Original Broadway Cast, 1961 (Kapp) 
(4 / 5) This musical based on the movie The Quiet Man was a spirited but unsuccessful show. Donnybrook! did boast an excellent cast that included Susan Johnson, Eddie Foy Jr., and Art Lund, plus a wonderful score by Johnny Burke, who achieved fame by penning terrific lyrics to the music of Jimmy Van Heusen and others for dozens of Hollywood musicals. The songs are tuneful, funny, and romantic. “I Wouldn’t Bet One Penny,” “Ellen Roe,” “A Quiet Life,” “Dee-lightful Is the Word,” “The Loveable Irish,” “Sez I,” and “He Makes Me Feel I’m Lovely” may not be household titles, but they are excellent examples of Broadway songwriting at its best. Joan Fagan brings great spirit to several of the Burke ballads. Johnson, one of the theater’s top belters, also shows warmth and vulnerability here; she and Foy have a wonderfully charming comic rapport. And Lund sings with feeling, if not quite the requisite amount of theatricality. The album, which has not been officially transferred to CD as of this writing but is available through iTunes, sounds clear and immediate — but note that it was recorded in the heyday of the stereo-separation craze, so everyone sings left or right of center. Make an effort to find the recording and get acquainted with its many charms. — Ken Bloom
All posts by Michael Portantiere
A Doll’s Life
Original Broadway Cast, 1982 (Original Cast Records! Bay Cities) 
(3 / 5) A Doll’s Life is about what happened to Henrik Ibsen’s Nora after she slammed the door at the end of A Doll’s House. Betty Comden and Adolph Green wrote the book and lyrics, Larry Grossman wrote the music, and Harold Prince directed. The show opened on Broadway to terrible reviews and closed after five performances — but, fortunately, it was recorded. There’s a lot that’s wrong with the score, but also a lot that’s very right with it, as the cast album reveals. Most outstanding is Betsy Joslyn in the enormously taxing central role. Nora’s songs range from low belt through mid-range mix to high soprano. The character’s progression from frightened doll-wife through many bedrooms and boardrooms to successful business woman before she finally returns home to confront her husband is charted with dramatic and musical complexity, and Joslyn is more than up to the role’s challenges. She’s expressive in her heartfelt “Letter to the Children,” probing in “Learn to Be Lonely,” sensual in “No More Mornings,” triumphant in “Power,” and urgent in “Can You Hear Me Now?” These excellent solo pieces alone would make this recording worthwhile, but there are also fine performances by Peter Gallagher, particularly effective in “Stay With Me, Nora,” and George Hearn, who lends his authoritative baritone to “You Interest Me.” Most of the score has an operatic flavor — it even includes a mini-opera called “Loki and Baldur” — so it’s not surprising that all the supporting cast members have strong, legit voices. So, what’s wrong with A Doll’s Life? Well, a few numbers don’t work at all, and may even cause a groan or two. Of course, you can skip around at will on a recording, and this recording is definitely worth a try. — Jeffrey Dunn
Do I Hear a Waltz?
Original Broadway Cast, 1965 (Columbia/Sony) (4 / 5) Stephen Sondheim has often bad-mouthed Do I Hear a Waltz? — perhaps because it can’t compare to his trail-blazing hits, and also because Sondheim apparently wrote some lyrics that were not acceptable to composer Richard Rodgers and, therefore, didn’t make it into the show. But while Arthur Laurents’ book is a bit of a confused bore, the Rodgers-Sondheim score is really good. The musical is an adaptation of Laurents’ play The Time of the Cuckoo. The story: Spinster Leona Samish (Elizabeth Allen) travels to Venice and meets attractive Renato Di Rossi (Sergio Franchi), but she isn’t trusting enough to allow herself to fall in love with him. The show starts briskly with “Someone Woke Up,” Leona’s claim that she’s ready for anything. It continues well with “This Week, Americans,” in which the proprietor of the pensione at which Leona is staying (Carol Bruce) charms her guests. “What Do We Do? We Fly,” a sharply humorous group number about transatlantic air travel, follows. Rodgers gets in his bolt-of-lightning ballads with “Someone Like You” and “Take the Moment,” as well as the lovely title song — a waltz, natch. Also enjoyable is “Bargaining,” in which Renato teaches Leona the ins and outs of shopping in Venice. Only “We’re Gonna Be All Right” seems like filler, but there’s a reason for that; see below. — Peter Filichia
Pasadena Playhouse Cast, 2001 (Fynsworth Alley) (4 / 5) On this recording, Steve Orich’s brisker musical direction helps make Do I Hear a Waltz? sound like a hit. Alyson Reed and Anthony Crivello have more personality than their Broadway counterparts, and what fun it is to hear Carol Lawrence on a cast album after too long an absence, playing the landlady of the pensione. Only Tina Gasparra, as her maid, disappoints as she tries much too hard to sound comic. There is one significant, unfortunate cut: “Bargaining” was a charming song, and an important one because it made us like Renato, so it’s a shame to lose it. On the other hand, there’s a nifty reprise of “This Week, Americans” and other additions and restorations. Most notably, the previously excised lyrics of “We’re Gonna Be All Right” make an incisive and sophisticated song out of what had just been a pleasant throwaway number. If these lyrics are an indication of what Sondheim was forced to eliminate at Rodgers’ insistence, we can begin to understand why the guy can’t stand this show. — P.F.
Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?
Original Broadway Cast Members, 1985 (Bay Cities/Original Cast) No stars; not recommended. No matter how “informed” the writer of a review is, the critique is largely a matter of opinion. Or as Cole Porter put it, “I like Offenbach, you do not / So what? So what? So what?” Which is my way of explaining that I greatly dislike Do Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?, even though I know the show has been hugely successful in stagings around the country and is, in fact, the longest running musical ever to play Chicago. It’s certainly possible that I would respond more favorably to it if I had attended parochial school or were a Catholic — or if, like the show’s main character, I’d fallen in love with a girl in the fifth grade, watched as she became a nun and then, years later, reunited with her after she left the convent. Not having had those experiences, I view this musical as unevocative nostalgia without the slightest bit of insight or wit. For the record, the music and lyrics are by Alaric Jans and James Quinn, the book by John R. Powers. — David Wolf
Funny Girl
Original Broadway Cast, 1964 (Capitol/Angel) 
(5 / 5) It’s rare that we have concrete recorded proof of the exact moment when a performer became a legend, but that’s the case with the original Broadway cast album of Funny Girl. Yes, this recording of the Fanny Brice biomusical has that wonderful collection of Jule Styne-Bob Merrill songs; vivid performances by Sydney Chaplin as Nick Arnstein, Kay Medford as Fanny’s mother, Danny Meehan as her showbiz pal Eddie Ryan, and Jean Stapleton as a family friend; a killer overture, more than good enough to rival Gypsy’s; Ralph Burns’ opulent orchestrations; and Milton Rosenstock’s excellent musical direction/conducting. But what matters most is Barbra Streisand, who deservedly shot to super-stardom playing Brice. She’s never been fresher or more appealing than she is here in “I’m the Greatest Star,” “Cornet Man,” “Who Are You Now?”, “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” “The Music That Makes Me Dance,” and the definitive rendition of “People.” Streisand uses her sprawling belt, liberally doused with her natural tenacity and eccentricity, to make these songs sound like no one else should even think about singing them for fear of paling in comparison. Even so, her ambitious approach to the songs is always held in check by a complete commitment to character. More than 50 years after this cast album was made, Streisand’s performance still represents the best of what Broadway can be, and propels the recording from “excellent” to “essential.” — Matthew Murray
Film Soundtrack, 1968 (Columbia/Sony) (3 / 5) It’s fascinating to compare Barbra Streisand’s performances on the original Broadway cast album and the film soundtrack of Funny Girl. Though only about four years passed between the two recordings, the star’s approach to these songs changed drastically, no doubt partly because she was tailoring her renditions to the film medium, but also because Streisand’s performance style had already at that point started to become far more self-aware — some might say self-indulgent — than the thrilling, raw talent she had displayed on Broadway. The quality of her phenomenal voice itself is at its zenith on the soundtrack recordings of “People,” “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” etc., and the comedy of such songs as “I’m the Greatest Star,” “His Love Makes Me Beautiful,” and “You are Woman, I am Man” is far funnier than on the OBC recording, thanks to better timing and more sharply honed comic chops. But some listeners may find Streisand’s embellishments of some of the vocal lines to be a bit much here. One example of several: When she sings “Lovers are very special people,” swooping down to the bottom of her vocal range on the second syllables of both “lovers” and “people,” she sounds more like a show-off pop or jazz singer than a credible character in a musical. On top of all this, changes to the song stack have tilted the balance of the film and the album even more sharply toward Streisand: a new, mediocre title song and the not-especially-funny comic number “The Swan,” both by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill, have been added, along with the Fanny Brice signature songs “I’d Rather Be Blue” and “My Man,” those latter two additions arguably damaging the integrity of the Styne/Merrill score. Meanwhile the cutting of such Broadway numbers as “Who Taught Her Everything,” “I Want to Be Seen With You,” and “Find Yourself a Man” have eliminated almost all solo singing from anyone else in the film; the two significant exceptions are “If a Girl Isn’t Pretty,” featuring Kay Medford as Fanny’s mother and Mae Questel as Mrs. Strakosh, and “You Are Woman, I Am Man,” in which Omar Sharif as Nicky Arnstein has a lovely if brief duet with Streisand. For the record, three Styne/Merrill songs that Streisand sang in Funny Girl on Broadway — “Cornet Man,” “Who Are You Now?” and “The Music that Makes Me Dance” — have also been axed, so please turn to the OBC album to enjoy those. On a positive note, the soundtrack orchestrations are lovely and lush without being syrupy. Given the sales figures for this recording, it’s obvious that many people — including this reviewer — love it for what it is, but it’s probably best enjoyed as an album of “Barbra Streisand Sings Songs from Funny Girl” rather than the soundtrack of a film musical. — Michael Portantiere
London Cast, 2016 (Decca) 
(2 / 5) Before Funny Girl‘s first Broadway revival (or, rather, revisal) in 2022, director Michael Mayer and writer Harvey Fierstein headed the creative team of a London production in 2016. Originating at the Menier Chocolate Factory, this was the first time the West End has seen the show since Streisand debuted it there following her Broadway triumph. The production starred Olivier Award winner Sheridan Smith, and was enough of a success with critics and audiences that it resulted in a cast recording and laid the groundwork for the Broadway transfer with Mayer and Fierstein still at the helm, but with an entirely different cast (see review below). While there are some enjoyable elements to this album, many of the same problems that would plague the Broadway production are evident here, and sadly, almost all of the changes made to the song stack are for the worse. Smith, who’s had multiple successes in musicals on the West End, is a mixed bag as Fanny Brice. On the plus side, she’s naturally funny and gives the character a unique spin that’s separate enough from Streisand without altering the DNA of the material. Her “You are Woman, I am Man” and “His Love Makes Me Beautiful” are fun as Smith makes a meal of the comedic fodder. Her voice, however, is strong only intermittently; while she can carry herself through most of the uptempo numbers (“Cornet Man,” “I’m the Greatest Star”), Smith has difficulty floating any of Fanny’s ballads (“People,” “The Music That Makes Me Dance.”) Darius Campbell is a decent Nick Arnstein, but he’s unfortunately saddled with “Temporary Arrangement,” a song that was cut from the original Broadway production of Funny Girl out of town and should never have been restored. Chris Walker’s orchestrations sound much fuller here than on the subsequent Broadway recording, and the tempi are not as sped through. While this recording isn’t by any means a disaster, it’s far from essential listening. — Matt Koplik
Broadway Cast, 2022 (Masterworks Broadway) (4 / 5) Although Funny Girl was a hit on stage and film, it had a rough road returning to Broadway, the consensus being that Barbra Streisand’s performance in the central role of Fanny Brice had cast too large a shadow over the property. When the show finally came back in 2022, the headliner was Beanie Feldstein, primarily known for her work in television and film. Both the production and Feldstein’s performance were maligned by critics, many finding the design elements cheap and the star’s voice wanting for a score that demands excellence, and Feldstein departed quickly. Enter Lea Michele, whose performance was praised despite some controversy surrounding her reported bad behavior and lack of professionalism in previous projects, and Funny Girl’s fortunes immediately turned around, resulting in a mostly rewarding cast album. On the downside: Although the orchestra was augmented for this recording, it still sounds shallow, and Chris Walker’s orchestrations are more miss than hit. (The overture sounds especially anemic.) This production, like its London predecessor, incorporated musical and textual changes from the show as originally written, with a revised book by Harvey Fierstein. Unfortunately, these changes are mostly for the worse. Ramin Karimloo is a suave Nick Arnstein, even if his modern-sounding tenor clashes somewhat with the classic style of Jule Styne’s score and, as was the case with his London counterpart, he benefits not at all from the reinstatement of the song “Temporary Arrangement.” On a brighter note, Karimloo does beautiful work when singing with Michele, as in a duet version of “Who Are You Now?” (previously a solo for Fanny). Tovah Feldshuh brings authentic New York Jewish grit to Mrs. Brice, and Jared Grimes is charismatic as Eddie, but it’s Michele who makes this album an essential listen with a true star turn. If listeners detect hints of Streisand in some of her vocal inflections, that’s to be expected, as many of Streisand’s signature indulgences have become synonymous with the material. Michele attacks “I’m the Greatest Star” and “Cornet Man” with driven energy, then settles down and lures in the listener with “People” and the score’s other pensive ballads — just like Babs. And when Michele gets her determined grip on “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” you feel as if you’ve heard her wring every ounce of juice possible from one of the musical theater’s greatest Act I finales. It may have taken nearly 60 years, but cast album collectors finally have another quality Fanny Brice to enjoy. – M.K.
City of Angels
Original Broadway Cast, 1990 (Columbia/Sony) (5 / 5) Cy Coleman’s blending of 1940s musical styles — swing, blues, film noir soundtrack, and more — with David Zippel’s deft and witty lyrics helped make City of Angels one of the best musicals of the 1980s. This excellent recording preserves Billy Byers’ hot orchestrations and the performances of an almost ideal cast. Gregg Edelman’s rich, rangy baritone is exciting in the songs written for author/screenwriter Stine; René Auberjonois finds plenty of oily comedy in the role of Buddy Fidler, flim-flam film producer extraordinaire; and Scott Waara’s smooth tones are ideal for radio crooner Jimmy Powers. Rachel York as Mallory and Dee Hoty as Alaura both give dynamic performances, but Hoty is hampered by the exclusion from the recording of one of her big numbers. The major standouts are the show’s Tony winners: James Naughton’s easygoing manner and voice are just right for film detective Stone; and Randy Graff, playing two “Girl Friday”-type secretaries, walks away with the show’s brashest and funniest number, “You Can Always Count on Me.” The Naughton-Edelman duet “You’re Nothing Without Me” is another highlight. Only Kay McClelland, playing both Stine’s wife and Stone’s longtime flame, is just adequate, although her two songs — “It Needs Work” and the torchy “With Every Breath I Take” — are well written. The cast album’s most significant flaw is the omission of much material that would have balanced the characters and illuminated the show’s razor-sharp humor. Still, this is an essential recording of a top-notch Coleman score. Don’t stop listening until “Double Talk Walk,” some of Broadway’s best-ever exit music, has finished playing. — Matthew Murray
Original London Cast, 1993 (RCA) (2 / 5) With almost every important musical moment of City of Angels captured, and enough of Larry Gelbart’s incisive dialogue included to set the scenes, this is the kind of recording that should have been made of the original Broadway production. Unfortunately, the performances here leave much to be desired, with most of the cast over-emoting in both speech and song. Henry Goodman, superb as Buddy, makes this work only because his character is so far over-the-top to begin with. The style feels far less organic to the other performances, with Roger Allam a particularly uncomfortable Stone and Susannah Fellows (Alaura), Fiona Hendley (Gabbi/ Bobbi), and Haydn Gwynne (Oolie/Donna) doing little better. Martin Smith keeps his Stine grounded, but his 11-o’clock number, “Funny,” is a restrained disappointment here. Even if the cast’s problems with American accents and 1940s speech patterns come through, this recording’s more thorough documentation of the score makes it useful as a companion, if not a substitute, for the otherwise superior Broadway recording. — M.M.
A Chorus Line
Original Broadway Cast, 1975 (Columbia/Masterworks Broadway) (5 / 5) In 1975, A Chorus Line was a phenomenon. The conception of the show began with Broadway wunderkind Michael Bennett’s idea that there might be a musical to be made from the stories of the lives of Broadway’s dancers, a group that was undervalued and overlooked at the time. Bennett got together a bunch of these “gypsies,” many of whom would go on to be in the original company of A Chorus Line, and urged everyone to talk about their lives, all the while taping the conversations. From those tapes, Bennett along with librettists James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante, composer Marvin Hamlisch, and lyricist Edward Kleban shaped the material through a series of workshops at The Public Theater. Both achingly real and thrillingly theatrical, the show premiered there to ecstatic reviews and quickly moved to Broadway, where it became a massive hit. The setting is an open audition of dancers for an unnamed Broadway musical, during which the show’s director, Zach, sets his final 16 hopefuls in a line and proceeds to inquire about their lives. Some of the dancers offer humorous anecdotes (“I Can Do That”), others share painful stories (the moving “At the Ballet”). From beginning to end, this original Broadway cast recording feels like lightning in a bottle. The definitive cast performs with a gumption that’s palpable to the listener, expressing each character’s desire to dance and their need get the job. As Cassie, a veteran dancer who’s hoping for a second chance at her career and who also has a complicated history with Zach, Donna Mckechnie is exceptional. (She won a Tony Award for her performance. )Though we don’t get to see any of her beautiful dancing here, her vocals are the most impressive of any Cassie, and the sheer desperation in her delivery of “The Music and the Mirror” resonates deeply. There’s also Priscilla Lopez as the bouncy Diana, Kelly Bishop as the cynical yet vulnerable Sheila, Sammy Williams as the conflicted Paul, and Pamela Blair as the brassy Val — but, truthfully one could keep going on and on about each cast member’s contribution. The score remains a classic, with Kleban’s conversational lyrics seamlessly flowing in and out of dialogue as Hamlisch’s melodies display great variety in style and emotion, from pulsating anxiety (the opening “I Hope I Get It”) to classic show biz razzle-dazzle (the finale ,“One”). Though the grand montage “Hello Twelve, Hello, Thirteen, Hello Love” is only represented here in chunks, and the music-and-dialogue sequence “And…” wasn’t recorded at all, there are no serious complaints about this truly great cast album. Fun fact: Due to the small budgets for the workshops, Bennett was unable to afford a solo orchestrator to work on the entire show, so he instead hired three — masters Hershy Kay, Jonathan Tunick, and Bill Byers — to individually orchestrate various musical numbers. The fact that the work of these three men never feels disjointed and comes together as a beautiful whole is representative of the theme of A Chorus Line in general. — Matt Koplik
Film Soundtrack, 1985 (Casablanca/Polygram) No stars; not recommended. With its inherent theatricality and non-traditional story structure, A Chorus Line was always going to be a difficult property to adapt for the screen, even in the best of hands. But that hardly excuses Richard Attenborough’s bafflingly misguided interpretation. The soundtrack recording provides numerous examples of the film’s wrongdoings, which include giving “What I Did For Love” to Cassie as a solo and replacing “The Music and the Mirror” and the “Hello Twelve…” montage with, respectively, the inferior “Let Me Dance For You” and “Surprise, Surprise.” Also unfortunate are Ralph Burns’ synthesizer-heavy orchestrations. In fairness to Burns, though his work here is busy and rather cheap sounding, anyone who watches the movie (but why would you?) can see that the director and producers were aiming for a hip, modern, ’80s look and sound, so it’s likely they imposed that vision on the Broadway-favorite orchestrator. Director Attenborough managed to cast an able company of dancers, but his and screenwriter Arnold Schulman’s terrible creative decisions bar any of them from truly succeeding. While Allyson Reed does a commendable job as Cassie, having her sing the show’s anthem, “What I Did For Love,” as a solo was, as noted, a huge misstep; it robs the company of the proud defense of their sacrifice for their art and instead puts a tighter spotlight on Cassie, so that the story suddenly becomes very specific rather than achieving the universality that Michael Bennett fought hard for in the original stage show. Similarly, while Gregg Burge as Richie does his best with “Surprise, Surprise,” that number focuses purely on one character’s sexual awakening, rather than offering detailed glimpses into the adolescence (the pain, the humiliation, the joy) of each dancer on the line. For film students, A Chorus Line provides a textbook example of how not to adapt a successful musical to the screen. For Broadway fans, you’re better off pretending this soundtrack recording doesn’t exist. — M.K.
Broadway Cast, 2006 (Masterworks Broadway) (3 / 5) If the original cast album of A Chorus Line provides a rush of adrenaline, this respectful recording plays like a reference guide for those who might be new to the score. Just about every note and every lyric is carefully set down — though “And…” is still sadly unrepresented — with a cast that makes sure not to impose negatively on the Chorus Line legacy. While this approach is a far more welcome alternative to that of the disastrous movie version, it makes for a rather bland recording. From the piano intro of “I Hope I Get It” through to the grand finale, “One,” the listener can sense the conductor, cast, and orchestra taking great pains to not have a single hair out of place. This delicate attitude takes away much of the energy and urgency that make A Chorus Line so compelling, and it keeps most of the very talented company from putting their own personal spin on their characters. That said, there are some major highlights here. As Diana, Natalie Cortez offers an impassioned and vulnerable interpretation of “Nothing,” and if Jessica Lee Goldyn isn’t quite as brassy as Pamela Blair, her “Dance: Ten, Looks: Three” is comically endearing. Best of all, for the first time, the “Hello Twelve…” montage is recorded in its nearly 20 minute entirety! If nothing else, that alone makes this recording essential for Broadway fans. — M.K.
A Christmas Carol
Original Stage Cast, 1993 (Columbia/Sony) (3 / 5) The Alan Menken-Lynn Ahrens musical version of A Christmas Carol lit up Madison Square Garden for 10 seasons, and though the production’s spectacle played a vital role in its success, this recording documents the fact that an enjoyable score may also have had something to do with it. The adaptation is very straightforward; Menken and Ahrens’ took few liberties with Charles Dickens’ classic story. There are the requisite numbers for Scrooge’s feelings about Christmas as compared with those of his neighbors, his meetings with the ghosts of Christmases past, present, and future, and his eventual change of heart. The score is unremarkable, but that’s OK; songs like “The Lights of Long Ago” and “Christmas Together” are pleasant enough, “Mr. Fezziwig’s Annual Christmas Ball” is an attractive toe-tapper, and “A Place Called Home” is a charming, tuneful duet for the young-adult Scrooge and his lady love. Walter Charles is nothing short of ideal as Scrooge, acting and singing with all the necessary crotchety conviction. He leads a cast that includes such Broadway names as Christopher Sieber, Bill Nolte, Robert Westenberg, Ken Jennings, and Emily Skinner. This recording makes for an enjoyable, if not quite essential, listen during the holidays or at any other time of the year. — Matthew Murray
Television Cast, 2004 (JAY) (3 / 5) Television adaptations of musicals are frequently mixed bags, given the perceived need for stars whom viewers will instantly recognize but who may or may not be well suited to their roles. However, many of the casting choices made for the 2004 Hallmark Entertainment version of the Menken-Ahrens A Christmas Carol were as savvy as they were starry, and this recording captures the best of their work. Jane Krakowski’s focused, empathetic performance as the Ghost of Christmas Past makes her big solo, “The Lights of Long Ago,” a major highlight. Jason Alexander is a showily threatening Marley. Jesse L. Martin is obviously having a ball as the Ghost of Christmas Present, and his “Abundance and Charity” is abundant with joy. Edward Gower and Jacob Moriarty sound just right as Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim, respectively. Stage favorites Brian Bedford, Claire Moore, Linzi Hately, and Ruthie Henshall score in their smaller roles, the last particularly so as Scrooge’s Mother, delivering a lovely and poignant “God Bless Us Everyone.” On the recording, Scrooge is a somewhat diminished presence, so you don’t hear a ton of Kelsey Grammer, but what’s here is loaded with well-calculated grump if not all the gusto one wants from the role. A lush, full orchestra plays Michael Starobin’s lively orchestrations under the baton of Michael Kosarin. — M.M.
Cats
Original London Cast, 1981 (Geffen) (4 / 5) Before it became a joke, Cats was a true phenomenon. While Trevor Nunn’s direction placed spectacle above emotion and story, the show has a better score than it’s usually given credit for. T. S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats may not have been a natural choice for musicalization; still, Andrew Lloyd Webber found some remarkably creative ways to get Eliot’s feline characters to sing, whether in the style of straight-out pop (“The Rum Tum Tugger”), mock-operetta (“Growltiger’s Last Stand”), or a host of others. The magical (and highly electronic) overture, the rapidly shifting strains of the lengthy first-act Jellicle Ball, and the lush finale “The Ad-Dressing of Cats” all help to make this a musical theater score full of variety and invention. Even the now standard “Memory” works within the weird universe created by the half-posthumous collaboration of Eliot and Lloyd Webber. Here, that song is delivered beautifully by West End diva Elaine Paige as Grizabella, the Glamour Cat — the character who ties together the show’s story about junkyard strays meeting to decide which of them will be reborn into a new, presumably better life. Paul Nicholas’ Rum Tum Tugger, Brian Blessed’s Old Deuteronomy (and Bustopher Jones), and Kenn Wells’ Skimbleshanks also provide lots of fun. This recording of Cats captures the ineffably English tone of the piece, and is a highly entertaining listen. — Matthew Murray
Original Broadway Cast, 1983 (Geffen) (4 / 5) One of the longest-running musicals in Broadway history, Cats is also the most inherently English of all the mega-musicals of its era, and so the unconvincing Brit accents and American vocal mannerisms of the original Broadway company do not lend this recording much authenticity. Still, with a cast this good, it barely matters. Betty Buckley is a worthy successor to Elaine Paige as Grizabella, and her “Memory” is one of the most powerful on record. (Many singers have recorded the song as a stand-alone piece.) Ken Page is particularly charming as Old Deuteronomy; future stars Terrence Mann and Harry Groener do very good work as the Rum Tum Tugger and Munkustrap; and Timothy Scott and Anna McNeely as Mr. Mistoffelees and Jennyanydots are delightful. Of special note is Stephen Hanan, whose hilarious Bustopher Jones, heartbreaking Gus, and dynamic Growltiger make him a standout. As is the case with the London album, this one is missing a certain amount of material, including some dance music and “The Awful Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles.” But the superb cast and knockout orchestra, under the musical direction of Stanley Lebowsky, make it sound fresher and more vibrant than its predecessor. — M.M.
Film Soundtrack, 2020 (Republic) No stars; not recommended. Tom Hooper’s film adaptation of Cats is a true movie musical disaster, the director providing a master class in how to make every wrong artistic decision from the word “go.” As he did with his film version of Les Mis, Hooper once again required his cast, packed with misused talent, to sing live on set, so as to make the performances seem more “authentic” and less “fantastical.” Did no one tell him this was Cats? Part of what made the stage musical a worldwide phenomenon was its ability to take audiences away from reality; not since Attenborough’s A Chorus Line has a director so misunderstood the assignment. Even without watching the CGI hellscape that Hooper created on screen, one can understand why the film is so critically maligned just from listening to this soundtrack album. Every song is sung with trepidation, as if the cast is never sure what their starting note is or if they’ll even have the breath support to get through it. Performers such as Rebel Wilson (“The Old Gumbie Cat”), Laurie Davidson (“Mr. Mistoffelees”), and Sir Ian McKellen (“Gus: The Theatre Cat”) play with the rhythms and note values of their songs so much that they’re practically unidentifiable. The enlarged orchestrations are fussier and somehow sound more dated than the 80’s originals. A new song for the movie, “Beautiful Ghosts,” was written by Webber and Taylor Swift (who also makes a brief appearance singing “Macavity”) and is sung by a clearly embarrassed Francesca Hayward as Victoria; Swift’s lyrics are filled with empty poetry, and Webber’s melody evaporates into the air. On the credit side, Jason Derulo has fun as Rum Tum Tugger, and Jennifer Hudson delivers a solid if not exceptional “Memory.” But with iconic renditions by Elaine Paige and Betty Buckley already preserved, a solid “Memory” isn’t enough to make this soundtrack even tolerable. Better it be taken to the pound. — Matt Koplik
Caroline, or Change
Original Broadway Cast, 2004 (Hollywood Records, 2CDs) (4 / 5) Tony Kushner writing the book and lyrics for a musical full of inanimate objects? If you did not see Caroline, or Change onstage, you may have difficulty getting past the novelty of a singing washing machine, dryer, radio, bus, and moon — but once you do, this show is revealed to be an attractive and often emotionally explosive folk opera. Jeanine Tesori supplies intriguing and highly listenable music, heavily steeped in the styles of the show’s 1963 setting, for this tale about the relationship between a black woman named Caroline Thibodeaux and the southern Jewish family that employs her as a maid. Tonya Pinkins gives an earth-shaking, all-encompassing performance as Caroline, making the emotionally and musically difficult score sound easy and reaching stratospheric heights in her monumental, five-minute-long, 11-o’clock number “Lot’s Wife.” She receives solid support from such Broadway notables as Veanne Cox, Chuck Cooper, and Alice Playten, while Tony Award-winner Anika Noni Rose is impressive as Caroline’s daughter. Although many of the individual songs are striking in their own right — including the youthfully catchy first-act finale “Roosevelt Petrucius Coleslaw” and “The Chanukah Party,” with its already immortal lyric “Chanukah, oh Chanukah / Oh Dreydl and Menorah! / We celebrate it even though / It isn’t in the Torah!” — this recording is best experienced straight through from beginning to end. — Matthew Murray
Broadway Cast, 2022 (Broadway Records, 2CDs) (3 / 5) Caroline, or Change was not properly appreciated when it premiered on Broadway in 2004, as its complex and uncompromising presentation of race relations proved a hard sell for many audiences and critics. In the years since, the musical’s themes have only grown more relevant, and the quality of the material has finally been recognized by its winning the Best Musical Olivier Award for the London premiere production (a transfer from Broadway) and then, years later, via a much-lauded London revival that eventually was brought to Broadway by the Roundabout Theatre Company. That production yielded this new cast recording, and since the revival made many critics change their tune about this near-opera and give it the high praise it always deserved, you’d think that the cast recording would rival or even surpass the original. But while the singing here is stronger overall (Caissie Levy, in particular, is wildly overqualified vocally for the role of Rose Stopnick), there’s a controlled, studied quality to the proceedings that keeps the album from greatness. While director Michael Longhurst’s production included more elaborate staging than George C. Wolfe’s original, and featured some odd design choices, the recording shows that this revival was extremely faithful to the material as written and performed in 2004, even using the same flawless orchestrations. Joseph Joubert, a co-orchestrator on the original, is on hand as music director, conducting the score crisply but with little fire. Sharon D. Clarke, the lone British performer who transferred with the production, is perhaps more in command of her voice than Pinkins, but her Caroline seems more calculatedly mean; whereas the character’s unpleasantness in Pinkins’ performance seemed to stem from pain and exhaustion, Clarke’s Caroline often sounds like a brooding shark, lying in wait to snap at anyone who crosses her path. It’s an interesting interpretation of the role, though arguably less engaging. On the other hand, Tamika Lawrence proves to be a scene stealer as Dotty, and Harper Miles, Nya, and Nasia Thomas tear into the collective role of The Radio with vocal ferocity. For a work as richly rewarding as Caroline, any new interpretation is welcome; so if this recording doesn’t surpass the original, it’s well-enough done to stand alongside it as a point of comparison and an opportunity to explore more facets to this masterwork. — Matt Koplik
Bounce
Original Cast, 2004 (Nonesuch) (2 / 5) Stephen Sondheim’s first new musical in nearly a decade, Bounce was highly anticipated when it played Chicago and Washington in 2003. Though this recording benefits from the lack of John Weidman’s book, the score doesn’t sound appreciably better here than it did onstage, despite a good orchestra conducted by David Caddick and a top-notch cast including Howard McGillin, Richard Kind, Michele Pawk, Gavin Creel, Herndon Lackey, and Jane Powell. What’s missing is a sense of vivid inspiration, although there are a few nice selections. The title song, sung by McGillin and Kind, is catchy; McGillin and Pawk have an attractive duet in “The Best Thing That Ever Has Happened”; and “Addison’s City” and “Boca Raton” make up an entertaining musical scene that chronicles the Florida land boom. Otherwise, the music has uncomfortable echoes of Sondheim’s superior work in such shows as Sweeney Todd(a vamp in the title song recalls “By the Sea”) and Merrily we Roll Along (Jonathan Tunick’s orchestrations could have been lifted from that show). There’s much here to appreciate, but little to love; Sondheim’s previous scores set the bar so high that a middling effort like this one just doesn’t seem quite good enough. [Ed. Note: Sondheim and Weidman later rewrote this show and retitled it Road Show; see separate review of the recording of that version.] — Matthew Murray
Divorce Me, Darling
Original London Cast, 1964 (Must Close Saturday) (4 / 5) If you saw The Boy Friend and wondered what happened to its characters 10 years later, Sandy Wilson answered that question with this delightful “1930s musical” sequel. It starts with the four “perfect young ladies” exclaiming, “Here We Are in Nice Again.” All the other characters eventually turn up in various disguises. Along the way, both stage and film musicals of the ’30s are affectionately spoofed with catchy pastiche songs. The original London cast is perfection, but it should be noted that Patricia Michael (playing Polly) was “indisposed” during the recording sessions; two of her numbers are sung by Jenny Wren, who does a fine job. The only original Boy Friend cast member in this show was Geoffrey Hibbert as Lord Brocklehurst, who delivers the hilarious “On the Loose.” Other highlights: the title song, performed by almost the entire cast; the mysterious Madame Kay (Joan Heal) in the sultry “Blondes for Danger”; Polly’s lament, “What Ever Happened to Love?”; Bobby’s sly seduction of Polly, “No Harm Done” (Cy Young); and the rhapsodic/comedic “Back Where We Started.” — Jeffrey Dunn
Chichester Festival Cast, 1997 (JAY) (3 / 5) Composer-lyricist Sandy Wilson writes in his notes for this recording that he was not happy with the original West End production of this show, but now, 32 years later, “I have seen Divorce Me, Darling come to life.” In the interim, Wilson had rewritten the book for a small production in 1979; that version is recorded here, and is now the standard performing edition. The recording features several musical theater stalwarts, among them Liliane Montevecchi as Mme. Dubonnet, Ruthie Henshall as Polly, Tim Flavin as Bobby, Linzi Hately as Hortense (the maid from the Villa Caprice, where the “perfect young ladies” were “finished”), Kevin Colson as Percival, and Marti Webb as Hannah-Bobby’s sister, a new character. The album has the same tune stack as the original London cast recording with the addition of “Back to Nature.” Many of the songs have revised lyrics, additional dance music, and lead-in dialogue. Wilson wrote an excellent 1930s pastiche score for Divorce Me, Darling, and this recording does it justice. If I have a slight preference for the previous recording, I wouldn’t want to be without either. — J.D.
Destry Rides Again
Original Broadway Cast, 1958 (Decca) (4 / 5) Harold Rome’s whip-cracking western musical comes complete with good guys, bad guys, saloon girls, respectable prostitutes, and gun fights. The atmospheric Decca cast recording stars Andy Griffith in his only Broadway musical role and Dolores Grey as saloon singer Frenchy, the latter belting up such a storm that it’s a wonder she managed to get through eight performances a week. On CD, from the first notes of the rousing overture, there’s an added crispness that was always lacking on the LP. This only adds to the pleasure of hearing Griffith’s “Tomorrow Morning” (with some great sound effects) and his comedic, double-talking “Only Time Will Tell.” But the album is dominated by Grey’s songs, most notably the sinuous “I Know Your Kind,” the soul-searching ballad “I Say Helio,” and one of the more thrilling examples of this singer’s style: “Fair Warning.” The two leads duet effectively in “Anyone Would Love You” and the plot-motivated reprise of “Once Knew a Fella.” The production number “Are You Ready, Gyp Watson?” is effective even without its brilliant Michael Kidd choreography; “Respectability” is a charming musicalization of what it means to work in a bordello; and “That Ring on the Finger” gives Grey, Rosetta LeNoire (as her spunky maid), and the “working girls” a chance to let go joyously at the prospect of Frenchy getting married. Almost every song on this lively cast album is a winner. — Jeffrey Dunn
Original London Cast, 1982 (JAY) No stars; not recommended. It took Destry Rides Again almost a quarter-century to get from Broadway to London. In the interim, the musical theater had changed greatly on both sides of the Atlantic, so it’s not surprising that what used to be a show with lots of dancing girls, prostitutes, and cowboys was downsized. The London cast of 19 had only three women, which meant the deletion of “Respectability. ” Almost all cast members doubled as the show’s band; the orchestration is reduced to what sounds mainly like guitars and violins with a bass, harmonica, trombone, and a barely audible piano. This approach has a calamitous effect on the score, and musical director Chris Walker must take at least some of the blame for it. Alfred Molina is low-keyed and ineffective as Destry, while Jill Gascoine sounds pained as Frenchy; her singing grates on the ear, and she only partly compensates with her acting. Harold Rome wrote a wonderfully tuneful score for this show, but this recording manages to disguise that fact. — J.D.
A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine
Original Broadway Cast, 1980 (DRG) (2 / 5) Can so trite and scattershot a revue about the joys of moviegoing really have charmed Broadway audiences for 588 performances? Apparently, thanks to a bright young cast including David Garrison and a Tony-winning Priscilla Lopez, and some clever staging by Tommy Tune. But the first half, on disc at least, is dreary indeed: a salute to Richard Whiting here, a tap-danced Production Code number there, some middling additional songs by Jerry Herman (although Lopez does shine in “The Best in the World”), and only Wally Harper’s excellent piano arrangements to spice up the Dick Vosburgh-Frank Lazarus score. Things perk up greatly in Act II, a version of Chekhov’s The Bear as it might have been filmed with the Marx Brothers. Garrison is a super Groucho, Peggy Hewett a model Margaret Dumont, and “Samovar the Lawyer” (“I’m wise to all the loopholes / I haven’t any scroop-holes”) a piece of special material so funny that Groucho himself might have pounced on it. But the ingenuousness is over-peddled — young lovers Kate Draper and Stephen James are actively annoying — and, throughout, the movie satire points are excruciatingly obvious. Still, the recording does have some nice moments, mostly from Lopez and Garrison. — Marc Miller
Das Barbecü
Original Off-Broadway Cast, 1994 (Fynsworth Alley) (3 / 5) This is a country-western musical takeoff on Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, set in Texas. It’s one-of those cases where the show stands on its own but you’re likely to enjoy it more if you’re familiar with the source material. Das Barbecü is filled with clever songs by composer Scott Warrender and lyricist Jim Luigs. The tone is firmly established by the toe-tapping opening number, ”A Ring of Gold in Texas.” Other titles — “Hog-Tie Your Man,” “Rodeo Romeo,” “Slide a Little Closer” — are clues to what the listener is in for. The score also includes some nice ballads, such as “County Fair,” “River of Fire,” and “Wanderin’ Man.” Helping to make this recording highly listenable are the first-rate singing actors Julie Johnson, J. K. Simmons, Jerry McGarity, Sally Mayes, and Carolee Carmello, all of whom play multiple roles including Wotan, Siegfried, Fricka, Brünnhilde, Gutrune, and Alberich. — Michael Portantiere
Darling of the Day
Original Broadway Cast, 1968 (RCA) (4 / 5) This luckless show suffered from constant turnover on the creative team, arriving in New York without a credited librettist and closing after 31 performances. But Darling of the Day, as preserved on this disc, has one of Jule Styne’s most beguiling scores. The book, based on Arnold Bennett’s Married Alive, presents the dilemma of Priam Farll (Vincent Price), a Gauguin-like painter who returns to his loathed England after many years in the South Seas. Appalled by society and the art world, he assumes the identity of his deceased butler, even appropriating the latter’s feisty, marriage-minded pen pal (Patricia Routledge). Everything is perfect until some of Farll’s newer paintings make their way to market, igniting a scandal. Styne’s music is warmly inviting and well matched to E.Y Harburg’s wonderful, eccentric lyrics. (A sample: “It’s so utterly, ghastly beastly / When your life’s all famine without the feastly / And you live so nunnerly and so priestly.”) There’s a sweet quality to the waltz “Let’s See What Happens” and the deeply felt ballad “That Something Extra Special.” Price’s talk-singing can be a trial, but the album approaches greatness every time Routledge lets loose; she’s touching in the quieter numbers and absolutely blissful in such music-hall inspired fare as “It’s Enough to Make a Lady Fall in Love.” Her second-act showstopper “Not on Your Nellie,” a rowdy defense of middle-class life, practically leaps off the disc as Routledge makes sounds that are like nothing you’ve ever heard before. (She won a Tony for her performance.) This is a delightful score that more people should know about. — David Barbour
Dance a Little Closer
Original Broadway Cast, 1987 (TER) (2 / 5) Alan Jay Lerner’s sad farewell to Broadway was this 1983 one-nighter, loosely based on Robert E. Sherwood’s 1936 drama Idiot’s Delight and updated to the Cold War era. Len Cariou stars as entertainer Harry Aikens, working in a posh hotel in the Austrian Alps with his backup trio, The Delights. He encounters the girl who got away (Liz Robertson), now passing as British and sleeping with a Kissinger-like diplomat (George Rose); they play romantic cat-and-mouse games as Europe mobilizes for World War III. Broadway audiences definitely weren’t interested in Lerner’s musings about geopolitical conflict (“We may be headin’ / For Armageddon” goes one notorious couplet). The Act II opener, “Homesick,” is a low point as The Delights wax poetic about Three Mile Island, Love Canal, and the San Andreas Fault. There’s an excruciating subplot involving two gay guys who want an Anglican bishop to marry them, leading to a group theological debate (“I Don’t Know”). But when the score by Lerner and Charles Strouse sticks to a mood of romantic disenchantment, it has a glamorous sheen, and even when the lyrics are ridiculous, Strouse’s music is alluring. Harry’s lament, “There’s Always One You Can’t Forget,” is a great number, and Cynthia’s gold-digging ways are laid out in three sleek items: “No Man Is Worth It,” “Another Life,” and “On Top of the World.” Best of all is the title tune, with its downbeat melody and live-for-the-moment lyrics. Jonathan Tunick’s orchestrations are beautifully world-weary throughout. — David Barbour
Damn Yankees
Original Broadway Cast, 1955 (RCA) (4 / 5) For many musical theater buffs, Damn Yankees defines 1950s Broadway style: all-American in subject matter aria treatment, songs by the hot new team of Richard Adler and Jerry Ross (whose hit The Pajama Game opened the year before), direction by old-pro George Abbott. Baseball may be the show’s surface theme, but it also deals with questions of aging and disappointment as refracted through a modern retelling of the Faust legend with a number of fantasy elements at play, including a natty but nasty devil, a suddenly young hero, and a sassy temptress. Also, the show teases audiences with a sort of April-November romance between the young man and the wife of his former, older self. That’s not to say this is a dark musical in sum; its serious notions never become grim and, midway through the first act, it’s galvanized by the brassy allure of Lola, the devil’s choice glamor girl. Gwen Verdon created the role in 1955, and Damn Yankees has been under her flame-haired spell ever since. While the original cast album can’t give us her legendary dance moves, it does present her fetching vocalism in its freshest form. “Whatever Lola Wants” is essential for the archives, and “A Little Brains, a Little Talent” is not far behind. Fortunately, the rest of the cast doesn’t fade by comparison. Stephen Douglass was one of the best Broadway baritones of his time, and he’s teamed with the appealingly homespun Meg of Shannon Bolin. Russ Brown expertly growls “Heart,” Rae Allen is up to the belting of “Shoeless Joe,” and Ray Walston reminisces amusingly in the devilish “Those Were the Good Old Days.” This first recording of Damn Yankees is an apt souvenir of a show and an era. — Richard Barrios
Film Soundtrack, 1958 (RCA) (2 / 5) Co-directed by George Abbott and cinema pro Stanley Donen, Damn Yankees didn’t fare as well on screen as the other Adler-Ross transfer, The Pajama Game. But most of the Broadway leads recreated their roles in the film, and movie star Tab Hunter makes a perfectly acceptable Joe Hardy; Hunter sounds OK here, partly because the role’s more challenging songs (“A Man Doesn’t Know” and “Near to You”) were eliminated. A feeble new tune, “There’s Something About an Empty Chair,” is sung as a solo by Shannon Bolin. Vocally, Hunter teams well with Verdon on “Two Lost Souls.” Again in blissful form, Verdon is partnered in “Who’s Got the Pain?” by future husband Bob Fosse, who choreographed Yankees (and Pajama Game) for both stage and screen. Walston is an even more snide Satan, Brown sings “Heart” with brio, and Jean Stapleton’s distinctive soprano wails in a supporting role. The soundtrack benefits from expanded orchestrations by Ray Heindorf; an instrumental cut of “Whatever Lola Wants,” used as background scoring, is especially lush. But it should be noted that the early-stereo-era sound is somewhat shallow and glassily reverberant. This, along with that dull “Chair” song, puts this enjoyable recording a notch or two below the original. — R.B.
Broadway Cast, 1994 (Mercury) (2 / 5) Perhaps Damn Yankees is too light a musical to merit a full-scale, reimagined revival in the manner of Cabaret or Carousel. Still, one might have wished for something more than the entertaining but uninspired treatment given the show in this production. In the role of Lola, Bebe Neuwirth is tireless, fun, and pert, but not great. Victor Garber makes an adequate devil without adding any new dimensions to the role. The one arresting new performer is Tony-winner Jarrod Emick, whose Young Joe winningly manages to combine Stephen Douglass’ vocal authority with Tab Hunter’s boyish charm (although Emick’s voice has more of a tenorish timbre than Douglass’s baritone). Linda Stephens is a far more youthful-sounding Meg than Shannon Bolin, so some of the poignancy of the Meg-Young Joe relationship is missing here. Vicki Lewis and seasoned pro Dick Latessa do very well with their big numbers. This is the fullest recording of Damn Yankees, with a longer Overture and the trial scene included. But having Lola sing “Two Lost Souls” with Applegate rather than with Joe Hardy makes no sense, and the numerous dialogue scenes included here do not add to the listening experience. — R.B.
Dames at Sea
Original Off-Broadway Cast, 1969 (Columbia/Sony) (5 / 5) Jim Wise, George Haimsohn, and Robin Miller’s ingenious salute to the Busby Berkeley movie musicals of the early ’30s never hits a false note. The show’s spoofing is so expert and affectionate that its first production in a Greenwich Village cafe soon made its way to the Bouwerie Lane and then to the Theatre de Lys, where it ran and ran. This album replaces the show’s two-piano accompaniment with wonderful full-orchestra arrangements by Jonathan Tunick, an orchestrator as talented as the hopefuls onstage. The central joke of the original production was staging huge production numbers in a tiny space with a cast of six. Of those original players, only Bernadette Peters went on to stardom. While she’s an adorable Ruby, the others are just as expert and lovable: Tamara Long’s temperamental star; Sally Stark’s best-buddy blonde; Steve Elmore as the producer and sea captain; and David Christmas as Dick, a songwriting sailor (“Why, I can see it now! As if it were happening on this very stage!”). As Lucky, Joseph R. Sicari partners Stark nimbly in “Choo-Choo Honeymoon” and is ingratiating in “Singapore Sue.” A nod to the CD booklet’s evocative production stills and to Marc Kirkeby’s smart notes. — Marc Miller
Original London Cast, 1969 (Columbia/Sony Masterworks Broadway) (3 / 5) After its New York success, Dames at Sea quickly sped across the Atlantic, and this cast album shares some of the pluses and minuses of the later London revival recording: extra dialogue, an extra dance break or two, and orchestrations that are annoyingly thin reductions of the Jonathan Tunick originals. The cast seems to have listened to the original off-Broadway recording a fair amount, and Sheila White’s winsome, corn-fed Ruby evokes Bernadette Peters, sometimes to a scary degree. Her Dick, Blayne Barrington, is appropriately earnest and enthusiastic. William Ellis’s Lucky has a little more voice and a little less personality than Joseph Sicari’s, while with Rita Burton’s Joan, it’s vice versa. Joyce Blair, a popular U.K. leading lady, plows through Mona’s songs without much individuality; her “Beguine,” opposite Kevin Scott, doesn’t achieve the rapturous heights attained by Tamara Long and Steve Elmore. As is the case with the recordings reviewed below, this one isn’t a must-have, but it’s nice listening with some enjoyable moments. — M.M.
Television Cast, 1971 (Kritzerland) (2 / 5) NBC-TV trotted out Dames at Sea as a starry one-hour special in 1971, with a chorus, new orchestrations, and even a smattering of new lyrics. No soundtrack album was commercially released at the time, only a promo LP. Nearly 50 years later, Kritzerland cleaned up that mono tape and released it on CD . The recording is notable for its cast, especially the three ladies: Ann-Margret (Ruby), Anne Meara (Joan), and a divinely brassy Ann Miller (Mona). Also nice to hear are Harvey Evans in a rare lead as Dick, ably supported by Fred Gwynne as Hennessy and Dick Shawn as the Captain. Elliot Lawrence conducts ably, and nobody can sell “Wall Street” or “That Mister Man of Mine” like Ann Miller. That said, the album only presents about half the score, with ultra-brief renditions of “It’s You” and “Good Times Are Here to Stay.” Anne Meara really can’t sing, and even Ann-Margret sounds rather wispy on “Raining in My Heart.” Track down a video if you can, as the show is fun to watch, but there are better Dames at Sea recordings out there. [Note: This CD also includes selections from I’m a Fan, a 1972 TV special with music by LeRoy Holmes, lyrics by Carolyn Leigh, and a cast including Dick Van Dyke, Carol Channing, Donna McKechnie, Karen Morrow, and Mary Louise Wilson.] — M.M.
London Cast, 1989 (JAY) (3 / 5) It’s hard to top the original cast album of Dames at Sea, and though this recording has its pleasures, it offers no real competition. However, it does contain more dialogue — lines that are so grin-inducing, you’ll wish the original recording had more. Josephine Blake is a terrific Mona Kent, a larger-than-life cartoon of the Temperamental Star with a snarling delivery and a versatile voice. Paul Robinson is appealing as Dick, and the other men are fine, too, but Tina Doyle’s Ruby lacks individuality, and Sandra Dickinson’s squeaky-voiced Joan lacks color. Jonathan Tunick’s orchestrations have been reduced and synthesized; the results have so little to do with a ’30s sound that going back to the original two-piano arrangement would have been smarter. Two chorus people have been added to the cast of six, and in a musical with a postage-stamp quality as the soul of its wit, that feels like cheating. — M.M.
Cyrano
Original Broadway Cast, 1974 (A&M, 2LPs/Decca) (4 / 5) This musical, based on Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac, boasts a wonderful translation and adaptation by Anthony Burgess, whose exquisitely poetic book and lyrics hew closely to his previously existing translation of the classic play. Also outstanding is the music of Michael J. Lewis — melodic, stirring, and well suited to the story, even if the orchestrations by Philip J. Lang fall short. Christopher Plummer gave one of his greatest performances as Cyrano, and though the quality of his singing voice is not great, it’s more than good enough for the type of songs Lewis and Burgess crafted for the character, which are far more dependent on acting ability than sheer vocal prowess. On the other hand, Leigh Beery as Roxana (as the character’s name is spelled in the musical) is an excellent singer; her performance of “You Have Made Me Love” is, in fact, one of the finest renditions of a musical theater ballad ever recorded. This gorgeous, relatively unknown song is a gem as worthy of fame as “Some Enchanted Evening,” for it’s just as romantic and stirring. The cast recording, mixed like a 1960s pop album, has a tinny sound quality and lacks vibrancy. But it does include much of the show’s dialogue, magnificently acted by Plummer, who justly won a Tony Award for his performance. One can only hope that Cyrano will someday be revived with an actor of Plummer’s caliber in the leading role. — Gerard Alessandrini