Whatever Lola Wants (Lola Gets): Lead Sheet / Fake Book

This lead sheet captures one of Broadway's most charming seduction songs with all the harmonic color that makes it endure. Vocalists get a genuinely fun character moment to sink their teeth into, while pianists navigate a progression that's standard enough to read fluently but interesting enough to keep fresh through multiple rehearsals.

Confident, playful, and just slightly dangerous. The song balances comic intent with genuine musical sophistication, sitting somewhere between a torch song and a cabaret number. It's written for someone with charm to spare and enough vocal control to deliver the character without overselling it.

Jazz students and singers building their standards repertoire will find this lead sheet both accessible and rewarding. Directors programming a Broadway or American songbook unit can pair it with other Adler and Ross hits, or use it as a showcase for a vocalist comfortable with character and personality in their delivery.

• Shape the vocal line with clarity around the melody's chromatic movement, especially in the repeated phrases; let those small scalar details breathe rather than rushing past them.
• Anchor the rhythm section grounding, particularly at the top of each phrase, so the seductive quality comes through the steadiness underneath rather than from hesitation.
• Consider the dynamic shape of the whole song as building confidence from verse to verse; Lola's certainty grows, and the performance should reflect that arc.
• Listen closely to recorded versions that emphasize the jazz elements in the harmonic movement; this reveals how much expression lives in the accompaniment itself.

Slot this into a jazz standards unit where students are learning to navigate lead sheets independently, or feature it in a Broadway revue where it can remind audiences why mid-century musical theater knew how to write songs that actually stick. A solo vocalist with strong ear training can work through this in small group coaching, or it becomes a duet if you have two singers comfortable with the interplay.

• Reading jazz chord symbols and interpreting harmonic substitutions
• Vocal phrasing across longer melodic lines without consistent phrase regularity
• Building character consistency through a song's arc
• Understanding how Broadway composers balanced singability with harmonic sophistication