Category Archives: W-Z

Weird Romance

Weird-Romance-editOriginal Off-Broadway Cast, 1993 (Columbia) 4 out of 5 stars (4 / 5) Composer Alan Menken wrote some of his most dazzling and sophisticated music for this largely forgotten pair of one-act musicals. He and his collaborators — librettist Alan Brennert, lyricist/co-librettist David Spencer, and director Barry Harman –crafted a musical in that most neglected of stage genres, science fiction (also known as “speculative fiction”). The first piece, “The Girl Who Was Plugged In,” is based on a James Tiptree, Jr. story; the second, “Her Pilgrim Soul,” was adapted from an episode of The New Twilight Zone written by Brennert. The cast is superlative: Ellen Greene and Jonathan Hadary, the leads in both pieces, are supported by Danny Burstein, Jessica Molaskey, Valerie Pettiford, Sal Viviano, Eric Riley, William Youmans, and Marguerite Macintyre. If the music isn’t always at the level of Menken’s best — the song “Amazing Penetration” will never be found on a greatest hits album — it’s hard to think of better melodies than the first half’s “Eyes That Never Lie” and the second’s “Another Woman” and “Someone Else Is Waiting.” As for Spencer’s lyrics, they are solid and often clever. The only problem with this cast album is that it’s out of print in CD format, but you can still purchase it as a download. — Seth Christenfeld

Watch Your Step

Watch-Your-StepOff-Off-Broadway Cast, 2001 (Original Cast Records) 1 out of 5 stars (1 / 5) Irving Berlin’s first hit was exhumed by the Off-Off-Broadway company Musicals Tonight! in 2001. According to the CD notes, the show is a fairly typical 1914 frolic with a thin-to-the-point-of-transparency plot about a will that requires its recipients never to have been in love. After that, you’re on your own; there’s no synopsis to indicate how the songs fit into the story. Furthermore, Berlin interpolated numerous songs into the show during its several months’ run, and all of them are included here.  While the recording is unquestionably of archival importance, it comes off as less a show album than a collection of novelty tunes from the early World War I era. Songs like “Come to the Land of the Argentine,” “Show Us How to Do the Fox Trot,” and “Settle Down in a One-Horse Town” could be from virtually any musical of the same general provenance. For that matter, they all sound alike, set as they are to the same ragtime beat. The young cast sings with enthusiasm; the one semi-name, David Sabella, is amusing in numbers such as “Lock Me in Your Harem.” Berlin enthusiasts and those with an interest in the period should add a star or two to the rating above, but the CD has little to offer the general listener. — David Barbour

Walking Happy

Walking-HappyOriginal Broadway Cast, 1966 (Capitol/Angel) 2 out of 5 stars (2 / 5) One of the problems with Walking Happy, which is set in England, is that it seems too American. Still, the show has an entertaining score with some sprightly tunes and heartfelt ballads by the Academy Award-winning team of lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer James Van Heusen. The songs for the two leads — British star Norman Wisdom as Boot Black Will Mossop, and American Louise Troy as Maggie Hobson, the eldest daughter of Will’s employer — are very well integrated with the book. Troy touches the heart with Maggie’s “Where Was I?” and Will ponders “What Makes It Happen?” in his love-seeking ballad. As their relationship turns romantic, Troy’s Maggie does a beautiful “I’ll Make a Man of the Man,” and the pair sings the charming “I Don’t Think I’m in Love.” Throughout, Troy adds a reasonable British accent to her stylish Broadway belt. Wisdom brings a warm voice to the show’s title song and comedic skill to his two duets with fellow bootblack Tubby (Gordon Dilworth), “How D’Ya Talk to a Girl?” (inventively accompanied by the rhythmic sounds of men hammering nails into boot heels) and “It Might as Well Be Her.” The rest of the score is less good. George Rose, as Maggie’s father, participates in three weak songs dealing with the fellow’s sobriety or lack thereof. “Use Your Noggin,” sung by Maggie and her two sisters (Sharon Dierking and Gretchen Van Aken), features a sprightly melody, but the lyrics are so generic that the song could be put into almost any musical. And one of Will’s numbers is the unfortunate “If I Be Your Best Chance,” a prickly “poor me” song. Missing from this recording are two dance numbers that were effective onstage, “Clog and Grog” and the “Box Dance.” However, a good amount of dialogue is included, which makes it easy to follow the plot. — Jeffrey Dunn