Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Original Broadway Cast, 1959 (Columbia/Sony) Although excellent, this recording of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic has been so overshadowed by the spectacularly popular film soundtrack a…
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 01:19PMOriginal Broadway Cast, 1981 (RCA) Duke Ellington classics were well served in the revue Sophisticated Ladies, which received 10 Tony Award nominations and ran on Broadway for nearly two yea…
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 12:16PMOriginal Cast, 1997 (RCA) Songs for a New World documents composer-lyricist Jason Robert Brown’s superb musicianship and his knack for connecting with younger audiences who appreciate cont…
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 11:10AMOriginal Off-Broadway Cast Members, 1992 (DRG) A tongue-in-cheek pastiche of 1940s pop culture, Song of Singapore had a substantial Off-Broadway run at a nightclub venue. It was whipped up b…
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 10:57AMOriginal Broadway Cast Members, 1944 (Decca) “Hurry, Countess! The boys’ names are in the cakes! They’re starting the drawing!” So runs a typical line of dialogue in this peerlessly …
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 10:24AMOriginal London Cast, 1979 (Pye/DRG) The centerpiece of this show, a revue of songs written by a fictional Irish-Jewish composer named Moony Shapiro, is a seven-minute medley of “vocal gem…
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 10:18AMOriginal London Cast, 1982 (Really Useful Records, 2CDs) This two-disc album was recorded live during the show’s opening-night performance, and it has a definite theatrical snap to it. Son…
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 09:49AMMonday, August 17, 2015
Ethel Merman and Original Cast Members, c. 1944 (AEI) Perhaps the definitive wartime musical, Something for the Boys was a hit for Cole Porter and Ethel Merman. It offers an enjoyable score,…
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 03:25PMOriginal London Cast, 1992 (First Night) No stars; not recommended. Twenty years after the musical Sugar played on Broadway, this revised, retitled version showed up in London. Judging from …
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 03:21PMStudio Cast, 1980 (Original Cast Records) Joseph Stein adapted his backstage comedy Enter Laughing, based on a novel by Carl Reiner, into a musical that had a dismal two-week run in 1976 but…
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 03:06PMOriginal San Francisco Cast, 1976 (DRG) If you admire You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown as much as I do, you too may have trouble warming to its sequel, Snoopy!!! While the former captures …
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 02:57PMOriginal Broadway Cast, 1995 (Atlantic) Did Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller write every great 1950s-’60s tune? That’s the feeling you get when listening to Smokey Joe’s Cafe, a greatest-…
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 02:46PMOriginal Broadway Cast, 1965 (Capitol/DRG) No stars; not recommended. With a book by Peter Stone, this musical is an adaptation of Elmer Rice’s Dream Girl. The show’s leading role was be…
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 02:37PMStudio Cast, 1990 (New World Records, 2CDs) Conductor John McGlinn is the one to thank for this recording of Sitting Pretty, a 1924 flop created by that legendary trio responsible for so man…
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 01:50PMOriginal Broadway Cast, 1944 (Decca/Stage Door) No stars; not recommended. What’s more surprising: That this “salute to American folk and pop music” was produced on Broadway by The The…
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 12:39PMFilm Soundtrack, 1952 (MGM/Rhino-Turner) For many, Singin’ in the Rain remains the greatest movie musical of all time. The mere image of Gene Kelly splashing around in those Hollywood pudd…
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 11:39AMThursday, August 13, 2015
Original London Cast, 1928 (Columbia/HMV/Pearl) Composer Jerome Kern and librettist-lyricist Oscar Hammerstein’s groundbreaking musical Show Boat premiered in New York in 1927, before the …
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 04:53PMStudio Cast, 2004 (Angel, 2CDs) Every flop musical should be so lucky: A deluxe presentation with an all-star cast and a 52-piece orchestra (67 for the overture!), this two-disc recording fe…
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 04:34PMOriginal Broadway Cast, 1975 (RCA) Based on the film of the same name, this musical tells the story of Charlie Anderson, a widowed Virginian who tries in vain to keep his family uninvolved i…
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 04:02PMOff-Broadway Cast, 1997 (Original Cast Records) Seven years after the 1973 Broadway failure of Shelter, librettist-lyricist Gretchen Cryer and composer Nancy Ford rewrote the show, combining…
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 03:47PMTuesday, August 11, 2015
Original Broadway Cast, 1963 (MGM/Polydor) “Charming, romantic, perfect” — those words from the song “Dear Friend” define She Loves Me, a true masterpiece of the American musical t…
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 10:43AMOriginal Broadway Cast, 1971 (Columbia/Sony) This show flopped on Broadway, but the cast recording is too much fun to pass up. Scored by composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb, 70, Gi…
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 10:18AMMonday, August 10, 2015
Original Broadway Cast, 1955 (Decca) Seventh Heaven received mixed-to-negative reviews and closed fairly quickly, but the show’s impressive music earned it this recording. Composer Victor …
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 05:26PMOriginal Broadway Cast, 1969 (Columbia/Sony) History teacher-turned-songwriter Sherman Edwards got the idea for a musical about the writing and adoption of the Declaration of Independence, a…
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 05:06PMSunday, August 9, 2015
Original Broadway Cast, 1951 (RCA/Masterworks Broadway) “Willie, get a wiggle on!” That characteristic, gee-whiz, chorus-boy exhortation, in a song called “Weatherbee’s Drug Store,�…
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 03:49PMOriginal Broadway Cast, 2000 (Decca) Whatever was wrong with producers Barry and Fran Weissler’s attempts to cobble a musical out of bits and pieces of Dr. Seuss’ cherished children’s …
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 03:35PMOriginal Broadway Cast, 1973 (Buddah/DRG) “Up, down; up, down” goes a lyric in the title tune, and that’s a good barometer for this Cy Coleman-Dorothy Fields musical based on the Willi…
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 02:25PMOff-Broadway Cast, 1999 (RCA) Many composers and lyricists turned out a mixed bag of songs and sketches for Secrets Every Smart Traveler Should Know, an occasionally clever revue. Nearly all…
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 02:16PMOriginal Off-Broadway Cast, 1964 (Columbia/Sony) Based on a popular short story by James Thurber that had already inspired a film starring Danny Kaye, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty — ada…
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 02:05PMOriginal Broadway Cast, 1991 (Columbia) The Lucy Simon-Marsha Norman musicalization of the beloved Frances Hodgson Burnett novel The Secret Garden worked its charm on Broadway for more than …
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 01:40PMConcept Recording, 1991 (Broadway Angel) Here’s a “concept album” for a musical that probably wasn’t a very good idea to begin with — at least, not as composed by Frank Wildhorn, w…
SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 01:30PM 
