Why I am an ignoramus and Loretta Young can f*** off

Notes from a recent version of those traveling Stephen Sondheim/Frank Rich conversations — comments from those of you who caught it in Seattle (?) last year? -- reveal some hilarious Ethel Merman anecdotes; Hermione Gingold's bravado; and why critics who don't know music perhaps shouldn't be reviewing musicals. (See points 1 and 20.) ((Bobo obviously has some homework to do. Note how Rich's response is off-topic -- the question isn't about knowing too much about a given show beforehand so you can still experience some surprise; it's about knowing the basic tools of the trade. And Bobo, as in so many ways, is deficient here.
[photo: Hermione Gingold in 1978, age 80 (she lived 1897-1987)]