Original Broadway Cast, 2008 (Ghostlight, 2CDs) (4 / 5) Winner of 2008 Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Orchestrations, In the Heights was the first Broadway musical hit to use rap as an essential storytelling component in a score that blends Latin musical styles with hip-hop sensibilities. Set in the Latin-American community of Manhattan’s Washington Heights, the show nestles sentimental stories of first- and second-generation immigrants pursuing their various American dreams and romances amid larger themes concerning notions of home and gentrification. The Grammy Award winning cast album, a two-disc set, preserves the entirety of a dynamic score with both music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who also conceived the show and played the leading role of bodega-owner Usnavi. Fueled by high-octane horns and propulsive percussion, the passion-filled orchestrations by Alex Lacamoire and Bill Sherman support Miranda’s dramatic rapping and the superb singing of the other leads. If you don’t like salsa, merengue, Latin jazz, and hip-hop, you’re out of luck here; but even if the score overall is somewhat lacking in variety, the lengthy individual numbers are built of different-sounding sections. They mix diverse styles, tempi, rhythms, instruments, dynamic levels, and vocal qualities (both spoken and sung), constituting variegated musical journeys unto themselves. Most of the songs also integrate lots of funny, interestingly detailed, and/or emotionally touching dialogue, lending a potent theatricality to what is essentially a pop-music score. Album highlights include “When You’re Home,” a snappy duet performed by Mandy Gonzalez and Christopher Jackson as the show’s young lovers, Nina and Benny; the tear-jerkers “Everything I Know” and “Inutil,” gorgeously sung by Gonzalez and Carlos Gomez, respectively; “Benny’s Dispatch,” a rhythmic treat; and the exciting ensemble number “Carnaval del Barrio.” — Lisa Jo Sagolla

Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, 2021 (Atlantic) (4 / 5) Retaining the Broadway show’s heart-warming plot lines, likable characters, and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s infectious rap and Latin-pop score, the movie adaptation of In the Heights shifts the focus of the musical’s exploration of “home” from the inter-personal dynamics of a family unit to the larger sense of community shared within their urban neighborhood. The film excises six of the show’s bittersweet, family-related and character-developing solos and duets, and evolves most of the remaining songs into huge production numbers that fill the screen with hordes of dancing bodies. The resulting soundtrack album is, thus, an invigorating collection of mostly upbeat, similarly structured tracks of pop music that may launch quietly but build into full-blown ensemble excitement. Produced by Miranda, Alex Lacamoire, Bill Sherman, and Greg Wells, these percussion-heavy tracks often strike an imperfect balance, volume-wise, between vocals and instrumentals. Unlike the original cast album, with its bright Broadway voices bursting out amid lots of brassy punctuation, here we have thinner pop-style singing competing with louder, fuller orchestrations. One often wishes the words were easier to discern, as the soundtrack CD’s accompanying booklet provides no lyrics. Though shorter than the Broadway recording by about 30 minutes, the soundtrack album contains one newly-written song by Miranda, “Home All Summer.” Featuring the singing of Latin-music superstar Marc Anthony, it exudes a Latin dance-club sensibility as it plays over the film’s closing credits. The soundtrack outshines the Broadway album on two tracks: “The Club,” with electrifying instrumental dance breaks arranged by Oscar Hernández; and “When the Sun Goes Down,” its shimmering orchestrations enriching the ballad’s romantic qualities. Otherwise, one’s choice of the more satisfying album may depend largely on whether one prefers Miranda’s bitingly rhythmic, musically exhilarating rapping or the less-stylized, emotion-laden delivery of Anthony Ramos, who in the film portrays the leading role of Usnavi, created onstage by Miranda. In the climactic “Finale” on the Broadway recording Miranda’s rapping thrills with sharp, spine-tingling musicality, while on the soundtrack, Ramos’s more actorly approach makes one genuinely feel the musical’s celebratory message. — Lisa Jo Sagolla

Original Off-Broadway Cast, 2006 (PS Classics) (3 / 5) Based on Albert and David Maysles’ fascinating 1975 documentary film of the same name, the musical Grey Gardens depicts the dysfunctional relationship between Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter, Edie, and the shocking squalor into which they had descended by the mid-1970s. The aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, the eccentric, elderly Edith and 56-year-old Edie were discovered residing in a filthy Long Island mansion overrun with cats and wild raccoons. While the musical’s second act takes place in 1973 and replicates much of the film’s ghastly content, the first act is a fictionalized confluence of three real-life events that likely impelled the socialites’ downfall: Edith’s father rebuking her, Joe Kennedy, Jr. inexplicably breaking off his engagement to Edie, and Edith’s husband secretly running off to Mexico to obtain a divorce. Though Christine Ebersole gives a tour-de-force performance in the leading dual role (playing Edith in the first act, Edie in the second), and Doug Wright’s penetrating book is buttressed by well-crafted songs by Scott Frankel and Michael Korie, the original Off-Broadway cast album of Grey Gardens can make for difficult listening. Aside from “Another Winter in a Summer Town,” a poetic ballad, and “The Revolutionary Costume for Today,” an amusing illustration of Edie’s idiosyncratic sense of fashion, the score’s primary attractions are its pastiche evocations of once-popular song genres, ranging from minstrelsy to marches, jazz, soft-shoe, gospel, and those beloved waltz-songs commonly used in musicals as emblems of nostalgia. However, the album also preserves much of the songs’ internal and contextualizing dialogue, most of which is argumentative or otherwise unpleasant and therefore compromises the aesthetic appeal of the music. While it is a representative souvenir of the stage production, this is the kind of album likely to sit on one’s shelf. — Lisa Jo Sagolla

Original Broadway Cast, 2007 (PS Classics) (5 / 5) Upon the opening of the Broadway production of Grey Gardens (and the release of the Broadway cast recording), the creative team deemed it the definitive version of their show and requested the discontinuation of the cast album of  the original Off-Broadway production, turning that recording into a collector’s item. Considering the musical’s generally grim story about former First Lady Jackie Kennedy’s peculiar aunt and pitiful cousin, Edith and Edie, who wind up living in sickening seediness, the Broadway album is a surprisingly fun listen. In its revamping, the musical lost four of its least inspired songs and gained three shiny new ones. Whereas the Off-Broadway album opens with a scratchy old recording of Edith singing “Toyland” that gets drowned out by the mother and daughter bickering, the Broadway album launches with the newly written “The Girl Who Has Everything,” an optimistic tune set within a conversation of pleasant reminiscing. The new song “Goin’ Places,” sung by Edie and her boyfriend, Joe Kennedy, Jr. (before he jilts her), substitutes a showy jazz number with upbeat lyrics about Joe’s future for Off-Broadway’s “Better Fall Out of Love,” a downer emphasizing why Joe and Edie aren’t right for each other. While the plodding “Tomorrow’s Woman” from Off-Broadway was simply eliminated, the spirited march “Being Bouvier” was re-constituted as “Marry Well,” changing the song from a cold military man’s boasting to warmer-toned advice for young girls from a concerned grandpa. The album also benefits from sparkling new orchestrations by Bruce Coughlin; the only major casting change made for the Broadway transfer, namely the replacement of Sara Gettelfinger by the superior singer Erin Davie as Edie in the first act; and the trimming of the unsettling dialogue that weighed down the Off-Broadway recording, which makes it easier for us to appreciate the humorous aspects of the story of poor, pathetic Edith and Edie. — L.J.S.

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

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

Original Broadway Cast, 1966 (Columbia/Sony) (3 / 5) This show seemed to have so much going for it, with a central character beloved by millions through the comic books and a popular television series. Composer Charles Strouse and lyricist Lee Adams asked David Newman and Robert Benton to write a book for a proposed musical with Superman as its central character; Harold Prince agreed to produce and direct the show. It’s a Bird . .. It’s a Plane . .. It’s Superman opened to four good reviews, including a rave from New York Times critic Stanley Kauffman. But, for some reason, audiences did not flock to the show, and it ran only 129 performances. That was surely not the fault of the songs; this is a good-natured, humorous score, as colorful as the comic book characters it portrays. Reporter Jimmy Olsen is missing from the action, and Perry White is a small, non-singing role, but many new characters were created for the musical. Gossip columnist Max Mencken was played by Jack Cassidy to a fare-thee-well, and the role of his secretary marked a major career step for Linda Lavin. These two get the best of the songs: Cassidy’s suave, amusing seduction of Lois Lane, “The Woman for the Man,” is a showstopper, as is Lavin’s counter-attempt to seduce Clark Kent with “You’ve Got Possibilities.” This number and her “love song” to Max, “Ooh, Do You Love You,” allow Lavin to unleash her powerful belt voice, heard infrequently on Broadway. Cassidy has two other terrific numbers, “So Long, Big Guy” and his vaudeville-style duet with the villainous Dr. Sedgwick (Michael O’Sullivan), “You’ve Got What I Need.” The songs for Superman/Clark Kent are mostly tongue-in-cheek; Bob Holliday, who was a good physical match for the role, displays a first-class baritone and delivers “Doing Good” and “The Strongest Man in the World” impressively. The character of Lois Lane, played by Patricia Marand, is treated pretty much like a traditional musical comedy heroine; she pines for you-know-who in “It’s Superman,” a lament that’s both wistful and amusing. (In Act II, this song becomes a super ensemble number.) Marand also has a nifty duet with Don Chastain as scientist Jim Morgan, titled “We Don’t Matter At All,” and after he becomes her love interest, she sings the plaintive “What I’ve Always Wanted.” As bonus tracks, the CD edition of the cast album offers demos of three deleted songs plus a version of “You’ve Got Possibilities” with notably different lyrics, all performed stylishly by Strouse and Adams. — Jeffrey Dunn

Original Off-Broadway Cast, 2002 (JAY) (3 / 5) Based on It, the 1927 film that starred Clara Bow, The It Girl is a small-scale, 1920s-style musical comedy. It was presented Off-Broadway by the York Theatre Company almost a year before the Broadway opening of Thoroughly Modern Millie, a show it resembles in some respects. Jean Louisa Kelly stars as Betty Lou Spence, a spitfire flapper-type who sets New York aflame with her unique brand of style and sexual appeal. The cast also includes Jonathan Dokuchitz as the object of her affection, Jessica Boevers as the object of his semi-affection, and Stephen DeRosa as the dandy who sets the frantic plot in motion. All of the performers are talented if not exactly bursting with charisma, and the songs provided by composer Paul McKibbins and lyricist B.T. McNicholl are drenched in ’20s rhythms and lively ragtime arrangements. The score’s standout is Boevers’ comic number “A Perfect Plan,” in which she details the peaks and valleys of her troubled love life. A tribute to “Coney Island” is bouncy and tuneful, “Why Not?” is a another cheerfully upbeat entry, and the almost title song “It” is catchy enough to get stuck in your head.  — Matthew Murray

Original Broadway Cast, 1982 (Original Cast Records) (5 / 5) If this show had opened Off-Broadway instead of on Broadway in 1982, it might have run a lot longer.  Is There Life After High School? represents some of the best work of Craig Carnelia, an extraordinarily talented composer-lyricist who later wrote lyrics only to Marvin Hamlisch’s music for the score of Sweet Smell of Success. With a book by Jeffrey Kindley, the show is about the painful, wonderful experience of high school as viewed in retrospect by a group of young adults. The opening (and closing) number, “The Kid Inside,” is a highlight; the song offers spot-on observations about grown-ups who cling to their inner children, and the soaring musical phrase that’s sung to the words “There (s)he goes again” is a real ear worm. Among the show’s cleverest sequences is “Second Thoughts,” in which five people wonder what would have happened if they’d said or done things differently at pivotal moments in high school. Another standout is the beautiful song in which four women recall every detail of their earliest romantic encounters, even though “Nothing Really Happened.” Then there’s the hilarious ”I’m Glad You Didn’t Know Me” (in high school), sung by a couple to each other. (“Picture a phony / Doin’ the pony,” she sings; “Speaking of fears / I had an erection the whole four years,” he admits.) But the most precious gem of the score is probably “Fran and Janie,” a gorgeous tearjerker about two inseparable high school friends encountering each other years later. The estimable performers are Harry Groener, Maureen Silliman, Alma Cuervo, Sandy Faison, Raymond Baker, Cynthia Carle, David Patrick Kelly, Philip Hoffman, and James Widdoes.  — Michael Portantiere

Original London Cast, 1958 (Philips/Sepiano CD) (4 / 5) This recording was not released in CD format until 2008. It will come as something of a revelation to those who only know Irma la Douce from the original Broadway cast recording. While the three London stars — Elizabeth Seal, Keith Michell, and Clive Revill — and director Peter Brook were all imported to Broadway, the London recording offers a great deal of dialogue that reveals the story with more clarity than on the subsequent Broadway cast album (see review below). Many of the lyrics are different, and there is a truly charming Act II reprise of “Our Language of Love,” in which Irma expresses her feelings about Nestor while he is in prison. In the ballet, we can hear the prison break, and we learn of Irma’s pregnancy and other plot details. The only disappointment is Seal’s delivery of the title song; she does a much better job on the Broadway recording. Other than that, the London LP captures the essence of a most unusual show, and the three leads are perhaps a little warmer and less slick here than they became by the time the show reached New York.  — Jeffrey Dunn

Original Broadway Cast, 1960 (Columbia/Sony) (4 / 5) One of very few French musicals to earn success in London and in New York,  Irma la Douce went through some changes in each country, but this recording retains enough Gallic charm mixed with Broadway know-how to satisfy all but the most curmudgeonly of FrancophiIes. That’s particularly evident in the orchestrations of André Popp (additional orchestrations by Robert Ginzler, dance music by John Kander), with the obligatory accordion and a stylish xylophone often dominating. The overture is an old-fashioned attention-grabber. The opening number is “Valse Milieu,” in which Clive Revill as Bob-Ie-Hotu — who narrates the story and plays numerous other roles — sets up the plot and defines the French words that are sprinkled throughout the piece: poule for prostitute, mec for pimp, grisbi for money, and so on. The fanciful tale tells how one of Irma’s clients, Nestor, falls so in love with her that he wants to become her only client. The music is by Marguerite Monnot, composer of many songs popularized by Edith Piaf; the original French book and lyrics by Alexandre Breffort were cleverly adapted into English by Julian More, David Heneker, and Monty Norman. London leads Elizabeth Seal, Keith Michell, and Clive Revill also starred in the Broadway production. Seal, who won a Tony Award for her performance, is a singing actress whose personality jumps from a recording. Michell as Nestor has a beefy, full-bodied sound in the love duets, is comedic in “Wreck of a Mec,” and is magnificent in the haunting “From a Prison Cell.” Revill is especially funny in the climactic “But.” The all-male ensemble is excellent in “Sons of France,” “She’s Got the Lot,” and “Christmas Child.” There is also an extended sequence that ends up in an “Arctic Ballet” complete with penguins! It doesn’t make much sense, but the dance music is terrific. In his New York Herald Tribune review of Irma la Douce, Walter Kerr wrote: “If an original cast album is made available in your neighborhood, get it.” Take Mr. Kerr’s advice. — J.D.

Broadway Cast, 1973 (Columbia/Sony) (4 / 5) Encouraged by the success of the 1971 Broadway revisal of No, No, Nannette, producer Harry Rigby and colleagues reworked and mounted Irene, a musical that had been a hit in 1919 but had hardly ever been performed since the 1930s — even though it included such Harry Tierney-Joseph McCarthy songs as the monster hit “Alice Blue Gown.” The buoyant headliner of the new Irene was Debbie Reynolds, who gave her pluckiest performance since the film version of The Unsinkable Molly Brown and helped turn the show into a hit. Happily, her gutsy portrayal is well preserved on the cast album. Reynolds’ rendition of “The World Must Be Bigger Than an Avenue,” a new song by Wally Harper, is dynamite. Other outstanding moments belong to George S. Irving in a Tony Award-winning performance as “Madame Lucy,” and Patsy Kelly, direct from her Tony-winning triumph in No, No, Nanette, as Irene’s mother. More star presence is provided by Monte Markham as Donald S. Marshall III and Ruth Warrick as his mother. The recording was artfully produced by the great Thomas Z. Shepard at the peak of his expertise. — Gerard Alessandrini

London Cast, 1976 (EMI/no CD) (4 / 5) This bouncy, well-performed London Irene stars the excellent Australian performer Julie Anthony. The arrangements and orchestrations are almost identical to those of the Broadway revisal, and they sound bright and crisp as recorded here. Under conductor Ralph Burns’ excellent baton, the chorus numbers are particularly spirited and exciting. As Irene, Anthony shows off a thrilling voice with much gusto, and she can belt out a show-stopper and then turn around and deliver a soft, tender ballad very effectively. The strong supporting cast includes Jon Pertwee, Jessie Evans, and Eric Flynn. As Donald, Flynn does an excellent job with a lovely old song that wasn’t in the Broadway production, “I Can Dream, Can’t I?” Another added treat is the ballad “If Only He Knew,” persuasively rendered by Anthony. This is an unusual London cast album in that the singers sound like authentic American musical theater performers, and the sound quality of the recording is superb. — G.A.

Studio Cast, 1985 (Polygram) (3 / 5) Richard Rodgers’ musical imagination persisted throughout his life, despite depression, a heart attack, and cancer of the vocal cords. His final show opened just seven months before he died. It was a musical version of I Remember Mama, a play written by John Van Druten and adapted from Mama’s Bank Account, a collection of stories by Kathryn Forbes. The play had also inspired a movie and a television series.) In all its incarnations, the story is about a Norwegian family living in San Francisco around 1910. But, foremost, it’s about Mama, a woman of little education who has a naturally liberal turn of mind. Rodgers wrote the musical with librettist Thomas Meehan and lyricist-director Martin Charnin. Film actress Liv Ullmann, who was not a gifted singer, played the title role. During the out-of-town tryout, producers Alexander Cohen and Hildy Parks brought in a new director, Cy Feuer, and a new lyricist, Raymond Jessel. Amid the chaos of the pre-Broadway tour, Rodgers created six new songs in two weeks. The show opened on Broadway in May 1979 to largely disparaging reviews and closed three months later. Still, Mama proves that even a lower-tier work by Rodgers is superior to almost anyone else’s best effort, and in songs such as “You Could Not Please Me More” and “Time,” the music soars above the pedestrian lyrics. No cast album of the show was made; this studio recording was produced by Norman Newell, with John Yap as executive producer and Theodore S. Chapin as coordinating producer. Parts of it were recorded on either side of the Atlantic to accommodate a dream cast of American and British performers. George Hearn as Papa and George S. Irving as Uncle Chris recreate their Broadway roles; Sally Ann Howes replaces Ullmann as Mama; Ann Morrison plays Katrin, the writer who immortalizes Mama in magazine fiction; Gay Soper is Mama’s benevolent sister; Patricia Routledge is Aunt Jenny; Elizabeth Seal is Aunt Sigrid; and Sian Phillips appears as a British novelist. In the lively “Easy Come, Easy Go” and the acidic “It’s Going to Be Good to Be Gone,” Irving shows off the stuff that made him one of the theater’s great comedic assets. The recording’s high point is the Routledge-Seal duet “A Most Disagreeable Man.” — Charles Wright

Original Off-Broadway Cast, 1979 (Original Cast Records) (5 / 5) Long before the William Finn character known simply as Marvin experienced joy and pain in March of the Falsettos, Falsettoland, or the amalgam known and celebrated as Falsettos, he was introduced in this 1979 work. The show never achieved the prominence of Finn’s other “Marvin Musicals,” but it’s by far the most tuneful. Finn’s lyrics here are sometimes tough to understand; the opening song, “Marvin’s Giddy Seizures,” suggests that In Trousers will be about an epileptic rather than a bisexual who’s leaving his wife for a man (Whizzer, who never appears in the show, although he’s frequently referenced). But, oh, what a glorious set of Finn melodies! “High School Ladies at Five O’Clock” is an infectious number that will have you playing it over again and again. “Whizzer Going Down” might be described as an Americanized version of Edith Piaf’s irresistible “Milord,” and what could be a higher compliment than that? “How Marvin Eats His Breakfast” doesn’t just have a memorable melody, but also a fascinating lyric: We get a young child’s point of view in wanting to eat right now. In this song and others, Chip Zien as Mavin is sensational in his first major role. — Peter Filichia

Original Broadway Cast, 1987 (RCA) (3 / 5) One of Stephen Sondheim’s most commercially successful shows, Into the Woods has one of his least distinctive scores. Perhaps he wasn’t really inspired by the fairy tale setting or the characters, most of them lifted from famous stories, or perhaps he and librettist-director James Lapine thought that making the characters self-aware and having them face the realities of “happily ever after” was enough? Aside from an interesting song or two — “No One Is Alone,” “Children Will Listen” — there’s not a lot of “here” here. Considering the setting, the tunes aren’t particularly magical, and some of the lyrics (“There’s no time to sit and dither / While her withers wither with her”) are forced in their cleverness. But the recording showcases some top-notch performers: Bernadette Peters milks the role of the worldly wise witch for all it’s worth; Joanna Gleason brings a thrilling vibe to the part of the Baker’s Wife; and Chip Zien is a neurotic joy as the Baker himself. Tom Aldredge as the narrator, Kim Crosby as Cinderella, Ben Wright as Jack, Danielle Ferland as Little Red Riding Hood, and Kay McClelland and Lauren Mitchell as Cinderella’s bitchy stepsisters are also great. The video of the original Broadway production is a better representation of Into the Woods, but if you can’t find it, this recording will do. — Matthew Murray

Original London Cast, 1991 (RCA) (2 / 5) This is a nice complement to the original Broadway album, but in no way equal to it. With the exception of Julia McKenzie’s fiercely acted and sung Witch, there’s a stodginess exhibited by many of the leads; Ian Bartholomew and Imelda Staunton lack the distinctive personalities that Zien and Gleason brought to the roles of the Baker and his Wife, and other cast members are similarly challenged by the material. A new song here for the Witch and Rapunzel, “Our Little World,” is musically attractive, but it spoils the original show’s joke about Rapunzel never singing real lyrics, and it doesn’t further the relationship between the two characters.  — M.M.

Broadway Cast, 2002 (Nonesuch) (1 / 5) Almost none of the charm of the original production of Into the Woods survived in the misbegotten revival that yielded this recording. With the exception of Laura Benanti, who brings a purity to Cinderella, these performers are weak. Stephen DeRosa and Kerry O’Malley as the Baker and his Wife are personality-free, and Marylouise Burke massacres much of Jack’s Mother’s music. Vanessa Williams is the dullest Witch imaginable; her singing is adequate at best and grating at worst. Other liabilities include the thinned-down sound of Jonathan Tunick’s orchestrations and the relentless tinkering with the script and score. Some of the changes are unnecessary — for example, the insertion of “Our Little World” and the addition of a second wolf and three pigs to “Hello, Little Girl.” Others are bizarre and damaging, such as having Jack and Little Red chime in on what used to be Cinderella’s big solo, “On the Steps of the Palace.” — M.M.

Film Soundtrack, 2014 (Walt Disney) (3 / 5) For Sondheim die-hards, no production of Into the Woods ever will, ever could surpass the first, with its robust, indelible performances captured forever on audio as well as video. But the 2014 film version is surprisingly strong, due in no small part to the high quality of its Hollywood-minded casting, and the soundtrack captures this rendition’s strengths while obscuring its flaws. Meryl Streep makes a zesty Witch, singing with conviction (if not always beauty) and playing well opposite the Baker (James Corden at his Everyman best) and his wife (Emily Blunt, in a particularly intelligent performance). Anna Kendrick brings a palpable spunk to her thoughtful Cinderella. As the Princes, Chris Pine and (especially) Billy Magnussen capture the right notes of stuffed-shirt self-indulgence, and the luxurious casting of Tracey Ullman and Christine Baranski as Jack’s Mother and Cinderella’s Stepmother ensure that these roles don’t get short shrift in terms of comedy. There’s definitely room to quibble: The changes to the original material, including the cutting of a few songs, don’t really serve the property well; Johnny Depp is too weird to be threatening as the Wolf; and while Lilla Crawford as Little Red Riding Hood and Daniel Huttlestone as Jack do well by their songs, they’re too young and unseasoned to give their characters the complexities they need. But combine all that does work with a gorgeous-sounding orchestra (playing expanded versions of Jonathan Tunick’s orchestrations under original conductor Paul Gemignani), and the result is a better stage-to-screen translation than all but the most fervent Sondheim acolytes had any right to hope for. — M.M.

Broadway Cast, 2022 (Craft Recordings) (3 / 5) Here we have an Into the Woods that went back to the basics. Director Lear deBessonet’s acclaimed revival took an approach counter to that of the several productions over the years that have clouded the musical’s virtues with outlandish designs, misguided concepts, and detrimental rewrites. Instead, deBessonet and her ensemble simply presented the show as it was originally written, and the approach was most welcome. That isn’t to say that the resulting cast album is perfect, or even the best one that exists. While this is perhaps the best sung Woods on record, and the crisp, balanced audio give us the best capture of Jonathan Tunick’s original orchestrations to date, there are still some flaws, including a rather lackadaisical energy to the lovely-sounding performances. Sara Bareilles is the most endearing Baker’s Wife since Joanna Gleason, and her smooth alto fits Sondheim’s score perfectly, but she and Brian d’Arcy James’s Baker often come across as laid back rather than motivated and driven. Similarly, Patina Miller’s Witch is a bit too restrained and controlled to give “Stay with Me” the bleeding heart or “Last Midnight” the wild thrills that Bernadette Peters so memorably brought to these songs. Most of the rest of the cast is similarly rich vocally but casual dramatically. One exception, though not in a good way, is Julia Lester’s Little Red; while a standout on stage, Lester did not scale down her performance for the recording medium, and so she comes off as overly brash in the part. Still, because of the quality of the voices, one will likely find much to enjoy in listening to Bareilles’ “Moments in the Woods,” Phillipa Soo as Cinderella in “No One Is Alone,” and “Agony” with an entertaining Gavin Creel (Cinderella’s Prince) and Joshua Henry (Rapunzel’s Prince). It may just be that no cast album of Into the Woods will ever be able to fully capture what makes the show special, but a strong recording of the material with no intrusive embellishments is a pleasure to hear. — Matt Koplik

Original Cast Members, 1948 (SHB-Show-Biz Productions/Sepia) (3 / 5) Almost forgotten today but the second-longest-running revue of 1948, this Howard Dietz-Arthur Schwartz opus inspired by John Gunther’s best-seller had a starry cast, yielded two minor hit ballads (“Haunted Heart” and “Rhode Island Is Famous for You”), and displayed some of the old ingenuity that peppered the team’s 1930s revue output. The reconstituted cast album, assembled from scratchy 78s and topping out at 28 minutes, boasts no rediscovered gems but shows off its cast ably; and the opening title number, with a lobotomized-sounding chorus exuding “The USA is gay, uproarious / In a glorious way,” fully evokes mid-century nationalism. Pearl Bailey exudes her patented lazy hauteur in “Protect Me” and “Blue Grass,” while Jack Haley puts over all of the playful “Rhode Island” puns (“Pencils come from Pennsylvania / Vests from Vest Virginia / And tents from Tentassee”). Beatrice Lillie plays a happy convict in “Atlanta,” a deranged choral director in “Come, O Come,” and a jolly reveler in “Mardi Gras.” Billy Williams, not of the original company, somehow landed on the album; he delivers an undistinguished cowboy ballad. The cast of the show also included Jack Cassidy in the chorus and Carl Reiner delivering monologues but, alas, you won’t hear them here. [Note: The Sepia CD release also includes selections from The Band Wagon with Fred and Adele Astaire.] — Marc Miller

Original Off-Broadway Cast, 1978 (Columbia/Fynsworth Alley/Masterworks Broadway) (3 / 5) The book and lyrics are by Gretchen Cryer, who also plays the lead character, Heather. The music is by Nancy Ford. These two had teamed previously on unsuccessful shows, but I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road finally put them on the map. Heather, well played and sung by Cryer, is a soap opera star who’s rehearsing for the opening of her cabaret act. All the songs are presented as part of the rehearsal, which is attended by Heather’s manager and old friend, Joe (a non-singing role). Heather and her two female backup singers do all the vocalizing, with an occasional assist from a band member. The year was 1978, when many women were working toward self-actualization; so the songs, all ostensibly written by Heather, are autobiographical, and Joe has issues with them. The song titles suggest their contents: “Miss America,” “Strong Woman Number,” “Smile (for Daddy),” “Lonely Lady,” and “Old Friend,” now a cabaret classic. Cryer’s terrific backup ladies are Betty Aberlin and Margot Rose. The band includes Don Scardino as the young guitarist Jake, who sweetly sings “In a Simple Way, I Love You.” The 11 songs (plus one reprise) are all in a late-1970s pop vein and are given no theatrical context on the recording, which is an easy listen but not a theatrically engaging one. — Jeffrey Dunn

Original London Cast, 1981 (JAY) (4 / 5) This recording tries to impart a feeling of the entire show. Much dialogue is included, and the non-singing character Joe is an essential part of the proceedings. The song list is augmented by a version of “In a Simple Way, I Love You” for Heather and a fun throwaway number for Jake, “If Only Things Was Different.” Diane Langton is Heather, and Ben Cross is Joe. Langton’s singing is solid throughout; she belts “Happy Birthday” and “Natural High” with conviction, and is remarkably touching in “Old Friend” and “Dear Tom” (about Heather’s ex-husband). Throughout the recording, she receives strong vocal support from Nicky Croydon and Megg Nicol. Gregg Martyn sings attractively as Jake, who flirts with Heather but is rejected because she finds him too young. (To get this plot point from the Off-Broadway cast album, you must read the synopsis.) All the songs are very well set up by the dialogue, and therefore seem to have more of an emotional center here than they do on the the previous recording. Having Cross as Joe fully participate in the recorded action gives Heather an obstacle to play against, so the listener is aware of what is at stake within each number. The argument over how much dialogue, if any,  should be included on cast albums is endless, but comparison of this recording with the one reviewed above demonstrates how a show’s songs come across with greater strength on a recording when put in their dramatic context. — J.D.

Off-Broadway Cast, 1996 (Varèse Sarabande) (4 / 5) “Oh my God, that’s me up there!” was an audience whisper heard often during the long run of this musical revue, the winning work of Joe DiPietro (lyrics) and Jimmy Roberts (music). Unapologetically middlebrow and critic-proof, the show is not the wittiest or most profound examination of male-female relationships ever written, but it’s a parade of good revue ideas smartly developed: nerds on a date, macho posturing, the shortage of straight, single men, baby-talking parents, geriatric romance, and more. Roberts relies on pastiche — some Lite-FM rock here, a sweet ballad there — and the music supports rather than overwhelms the lyrics. DiPietro rhymes a bit lazily and sometimes stumbles to weak endings, but the general tenor of the songs is likeable. All of the cast members sing well and slip effortlessly in and out of varied characterizations: Danny Burstein as an alpha male blubbering through a chick flick; Jennifer Simard as a mousy date; Melissa Weil bemoaning a bridesmaid’s plight (“For Tabitha, I wore taffeta / You never should, people laugh at ya”); and Robert Roznowski in the generic but affecting “Shouldn’t I Be Less in Love With You?” Roberts did his own vocal and instrumental arrangements, which are as modest and to-the-point as the show itself.  — Marc Miller

Original Broadway Cast, 1977 (Atlantic/DRG) (2 / 5) “Wife-swapping” was already a dated topic in 1977, but this miniature musical sex farce was the surprise hit of the season. Audiences were taken with the zippy score by Cy Coleman and Michael Stewart (the latter also wrote the book), and by Gene Saks’ clever staging, which featured four onstage musicians commenting on the action involving two inept pairs of married swingers in Trenton, NJ. The show launched the career of comic actor Lenny Baker, who sadly died a few years later before attaining real stardom. From a 21st century vantage point, many of the songs — with their coy sex jokes and titles like “Love Revolution,” “Sexually Free,” “Ev’rybody Today Is Turning On,” and “Married Couple Seeks Married Couple” — come across as so many outtakes from a PG-13 version of Oh! Calcutta! But Coleman is, as always, a true pro, and Stewart’s lyrics are generally nimble and literate. A few numbers are first-class, including the wistful country ballad “Someone Wonderful I Missed” and the touching title tune. The second-act opener, “Hey There, Good Times,” is classic Coleman — an irresistible ragtime stomp — with delicious Stewart lyrics, though it has virtually nothing to do with the plot of the show. The cast, including the young Joanna Gleason, James Naughton, and Ilene Graff, is fine. — David Barbour

Original Broadway Cast, 1967 (United Artists/Kritzerland) No stars; not recommended. Having had an art-house film hit with Never on Sunday, writer-director Jules Dassin and the Mrs., otherwise known as Melina Mercouri, teamed up again for the stage musical version, which ran more than 300 performances before pretty much vanishing from Broadway’s collective memory. The cast album was very belatedly transferred to CD (in 2008), and even then was only made available in a limited edition. Once again, Mercouri is Illya, the happiest prostitute on the island of Piraeus. This time, Orson Bean is Homer, the dopey American intellectual who wants to introduce her to culture and the finer things in life. The score, with music by Manos Hadjidakis (who did the film) and lyrics by Joe Darion, is heavy with bouzoukis (Ralph Burns orchestrated) and lusty, life-affirming numbers. The only song that stands out is “Never on Sunday” — which, of course, comes from the movie. Mercouri’s smoky voice and sexy intonations are fun to hear, but Bean’s numbers, “Golden Land” and “I Think She Needs Me,” are pretty dire. And “Medea Tango,” which tries to replicate one of the funniest moments in the film (when Illya explains Greek tragedy to Homer), falls flat. The actress Despo, playing a character named Despo, sings “I’Il Never Lay Down Anymore,” a title that tells all. There are also silly local-color items such as “Heaven Help the Sailors on a Night Like This.” — David Barbour

Original Off-Broadway Cast, 1999 (Varèse Sarabande) (4 / 5) In an introductory note, this diversion’s creator Sheridan Morley recalls that Noël Coward and Gertrude Lawrence acted together only twice, in Private Lives and Tonight at 8:30. At that, their performances in those vehicles were in limited runs in London and New York. Yet the two were in love with each other from their first meeting, when he was 13, she was 14, and they were leaving town for a tour; the word “platonic” hardly begins to explain their devotion. In Morley’s soigné revue, Harry Groener is Noël and Twiggy is Gertie. Together and separately, they toss off the master’s ditties as if strewing rose petals about the luxe set of a boulevard comedy. Groener doesn’t imitate Coward’s purr, because he needn’t do so; he’s got his own casual stylings. Since Lawrence was herself rather twiggy, Twiggy is a wonderful choice to sub for the legendary star. Her voice, nasal but always on pitch, is actually an improvement on Lawrence’s. Twiggy solos in “Parisian Pierrot” and duets with Groener in “You Were There” and “I’ll SeeYou Again.” Groener slides through “Mad Dogs and Englishmen” and “Don’t Put Your Daughter on the Stage, Mrs. Worthington.” The talented pair also croon, banter, and tap dance in “Has Anybody Seen Our Ship?” — David Finkle