Original London Cast, 2023 (Sony Masterworks Broadway) 
(3.5 / 5) This show was a smash hit in London, winning the Olivier Award for Best New Musical, and its original company of five actors transferred with the production to Broadway in early 2025. These talented performers — David Cumming, Jak Malone, Claire-Marie Hall, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts — bring great intensity and ingenuity to the cast album as they juggle more than 50 different roles. Set during World War II, the preposterous yet historically accurate plot of Operation Mincemeat revolves around the British counter-intelligence department’s attempt to fool the Nazis with fake war plans they stash on a dead body disguised as a British soldier. While the premise and the conceit of the show may sound daunting, this recording is surprisingly enjoyable and easy to follow. The book and score were written by Cumming, Hodgson, Roberts, and Felix Hagan, collectively known as the musical comedy troupe SpitLip; the music is memorable and tuneful throughout, but listeners will have to endure some frequently awkward and ill-rhymed lyrics. Kicking off the album is a high-energy opening number, “Born to Lead,” that introduces listeners to the British MI5 team. Their personnel soon get to work creating a fake identity for the cadaver of a soldier in “Making A Man,” a song that perfectly establishes the largely humorous tone of the piece. But as the improbable (though true) story unfolds, several of the songs also capture the heart and humanity of the characters. Jak Malone, playing secretary Hester Leggatt, delivers the touching “Dear Bill,” in which Leggatt crafts a love letter for their decoy soldier to carry as a way of making their scheme more believable. Other songs that deserve special attention are Cumming’s solo, “Dead in the Water,” and a sweet duet titled “Useful,” sung by Malone and Hall. Overall, Mincemeat manages to balance a fascinating story with great entertainment, resulting in a very satisfying cast album. — Forrest Hutchinson
All posts by Michael Portantiere
Death Becomes Her
Original Broadway Cast, 2025 (Concord Theatricals) 
(3 / 5) Would anyone really want to live forever? Only if it’s with Megan Hilty and Jennifer Simard. These two leading ladies are the crown jewels of Death Becomes Her, and they do a great job of filling some very big shoes: Hilty is Madeline Ashton, the role Meryl Streep played in the 1992 film of the same title, while Simard is Helen Sharp, played by Goldie Hawn in the flick. As presented in the stage show’s book, by Marco Pennette, the two ladies are supposedly friends — “I love her like a twin…who stole my nutrients in the womb,” states Helen — but they’re constantly trying to outdo one another in looking youthful and in winning and retaining the affections of a hapless plastic surgeon named Ernest Menville (Christopher Sieber). When both women discover the mysterious Viola Van Horn (Michelle Williams, of Destiny’s Child fame), who offers a magic potion to keep them young forever, their rivalry continues and increases to a much higher level. Hilty as Madeline is a campy delight throughout the album, beginning with the first track, “For The Gaze,” a clever tribute to the 1992 film’s cult status among the queer community. And Simard’s performance here is truly special; her unique talents are perfectly suited to the material, her line readings instantly iconic and hilarious. Both leading ladies both get ample opportunity to belt throughout the score, culminating in their final sweet but sardonic duet, “Alive Forever.” Sieber as Menville also comes across well on the album, even if his featured song is a lifeless production number, “The Plan,” that doesn’t justify its own existence. Unfortunately, Williams as Viola does not rise to the level of the rest of the cast, and without the visuals of the elaborate costumes she wears in the Broadway production, her presence on the recording is bland rather than enticing. The score, by Julia Mattison and Noel Carey, abounds in character-driven songs such as “Tell Me, Ernest” and “Let’s Run Away Together,” but the melodies are sadly unmemorable, even after multiple hearings. Ultimately, the success of the album relies more on the gifts of its talented cast than the quality of the music and lyrics, but with Hilty and Simard on hand, it’s hard to complain. — Forrest Hutchinson
If/Then
Original Broadway Cast, 2014 (Masterworks Broadway) 
(2.5 / 5) At the time of its opening, If/Then was hailed as Idina Menzel’s return to the Broadway stage after starring in Wicked almost a decade earlier. Pairing her with writers Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, only a few years removed from Next to Normal, seemed like a sure bet for success. But, similar to other “sure bets,” If/Then ended up muddled. Kitt’s music and Yorkey’s lyrics are as nebulous and meandering as the show’s title might suggest, and the characters they created sound like ciphers as they travel down one too many narrative side streets in the show’s book, also written by Yorkey. Menzel’s character, known as “Beth” when she chooses one path for her life and as “Liz” when she makes a different choice, is assigned an expected amount of ballads, but the character’s indecisiveness leads to her singing in circles. As a result, listeners may find it difficult to care about Beth/Liz, and may struggle to follow the two separate story lines. All of that said, the cast of If/Then is spectacular, as Menzel is joined by LaChanze in the role of her friend Kate; Jenn Colella as Anne, Kate’s love interest; James Snyder as Josh, the father of Liz’s children; Menzel’s former Rent co-star Anthony Rapp as Lucas, a friend to Liz and more than a friend to Beth; and Jason Tam as David, who becomes Lucas’s boyfriend in one of the story lines. All of these performers’ voices are so distinct that they are instantly recognizable on this recording, in the best way. Unfortunately, their characters’ plotlines are soap-opera-level bad, and even a description of those subplots is difficult because of the show’s dueling realities. The album does end on with a string of memorable cuts: “Love While You Can” is a fascinating song for Menzel, LaChanze, and Colella; “What Would You Do?” is a sweet solo Tam; and the score culminates with a predictable, bloated, but undeniably cathartic “11 o’clock number” for Menzel titled “Always Starting Over.” Don’t be shocked if you find yourself returning to this particular track, if only to hear Menzel push herself to her vocal limit. —-Forrest Hutchinson
High Fidelity
Original Broadway Cast, 2007 (Ghostlight) 
(2 / 5) This show is based on the 1995 novel of the same title, written by Nick Hornby, and the film version of the property that was produced in 2000 to a largely positive critical reception. The musical was created by Amanda Green (lyrics), Tom Kitt (music), and David Lindsay-Abaire (book), all of whom have bona fide Broadway credentials — and all of whom have worked on better shows than this misfire. The most obvious demerit of High Fidelity the musical is Amanda Green’s crude, sometimes tasteless lyric writing. (To be fair to Green, the show mostly revolves around a group of immature men who work at a record shop.) Though Tom Kitt’s original score ably parodies popular rock songs of the vinyl era, his music pales in comparison to the actual hits that were heard on the movie’s soundtrack; especially lamentable is a Bruce Springsteen rip-off, “Goodbye and Good Luck,” that includes a dreamy vision of Springsteen himself. And when Kitt does provide an uncommonly beautiful melody, it’s for a song saddled with the title “I Slept With Someone (Who Handled Kurt Cobain’s Intervention).” Will Chase as Rob, the narcissistic record shop owner, is forced to sing many of Green’s most questionable lyrics, but it’s wonderful to hear Jenn Colella, as Rob’s love interest Laura, in a leading role so early in her Broadway career. She’s incredibly touching in the finale track, even as Laura struggles to break free of the stereotypes this male-centric show forces upon its female characters. Through the muddle, there are some great moments on this recording: “The Last Real Record Store” is a strong opening number, and performers Jay Klaitz as Barry and Rachel Stern as Liz make strong positive impressions in their featured moments. — Forrest HutchinsonMaybe Happy Ending
Original Broadway Cast, 2025 (Ghostlight) 
(4.5 / 5) While Maybe Happy Ending’s story revolves around two humanoids known as Helperbots, the score is anything but robotic. In fact, the music by Will Aronson is decidedly passionate. Aronson uses light jazz melodies, paired with Hue Park’s simple and effective lyrics, to create a beautifully melancholy mood. With a book by Aronson and Park, this musical centers around Oliver and Claire, who are being stored in separate rooms in a retirement home for older Helperbot models. We first meet Oliver (played by Darren Criss) in the song “The World Within My Room,” as he moves through his daily routine in his solitary space with only his plant, named Hwaboon, for companionship, plus plenty of jazz records and magazines on hand for listening and reading. (Oliver’s erstwhile owner, James, loved that genre of music). The jazz songs featured on the records that Oliver plays are primarily sung by cast member Dez Duron, who croons pleasantly throughout the album. Claire, played by Helen J Shen, is a newer, more human-like model of Helperbot, though still considered obsolete. She intrudes on Oliver’s solitude one day when she knocks on his door asking to borrow his charger, and soon, the two of them decide to journey out of their storage center and see the world — Oliver hoping to find his onetime owner, James, Claire wanting to see fireflies for the first time. Criss plays Oliver with a stubborn optimism, and his singing is perfectly suited for the score. Shen gets more feisty character moments, but she also shows a sensitive side when she sings about loss in “What I Learned From People.” The pair’s quirky charm is captured wonderfully in the duet “The Rainy Day We Met,” in which they create a fictional, romantic backstory for themselves in case they are questioned on their adventure. The instrumentals in Maybe Happy Ending should also be mentioned, as they make for some of the most effective tracks on the album. “Why Love” is a melody repeated throughout the score, but it never sounds sweeter than when arranged for solo piano, and one can almost see the magic of the fireflies during the orchestral piece “Chasing Fireflies.” The concept of this show, the cast, and the music all combine to tell a moving story of love, loss, and — most surprisingly — mortality. — Forrest Hutchinson
Here Lies Love
Studio Cast/Concept Album, 2010 (Nonesuch) No stars, not recommended. The controversial life of politician and former First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos hardly seemed ripe for musical interpretation, and a disco opera detailing her rise to and fall from power seemed even more farfetched. But however unlikely, David Byrne (former lead singer for the band Talking Heads) and Fatboy Slim (musician and producer of electronic and indie rock music) collaborated to create Here Lies Love, originally presented to the world as a concept album that was released in 2010. The recording’s musical style is described by the writers as “disco club music,” a style chosen because of the real-life Imelda’s alleged fondness for it. The songs follow the central character and the woman who raised her, Estrella Cumpas, from Imelda’s upbringing as a poor girl to her rise as First Lady of the Philippines, continuing with her family’s forced evacuation from the country along with Ferdinand Marcos, her husband. (Marcos was controversial in his own right for the corruption, scandal, and human rights abuses that occurred during his time in office, from 1965 to 1986.) The album suffers from several issues that obscure the story the authors are attempting to tell. First, they can’t decide if Imelda Marcos is an ambitious, power-hungry temptress or merely an innocent pawn swept up in the political opportunity. And any attempt at storytelling is further marred by the plethora of pop artists enlisted to interpret the songs; the list of more than 20 singers on the album includes Florence Welch, Steve Earle, Cydni Lauper, Sia, and David Byrne himself. All of them perform competently, with Welch making the most of the maddeningly catchy title song, but each of the female artists portraying Imelda gives her a different characterization. The result is narrative whiplash — and that narrative is so loosely constructed that it’s impossible to discern who the characters are and what’s happening without consulting a plot summary. All told, this recording is an entertaining listen for curiosity’s sake, but it offers little value to fans of musical theater. — Forrest Hutchinson
Original Off-Broadway Cast, 2013 (Nonesuch) 
(1 / 5) It’s unfortunate that we have to judge the 2013 Off-Broadway production of Here Lies Love based solely on this audio recording, as the immersive presentation at The Public Theater was such a key part of its appeal. The show was sung-through, and some songs heard on the concept album were cut while others were added, to overall little effect. The cast album pulsates with synthesized beats, but similar to its predecessor, the songs become repetitive, without providing interesting lyrics or any understanding of the characters’ motives. Imelda is sung by the extremely talented Ruthie Ann Miles. She nails the title song, one of the many melodies that might get stuck in your head as you listen. Her voice cuts through the monotonous music, and though the role itself lacks depth, Miles is a consistently charismatic presence. Ferdinand Marcos is given an unremarkable performance by Jose Llana; surprisingly, Marcos is not the most prominently featured male character in the show; that would be Ninoy Aquino, a political reformer who had a relationship with Imelda when they were young, but who became one of the leading critics of the Marcos administration. (Think of Che in Evita.) Aquino is played by Conrad Ricamora, who gets to show off more emotional range than the others in songs such as “Child of the Philippines” and “Gate 37.” (This character largely replaces the role of the nanny, Estrella Cumpos on the concept album as a grounding presence in Imelda’s life and a reminder of her impoverished childhood.) The album is primarily an endless procession of funk music, interrupted briefly by the penultimate song, “God Draws Straight,” a soft melody accompanied by a single ukulele. The bulk of the score is better suited to a dance club setting than to close listening. If you can get your hands on a physical copy of the CD edition, it’s a colorful double-disc set that includes an 80 (!) page booklet with summaries for each track on the recording. Perhaps the feeling that it was necessary to include song summaries should be seen as an indication that prospective listeners may want to exercise caution. [Editor’s Note: A Broadway production of Here Lies Love, which attempted to recreate the immersive quality of the Off-Broadway presentation, opened in the summer of 2023. It ran for only 150 performances and three previews, and it yielded no cast album.] — F.H.
Hands on a Hardbody
Original Broadway Cast, 2013 (Ghostlight) (3.5 / 5) Here is a unique example of American musical theater in the 21st century. With a score by Trey Anastasio and Amanda Green, and a book by Doug Wright, Hands on a Hardbody entertained audiences at the Brooks Atkinson Theater for only 28 performances in 2013, yet from the first twang on the album, we hear a distinctive blend of Country/Western music and bluesy rock. Based on a 1997 documentary that depicts a yearly competition in Texas wherein 24 contestants compete to win a truck by seeing who can keep their hand on the vehicle for the longest amount of time, the musical is a true ensemble piece; the cast of competitors includes Broadway favorite Hunter Foster alongside newcomer Keala Settle and TV, movie, and Broadway veteran Keith Carradine. Settle gives this album some gas, and she nearly stole the show onstage with her energetic gospel number, “Joy of the Lord.” Foster gets the 11 o’clock barn-burner “God Answered My Prayers,” and Carradine lends a gritty authenticity to his few vocal solos, especially the very touching “Used To Be.” The other contestants — played by Allison Case, Jay Armstrong Johnson, David Larsen, Jacob Ming-Trent, Kathleen Elizabeth Monteleone, Jon Rua, and Dale Soules — all get their moments to shine, following the tradition of such shows as A Chorus Line and Cats. Some listeners may pump the brakes when they hear the occasional use of slant rhymes (“Cassius/ashes,” “turnip/burn up”) in Green’s lyrics, and the album does have quite a few clunkers and oddities; two examples are the finale, “Keep Your Hands On It,” which attempts sentimentality but with lyrics so bland that the song comes across as hokey, and “Uncontrollable Laughter,” in which we hear Settle’s religious-zealot character cackling for a full minute. But the great songs on this album are certainly worth sifting through the lesser ones, and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. — Forrest Hutchinson
Honeymoon in Vegas
Original Broadway Cast, 2014 (Universal Music Enterprises) (2 / 5) The overture of Jason Robert Brown’s Honeymoon in Vegas tells us everything we need to know about the score: It’s full of showbiz razzmatazz, easy on the ears, yet overstuffed and largely generic. The opening number, “I Love Betsy,” is a list song that would’ve made Cole Porter proud, and has rightly become a beloved musical theater standard, but the score doesn’t have much farther to go. Given that the show’s story is deeply silly and farcical, the characters don’t have a lot to sing about, and Brown consistently stretches each emotion and musical moment to its fullest extent. As a result, even songs with clever ideas behind them, such as “Out of the Sun” (an ode to a wife who died from over-tanning) and “Airport Song” (a comic sequence about the difficulties of finding a flight) wear out their welcome. And though the snazzy, Vegas-style orchestrations by Don Sebesky serve the period nicely, they don’t do anything to help the sameness of the songs, especially when it comes to big group numbers. The show’s stars, Rob McClure and Brynn O’Malley, are charming, but neither of them are quite magnetic enough to sustain the piece as it starts to lag. Tony Danza is perfectly cast in the role of professional gambler Tommy Korman, and while he’s not a natural singer, he does have some great moments — one of them comes towards the end of the show, with “A Little Luck.” Featured performers including Nancy Opel and David Josefsberg do their best to sell their material, but there’s only so much you can do with tropes as tired as overbearing mothers and Elvis impersonators. Honeymoon in Vegas, true to its subject matter, may provide a nice vacation from the troubles of daily life, but since several other musical comedies exist that are far more intelligent about their silliness (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Drowsy Chaperone, et al.), one couldn’t be blamed for deciding not to take this trip. — Charles Kirsch
The Sabbath Girl
Original Off-Broadway Cast, 2024 (Center Stage Records) (3 / 5) Written by Neil Berg and Cary Gitter, this musical tells the story of an unlikely love match between Angie (Marilyn Caserta), an Italian-American art gallery owner, and her Orthodox Jewish neighbor, Seth (Max Wolkowitz), who works at a knish shop run by his sister (Lauren Singerman). Their romance is affected by the pressure Seth receives from his sister not to marry outside the faith, as well as by Marilyn’s on-and-off relationship with a hot artist named Blake (Rory Max Kaplan) and the advice she receives from her grandmother (Diana DiMarzio), whom we eventually learn in the show (but not on the album) is actually the spirit of Marilyn’s deceased relative. Caserta and Wolkowitz are undoubtedly rising stars, and both of them give rich vocal performances that make the listener feel invested in their relationship from the start, but the score does not quite live up to the quality of its performers. While Berg unquestionably knows how to write a soaring love song, there’s very little differentiation in style and tone throughout the score, with most of it oscillating between power ballads and light comic numbers. Two highlights of the album are “Listen to Your Heart,” a climactic quartet that almost but doesn’t quite get lost in a sea of 11 o’clock turns, and “The Knish Song,” notable for its specificity and humor. The lyrics, by Berg and Gitter, are generally charming, although they often deal in false rhymes and are not always well-served by the tempo of the accompanying music. Sadly, this show doesn’t avoid the trap of portraying Jewish characters as inherently anxious and neurotic, and the song “Off the Roof,” in which Angie teaches Seth to discard his troubles, is questionable in its use of stereotypes. As the initially engaging story winds down, it seems to run out of new complications, and listeners may find themselves drifting off towards the end of the album’s comparatively short running time. While The Sabbath Girl is unlikely to make much of a splash beyond its initial Off-Broadway production and this recording, it does have its pleasures. — Charles Kirsch
Far From Heaven
Original Off-Broadway Cast, 2013 (PS Classics) (3.5 / 5) Parts of Scott Frankel’s score for this musical, based on the 2002 film of the same title, are uncommonly intricate. The beginning of the album is especially worthy of close listening, as Frankel slowly introduces melodies that will return throughout the score in inventive ways. However, the quality of the songs levels off somewhere in the middle of the piece, and the show’s sentimentality can begin to grate on listeners. Michael Korie’s lyrics are appropriate, if undistinguished. The book, by Richard Greenberg, adheres closely to the plot of the movie and revolves around the central character: Cathy Whitaker (Kelli O’Hara), a housewife in 1950s Connecticut whose husband is a closeted gay man, played by Steven Pasquale. This secret, along with an unexpected relationship between Cathy and her Black gardener, Raymond (Isaiah Johnson), are the show’s two main sources of drama. O’Hara and Pasquale are vocally exquisite throughout the recording, but they feel a little hemmed-in by their roles. One might say that O’Hara’s deft navigation of “Autumn in Connecticut” and “Once Upon a Time” is better than these songs deserved, and while Pasquale is not given many opportunities to show off his powerful voice, his performance of “If It Hadn’t Been” is noteworthy for his emotional delivery as well as the song’s fascinating melody. Johnson’s recorded performance is less memorable; he duets well with O’Hara while giving his philosophy on gardening in “Sun and Shade,” and his character bonds with hers over a shared love of art in “Miró,” but his acting seems stilted on the album. One other cast member of note: Nancy Anderson stands out in the role of Cathy’s ever vigilant best friend, Eleanor, for her perfectly petty characterization. Far From Heaven had a promising run off-Broadway in 2013, but seems to have been largely forgotten since that production closed. — Forrest Hutchinson
How to Dance in Ohio
Original Broadway Cast, 2024 (Center Stage Records) (2.5 / 5) It’s difficult to criticize the cast recording of a show that is so representative in its diversity and so bold in its subject matter. How to Dance in Ohio was powerful onstage, and also very meaningful to the autistic and neuro-divergent communities. It certainly deserves praise for its honest portrayal of a group of autistic young adults (played by autistic performers) who meet under the supervision of their counselor, Dr. Amigo. With a book and lyrics by Rebecca Greer Melocik, and music by Jacob Yandura, the show takes its title and general plot from a 2015 HBO documentary in which we see Dr. Amigo planning a formal dance to teach social skills to the group. Despite the obvious merits of the musical, the cast album rarely flows well, and unfortunately, the songs are musically undistinguished. “Today Is” proves to be a generic opening number, and though songs such as “Under Control,” “Unlikely Animals,” and “Waves and Wires” allow us to learn more about the inner minds of the characters, they don’t have memorable melodies. One thankful exception is a song performed by two mothers while preparing their daughters for the formal, “Getting Ready for the Dance.” (A heartbreaking sample of the lyrics: “So many things the other kids do, ours get ‘nevers,’ ‘nos,’ and ‘can’ts.’ I want a picture of my daughter getting ready for the dance.”) The ensemble cast members are universally laudable for their vulnerable performances on the album: Caesar Samayoa sounds uncannily similar to the real-life Dr. Amigo, Madison Kopec is just right as Marideth, and Liam Pierce as Drew highlights the recording with his 11 o’clock number, “Building Momentum.” — Forrest Hutchinson
Doctor Zhivago
Original Broadway Cast, 2011 (Broadway Records) (2 / 5) This recording reveals an uneven score for a musical with a rather complicated plot. The source material, Boris Pasternak’s 1957 novel of the same title, may be partially to blame; the story takes place during the Russian Revolution, and it surrounds protagonist Yuri Zhivago with numerous characters and a sprawling narrative. The short-lived Broadway production featured music by Lucy Simon, lyrics by Amy Powers and Michael Korie, and a book by Michael Weller. If one can listen beyond the muddled and unfocused opening number, “Two Worlds,” there are quite a few lovely songs in this score, primarily owing to Simon’s ability to craft beautiful duets; hear Zhivago (Tam Mutu) implore his wife (Lora Lee Gayer) to “Watch the Moon,” or listen to “Love Finds You,” a quintet that attempts to juggle all of the show’s prominent characters and their wandering hearts. There is charming vocal work done by Kelli Barrett, who’s given strong material as Zhivago’s lover, Lara, and Paul Alexander Nolan as Pasha Antipov/Strelnikov, who’s not so fortunate in that regard. The plot of Doctor Zhivago may be very difficult to follow, but when this recording reaches its climax with the conventional but effective duet “On the Edge of Time With You,” listeners may just be won over. — Forrest Hutchinson
Hell’s Kitchen
Original Broadway Cast, 2024 (Alicia Keys Records/Interscope) 
(4 / 5) Hell’s Kitchen is one jukebox musical — in this case, celebrating the artistry of R&B singer-songwriter Alicia Keys through the semi-autobiographical story of teenage rebel Ali (Maleah Joi Moon) — that receives a significant upgrade in the translation from stage to cast recording. On the one hand, the misguided inclusion here of substantial portions of dialogue gives us too much of the show’s paper-thin story and near non-existent character development. (The most frustrating track in this regard is “You Play These Notes” featuring a wildly silly and unconvincing piano pedagogy.) But also showcased are the extraordinary vocals and rousing arrangements of Keys’ songs that a shorter version of the album could have offered with fewer distractions. Rather than simply recreating the sound of Keys’ original hit recordings, Hell’s Kitchen reimagines them: the sped-up, jazzy take on “Fallin’” and the impassioned mother-daughter duet recrafting of “No One” are two exemplars. Keys penned four new songs, including the lovely “The River,” for the musical, but the bulk of the score consists of items familiar from nearly 25 years of her albums. As jukebox musicals go, this one boasts unusual orchestral reinvention; Tom Kitt and Adam Blackstone engage in symphonic spread with rich scoring for strings that never overwhelms the piano-driven gold at the core of Keys’ compositional mines. And there’s a generosity of spirit in Keys’ willingness to spread the wealth of her solo songbook to other vocal artists, an unselfishness rewarded by the four central performances well represented by numerous tracks on the album: the deliciously melismatic rasp of newcomer Moon’s “The River” and “Kaleidoscope,” the seductive syrup of Brandon Victor Dixon’s “Not Even the King” and “Fallin’,” the rafters-raising electricity of Shoshana Bean’s “Pawn It All” and “No One,” and, best of all, the richness and warmth of Kecia Lewis’ “Perfect Way to Die,” “Authors of Forever,” and “Like Water.” — Dan Rubins
Bonnie and Clyde
Original Broadway Cast, 2012 (Broadway Records) 
(1.5 / 5) This musical based on the real-life story of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, those infamous outlaws of the 1930s, has a book by Ivan Menchell, music by Frank Wildhorn, and lyrics by Don Black. The show opened on Broadway on December 1, 2011 and closed after only 36 performances. The cast recording starts out pleasantly by introducing us to Laura Osnes as Bonnie and Jeremy Jordan as Clyde. Jordan’s first song is a strong ballad, “The World Will Remember Me,” while Osnes croons a sweet-sounding ballad of her own, with the score’s catchiest tune: “How ’Bout a Dance.” Wildhorn has composed some praiseworthy music using jazz, blues, and gospel elements, but the score also includes several songs written in a nebulous pop style that makes no attempt to represent the time period. On the rare occasion when Wildhorn avoids the first-person ballad, we get misfires such as “God’s Arms Are Always Open,” a tonal mess in which the couple’s villainous deeds are underscored by a preacher’s fiery sermon. The song “Made in America” does delve into some of the deeper themes of the story and motivations of the characters, but it’s quickly followed and counteracted by multiple anemic ballads. Making matters worse, Black’s lyrics are bland and rarely more than skin-deep, resulting in stagnant songs that don’t push the story forward. Certain individual numbers might be enjoyable when extracted from the show; for example, Clyde’s love song, “Bonnie,” and Bonnie’s 11 o’clock number, “Dyin’ Ain’t So Bad” are particularly memorable and could perhaps serve as fine cabaret material. But listening to this album from start to finish may well prove to be an unsatisfying experience for those expecting a cohesive musical theatre score. The recording’s major recommendations are the performances of Osnes, Jordan, and Melissa Van Der Schyff a s Clyde’s long-suffering sister-in-law. All three are given ample opportunity to show off their vocal dexterity. — Forrest Hutchinson
Original London Cast, 2023 (Broadway Records) (2 / 5) While this recording does not reflect any major fix of the flaws in the original material, some of the wrinkles have been smoothed out. As was the case with the Broadway album, the cast is the most laudable element here. Frances Mayli McCann in the role of Bonnie is alluring as she belts through the Wildhorn ballads; her overall performance is equal in quality to that of Laura Osnes, with the exception of “Dyin’ Ain’t So Bad,” in which McCann doesn’t quite manage to match the excitement conjured up by that number on the previous recording. She is joined by Jordan Luke Gage, an appropriately youthful and unstable Clyde whose singing has an edge that truly fits the score and the character. All of the other soloists in featured roles sing well, but the score still largely fails to justify the existence of those characters as part of the story. The most noticeable difference between this recording and the Broadway original is the inclusion here of bits of the show’s dialogue, especially at the beginning. This was presumably intended to help bind the disjointed songs together, but unfortunately, the delivery of the dialogue only highlights the performers’ stilted attempts to take on American accents. The orchestrations have been altered slightly; for example, “Raise A Little Hell” is here drowned in electric guitar, and the rock-concert quality feels completely out of step with the rest of the score. It seems that, instead of making meaningful changes to the material, the creative team for this production simply leaned into the show’s pop style. On that note, an alternate version of “Dyin’ Ain’t So Bad” is included as a bonus track, arranged as a riff-filled duet for Bonnie and Clyde and sung by the show’s alternates, Barnie Wilkinson and Lauren Jones. — F.H.
Water for Elephants
Original Broadway Cast, 2024 (Ghostlight) (2.5 / 5) Under the direction of Jessica Stone, Water for Elephants boasted an inventive set and a variety of entertaining circus acts on stage at the Imperial Theatre. The dazzling visuals were supported by music and lyrics from the seven-member band PigPen Theatre Co., which specializes in folk music, and this score leans heavily into that genre. The show’s book, written by Rick Elice, adheres closely to the 2006 novel of the same title by Sara Gruen. It presents a love triangle between the three main characters, and also largely concerns an elephant named Rosie, who can be heard briefly on the recording as well. The central character is Jacob Jankowski, played as an older man by Broadway veteran Gregg Edelman, who has sadly been handed the score’s duller songs. He sets the story in motion by recalling his time as a grieving young man who hitched a ride on a train with the Benzini Brothers Circus. Young Jacob is played by Grant Gustin in a performance that comes across as serviceable; his delivery sounds melodramatic in both the opening number, “Anywhere,” and the second act ballad “Go Home.” Throughout the show, Jacob frequently finds himself at odds with August Rackinger, the slick but cruel and murderous ring-leader of the circus, a role sung to villainous perfection by Paul Alexander Nolan. Although the cast album starts out slow, it’s jolted into focus by Nolan’s charismatic introduction of the circus: “The Lion Has Got No Teeth.” The triangle is completed by August’s wife, Marlena, played by Isabelle McCalla. Her seductively charming voice is featured in the song “Easy,” as she and Jacob work to tame Rosie, the circus’s newest addition. Jacob and Marlena develop feelings for each other while training Rosie to perform, leading to the show’s best number, a thrilling duet titled “Wild.” Gustin, Nolan, and McCalla are all compelling as the score builds to its climax in the confrontational “You’ve Got Nothing,” which proves that PigPen Theatre Co. can not only write great folk songs, but great theatre songs as well. Some of the tracks featuring the circus troupe — for example, “The Road Don’t Make You Young” and “Another Train” — are genuine knee-slappers as they blend a folk sensibility with theatricality in a very satisfying way. On the negative side, the show’s lyrics in general exhibit an over-reliance on slant rhymes, and superfluous songs such as “Funny Angel,” “Zostań,” and “Squeaky Wheel” don’t serve to move the plot forward or help us understand the characters. — Forrest Hutchinson
Stereophonic
Original Broadway Cast, 2024 (Masterworks Broadway) (4 / 5) At the end of the 2023-24 Broadway season, which saw the opening of 15 original musicals, Will Butler’s songs for the play Stereophonic earned one of the five coveted “Best Score” nominations for the Tony Awards. Judging from the cast recording, it’s not hard to see why. This score is not just a tribute to, but also a delightful riff on, Fleetwood Mac’s famous Rumors album, which was its inspiration. Butler’s work has the same tight instrumentation and vocal arrangements, with an added flair and inventive lyrics that beautifully complement David Adjmi’s play. The breakout star here is Sarah Pidgeon as Diana, shining in her first appearance on “Bright” and shattering the listener with her vulnerable performance of “East of Eden.” Pidgeon’s voice has extraordinary depth and color while being gloriously imperfect; she sings with skillful abandon, and even some (purposely) shaky notes from her have beauty and passion in them. Juliana Canfield as Holly is another very special talent, whose song “Drive” might be a breakout hit due to its polish and memorable melody. The inclusion of seemingly spontaneous ad-libs at the end of many of the songs on this recording make the listening experience more fun and establish the “band” as a tightly knit group. Their musical camaraderie is further demonstrated by their harmonies in the hypnotic “BVs.” The album’s only fault is its inclusion of some bits of music that don’t make an appearance in the show and feel like unnecessary additions. “Masquerade” and “Bright” are each presented more than once here: the former is driving and delightful in its first version, with a full orchestration, and pleasant if less exciting in its “campfire” version (lifted both times by Tom Pecinka’s gloriously husky vocals), while the latter is effective all three times, sparked by evocative lyrics and pulsing instrumentation. The success of this show may lead to more straight plays with substantial song scores, but be warned: Stereophonic has set an astronomically high bar in that regard. — Charles Kirsch
Teeth
Original Off-Broadway Cast, 2024 (Yellow Sound Label) (4.5 / 5) Michael R. Jackson has quickly become the prince of telling unlikely stories on stage, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that his unlikeliest project yet is highly successful. Teeth, based on the cult classic film of the same title, is all about Dawn O’Keefe, stepdaughter of an ultra-religious pastor and leader of the virginal “Promise Keeper Girls.” Only her geeky stepbrother, Brad, knows her secret: Dawn has a set of teeth inside her vagina that will bite off the extremities of men who violate her. Brad found this out when he put his finger in as a child, but soon, Dawn’s boyfriend and an evil gynecologist discover her power the hard way — no pun intended. After those two involuntary attacks, Dawn learns that she has a condition known as “vagina dentata.” She also learns to use her power against her friend Ryan, who non-consensually tapes their sexual encounter; against her pastor stepfather; and finally, in a Little Shop-esque finale, against all evil men in the world. That the plot is so unusual makes it all the more impressive how smoothly and intelligently Jackson’s lyrics tell the tale. Some of his turns of phrase are extremely clever: “To keep from getting routine and banal with girls like you / I just go spelunking in the birth canal with girls like you” is a particular gem. Anna K. Jacobs’ music is expressive and appropriately lurid, even if the orchestrations here are overblown. At the center of the show, Alyse Alan Louis as Dawn is that rare phenomenon, a supernova talent with a truly unique vocal quality and presence. If there’s a more achingly real expression of desire than her performance of “Shame in My Body,” this reviewer has yet to hear it. Steven Pasquale, in the dual role of the pastor and the gynecologist, has a field day with the delightfully vulgar pastiche “Girls Like You,” and Jason Gotay as Tobey runs the gamut from nicely restrained in “Modest is Hottest” to downright threatening in “When She Gave Birth” (a musical highlight). If Teeth is a difficult show to pitch in an elevator, it’s a remarkably easy one to be amused, thrilled, and challenged by. — Charles Kirsch
I Married an Angel
Original Broadway Cast Members and Radio Cast, 1985 (AEI Records) (4 / 5) I Married an Angel is a gem from the collection of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. Admittedly, it’s a slight musical; the plot concerns Count Willy Palaffi, who breaks off his engagement, stating that he will only “marry an angel.” Indeed, one flies down from heaven — complete with wings — and Willy learns to be careful what he wishes for. The only songs with a clear connection to the plot are the title song and “Angel Without Wings,” which consists mostly of rhyming dialogue. All the same, Rodgers and Hart supply a few lovely numbers that make this score a necessity for any musical theater fan. The highlight may be “A Twinkle in Your Eye,” a delightfully amoral ode to cheating and the ways that clever women can stay out of trouble, performed with vivacious flair by Wynn Murray. A wistful ballad, “Spring is Here,” also stands out, and it showcases the unique vocal quality of Eve Symington. The makeup of this album is unusual: It features six selections performed by members of the original Broadway cast and recorded by the Liberty Music Shop in 1938, plus a medley-cum-overture, played by popular pianists Cy Walter and Gil Bowers, that serves as the opening track. The five remaining numbers are taken from a 1952 radio production that starred the silver-voiced Gordon MacRae and the charming Lucille Norman. While both sets of excerpts are sung and orchestrated beautifully, this inconsistency makes the recording feel like it presents a series of musical vignettes rather than a complete score. But with music as good as this, why ask for anything more? — Charles Kirsch
The Great Gatsby
Original Broadway Cast, 2024 (Sony Masterworks Broadway) 
(0.5 / 5) As F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famous and revered novel The Great Gatsby lapsed into the public domain, it was perhaps inevitable that stage adaptations would begin to appear. This musical version had the good fortune of employing two extremely talented vocalists, Jeremy Jordan (Newsies, Bonnie and Clyde, etc. ) as Jay Gatsby and Eva Noblezada (Miss Saigon, Hadestown) as Daisy Buchanan. Noblezada was cast against type for this role, yet she comes across better than Jordan on the recording, finding genuine emotion in songs such as “For Better or Worse” and “Beautiful Little Fool.” Though Jordan’s singing voice is distinctive in ballads including “For Her,” his accent in his spoken dialogue sounds out of place. And while John Zdrojeski and Sara Chase are well cast as Tom Buchanan and Myrtle, respectively, Noah Ricketts struggles in the role of Nick. The story of Gatsby’s pursuit of the married Daisy is narrated in the novel and the musical by Nick, who has just returned home from serving in World War I, and who also plays a key role in the unfolding drama as he carries on a romance with professional golfer Jordan Baker (Samantha Pauly). Nick is the audience’s reporter on the show’s primary subjects and themes: the tragedy hidden behind the decadence of the Roaring ’20s in America, the life of the mysterious Gatsby, and the everlasting hope or the unreachable dream represented by a single green light in the distance. But narration is much more difficult to execute in a stage show than in a novel, and Nick’s lines often feel shoehorned into the musical. The score for this adaptation was written by Jason Howland (music) and Nathan Tysen (lyrics), and the book by Kait Kerrigan. Howland is not untalented; his melodies for the songs “For Her,” “Only Tea,” and “Past is Catching Up to Me” are enjoyable, and “My Green Light” plays well as the obligatory, highly-anticipated duet between the two leads. But some of Tysen’s lyrics are of shockingly poor quality. For example, in the song “One-Way Road,” a pregnant Myrtle sings “Though I’m not showing, a baby’s growing,” along with “He’s mine, and this baby here is genuine.” Lyrics like these prevent the recording from gaining any real momentum, and further, the score as a whole is structured so generically that some listeners may be able to predict the type and style of each successive song before it plays. Although the standout visuals of this show’s physical production and the presence of two bankable musical theater notables may keep the party moving well enough on stage, this Great Gatsby‘s lack of nuance is clear from the cast album, especially in comparison to the source material. — Forrest Hutchinson
The Connector
Original Off-Broadway Cast, 2024 (Concord Theatricals) (3.5 / 5) Teeming with interesting ideas about ethics, journalism, the generation gap, and sexism, The Connector presents its audience with a key question: Would you rather read the facts, or the “truth?” Daisy Prince was a major creative force behind the show, which she directed Off-Broadway in early 2024. Jason Robert Brown provided the music and lyrics, and Jonathan Marc Sherman wrote the book. All three were inspired by the true stories of Stephen Glass and Jayson Blair, who respectively duped The New Republic and The New York Times into publishing articles that were partly fabricated or, in some cases, completely false. Ben Levi Ross leads the company as Ethan Dobson, the charismatic but duplicitous reporter at the center of the story, and his vocal talent is one of the greatest strengths of this recording. He is matched by Hannah Cruz in the role of Robin Martinez, a fellow journalist who quickly becomes suspicious of Ethan’s articles. Also on hand are stage veterans Scott Bakula and Jessica Molaskey, paired well with the newcomers. Bakula plays the jaded editor in chief of The Connector, and his wry rendition of the song “Now What?” reflects the divide between the older and younger generations; Molaskey is wonderful as the magazine’s longest-tenured fact checker, the first member of the staff to see through Ethan’s facade. In a humorous role, Max Crumm plays the subject of one of the fabricated articles, a West Village hustler whose game of choice is Scrabble. The show’s writers have given the cast powerful material in songs such as “Proof,” “The Western Wall,” and “There Never Was.” Brown’s score is appropriately varied and tuneful, and certainly reflective of the show’s setting in the 1990s; if it’s not as catchy as some of his previous work, his lyrics will be sure to stick with listeners and make them think. The final song is haunting as it derides the ethics of modern journalism and the gullible nature of the public with the searing line: “We believe what we believe, and all we want is someone to confirm it.” In the age of “fake news,” “alternative facts,” and unregulated online information sources, this recording is a timely listen. — Forrest Hutchinson