Lisa Kirk should have had a more robust Broadway career. The original Lois Lane/Bianca of Kiss Me, Kate, Kirk was a memorable, sultry presence on the cast album—as she is as Lottie on the original cast album of Mack and Mabel and singing "The Gentleman Is a Dope" on the OBC of Allegro (and, famously, as Rosalind Russell's singing voice in the movie adaptation of Gypsy). But she was only on Broadway an additional three times, once as a replacement in Here's Love, once in a show that closed during previews, and finally in a 1984 revival of Design for Living.

A regular performer at the Persian Room, Kirk's popular nightclub acts were built on the sort of dizzy glamour that no longer exists. An extended segment on an episode of Revlon's 1959 series The Big Party offers a glimpse of what those acts were like. The first episode found Rock Hudson and Tallulah Bankhead hosting a soiree (because why not?) that includes performances from Sammy Davis Jr., Kirk, and Mort Stahl. (Esther Williams was also in attendance but sans pool, so did not perform.)

Kirk performs "Travel Light" and "Sitting on Top of the World," her opening sequence from her Sings At the Plaza act. Take a look at the video above to get a glimpse of her in her prime.