albert Innaurato. However, after the two wrote at least one song ("A Day in the Life of a Fat Kid in Philly"), the project was later abandoned .
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LYRICS
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Start of the summer, a guy bought a boater
To wear to all of the games so he’d be
Smart and in fashion when flashin’ a smile
At the ladies in white.
And at the last game of summer, last moments of play,
He’d toss it up in the air, yes he’d throw it away.
There’d be hundreds of hats,
And I’ve never forgotten the sight.
Hundreds of hats, thousands of hats’d come sailing
Down on the green of the park, out of the bleachers above.
There would be thousands of hats floating like birds.
Lord, what a sight, I can’t put it in words, it meant
Summer, excitement and baseball and magic and love.
Lemonade, ices in August, paper fans, beads of sweat,
Beads of sweat on your brow. I hear the voices
Calling, "peanuts, popcorn, red hots."
I hear them even now.
Out of my window I watch the crowds gather
To go to all of the games. The park gets
Packed as can be, but I don’t seem to see
Any ladies in white.
I know my last game of summer, last moment of play
Stands and waits at the corner not too far away,
So I sit at my window, stare into the stadium light
Hundreds of hats...