Title | Description | Click to buy |
|---|---|---|
Currently on Broadway | ||
| The Scottsboro Boys Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording JAY Records CDJAY 1421 List price $17.99 ASIN: B003YCRYA0 | The most astonishingly successful new musical on Broadway (if you judge by artistic merit and the success of the creative team at accomplishing what they set out to do rather than box office gross) has given us the most impressive new original cast recording of the year. The score is simply the best that John Kander and Fred Ebb have turned out in many a season. With book by David Thompson and intelligently focused direction of Susan Stroman, the album on John Yap’s JAY Records is nearly as compelling as attending the show live. The use of the conceit of staging the entire piece as a minstrel show has caused some controversy, but one listen to this fabulous recording will convince you that the choice was inspired and that it drives home the horror of the injustice behind the true story of the Scottsboro Boys’ wrongful arrest, trial and conviction for a rape that never happened. That the “boys” were black while the two women who accused them in Alabama in 1931 were white makes the minstrel approach shocking and disturbing. It does not, as a few protesters have alleged, demonstrate “insensitivity.” In fact, to paraphrase one of the lyrics in the show “it is the opposite of insensitivity.” |  |
| La Cage aux Folles 2010 Broadway Revival PS Classics PS-1094 List Price $18.98 ASIN: B003XOSSHM | The new revival of one of Jerry Herman’s great musicals - this one with a book by Harvey Fierstein - is surprisingly effective as a scaled down show with a smaller orchestra and a much more intimate feel than the mega approach of the original. The orchestrations by Jason Carr for a pit band of eight are bright and very supportive and the work of the cast is very good, especially that of Kelsey Grammer as the owner and master of ceremonies at the St. Tropez night club where his transvestite lover holds forth as a drag star and A.J. Shively as their son. |  |
| Promises, Promises - Original Cast or Revival Cast Recording Kritzerland KR 20015 or Broadway Masterworks 88697 73495 2 ASIN B0044ZBQGY or ASIN: B003L9KA6G List price $19.98 or $13.98 | There are two new ways to listen to the score Burt Bacharach and Hal David wrote for Neil Simon’s adaptation of the movie “The Apartment” in 1968. One is the new revival currently playing on Broadway (it closes January 2) which features Sean Hayes in a marvelous Broadway debut and Kristen Chenoweth who adds two of Bacharach and David’s hit songs to the score (“I Say A Little Prayer” and “A House is Not a Home”.) Alternatively, you can go back to the original when Jerry Orbach was establishing himself as a musical comedy star. Kritzerland Records has re-mixed and re-mastered the original cast recording for CD and, while they were at it, used new digital technology to correct some “pitch issues.” |   |
| The Addams Family Original Broadway Cast Recording Decca Broadway B0014280-02 List price $18.98 ASIN: B003FRQT8C | After the harsh criticism that greeted the opening of the show on Broadway and its nearly total absence from the year’s Tony Awards (two nominations, no wins), it may come as a surprise to those who haven’t actually seen the show to discover that it is a bright, tuneful and delightfully delivered – if admittedly lightweight – Broadway-style musical comedy. It is reminiscent of The Producers, Spamalot, Young Frankenstein and Shrek … those shows that rely on a cascade of gags and outrageous concepts. With performances by Nathan Lane, Bebe Neuwirth, Kevin Chamberlin, Carolee Carmello, Terrence Mann, and a most impressive belter, Krysta Rodriquez, the disc makes the score sound better than the reviews indicated. But, then, the show in person is better than the reviews indicated. |  |
| Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording Ghostlight Records #8-4443 List Price $18.98 ASIN: B003Y01JO4 | This 28 minute recording of the songs from the one-act emo-rock musical that satirizes populism in the United States through the story of our seventh president is a real kick ... the first time you listen. It remains interesting on repeated hearings but loses some of its punch. Emo-rock is a distinctive blend of rock that emerged in Washington DC in the 1980s which puts an emphasis on two things that make it effective for musical theater: melody and vocal clarity. Unlike other branches of rock’s family tree, Emo can get under your skin from its melodic line and not just its rhythmic drive. Also – glory be – you can understand the lyrics! Those lyrics may not be up to a standard of a Sondheim, Hammerstein or Gilbert, but they make their point through intelligent expression. Likewise, the music isn’t Rodgers, Gershwin or Sullivan, but it does follow a melodic line. |  |
Other Cast CDs of interest | ||
| Kitty’s Kisses Studio Reconstruction Recording PS Classics PS-987 List price $18.98 ASIN: B002LVGXSO | The kind of disc that makes you want to push “play” to start it over as soon as it ends, this is the world premiere recording of an eighty-year-old musical. It preserves a light piece of froth that was crafted with charm and skill by Con Conrad, Gus Kahn and Otto Harbach in 1926. PS Classics, bless them, have delved deep into the drawers and boxes of that unexpected treasure trove in Secaucus New Jersey where, in 1982, some 80 crates of stored manuscripts were discovered in a Warner Brothers warehouse. We've been reaping the benefits of that discovery for decades now. With an estimated 20,000 items, who knows what gems remain to surface? But one thing is certain, this reconstruction is one more reason to be thankful for that "eureka moment” in Secaucus. |  |
| Sondheim on Sondheim Original Broadway Cast Recording PS Classics PS - 1093 List price $22.98 ASIN: B003SPJ4C | This two-disc package would be a fine companion to Sondheim’s new book of lyrics as a gift for either a Sondheim fan or for someone you would like to introduce to his works. The book, of course, supports deep exploration, but this recording can act as a sampler with many of his works performed by truly talented Broadway performers such as Barbara Cook, Vanessa Williams, Tom Wopat and Euan Morton. Since the gimmick of the show was to intersperse the performances with interview footage of Mr. Sondheim himself, there’s a chance here to get a feeling for his personality as well as his output. |  |
| Life Begins at 8:40 Concert Cast Recording PS Classics PS - 1090 List Price $18.98 ASIN: B003IQVMMI | Last March the Library of Congress gathered Brad Oscar, Faith Prince, Kate Baldwin, Rebecca Luker, Montego Glover and Christopher Fitzgerald and a few more stars, a chorus of local talent and a full orchestra to deliver the material from this 1934 Broadway Revue with the original orchestra charts of Hans Spialek, Robert Russell Bennett and Don Walker restored by Larry More. The recording made after the concert is a time machine that can take you back to the time when Ray Bolger and Burt Lahr wowed ‘em at the Winter Garden. |  |
| One Night with Fanny Brice Premiere Recording Original Cast Records OC3831 List Price $22.86 ASIN: B00454TYFO | Either as a souvenir of seeing the American Century Theater’s production of the show which featured a different performer in the bio-musical solo show of Fanny Brice’s life, or as a sort of audio primer on her life and the songs she sang over her forty years as a star in vaudeville, the Ziegfeld Follies, recordings and radio, this is a disc that is likely to get very few listens. Interesting once, kind of fun twice: it begins to be ho-hum by the third hearing. |  |
| Glory Days Original Broadway Cast Recording Ghostlight #8-4436 List price $18.98 ASIN: B002UG4EFY | Those who, like me, enjoyed this energetic show of four high school buddies reunited after their first year away from home and from each other at different colleges, will be grateful for an audio souvenir compliments of Ghostlight Records. Unfortunately, shorn of the excitement of the live performances, this revealing recording demonstrates just why the show which delighted at tiny Signature Theatre in Arlington Virginia where it debuted, was just not ripe for Broadway where it transferred practically un-changed to flop after a single performance. Instead of a fun romp with some angst of personal discovery thrown in for heft, most of the songs (with the distinct exception of “Open Road”) are - well - dull. They served their purpose in the show, giving each of the four young actors individual highlights and an opportunity to get the audience to feel the energy created by the bond of their friendship. That bond doesn’t really transfer to disc. |  |
| [Title of Show] Original Cast Recording Ghostlight Records #8-4414 List price $18.98 ASIN: B000G5SI80 | Signature Theatre in Arlington gave us the chance to get to know this four-person off-Broadway style musical about writing a musical about writing a musical. A short recording (16 tracks - including a "bonus track" - runs a mere 46 minutes) captures the musical numbers and a bit of the dialogue but not enough to make much sense without a summary of the storyline. That is why it is a good thing for those who didn’t see it at Signature that the booklet includes both a brief synopsis as well as the complete lyrics and liner notes. The recording might have sported a parental advisory notice for "explicit lyrics" because the language is a bit strong at times, but that happens to be one of the gags of the show. |  |
| Kristina at Carnegie Hall Live Concert Performance Recording Decca Broadway #B0014228-02 List Price $24.98 ASIN: B0039RHT5K | Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of Abba, Mamma Mia and Chess fame turned lyrical rather than rhythmic and lush rather than rockish for a musical originally titled Kristina från Duvemåla when it premiered in Sweden in 1995. It told the brutally realistic story of the experience of a family who emigrated from Duvemåla, Seden to America in the 1850s. Last year Paul Gemignani conducted a concert presentation of the work at Carnegie Hall which is captured beautifully in this two disc set with full lyrics and a few photos but no indication of which member of the cast happens to be singing which role. |  |
| On Broadway David Campbell Masterworks Broadway 88697675502 List price $13.98 ASIN: B003D7F304 | Oh what a beautiful recording, but oh what poor packaging. If you don’t know who David Campbell is (and this isn’t Paul McCartney or even Bon Jovi after all!) you won’t find out here. Not a word of who he is, what he’s done or why he is singing these 13 show tunes backed by full studio orchestra conducted by Rob Fisher. Instead, there are arty photos of him (at least I suspect they are of him ... who knows?) and of Radio City Music Hall - apparently the art director doesn’t know that theater isn’t a Broadway house. The singing is clean and clear, however, and it is plain that Mr. Campbell loves show tunes. (A google search will give you some clues about this Australian singer.) |  |
Releases from the vault | ||
| For CDs (in jewel cases) to give as gifts, go online to www.arkivmusic.com where they are available for $16.99 or $17.99 each plus shipping. | Broadway Masterworks is the label that now has both the RCA Victor and the Columbia Records catalogues. Together, those two labels all but dominated the original cast recording business during the 50s, 60s and even into the 70s. After many years when the executives in charge of the companies had no interest in sharing those treasures with us, the current leadership has determined to dig into their vaults and make the gems available to a public that should be exceedingly grateful. One way to show that gratitude is to purchase some of their wares ... but they aren’t making it easy to get them in hard copy to give as gifts. Mostly, they are pitching MP3 downloads from the iTunes store (itunes.apple.com). They are $9.99 this way. You can’t go to a record store (remember them?) or to Amazon or other standard recording outlets for a hard copy. | |
| Jerry Herman's Broadway | Perhaps the most delectable of the new old friends for lovers of great show tunes is this orchestral portrait of the composer of Hello Dolly!, Mame, La Cage aux Folles, Mack and Mabel, Milk and Honey and Dear World with the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra conducted by Donald Pippin. |  |
| Jimmy | One of those “it seemed like a good idea at the time” that came and went without making much of a ripple is this “Musical Play of the Life and Good Times of Jimmy Walker,” the mayor of New York during the roaring 20s with a fine performance in the title role by Frank Gorshin. |  |
| Hazel Flagg | The 1953 installment of Jule Styne’s decades long career turning out sparkling show music starred Helen Gallagher as a heroine who mistakenly thinks she’s dying. It is kind of hard to make that plot sparkle, but it managed to run 190 performances. |  |
| Regina | The 1958 stereo recording of Marc Blitzstein’s operatic musicalization of Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes from the late 1940s is a glorious, if slightly lugubrious listen. It captures the New York City Opera production. |  |
| New Faces of 1956 | A fairly forgettable late entry into the “let’s introduce new talent” type of inexpensive revue is interesting for a single listen because of cast members Virginia Martin, Inga Swenson and Maggie Smith. One of those discs that goes on the theatre shelf after a brief stop in the CD player, only to be pulled out again if a trivia question sends you back to check it out. |  |
New on DVD | ||
| Evening Primrose Original 1966 TV Musical Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim Teleplay by James Goldman E1 Entertainment E1E-DV-6780 List price $29.98 ASIN: B0033HKCX2 | A pristine kinescope of Sondheim’s one and only TV musical has been located, digitally cleaned up and released in all its original black and white glory so that fans need no longer trade hard-to-watch/hard-to-listen-to bootlegs made from copies with missing pieces. The one hour musical (minus time for commercials) was a Twilight Zone type of fantasy story of a writer who locks himself into a department store at night to get some quiet time to work only to find a full population of people already living there. It starred Anthony Perkins. It is packaged with a fine booklet and over an hour of bonus features. |  |
Book & CD Combo | ||
| Broadway: The American Musical The Six Episode PBS film by Michael Kantor The 500 page illustrated book by Michael Kantor and Laurence Maslon Three DVDs - ASIN: B000BITUNE List price $59.99 Book - ISBN-10: 1423491033 List price $35.00 | In 2004 Michael Kantor’s six hour exploration of the history of the Broadway musical stage was telecast on PBS. The episodes have been released on DVD with an additional three hours of snippets from the interviews Kantor conducted for the documentary. Also included is a fifteen minute documentary on the development of the musical Wicked and a few other “bonus” items. At the time the series ran on PBS, a big, photo-packed hardback coffee-table book was prepared. The six pound book has now been up-dated as a five pound paperback. Fascinating browsing, and now you will even find references to such new musicals as The Addams Family and Next to Normal. |   |
Books | ||
| Finishing the Hat Collected Lyrics of Stephen Sondheim by Stephen Sondheim Alfred A. Knopf ISBN-10: 0679439072 List price $39.95 | Stephen Sondheim’s much-anticipated volume of collected lyrics meets or exceeds both expectations for completeness and hopes for extra material. It covers his stage works from 1954 when Saturday Night was supposed to reach Broadway to 1981 when Merrily We Roll Along became his eleventh Broadway musical. It combines the lyrics themselves with his commentary on the material, explanations of his intentions and those of his collaborators, intriguing stories of the back-stage world of these shows and his commentary on the strengths and weaknesses of the famous lyricists whose work he admires. The volume is surely high on most theatre lovers’ wish lists. |  |
| The Hammersteins: A Musical Theatre Family By Oscar Andrew Hammerstein Black Dog & Leventhal ISBN 978-1-57912-846-3 List price $35.00 | The grandson of Oscar Hammerstein II (and, thus, the great-great grandson of the first Oscar Hammerstein, the impresario who all but established Times Square) pulls his theatrical family’s story together in one perceptive, fascinating volume. Copiously illustrated and filled with colorful details, the book is both a delightfully entertaining read and a source of solid information on the careers and personalities of the two Oscars and of Willie and Arthur who, in between the two Oscars, also made landmark contributions to the American theatre. From the first Oscar’s battle to make opera a popular entertainment instead of a showcase for the elite, to his grandson’s battle to remake the American Musical into a genre for serious theatre, the book sheds light on just how Broadway as we know it came to happen, both on stage and off. |  |
| The Sound of Broadway Music: A Book of Orchestrators and Orchestrations By Steven Suskin Oxford University Press ISBN-10: 0195309472 List price $55 | Steven Suskin's book covers with clarity, devotion to detail and a delightfully personal voice, the work of those unsung (but not unplayed) heroes of the American musical theater - the orchestrators. They are the ones who make the music composed by geniuses and giants in so many different modes and modulations sound as glorious as possible within the four walls of a theater when played by as many musicians as the budget allows. Suskin does an absolutely masterful job of covering a fascinating but obscure, often arcane and frequently technical subject in a manner that makes it not only understandable but thoroughly fascinating to novice and expert alike, requiring only that the reader bring an interest in and appreciation of that indefinable but potent genre – show music. |  |
| Broadway Musicals: The Biggest Hit & The Biggest Flop Of The Season - 1959 to 2009 by Peter Filichia Applause Theatre & Cinema Books ISBN 978-1-4234-9562-8 List price $19.99 | Peter Filichia — the well known, well liked and well respected reviewer and writer about musical theatre — tells the story behind two shows from each season over the past half century. As the title says, he deals with one hit and one flop from each season. Each essay is given the Filichia treatment, which means it is an interesting and entertaining piece. Filichia is famous for his eye for detail, fascination for trivia, love of the genre and the generosity of his coverage. That’s not to say he never says a negative word about anything. Shows, performances and recordings that don’t measure up are in for a drubbing, but it is almost always a generous one. He never seems to let the negatives in a mixed bag obscure the positives, and he gives both credit and criticism where it is due. From A Chorus Line to Whistle Down the Wind, the stories are fascinating. |  |
| South Pacific: Paradise Rewritten by Jim Lovensheimer Oxford University Press ISBN 978-0-19-537702-6 List price $27.95 | A book-length discussion of the origins and development of the deeply held social message of Rogers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific, with not only its opposition to racial prejudice but its ability to dramatize the consequences of prejudice in a way that at least attempts to draw its audiences into sympathy with its creator’s views, is a valuable addition to any theatre lovers’ “Theatre Shelf.” Unfortunately, author Jim Lovensheimer’s prose, while clear, is hardly engaging and is often heavy on assertion and light on explanation. Still, there aren’t many musicals with as potent a message as the one that gave the world “You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught.” The subject of racial prejudice, which is treated with such deeply felt passion, was not an easy topic to tackle in the first few years after World War II. How it came to be is a fascinating story. |  |
| There’s Mel, There’s Woody, and There’s You: My Life in the Slow Lane by Bruce Kimmel AuthorHouse ISBN: 978-1452011165 List price $19.95 | Lovers of show music recordings know the name Bruce Kimmel from the indispensable CDs he has produced for the Varese Serabande, Farnsworth Alley and Kritzerland labels. From the Lost in Boston series to remastered classics, Kimmel has made major contributions to our shelves. The story of his career as a record producer has emerged over time as he has been forthright in postings to internet sites including his own. But what did he do before? Well, he was an actor, a playwright, a director and much more. In this book he tells his own story up to the moment he decided to chuck it all and become a record producer. He tells it in a friendly, open and entertaining manner that makes it a delightful read ... if only he hadn’t stopped when he got to the part we most care about! Next volume, one hopes, will be the story of his career in the recording business. |  |
| To Broadway, To Life! - The Musical Theater of Bock and Harnick by Philip Lambert Oxford University Press ISBN 0195390075 List Price $35 | The newest volume in the Broadway Legacy series is coming out just as we are absorbing the news of Jerry Bock’s passing at the beginning of November. Together, Bock and Sheldon Harnick created, among other musicals, Fiorello!, Tenderloin, She Loves Me, The Apple Tree, The Rothschilds and, of course, the show they will probably be remembered for the longest, Fiddler on the Roof. This new book looks at their body of work and sketches the story of their collaboration. It tends to be heavy on analysis of the scores themselves while giving short shrift to the story of the men, their partnership and their careers apart. Perhaps it should have been subtitled “The Musical Theater Scores of Bock and Harnick.” |  |
| The Broadway Musical Quiz Book by Laura Frankos Applause Theatre and Cinema Books ISBN 978-1-4234-9275-7 List Price $16.99 | Talkinbroadway.com’s Laura Frankos says there are over 1,200 questions in her book. I didn’t count them, but I did sample some and found that they range from the simple (i.e. “True or False: Les Misérables is set during the French Revolution.”) to the damnably confounding. (Who can name the future star who was one of the chorus boys behind Mary Martin when she wowed them with “My Heart Belongs to Daddy” in the 1938 hit Leave It to Me?) It takes 190 pages to pose all these questions. Thank goodness, the book also includes 80 pages of answers. This book is for people who can answer both questions and is definitely not for people who think the answer to the first one is “True”! |  |
The reference book for this season | ||
| Broadway Musicals Show by Show - Sixth Edition by Stanley Green / Revised and Updated by Kay Green Applause Theatre and Cinema Books ISBN 978-1-55783-736-3 List price - $ 18.99 | One book that sits prominently on most theatre fans’ shelves is Stanley Green’s Broadway Musicals Show by Show. It isn’t as comprehensive as many of us would want since it features half to full page entries on only those shows the Green‘s believe are most important. But, hey, that’s almost 400 shows! They are arranged chronologically for fascinating browsing or quick reference with a complete set of indexes so you can look up entries by title, director, composer, lyricist, choreographer or star. But be careful. Amazon still has the 1990 version available so make sure you get the 2008 update: its the “Sixth Edition.” |  |
Finally, give the gift of Theatre | ||
| There are more productions offered by theaters in our town than any one theater lover can attend. Tickets to a specific up-coming production or even a season subscription to a particular theater can be a great gift, but there are times when you don't know when the recipient might be able to go or what shows a theater lover has already purchased seats for. The answer? The Helen Hayes Awards organization sponsors a program called TixCertificates that lets you purchase certificates in $20 denominations that are good at any one of 50 participating professional theaters. |  |
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Holiday Gift Guide
November 30, 2010 By 2 Comments
It’s the time of year when those who care about theatre lovers have to scramble to find gifts that will please the recipient. Here are this year’s suggestions for items that they should enjoy adding to their theatre shelf.
Comments
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Wow — what a compendium of theater books and CDs! Brad has quite a skill at capturing the essence of each work, and letting us know what to expect from the content.
Ed – Thanks for the kind words. If you do give any of these as gifts this season and you get any feedback from the people who get them, I’d love to hear what the reactions were. (And, of course, if you happen to “gift” yourself – let me know what you think.)
Brad
Brad Hathaway
Washington DC