Original Broadway Cast, 2005 (Masterworks Broadway) 
(2 / 5) A lightweight jukebox musical showcasing 25 songs made famous by Elvis Presley, All Shook Up concerns a motorcycle-riding roustabout who brings romance and rock ‘n’ roll to a dreary Midwestern town in 1955. Flimsily scaffolded by Joe DiPietro’s contrived book, the show contains no original music, thus the value of its cast album lies solely in the degree to which the familiar songs are rendered in new or especially pleasing fashions. Only about a third of the tracks succeed in that respect. The up-tempos fare better than the ballads, most of which are too fast, encumbered by multi-part choral embellishments, and/or robbed of their emotional warmth by strident wailing. The performers don’t try to imitate Elvis, but one almost wishes they could, as it was the velvety beauty of his voice that made Elvis’s renditions of songs like “Love Me Tender” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love” such memorable hits. While none of the cast has a gorgeous enough voice to make those simple melodies as riveting as The King did, Jenn Gambatese (as the roustabout’s love interest, temporarily cross-dressed as a man) gives an impressive interpretation of “A Little Less Conversation,” her bright belt nipping crisply at the rapid-fire lyrics. With arrangements and musical supervision by Stephen Oremus, the album garnishes solo vocals with harmonizing back-up singers and propulsive instrumental breaks, most satisfyingly in “C’mon Everybody,” a “Teddy Bear/Hound Dog” medley, the country-styled “That’s All Right,” and a Motown-flavored “Let Yourself Go.” But the recording’s only true standout numbers are “Jailhouse Rock” and “Burning Love,” classics so intrinsically exciting that they never fail to electrify. — Lisa Jo Sagolla
All posts by Michael Portantiere
Dearest Enemy
Studio Cast, 1981 (Beginners Records/Bayview) 
(4 / 5) A minor milestone in the history of American musical theater, Dearest Enemy (1925) was the first book show with a score entirely by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. It was a big success despite its seemingly killjoy subject matter, the American Revolution. Of course, even though George Washington was on hand as one of the characters, the show didn’t really focus on war: Its leading characters are a spunky American girl and a British officer, whose romance has a happy ending. Poised engagingly somewhere between operetta and musical comedy, this “baby-grand opera” was notably more clever than most ’20s shows, with a cheeky and witty book by Herbert Fields and a score that belies its age. “Here in My Arms” and, perhaps, “Bye and Bye” are the only items that gained any lasting popularity, in part because the remainder of the songs are worked so gracefully into the action; there’s a hint of period pastiche in numbers like “Heigh-ho, Lackaday” and “Where the Hudson River Flows.” This London studio recording of the score is flawed only in that the singers are accompanied just by piano and the overture is omitted. The cast boasts no star names — a supporting player named Jane Powell is obviously not the Jane Powell — but everyone is quite on top of the material. In particular, Michelle Summers as Betsy Burke manages to combine modern and archaic vocal styles with effortless charm. A lovely show gets much of its due here. — Richard Barrios
Studio Cast, 2013 (New World Records, 2CDs) (4 / 5) To anyone wondering why it took nearly nine decades to come up with a complete Dearest Enemy, read the excellent notes that accompany this fine recording. As with so many musicals of an earlier age, even some of the big hits, the parts and orchestrations were either lost or in fragmentary shape. Enter Larry Moore, who reconstructed the score from various extant pieces and, when necessary, found entirely valid ways to bridge the remaining gaps. (At one point, a little Tchaikovsky gets tossed into the mix. Well, why not?) With David Brophy conducting the Orchestra of Ireland and a fine cast, we now have as definitive an Enemy as could be imagined. If it perhaps lacks a bit of the conviction of the earlier British recording, everyone performs with spirit and charm. The orchestra and ensemble sound luscious; Annalene Beechey and James Cleverton are dandy lovers; and Kim Criswell, as Mrs. Murray, manages to keep the excesses at bay and stay in character. Everyone else is equally good, some dialogue is included to give a fair sense of the show, and there’s even a guest star: Stephen Rea, in the spoken role of George Washington. A major work has been stirringly served here, as have Rodgers and Hart and, really, everyone who wants to know about the delights of 1920s musical theater. — R.B.The Great Waltz
Original West Coast Cast, 1965 (Capitol/no CD) (4 / 5) Edwin Lester of the Civic Light Opera Company of Los Angeles and San Francisco was known for bringing Broadway’s first national tours to the West Coast, and for mounting revivals with as many original Broadway cast members as possible. He was also famous for creating and producing such successful “modern” operettas as Song of Norway and Kismet. This show began in Vienna in 1930 as an operetta (Walzer aus Wien) based on the lives and music of Johann Strauss Sr. and Jr. As The Great Waltz, it traveled abroad successfully, then opened on Broadway in a new version in 1934. The credits on this recording reveal the complicated history of the show: music by the two Strausses; musical adaptation by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Robert Wright, and George Forrest; lyrics by Wright and Forrest; additional lyrics by Forman Brown; book by Jerome Chodorov, based on versions by Moss Hart (1934) and Milton Lazarus (1949). The book of the Lester version involves the father/son conflict that actually existed between Strausses père and fils. The melodies are, of course, ravishing, and the adaptations are scintillatingly orchestrated. Metropolitan Opera stars Giorgio Tozzi (as the elder Strauss) and Jean Fenn (as an opera singer who had a serious flirtation with Strauss in his youth) are wonderful in their respective introductory solos, “I’m in Love With Vienna” and “Philosophy of Life.” And when they raise their voices together in their duets “Of Men and Violins” and “The Enchanted Wood,” they are simply grand. The role of Strauss, Jr. is sung with ringing tenor tone by Frank Porretta; the character has no solos in The Great Waltz, but his duets with Fenn and with Anita Gillette in the ingénue role of Resi are thrilling. Gillette delightfully joins with Wilbur Evans (as Herr Dommayer) in the infectious “A Waltz With Wings.” There is also a fine quartet of conflict for the four principals, “No Two Ways”; a trio titled “Music,” performed with verve by Evans, Leo Fuchs, and Eric Brotherson; and the effective “Blue Danube” finale. — Jeffrey Dunn
London Cast, 1970 (Columbia/no CD) (2 / 5) Edwin Lester’s Waltz was the impetus for this production at London’s famous Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. With a few textual changes (Julius Bittner is added to the songwriting credits), it ran for 706 performances. The cast album features an overture that’s not included on the earlier recording, and there are other differences in the song stack. Sari Barabas, a genuine European operetta star, exudes Continental flair in a gorgeously sung, heavily accented “I’m in Love With Vienna,” and she could not possibly be more playful or charming in “Teeter-Totter Me” with the sturdy-voiced David Watson as Strauss, Jr. Watson also works well with the Resi of Diane Todd, whose soprano is fluttery yet attractive. As the elder Strauss, Walter Casell displays a huge, mature baritone of great authority. The quartet for the principals gets a little wild, but the finale has Todd and Barabas doing some lovely trilling of the famous “Blue Danube.” — J.D.
Film Soundtrack, 1972 (MGM/no CD) (4 / 5) Recorded in 1972, this is the soundtrack for a movie that was clearly out of step with the era in which it was created. Still, the film is a very pleasant and artful musical version of the life of Johann Strauss II. As in the other incarnations of The Great Waltz, it uses the melodies of Strauss but adds new lyrics by Wright and Forrest of Kismet and Song Of Norway fame. The big change here is that the lyrics are completely different from those created for the 1937 MGM movie and the 1965 Los Angeles Light Opera production. Many of the songs in the ’72 film were designed to actually narrate a biopic directed by the famously realistic Andrew Stone; others were created to utilize and exploit the singing talents of the beautiful opera star Mary Costa, best known as the voice of Sleeping Beauty in Disney’s animated film. In this way, the film manages to have a sturdy dramatic arc while adding great music and fantastic ballroom sequences choreographed by Onna White. The handsome German actor Horst Bucholz is well cast in the non-singing role of Strauss. The narrative songs here are effectively sung by tenor Kenneth McKellar, and all of the others are realistically presented as on-site performances. Wright & Forrest’s new songs have a greater maturity and sophistication than those heard in previous versions of The Great Waltz; operetta fans may well be enthralled by Costa’s renditions of “Who Are You?” and “Love Is Music.” There is also a small gem called “Say Oui, Say Ya, Say Yes” (performed by Joan Baxter), as lovely and seductive as any operetta number ever written. Sadly, this movie was made about 20 years too late, but today, it can be enjoyed for what it is: a golden example of operetta on film, and a thrilling Strauss cornucopia. The soundtrack album is a must for any operetta fan’s collection — if you can find it. The recording is now quite rare, as it was one of the last issued on the MGM records label as a vinyl LP and has never been released on CD or in any other digital format. — Gerard Alessandrini
The Color Purple
Original Broadway Cast, 2005 (Angel) 
(3 / 5) Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Alice Walker, The Color Purple is a work with a lot of heart that was sadly compromised in its original Broadway production by the attempt to present it as a grand, epic musical. Though all of the songwriters are well established in the pop and R&B world, this was the first musical theater score by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray. For the most part, their efforts are worthy. The lyrics are smart and clean, but occasionally heavy handed when leaning towards the poetic. The music, however, is consistently strong, and provides various flavors of jazz, gospel, and soul. LaChanze was given the daunting task of playing Celie, a poor woman who goes through a series of devastating life events, starting the musical at the age of 14 and ending well into her 50s. Acting-wise, the star is up for the task; she wears her heart on her sleeve, and has done the work to specify for the listener what age Celie is at any given moment. However, LaChanze is not always equal to the vocal demands of the score; she’s at her best in the quieter moments (“Our Prayer”), but her two biggest numbers (“What About Love” and “I’m Here”) don’t pack the wallop that they should, because she doesn’t sound completely comfortable from a vocal standpoint. The rest of the cast — including Felicia P. Fields, Elisabeth Withers-Mendes, Renée Elise Goldsberry, and Brandon Victor Dixon — are all vocally gifted, but they perform rather broadly. Too often in this recording, characters come across as caricatures of their literary counterparts, undermining their contribution to Walker’s powerful story. Also, in a rare misstep for Jonathan Tunick, the orchestrations are often busy, seeming to have taken too big a cue from Quincy Jones’s sweeping compositions for the film. This is not a bad score or even a bad recording, but when it’s over, you may be smiling with appreciation rather than wiping away a tear. — Matt Koplik
Broadway Cast, 20015 (Broadway Records) 
(5 / 5) Well, this is different. In bringing The Color Purple back to Broadway in a stripped down, bare-essentials production, director John Doyle — a master of simplicity — shed a whole new light on the musical and exposed all of its hidden qualities. In terms of the actual material, there’s not much difference between this revival and what was presented 10 years previously; but the approach is vastly different, and that’s why the production and the recording are a revelation. The cast — including TV star Danielle Brooks and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, both making their Broadway debuts — finds the humanity that make these characters resonate so deeply. Their powerful acting is reflected in their singing voices, as they attack the score with a ferocity rarely heard on Broadway. While everyone in the cast is stellar, British newcomer Cynthia Erivo is the major find here. Erivo’s Celie may experience brutality and devastation, but she is never a victim. She has strength, humor, and grit; her unstoppable voice can whisper with hurt or soar in triumph, making the 11 o’clock number “I’m Here” the tour de force it was meant to be. Special attention should also be given to the orchestrations of Joseph Joubert, who has removed the fussiness of Jonathan Tunick’s originals and instead has made the orchestra function as a support system (albeit one with great color and versatility), so that the characters are truly front and center. It’s rare for a revival cast recording to be preferable to the original, especially when the revival is significantly smaller in size. But sometimes, with a dynamic cast, a smart director, and a gifted orchestrator, miracles happen. — M.K
Film Soundtrack, 2023 (WaterTower Music) (2 / 5) News of a movie adaptation of the stage musical version of The Color Purple was met with both cautious optimism and tempered anger. Devoted fans of Spielberg’s original film were confused by what they felt was an unnecessary remake, but after the revelation of the 2016 Broadway revival of the musical, theater fans were eager to see that material brought to the big screen. Unfortunately, more than half of the Broadway score was cut for the movie. Drastic changes to the scores of stage musicals for screen adaptations are nothing new, but the cuts here make very little sense — and what’s worse, the new songs that have replaced the missing ones are painfully inferior. As for the songs that have been kept from the stage show, they have been given new arrangements that are often listenable but rarely compelling. While the cast is jam packed with talent, many of these fantastic performers are underused. For example, Corey Hawkins is a charming and subtly sexy Harpo, but you’ll wish you could hear him sing “Brown Betty” and “Any Little Thing.” And though Halle Bailey, who starred in the live-action remake of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, makes a welcome movie musical return as Nettie, you long to hear her silky voice in “Our Prayer” and “African Homeland” rather than the forgettable “Keep It Movin’.” As Celie, Fantasia Barrino communicates the appropriate amount of pain and resilience, but too much material has been cut for her to make the lasting impression she did when she played this role as a replacement in the original Broadway production of the musical. That said, she does land “I’m Here” well. Danielle Brooks reprises her Broadway revival role of Sofia, and Oscar nominee Taraji P Henson is on hand as Shug Avery. Both bring to their tracks the heat and precision that’s often missing from the rest of this album; Brooks’ “Hell No” might be the best recorded version of that song to date, and Henson’s “Push Da Button” has enough sexual steam to fog up your speakers. When they take command, you get a sense of how great this movie and its soundtrack recording could have been. — M.K.
Heathers
World Premiere Cast, 2014 (Yellow Sound Label) (2 / 5) Based on the ’80s cult film of the same title, Heathers is a musical that’s sometimes fun and frothy, though not particularly strong. Writers Laurence O’Keefe (Bat Boy, Legally Blonde) and Kevin Murphy (Reefer Madness) chose a broader, more cartoonish approach to the story than Kevin Waters’ acerbic, razor-sharp screenplay about two teenagers who go to drastic lengths to take down their high school’s hierarchy. While this treatment provides catchy music and a platform for the young, talented cast to display their vocal skills, it removes the bite that made the black-comedy movie so special. The light tone of songs such as “Candy Store” and “Big Fun” demonstrates that the show doesn’t intend to dig deep very often, and though some of the lyrics attempt to go for the film’s humorous shock value, they don’t ring as true as the screenplay’s now-classic dialogue. Only in the quieter moments, the ballads “Seventeen” and “Life Boat,” does the musical truly connect to the movie’s dark heart. As Veronica, originally played by Winona Ryder in the film, Barrett Wilbert Weed provides the most fully formed performance on the album; her dry line delivery and rock-tinged vocals are smart, specific, and thrilling. The orchestrations, by Ben Green and O’Keefe, capture the essence of the ’80s, even if the score mostly doesn’t. Those unfamiliar with the film will likely find this recording fun and entertaining, but hardcore Heathers fans may be disappointed that the chewing tobacco has been replaced by bubble gum. — Matt KoplikSpamalot
Original Broadway Cast, 2005 (Decca Broadway) (2 / 5) This show, based on the classic film comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail, attempts to spoof the formula of musical theatre while still adhering to it. Written by Monty Python founder Eric Idle and frequent collaborator John du Prez, Spamalot sticks to what the audience remembers from the beloved movie and embellishes, rather than expands, the material for the stage. The songs were created by musicalizing famous jokes from the film (“Run Away,” “He Is Not Dead Yet”) or by breaking the fourth wall, stopping the action to turn a one-liner into a full-blown production number (for example, “You Won’t Succeed on Broadway”). Though some of du Prez’s tunes are hummable, and Idle’s lyrics occasionally contain the daffy Monty Python sensibility, their work doesn’t match the ingenuity of the film. What keeps the recording afloat is a dynamic cast of comic heavyweights including Tim Curry, David Hyde Pierce, Hank Azaria, and Christian Borle, each playing a variety of different roles that showcase their considerable talents. But it’s Sara Ramirez, a Tony winner for her performance, who walks away with the album. As the Lady of the Lake, the one role added for the stage show, Ramirez matches her co-stars’ comedic instincts and bests all of them with her explosive vocal versatility. While her two big numbers, “Find Your Grail” and “Diva’s Lament,” are not particularly well written, Ramirez spins them both into showstoppers. Spamalot won the 2005 Tony Award for Best Musical (yet no awards for the writers) and played for nearly three years — proving that, although satire is what closes on Saturday night (as per George S. Kaufman), a meta-parody can run a lot longer. — Matt Koplik
Something Rotten!
Original Broadway Cast, 2015 (Ghostlight) (5 / 5)The more one knows about Broadway musicals, the more convulsed with laughter one becomes upon experiencing Something Rotten!, a smart stew of shrewd satire and affectionate parody. It also helps to know something about Shakespeare, as the show’s riotous plot, set in the 1590s, concerns fraternal playwrights Nick and Nigel Bottom’s attempt to rival The Bard’s popularity by penning a game-changing theatrical hit of their own. Upon the advice of an imperfect soothsayer who foresees Omelette to be the title of Shakespeare’s greatest play, the sibling scribes, determined to beat The Bard to the punch, create a genre-birthing extravaganza: Omelette: The Musical. Absent the visual humor of the production’s mockeries of iconic Broadway choreography, the cast album is a laugh-fest nonetheless, because much of the show’s spoofing lies in Wayne and Karey Kirkpatrick’s score, keenly orchestrated to recall the jazz-inflected sounds of Broadway’s Golden Age and the later pop-rock sensibilities. From the first-act show-stopper, “A Musical,” to the play-within-the-play numbers “It’s Eggs” and “Make an Omelette,” the songs overflow with hilarious musical-theater references. The abundant allusions come at such a frenzied pace that only by listening repeatedly to the recording can one digest every tasty morsel. While Brian d’Arcy James, as Nick, persuasively bemoans “God, I Hate Shakespeare,” Christian Borle’s Tony-winning depiction of Nick’s nemesis as a leather-clad, Renaissance-era rock star grabs the spotlight. The recording effectively captures Borle’s characterization of Shakespeare as evoked through his adoption of the British accent and patronizing tone of a rocker from across the pond; his “Will Power” and “Hard to Be the Bard” cleverly mimic ’60s and ’70s pop-music stylings. Considering its derivative nature, Something Rotten! is remarkably original, a fitting reflection of its undergirding themes of self-expression, artistic integrity, and the power of poetry combined with music. Show tune fanatics, to thine own self be true! – Lisa Jo Sagolla
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Original Broadway Cast, 2011 (Ghostlight) (3 / 5) With its all-star cast and creative team, and a hilarious movie by Pedro Almodóvar as its source material, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown seemed poised to dominate the 2010-2011 Broadway season. Sadly, due to overly busy staging and a book inconsistent in tone, the show was a disappointment that ran for less than two months. But this crisp recording makes clear that it had a strong score overall, incredibly well sung by said all-star cast. Composer/lyricist David Yazbek (The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) does some of his best work here; his melodies capture the essence of a vivacious Barcelona, and they’re enhanced by Simon Hale’s flavorful orchestrations. The lyrics are by turns witty and fun (“On the Verge”) or achingly lovely (“Shoes from Heaven”). Even with such passion and talent involved, however, the recording gives some indication of why the show didn’t work. Sherie Rene Scott is miscast as Pepa, an actress jilted by her lover via a message left on an answering machine. Although she’s in great voice, she doesn’t quite capture the proper spirit of zaniness, and she does better with ballads like “Mother’s Day” than with zesty pieces like “Lovesick.” In addition, both Danny Burstein and Brian Stokes Mitchell as (respectively) a taxi driver/narrator and Pepa’s exiting lover, Ivan, are criminally underused, with Mitchell given the weakest material in the score. Still, the highs outweigh the lows. As Pepa’s best friend, Candela, Laura Benanti shows her comedic brilliance in “Model Behavior.” It’s a tour de force number that chronicles the character’s constantly dramatic life via a series of voice messages, and Benanti handles Yazbek’s tongue twisting lyrics with ease. Patti LuPone is excellent as Lucia, Ivan’s unstable ex wife, and Yazbek gives her his best ballad to date with “Invisible,” Lucia’s plea for her sanity in a world that won’t let her move on. Though imperfect, Women on the Verge is an impressive work with a score that allows some of the modern musical theater’s finest performers several chances to shine. — Matt Koplik
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Original Broadway Cast, 2005 (Ghostlight) (4 / 5) This show, about a regional spelling bee with prepubescent contestants, marked the Tony Award winning composer/lyricist William Finn’s return to Broadway after a long absence. For that reason alone, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is worth celebrating. It also happens to be an inventive, warm, and joyful musical. Finn shines best as a writer when his characters are up to his intelligence, and here we have six abnormally smart, strange, prematurely eloquent pre-teens who let their insecurities, jealousies and hormones rage during the competition. It seems evident that Finn enjoyed himself while writing Spelling Bee, as this marks his most playful work since In Trousers. The cast album isn’t given the highest possible rating here only because the score is woven so intricately into Rachel Sheinkin’s excellent libretto (arguably one of the best of its era) that a good deal of it may not impress listeners out of context as much as it does in the theater. One exception is “The I Love You Song,” a beautiful piece in which speller Olive Ostrovksy (played beautifully by Celia Keenan-Bolger) imagines the support and devotion of her parents, neither of whom are present at the bee. The entire cast is definitive, including Deborah S. Craig, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Dan Fogler, Jose Llana, and Sarah Saltzberg as the other young competitors. In addition to being excellent singers, they are charming, intelligent actors so in tune with their roles that it’s easy to forget they’re all a good decade or two older than the characters. — Matt Koplik
Fun Home
Original Broadway Cast, 2015 (PS Classics) (5 / 5) Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home may seem like strange fodder for a Broadway musical. A memoir in the form of a graphic novel, it chronicles Bechdel’s coming out as a lesbian during her freshman year of college — shortly before her father, whom she discovers is a closeted homosexual, commits suicide. But creators Jeanine Tesori, Broadway’s premier female composer, and playwright Lisa Kron, here functioning as both librettist and lyricist, created a dazzling memory musical with a score that is unassuming, yet powerful. The show is narrated by Alison as an adult, played by a grounded Beth Malone; she is struggling to write the memoir as she sorts through her memories, some more vivid than she would like. Flowing in and out of various decades, the songs are variously timely (the faux-’70s-pop “Raincoat of Love”) and timeless (“Telephone Wire,” Bechdel’s recollection of her last moments with her father), all of them beautifully supported by John Clancy’s subtle, elegant orchestrations. Fun Home is a powerful piece that’s given a full, beautiful treatment on the cast recording, thanks to a generous amount of included dialogue. As the doomed father, Bruce, Tony Award winner Michael Cerveris is terrifying and pitiful. Judy Kuhn, as his long suffering wife, Helen, is beautifully restrained in “Days and Days,” a reminiscence of her misused life. Emily Skeggs is adorably awkward as Alison in her college years; but youngster Sydney Lucas, who plays Allison as a child, is the show’s secret weapon. Shedding the stereotype that shadows most child actors, Lucas is mature and strong and in complete control of her performance. Her rendition of “Ring of Keys,” in which a young Alison observes a masculine delivery woman in a diner and experiences her first moment of self-recognition in another person, is the ultimate highlight of the show. That song, like Fun Home as a whole, is destined to become a classic. — Matt Koplik
Forbidden Hollywood
Los Angeles Cast, 1995 (DRG) (3 / 5) Here, Gerard Alessandrini has as much fun with Hollywood excess as with Broadway idiocy. But this recording differs from the Forbidden Broadway albums in one crucial respect: It’s live, and that’s a mistake. The audience keeps howling at sight gags listeners can’t fathom (like Dietrich’s arm falling off in “Falling Apart Again”). The satirical targets are a little strange, too; some numbers aim at movies that were new at the time (Braveheart, Pulp Fiction, Forrest Gump), but nearly half the material clobbers various aspects of decades-old film version of classic Broadway musicals — the color filters in South Pacific, Barbra Streisand’s miscasting in Hello, Dolly! That said, much of it is a riot, and Jason Graae’s impression of Brando singing is as hilarious the twentieth time as the first. Gerry McIntyre is a flawless Louis Armstrong, a funny Whoopi Goldberg, a catatonic Keanu Reeves, and more. Christine Pedi, an unparalleled Liza in several Forbidden Broadways, gets unusually rich material here (“Mein Film Career”). And Suzanne Blakeslee, as Marni Nixon dubbing Audrey Hepburn, does justice to one of the funniest pieces of material Alessandrini has ever written. — Marc Miller
Forbidden Broadway
Original Cast, 1982 (DRG) (3 / 5) Gerard Alessandrini’s revues lampooning Broadway hits and personalities have been a reliable source of merriment in cabaret rooms, Off-Broadway theaters, and other venues throughout the U.S. and abroad since the early 1980s. “Wicked” is the adjective most often applied to these knowing parodies of show tunes and celebrities, but there’s usually affection at their base. More than that, Alessandrini’s a talented lyricist in his own right, particularly adept at turning a well-known lyric or show title on its head with a subtle tweak — e.g., “I Wonder What the King Is Drinking Tonight,” “Into the Words,” “Rant.” And his revues have showcased some of New York’s brightest talents, young pros with great gifts for mimicry. Of course, there’s no way to duplicate the visual components that send audiences into uncontrollable laughter, such as the hilarious costumes (often by the legendary Alvin Colt) and tiny sets spoofing enormous ones. Since the FB cast recordings are essentially comedy albums and repeated listening can diminish the jokes, they may linger on your CD shelves for long intervals, but they’re fun to revisit as a reminder of the ridiculous foibles of a given season. This first Forbidden Broadway album is one of the best, though by far the shortest at 40 minutes. Alessandrini usually writes one entirely original title song for each edition of the show, and there’s a particularly apt one here, with lyrics such as: “There’s a Great White Way / Where the white is gray / And the great is only okay.” The writer himself is also in the cast, doing a killer Topol in “Ambition.” The invaluable Nora Mae Lyng is a brassy Ann Miller and a brassier Ethel Merman, future indie-film star Chloe Webb a pert Andrea McArdle, and Bill Carmichael a funny emcee announcing, “Hats off, here they come, those . . . bankable stars.” As always, the one-piano accompaniment (here by musical director Fred Barton) manages to sound like a whole orchestra. Subsequent FB albums are more complete and more nastily funny, but this one has a hottest-new-show-in-town oomph. It also has that great Merrily We Roll Along parody poster art on its cover.– Marc Miller
Forbidden Broadway: Volume 2 — Compilation Album, 1991 (DRG) (3 / 5) For the best stuff in this compilation of Forbidden Broadway material from 1985 to 1991, check out Toni DiBuono capturing Patti LuPone down to the last self-indulgent nuance (“I Get a Kick Out of Me”), an ingenious My Fair Lady parody (“I Strain in Vain to Train Madonna’s Brain”) inspired by Madonna’s Broadway stint in Speed the Plow, Kevin Ligon as an amazing Mandy Patinkin (“Somewhat Overindulgent”), and one of the most famous and popular sequences in Forbidden Broadway history: the epic spoof of Les Misérables (“At the end of the play, you’re another year older.”) There are also winning performances by Michael McGrath and Karen Murphy. Not all of the tracks are for everybody; you have to have seen the original M. Butterfly, for instance, to appreciate the satiric puzzlement over its success. A backhanded salute to The Phantom of the Opera is a bit compromised because Andrew Lloyd Webber wouldn’t allow his music to be used without alteration, but the righteous indignation expressed over a relatively fallow era in Broadway musical history makes for a very entertaining hour-plus of listening. — M.M.
Forbidden Broadway: Volume 3, 1993 (DRG) (2 / 5) This third edition’s opening number is weak, a CD-only appearance by Carol Channing and a stageful of imitators. But some first-class stuff follows: devastating slaps at Petula Clark and David Cassidy in Blood Brothers, Suzanne Blakeslee’s astonishing evocation of Julie Andrews, and Craig Wells’ hilarious put-down of Michael Crawford. On the whole, however, that season’s shows weren’t as ripe for parody as those of other seasons. Dustin Hoffman as Shylock filtered through Rain Man doesn’t hold up, and Topol’s stodginess in Fiddler was old news even in ’93; so was Robert Goulet’s Vegas slickness. Still, the intermittent pleasures keep coming, including quick riffs on the scenery chewing of Nathan Lane and Faith Prince in Guys and Dolls, a knockdown punch at Liliane Montevecchi, and an efficient torching of Miss Saigon. — M.M.
Forbidden Broadway Strikes Back!, 1996 (DRG) (4 / 5) A luxurious 73 minutes of what might be Gerard Alessandrini’s most consistent bouquet of parodies, this edition benefits from top-flight talent. The opening number (“Parody Tonight”) serves up Tom Plotkin’s expert Nathan Lane, Christine Pedi’s gurgling Liza, Donna English’s sneering Zoe Caldwell, and Bryan Batt’s vapid John Davidson in State Fair beaming through “Oh, What a Beautiful Moron!” It’s an auspicious start, and the recording seldom flags from there. There are digs at Harold Prince’s enormous Show Boat, the failed promise of Big, and casting prospects for the upcoming Kiss Me, Kate revival (Pedi’s Bernadette Peters and Batt’s Mandy Patinkin duet in “So Miscast”). English does the best Julie Andrews you’ve ever heard in an extended pummeling of Victor/Victoria (with the Tony nominating committee warbling, “Victor/Victoria, we will ignore-ee-ya”), and a brilliant parody of Rent encapsulates the frustrations of that show’s dissenters. Even the arrangements are funny; listen to the Sondheimisms in the King and I send-up. The album is a hoot, and there’s a terrific bonus track: English as Julie again, in a parody of Star! that’s truly hilarious. — M.M.
Forbidden Broadway 2001: A Spoof Odyssey, 2000 (DRG) (3 / 5) This edition averages out slightly below the series’ general level of inspiration. The first few tracks evaporate, and we don’t get a direct hit until the disembowelment of The Music Man, featuring a very funny Danny Gurwin. Other choice bits: a number that deals with Disney’s downsizing of Beauty and the Beast; Christine Pedi’s slaughtering of Liza Minnelli, not to mention her uncanny turns as Patti LuPone and Gwen Verdon; and an extended riff on Aida that will tickle even those unfamiliar with the show. Alessandrini’s take on Cheryl Ladd in Annie Get Your Gun (“I’ve No Business in Show Business”) epitomizes his art, and Tony Nation’s spoof of James Carpinello in Saturday Night Fever (“Stayin’ Away”) is a deft shot at an easy target, but the digs at Sondheim and Streisand don’t land as smoothly as usual. The album sends customers out on a high note with “76 Hit Shows,” but there wasn’t much to celebrate on Broadway in 2000, so it seems disingenuous to pretend that there was. — M.M.
20th Anniversary Edition — Compilation Album, 2000 (DRG) (4 / 5) If you’re not a Forbidden Broadway completist but want to know what all the fuss is about, this compilation, featuring eight previously unreleased tracks, is just the thing. Both the strengths and occasional weaknesses of the format come through ringingly, and the prodigiously talented cast offers more variety than a single-edition album would. Not all the spoofs are top-drawer; that Carol Channing parody really should be retired. What a pleasure, though, to re-encounter Christine Pedi’s flawless invocations of Liza and Stritch, Toni DiBuono’s uncanny Patti LuPone, and Alessandrini’s particular distaste for Broadway Disneyfication. Among the bonus tracks are some of his very best vignettes, such as Terri White’s glorious “Screamgirls” and the total demolition of Aspects of Love (“Love Changes Everything” becomes “I Sleep With Everyone”). Note how the various musical directors/accompanists throughout the history of Forbidden Broadway express entire orchestrations with one piano. Note also how they exaggerate cast album affectations — languorous tempi for Les Miz, the heavy bass tread of a Rodgers 4/4 tempo–to great effect. — M.M.
Forbidden Broadway Goes to Rehab, 2009 (DRG) (3 / 5) This wasn’t one of the more thrilling Broadway seasons to spoof, but Alessandrini did a workmanlike job of finding targets, and in some cases, much better than workmanlike. Gina Kreiezmar doesn’t sound a great deal like Ashley Brown, but her “Feed the Burbs,” mocking Mary Poppins, is Alessandrini’s most concise and hilarious skewering of the Disneyfication of Broadway. Christina Bianco’s vocally challenged Bernadette Peters, in “See Me on a Monday” (one of several bonus tracks), is mean in a very funny way. Some straight-play parodies, of August: Osage County and Daniel Radcliffe in Equus (with James Donegan as Radcliffe), get the job done. Michael West is a delectably overblown James Barbour in a Tale of Two Cities spoof, and a number in which Kreiezmar as Patti LuPone taunts West as Boyd Gaines with “Small Part, Isn’t It?” is deftly done. — M.M.
Sunday in the Park With George
Original Broadway Cast, 1984 (RCA) (4 / 5) Few Broadway composers could successfully make a painting into a musical, but Stephen Sondheim turned Georges Seurat’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of la Grande Jatte” into one of his most unforgettable and distinctive works. In essence, Sunday in the Park With George is a meditation on the nature of art as viewed in the past (Seurat in the first act) and the present (his descendant, named George, in the second). Although the show has been criticized for the disparity in style between its two acts, each informs the other to create a cohesive whole, and the score has real depth and color. Sondheim reflects Seurat’s unique painting style through the use of staccato notes, playing with the various hues of music much as the artist worked with pigments. Songs such as “Color and Light” and “Finishing the Hat” are particularly remarkable in sound and texture. A few of the compositions are slightly more conventional: “We Do Not Belong Together,” the aching cry of Seurat’s mistress, Dot; the beautiful “Beautiful,” for Georges and his mother; and the rapturous Act I finale “Sunday,” during which the painting finally comes to life. The second act begins with the amusing “It’s Hot Up Here,” sung by the characters in the painting, followed by the brilliant musical scene “Putting It Together” (about George’s fundraising attempts), “Children and Art” (about what we leave behind when we die), and “Lesson #8” (about the constantly mutating nature of art and life). As Georges/George and Dot/Marie, Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters do some of the finest work of their careers, leading an excellent company through the score’s intricacies. Sunday is one of Sondheim’s finest achievements, though it may require several hearings to be fully appreciated. — Matthew Murray
London Cast, 2006 (PS Classics, 2CDs) 
(1 / 5) This recording showcases compelling, committed vocal performances by Daniel Evans and Jenna Russell as George and Dot/Marie, though their Brit accents — his pretty much RP, hers more North London — may take some getting used to. But for many listeners, the extreme diminution of the size of the orchestra here as compared to the forces heard on the original Broadway cast album will be reason enough to exclude it from their collections. The original justification for the pathetically meager instrumentation was that this production was staged at the intimate Menier Chocolate Factory, but there was no significant increase in the number of musicians for the cast album (as often happens) or when the show transferred to Broadway under the auspices of the Roundabout Theatre Company, which presented it in the large Studio 54 venue. On the recording, this is a greater liability in some songs (e.g., “Sunday”) than others, but the tiny orchestra — or, rather, small combo or chamber ensemble — is a major disappointment throughout. The production itself was enjoyable for the leads and for a wonderfully creative use of projections to display Georges Seurat’s art, but minus the visuals, the cast album doesn’t really justify its existence. — Michael Portantiere
Broadway Cast, 2017 (Arts Music, 2CDs) (3 / 5) Jake Gyllenhaal made his name as a movie actor, and became a star in that sphere in such movies as Donnie Darko, Prisoners, Brokeback Mountain, and Nightcrawler before he tackled musical theater in the rapturously received 2015 presentation of Menken and Ashman’s Little Shop of Horrors at New York City Center, following up that success with the equally acclaimed 2017 Broadway revival of Sondheim and Lapine’s Sunday in the Park With George. On the cast album belatedly yielded by the latter production, Gyllenhaal’s vocal acting is of a very high level, and he brings to the role of George a youthful quality and an underlying charm that go a long way toward making an often exasperating character sympathetic. But it must be said that, while his vocal tone is very pleasing, Gyllenhaal has a disconcerting tendency to sing off pitch on sustained notes — sometimes in straight tone, sometimes with a vibrato that turns into more of a wobble. No such issues are present in the singing of Annaleigh Ashford as Dot/Marie; her voice is clear as a bell and rock-solid in pitch, and her performance bursts with personality. The album also features stellar if brief contributions from an A-list supporting cast including Brooks Ashmanskas, Jenni Barber, Phillip Boykin, Erin Davie, Penny Fuller, Robert Sean Leonard, Liz McCartney, Michael McElroy, Ruthie Ann Miles, Ashley Park, and David Turner. The inclusion of quite a bit of spoken dialogue from James Lapine’s often stilted, problematic book for the show on this 2-CD set might be considered a mark against it, especially when you repeatedly listen to all of those lines in which, for some annoying reason, the characters completely eschew the natural use of contractions — e.g., “I guess I did not learn it soon enough….Sometimes he will work all night long.” But of course, any cast album of a Stephen Sondheim show is all about the score, and this one has many pleasures to offer despite the caveats noted. — M.P.
Hamilton
Original Broadway Cast, 2015 (Atlantic, 2CDs) (5 / 5) From start to finish, this recording marvelously captures the vibrancy of composer-lyricist-star Lin-Manuel Miranda’s groundbreaking and record-smashing musical about Alexander Hamilton, one of our country’s previously unsung (pun fully intended) Founding Fathers. Recorded almost in its entirety for this two-disc set, Hamilton charts the title character’s biography from childhood to the duel with Aaron Burr that ultimately cost him his life. Along the way, Hamilton’s successes during the American Revolution and his pivotal role in the formation of America’s new government are expertly handled, as are personal tragedies including the death of his son. The musical vernacular of the score ranges from hip-hop to jazz to R&B to contemporary musical theater. In addition to Miranda’s energetic vocals as the title character, fine performances abound — particularly from Leslie Odom, Jr., who offers a haunted and haunting portrayal of Burr, and Renée Elise Goldsberry, whose voice sparkles as she plays Angelica Schuyler, Hamilton’s sister-in-law and the woman who was perhaps his true soul-mate. Equally terrific are Phillipa Soo as Hamilton’s wife, Eliza (Angelica’s sister); Daveed Diggs in a dual role as the Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson; Christopher Jackson as George Washington; and Jonathan Groff, who wrings every bit of comedy from the cameo appearances of George III, drolly delivering Miranda’s faux-1960s British mod tunes that echo both The Beatles and Herman’s Hermits. What ultimately makes this cast album so appealing is that it gives the listener the ability to savor the intricacies of the show’s construction. With each successive play, one hears new nuances in Miranda’s linguistic genius and the far-flung antecedents that are part of the score, which references everything from Shakespeare to musicals such as South Pacific and Camelot to the work of rapper The Notorious B.I.G. — Andy Propst
Road Show
Original Off-Broadway Cast, 2009 (Nonesuch/PS Classics) (1 / 5) What started off as a coruscating musical-comedy cavalcade ended dour and dumpy with the 2008 premiere of Road Show, the final (?) incarnation of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s Mizner Brothers biomusical. As spearheaded (and speared) by director John Doyle, this is American history pageantry scalped of the fun, joy, and — well, the bounce that characterized the work’s three earlier incarnations. (See separate review of the recording of one of those versions, Bounce.) Wilson and Addison are played here by Michael Cerveris and Alexander Gemignani with maximum sense of occasion and minimal charisma, weighing down even the better numbers — such as the romantic “The Best Thing That Has Ever Happened” and the ostensibly scheming “The Game” — to the point where they can’t rise above the muck. Morose, muddy orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick and indifferent musical direction by Mary-Mitchell Campbell don’t inject any much-needed energy. Among the supporting cast, which also includes Claybourne Elder as Addison’s lover and William Parry as the boys’ father, only Alma Cuervo as Mama Mizner suggests in her aching solo “Isn’t He Something!” the combination of wit and heart that should drive this story. The rest of the recording, like the show at this point, is, as the opening number puts it, a waste. — Matthew Murray
Over Here!
Original Broadway Cast, 1974 (Columbia /Sony) (3 / 5) Designed to do for the 1940s what Grease did for the 1950s, Over Here! is a supremely silly tale of romance and espionage on a cross-country train loaded with volunteers, war workers, and Nazi sympathizers. It was a vehicle for the two surviving Andrews Sisters, Patty and Maxene. The score, by Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman, is a pastiche of the period’s hit parade; you’ll hear echoes if not actual excerpts of”Take the ‘A’ Train,” “The Beer Barrel Polka,” and “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” among other songs. It’s all good fun, thanks to the Andrewses, a very strong supporting cast, and electrifying orchestrations by Michael Gibson and Jim Tyler that create an irresistible, big-band frenzy. The opening ballad, “Since You’re Not Around,” strikes the right note of agreeable nostalgia; then April Shawhan and John Driver score with “My Dream for Tomorrow.” The surprisingly tough-minded “Don’t Shoot the Hooey to Me, Louie,” delivered by Samuel E. Wright, touches on the period’s racism. Janie Sell amusingly spoofs Marlene Dietrich in “Wait for Me, Marlena,” and the young John Travolta is smooth as silk in “Dream Drummin’.” The Andrews gals are ebullient in such numbers as “The Big Beat,” “We Got It!” and the title tune. Most of their solos are also effective, but you’ll weep for Patty when she is forced to deliver the sex-hygiene number “The Good-Time Girl,” in which she urges soldiers to avoid “The VD Polka” (“The enemy can sock us / By spreading gonococcus”). Note that the incredible supporting cast of Over Here! included Ann Reinking, Treat Williams, and Marilu Henner, none of whom are heard on this recording in any recognizable way. — David Barbour
Out of This World
Original Broadway Cast, 1950 (Columbia/Sony) (4 / 5) For Out of This World, a modern-day retelling of the Amphitryon legend, Cole Porter produced a gorgeous score. Unfortunately, it was tied to an unwieldy book that worked too hard to substitute dirty jokes for real wit. Despite a lush production, direction by Agnes de Mille, and the Broadway return of the beloved musical comedian Charlotte Greenwood, the show managed only a four-month run. The songs are so great, and the premise so enticing, that there have been a few subsequent attempts to shore up that messy script. Still, the strength of this show lies in its songs. As Juno, Greenwood is wonderful; while the album can’t deliver her high kicks, it does preserve her ringingly funny way with a lyric. William Redfield is competent as Mercury, zipping with ease through the risqué “list” song “They Couldn’t Compare to You,” but the rest of the casting is uneven. George Jongeyans (later Gaynes) is a wobbly Jupiter. Priscilla Gillette’s voice has sufficient firmness for “Use Your Imagination,” but the vocal inadequacies of her vis-a-vis in the show, William Eyrhe, led to the deletion of the score’s best song: “From This Moment On.” In short, this was one unlucky show, but Porter at his near-best is more than ample compensation for the cast album’s disappointments. — Richard Barrios
Encores! Concert Cast, 1995 (DRG) (4 / 5) Out of This World was obvious fodder for a big-league concert performance that could spotlight the songs and stars and elide the worst parts of the script. So it was that the New York City Center Encores! series tackled Cole Porter’s problematic Greco-Roman extravaganza in 1995. The recording that resulted doesn’t always compare favorably with the original Broadway album, but some aspects of it are clearly better and, overall, it’s sheer bliss. Happily, the star at its center is up to her assignment: Andrea Martin is just terrific, especially in her rendition of “I Sleep Easier Now.” For the most part, Ken Page is strong if a dash overbearing as Jupiter; the character should be loud, but there’s always room for shading, isn’t there? In other roles, Marin Mazzie and La Chanze are outstanding, both singing with beauty and spirit. “From This Moment On” is back, and Mazzie and Gregg Edelman do a very good job with it. Peter Scolari is fine as Mercury, Ernie Sabella is a scrappily funny gangster, and Rob Fisher’s Coffee Club Orchestra plays with its customary class. — R.B.
Opal
Studio Cast, 1996 (Original Cast Records) (3 / 5) A Richard Rodgers Award-winner and a minor Off-Broadway hit, this chamber musical by Robert Lindsey-Nassif (or Robert Nassif Lindsey, depending on his preference at any given point in his career) was adapted from the diaries of a French orphan who lived in an Oregon lumber camp circa 1904. It’s a grim tale with a shipwreck, a forest fire, a nasty stepmother with a sad secret, a tragic blind girl, and a Bible-spouting old mystic lady, among other bizarre characters. The lyrics seldom rise above the functional, and the appealing melodies are undercut here by an annoying, synth-heavy orchestration. But what makes the score distinctive is its exploration of the macabre, as little Opal puzzles out the mysteries of death in song. Eliza Clark is refreshingly unaffected in the title role, and she has some formidable musical theater talent behind her: Marni Nixon as the mystic, Rachel York as the blind girl, and Emily Skinner in a small part. The composer-lyricist himself does very well as a lovesick lumberjack in the ballad “Sears and Roebuck Wedding Band.” There are a few dreary numbers, especially those in which the Sunday sermonizing gets heavy. Still, this score has personality — and it should be said that the 1990s brought forth few ensemble numbers as spirited and life affirming as “Everybody’s Looking for Love.” — Marc Miller
On Your Toes
Studio Cast, 1952 (Columbia/Sony) (3 / 5) One of musical director/conductor Lehman Engel’s sturdier studio-cast efforts, this rendering of the 1936 hit by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart tries harder than most in the series to sound like a cast album of a stage production. The orchestrations hew closely to Hans Spialek’s originals; Engel even throws in a convincing entr’acte, and his conducting brings out all the urban excitement of the “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue” ballet. Jack Cassidy’s tenor brings sensuousness to “There’s a Small Hotel” and “It’s Got to Be Love.” Portia Nelson is equally effective with “Glad to Be Unhappy,” and Laurel Shelby, a wonderfully dry musical comedian, chews her consonants stylishly in “The Heart Is Quicker Than the Eye” and “Too Good for the Average Man.” The song order is quite inaccurate, some numbers are assigned to the wrong characters, and the album is capped by one of Engel’s annoying greatest-hits finales. Still, it has plenty of theatrical personality — and, of course, the score is evergreen. — Marc Miller
Broadway Cast, 1954 (Decca/Decca Broadway) (2 / 5) The 1954 Broadway revival of On Your Toes starred premiere danseuse Vera Zorina, who had starred in the 1937 London production and the 1939 movie version. But she’s not heard on the cast album — because her character, Vera Barnova, does no singing. Nor is this recording at all faithful to the tone of the show as originally conceived and written; Don Walker’s arrangements, adept enough in their brassy way, don’t feel right for this comparatively gentle and witty score. Light-on-his-feet leading man Bobby Van is also light of voice, and his love interest, Kay Coulter, is a nonentity even in such can’t-miss material as “There’s a Small Hotel” and “Glad to Be Unhappy.” Joshua Shelley, normally a reliable Broadway pro, is almost unintelligible in “Too Good for the Average Man.” But this recording, long out of print and belatedly reissued on CD (with too much treble in the mix), does have its ace in the hole: Elaine Stritch, serving up an unforgettable performance of “You Took Advantage of Me.” It’s a rare instance of a Rodgers and Hart interpolation actually helping one of their scores. — M.M.
Broadway Cast, 1983 (Polydor/JAY) (4 / 5) Director George Abbott, at age 96, returned to Broadway with this impeccably produced revival and was rewarded with a long run and critical adoration. Hans Spialek, almost as old as Abbott, was on hand to restore his orchestrations; they’re as imaginative and distinctive in 1983 as in 1936, and John Mauceri conducts them like the authority he is. Ballerina Natalia Makarova danced gracefully in this show and also proved herself to be a knockout comedian, but you won’t find her on the cast album because (again) the character she played is not a singing role. However, you will find Christine Andreas as Frankie, offering a definitive “Glad to Be Unhappy.” She overpowers her leading man, Lara Teeter, a brilliant dancer but an uncertain singer. Nor does Dina Merrill, thin of voice and not naturally funny, quite measure up in “The Heart Is Quicker Than the Eye” or “Too Good for the Average Man” — but, luckily for her, she’s wonderfully partnered in “Average Man” by George S. Irving. Overall, this digital stereo recording is a fine preservation of a joyful production. The CD edition includes an extended “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue,” the “Princess Zenobia” ballet, and a sensitive “Quiet Night” reprise by Irving. — M.M.
Onward Victoria
Original Broadway Cast, 1981 (Original Cast Records) (1 / 5) Although the subject was ripe and the characters were fascinating, Onward Victoria was a one-performance disaster that nonetheless yielded a cast album. The story, by librettists-lyricists Charlotte Anker and Irene Rosenberg, centers on the 19th-century feminist Victoria Woodhull and her adventures in New York with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Henry Ward Beecher, and other notables. The show’s stirring themes include religious hypocrisy and women’s rights, but the characters tend to sing about these issues in shallow polemics (“Revolution’s in the air like an impending storm”), and Keith Herrmann’s music, while generally constructed as a traditional musical theater score, is styled mostly as soft rock. Jill Eikenberry is a thin-voiced Victoria, and Michael Zaslow is treble-y as Beecher, but Lenny Wolpe has one good moment in “Unescorted Women.” By the time Victoria is defending the good reverend on the witness stand with the striptease-like “A Valentine for Beecher,” in which she sings about how “well-endowed” he is, credibility and good taste have gone out the window. — Marc Miller