Original Broadway Cast, 1980 (Columbia/Sony) (2 / 5)  This Jim Dale vehicle has a book by Mark Bramble, music by Cy Coleman, and lyrics by Michael Stewart. A fictionalized biography of the showman P.T. Barnum, it’s really a series of production numbers looking for a musical. There is a sort-of plot about Barnum’s up-and-down marriage to the disapproving Charity (a young, chipper Glenn Close), but the real drawing cards were Joe Layton’s inventive staging, Dale’s inexhaustible energy, and the manically cheerful score. Coleman and Stewart’s work is thoroughly professional, especially the witty “There Is a Sucker Born Every Minute” and the catchy “Thank God I’m Old” (sung by Terri White as one of Barnum’s attractions, allegedly the oldest woman in the world). And just try to get the Act II opening march “Come Follow the Band” out of your head. But the score could use a dose of Ritalin; even the ballads are extroverted, and Hershy Kay’s orchestrations add to the forced cheerfulness. — David Barbour

London Cast, 1981 (Chrysalis/no CD) (1 / 5) Michael Crawford had one of his biggest pre-Phantom triumphs in the title role, but this recording of the London Barnum pales next to the Broadway original. Crawford’s performance was touted as having topped Jim Dale’s in terms of physical stunts — a video of this production was made, and is still available commercially — but on the cast album, his more relaxed interpretation lacks pizzazz. If he generally sings better than Dale, the energy of the role’s creator is much missed. Deborah Grant’s Charity is a colorless and vocally uninteresting presence; even Glenn Close naysayers are likely to prefer Close’s singing. The best work here comes from Jennie McGustle, whose zesty rendition of “Thank God I’m Old” is almost worthy of Terri White. As Jenny Lind, Sarah Payne sports an accent as thick as a slice of sacher torte, turning the first-act ballad “Love Makes Fools of Us All” into a mush of vowel sounds. Also missing are the brief musical “chases” between various sections of the show. There are hints of a different approach in a revised opening, which begins with a rather ghostly pipe organ, and a slightly different song order that places Tom Thumb’s solo, “Bigger Isn’t Better,” in the second act. The orchestrations sound altered a bit, with a country fiddle appearing prominently in “Museum Song” and “I Like Your Style.” But overall, next to the original, this disc is so much humbug. — D.B.

Studio Cast, 1950 (Columbia/Sony) (1 / 5) One of the great 1930s Broadway revues, The Band Wagon (1931) was graced with a terrific Arthur Schwartz-Howard Dietz score, including “Dancing in the Dark” and “I Love Louisa,” and a fine cast. It contained too good a collection of songs to pass away when something as temporal as a revue had closed. There was a mangled, sort-of-musical film version in 1949, titled Dancing in the Dark — and then, of course, the 1953 Fred Astaire-Cyd Charisse classic. (See below.) Coming between them, at the dawn of the LP era, was a recording by Mary Martin. This can in no way be termed a re-creation of the original score; instead, it offers a big star singing the show’s best numbers, packaged with Martin’s recordings of several songs from Cole Porter’s Anything Goes to fill out the album. The star is in great voice, but don’t expect any probing vocal drama here — or, indeed, anything other than perfunctory commitment. This is simply a group of fine songs performed in a resoundingly professional manner but with no theatrical flavor. — Richard Barrios

Film Soundtrack, 1953 (MGM/Rhino-Turner) (4 / 5) Fans of this film may not be aware that Fred Astaire starred in The Band Wagon on Broadway in 1931 as well. The movie adds Schwartz-Dietz songs from other shows, and a new gem written for the movie, the evergreen showbiz hymn “That’s Entertainment!” The plot has little or nothing to do with The Band Wagon as it existed on stage, but Astaire is in fine company here: Jack Buchanan, Oscar Levant, and the effervescent Nanette Fabray in her only good film role. Cyd Charisse, one of Astaire’s finest dance partners, is dubbed by India Adams — a good singer, but this is not the best of such match-ups. Two outtake recordings of songs cut from the film are special treats: Fabray’s “Got a Bran’ New Suit,” originally from the Schwartz & Dietz revue At Home Abroad, and Adams’ rendition of “Two-Faced Woman.” (The latter recording was later used in the film Torch Song, with Joan Crawford — in blackface! — lip-synching to Adams’ vocal.) Although this soundtrack CD is obviously not a memento of the show as performed on Broadway, it’s crammed with musical pleasures.  — R.B.

Original Broadway Cast, 1978 (Columbia/Sony) (1 / 5) Michael Bennett’s big post-Chorus Line flop is beloved by those who saw it, but sadly, the show’s special qualities are not retained on an audio-only disc. Jerome Kass’s libretto is based on his script for the television film Queen of the Stardust Ballroom. Dorothy Loudon stars as Bea, a lonely Bronx widow who finds glamour and romance at the local dance palace. Fans remember Loudon’s performance and Bennett’s magical staging, but the score by Billy Goldenberg and Alan and Marilyn Bergman contains only a handful of book numbers; everything else consists of dance sequences featuring faux-pop hits covered by the ballroom’s house singers. These tunes are very pleasant in a Steve-and-Eydie kind of way, especially in Jonathan Tunick’s orchestrations, but they don’t convey a sense of the show’s story. Given a chance, Loudon scores big — especially with her nervy, volatile delivery of the scorching 11 o’clock number “Fifty Percent,” in which Bea chooses to accept the love of a married man (played by Vincent Gardenia). Overall, the recording is a disappointment, but if you want to understand what made Loudon one of the most distinct theatrical personalities of all time, it’s worth a listen — David Barbour

Original Cast, 1976 (Take Home Tunes) (5 / 5) This beautiful cast album continues to mystify listeners as to why The Baker’s Wife was a huge flop. Based on the play and subsequent film La femme du boulanger by Marcel Pagnol and Jean Giono, the musical’s book is by Joseph Stein, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. The fable is set in long-ago provincial France, where a middle-aged baker’s young wife leaves him for a torrid affair with a handsome young villager. The show closed on the road to Broadway; most of the cast and creative-team members were replaced during its lengthy tryout tour. When it finally shuttered in Washington, the leads were Paul Sorvino, whose semi-operatic voice sounds great in the songs of Aimable, the baker, on this abridged recording score; Patti LuPone as his wife, Genevieve, belting to high heaven when she has to, but wonderfully warm in the more lyrical passages of the score; Kurt Peterson, appropriately sexy as her young lover, Dominique; and Teri Ralston as Denise, a village woman who gets to sing the lilting “Chanson” in her silvery soprano. All ten songs sung by the principals are superb, from character-establishing numbers like “Merci, Madame” to ravishing ballads like “Endless Delights.” Other highlights include “Gifts of Love,” a gorgeous and poignant piece in which Genevieve resigns herself to a marriage that’s based on companionship rather than passion; “Meadowlark,” the magnificent story-song that the baker’s wife belts out when deciding to go off with her young stud; and “Proud Lady,” sung by the strutting peacock Dominique. Schwartz’s score differs impressively from the style of his monster hits Godspell and Pippin, and the recording boasts lovely orchestrations. — Michael Portantiere

Original London Cast, 1990 (JAY, 2CDs) (1 / 5) Even as musical theater completists appreciate the fact that a high-profile London production of The Baker’s Wife yielded this much lengthier recording of the score, it must be said that the results are unpersuasive in terms of both text and performance. Directed by Trevor Nunn, this version has some new Stephen Schwartz songs, along with several that were in the original production but not previously recorded. Still, the two-CD album is disconcerting.  First of all, as presented here, the songs carried over from the earlier recording have many unfamiliar lyrics; Schwartz has a penchant for tinkering with his own work after the fact, but it’s hard to understand the point of such revisions when the new lyrics don’t represent an improvement over the originals. In “Chanson,” for example, we now hear lyrics about gulls crying rather than sheep bleating. Was this change necessary? Severely truncated as the original recording is, it’s sad to report that the new/old songs included on the JAY recording aren’t very interesting. Many of them involve the villagers gossiping about the Aimable-Genevieve-Dominique affair (although, here, the young man’s name is spelled “Dominic”). As for the leading players: Alun Armstrong’s attempt to compensate for his substandard singing voice with fine acting isn’t successful. He also sings the baker’s songs in much lower keys than Paul Sorvino’s, and the results are dispiriting. The plum role of Genevieve is filled by Shar Lee Hill, who is…no Patti LuPone. As Dominic, Drue Williams sings poorly and sounds effeminate, which certainly doesn’t work for this character.  Jill Martin displays the best voice of all the London principals  in Denise’s “Chanson,” but here again, the song is performed in a considerably lower key than on the American cast album, and is therefore far less effective. — M.P.

Original Broadway Cast, 1965 (MGM/Decca) (2 / 5) One of the last in the cycle of My Fair Lady wannabes, Baker Street is complete with handsome Victorian settings, a misogynistic hero (Sherlock Holmes), and a Cockney chorus high-kicking all over London. The problem was that songwriters Marian Grudeff and Raymond Jessel emphatically were not Lerner and Loewe, not even with Bock and Harnick ghostwriting three numbers (”I’m in London Again,” “Cold Clear World,” and “I Shall Miss You”) during the troubled tryout period. The melodic lines are facile, the lyrics occasionally intricate — as in the ironically named “It’s So Simple” — yet it’s all on the surface. As Holmes, Fritz Weaver is fine, but he can’t make anything memorable of the material. His leading lady, Inga Swenson, by all accounts impressive onstage, doesn’t come across on this recording. Even the old-fashioned, three-part, would-be showstopper “Letters” lands with a thud. Martin Gabel as Moriarty, Peter Sallis as Watson, and Teddy Green as a leading Baker Street Irregular round out the cast; they all work hard, but in vain. Although the album is well designed, with color photos and a verbose synopsis, it never convinces you that this was “the hottest musical of 1965.” It’s worth noting that an even shorter-lived show from that year, Drat! The Cat!,  had one throwaway number in it (“Holmes and Watson”) that encapsulated what was special about the duo better than this entire score. — Marc Miller

Original Broadway Cast, 1964 (Columbia/Sony) No stars; not recommended. Some ethnic groups have all the luck — and some don’t. The same year that Fiddler on the Roof so beautifully celebrated the joys and sorrows of Jewish life, Bajour featured Nancy Dussault as an NYU anthropology major who latches onto a tribe of gypsies led by Herschel Bernardi. Top-billed Chita Rivera plays the daughter of a rival tribe, doing her trademark spitfire thing and belting out cheesy numbers like “Mean.” Ernest Kincy’s libretto and Walter Marks’ score (astonishingly, inspired by New Yorker stories by Joseph Mitchell) are a mishmash of gypsy intrigue that’s enough to induce a heart attack in the politically correct. The recording starts off with a dynamic overture orchestrated by Mort Lindsey and Dussault’s amusing “Where Is the Tribe for Me?” But too often, Bajour is merely desperate and loud. The second-act show-stopper, “Honest Man,” with Bernardi and rival gypsy king Herbert Edelman trying to con each other, is pretty embarrassing. Give it one star if you’re a Chita fan. — David Barbour

Original Broadway Cast, 1983 (Polydor/]AY) (5 / 5) The too-busy opening sequence is a bumpy ride, with some smarmy humor about the conception of a child. Then Liz Callaway sings to Todd Graff, “Picture a flailing spermatozoan / Not even knowin’ where he is goin”‘ — and the sun breaks out, never to leave. The David Shire-Richard Maltby, Jr. score is easily one of the best of the decade, thoroughly contemporary yet melodic and as clever and hilarious as it is heartfelt. When Callaway lets loose with the soaring “The Story Goes On” or when Graff offers the beautiful ballad “I Chose Right,” you could weep at the bad career luck of Maltby and Shire. Other highlights: the strong women’s trio”I Want It All,” the joyous “Fatherhood Blues,” James Congdon’s funny-sad “Easier to Love,” and Beth Fowler’s “Patterns.” (The last-named song was cut from the Broadway production but is generously included here.) Martin Vidnovic and Catherine Cox are wonderful as an infertile yuppie couple, and a belting Kim Criswell figures prominently in the chorus (she’s the mom lamenting the pain of childbirth in “The Ladies Singing Their Song”). Jonathan Tunick’s orchestrations make a great score sound even better, as does Peter Howard’s conducting. Although this musical couldn’t find an audience in its Broadway mounting, it has done well in community and regional theaters. Thanks to Polydor for having given the score such a full recording; just zip past the first two minutes or so, and bliss out.  — Marc Miller

Off-Broadway Cast, 2023 (Yellow Sound Label) (2 / 5) For the Out of The Box Theatrics production of Baby, which had pre- and post-pandemic runs with slightly different casts in 2019 and 2021, lyricist Richard Maltby, Jr. collaborated with the Off-Broadway company’s leadership on a major revision of the show, including Sybille Pearson’s book. The biggest change is that the characters Pam and Nick are now Pam (Christina Sajous) and Nicki (Gabrielle McClinton), a lesbian couple struggling with IVF. The gorgeous voices and moving performances of Sajous and McClinton are the main reason to listen to this recording, even if the rewritten lyrics range from very effective (the ironic “Romance” works even better in the context of Pam’s injections) to overly on-the-nose (“Look, a turkey baster’s coming your way,” sings Nicki in the opening number). McClinton’s thoughtful “At Night She Comes Home to Me,” featuring some new verses, is also an improvement over the original. Most of the other discernible alterations are minor, including some sort-of-modernizing lyric swaps — such as, among the notable personages and characters name-checked in “I Want It All,” Althea Gibson replacing Scarlett O’Hara and Margaret Atwood replacing Margaret Thatcher.  (Very different people!) Four 30-second “Transitions” that were not included in the OBC have made their way onto this recording; they help tie the score together, especially the choral “Transition #3—Commencement.” Johnny Link’s “I Chose Right” is sweetly affecting, and Julia Murney brings appropriate pathos to “Patterns,” but the majority of this album pales significantly in comparison to the superbly produced original recording. It’s hard not to miss Jonathan Tunick’s full orchestrations, which so superbly conveyed the inexpressible immensity of the pregnancy and birth experience. (This new album has some mixing issues, too, with the band often drowning out singers in ensemble moments.) The absence of expansiveness feels especially disappointing in the performance of the score’s greatest asset: the eruptive “The Story Goes On,” here rendered unconvincingly by Out of the Box’s founder Liz Flemming with frequent semi-spoken lines and abrupt shifts in vocal register that work against the song’s epic build. Credit Flemming, though, with giving Baby new life and giving us a ripe reminder of the score’s joys, even if they’re captured more potently on the 1983 cast album. — Dan Rubins

Studio Cast, 1951 (Columbia/Sony) (2 / 5) Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s 1937 classic, the father of all those hey-kids-let’s-put-on-a-show movies with Mickey and Judy, has an expendable book and a gold-plated score: The first song on this recording is “Where or When,” and only a few tracks away are “I Wish I Were in Love Again,” “My Funny Valentine,” and “The Lady Is a Tramp.” While Babes in Arms was a good show to inaugurate Lehman Engel’s studio cast series, this 36-minute sampler LP plays more like “Mary Martin and Friends Sing Songs from Babes in Arms.” Miss M. commandeers most of the hit songs and overworks her adorableness, yet she delivers a spectacular “The Lady Is a Tramp.” Engel’s orchestrations reflect the originals, but they’re heavy on strings and include some obvious effects — whistles in “Johnny One Note,” clip-clops in “Way Out West.” Jack Cassidy leads a stirring performance of the title song, with chorus; he also brings intensity to “You Are So Fair,” but he doesn’t get to do the whole number. And Mardi Bayne, rather than singing both great verses of “Way Out West,” does the first one twice! How nuts is that? — Marc Miller

Studio Cast, 1989 (New World) (4 / 5) Now, this is more like it: a nearly complete recording with restored Hans Spialek orchestrations, all the ballet music (Babes in Arms was a George Balanchine show), and Evans Haile energetically conducting the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. All that’s missing is the now-unacceptable “All Dark People,” written by R&H as a specialty for the Nicholas Brothers. Although the ballet music isn’t all that interesting, the orchestrations are terrific, from the pearly celesta in “My Funny Valentine” to the twangs and woodwinds in “Way Out West.” There’s also some spiffy close-harmony work from the guy group JQ and the Bandits. While the casting is vocally deluxe, Judy Blazer, Gregg Edelman, Judy Kaye, and Jason Graae aren’t convincing age-wise as the needy teen offspring of down-on-their-luck vaudevillians. But it would be hard to top Blazer’s reading of “My Funny Valentine,” Kaye’s sarcasm in “Imagine,” or the sheer joy of the title song. It makes you want to go paint a barn, wheel the piano in, and start the auditions! — M.M.

Encores! Concert Cast, 1999 (DRG) (4 / 5) This is a welcome addition to the musicals-in-concert canon. Surprisingly, it doesn’t surpass the 1989 studio version in terms of theatricality; the lead-in dialogue to the songs merely betrays what a wispy book Babes in Arms has. Rob Fisher’s conducting isn’t as vibrant as that of Evans Haile, but the orchestrations come through with more clarity here. Melissa Rain Anderson is no vocal match for Judy Kaye, nor can Erin Dilly wring nuances from a ballad as Judy Blazer can. But David Campbell is more ingratiating than Gregg Edelman and, in general, this cast is more age-appropriate than the other. The New World album has more ballet music, but this one has “All Dark People” — although it’s listed as “Light on Their Feet,” and only the verse lyrics are included. Which of the two most recent recordings to buy? The New World, 10 minutes longer, is for the archivists; the DRG has a less expert but more persuasively up-and-coming cast. As listening experiences, both are just dandy. — M.M.

Original Broadway Cast, 2003 (RCA) (5 / 5) What a devilishly clever parody of Sesame Street this Tony Award-winning musical is! Robert Lopez and ]eff Marx’s songs are mostly upbeat and catchy (“Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist”), yet tender when called for (“Fantasies Come True”). The guys have come up with everything from a fast, funky waltz (“My Girlfriend Who Lives in Canada”) to upbeat rock (“Purpose”) to soul (“You Can Be as Loud as the Hell You Want,” which Natalie Venetia Belcon growls perfectly). But there’s also a fine, fine melody line in “There’s a Fine, Fine Line.” The Lopez-Marx lyrics are often monosyllabically simple, which they should be for a kid’s-show spoof, yet they can also be wildly funny and raunchy. Talent-wise, along with librettist Jeff Whitty, are Lopez and Marx the real turtle soup (or merely the mock)? To quote their own creation, Lucy T. Slut: “Yeah, they’re real.” By the time you reach “Mix Tape” — a masterstroke of a song in which one puppet infers that another likes her from the songs that he’s selected and recorded on a cassette for her — you’ll realize that you don’t want a mix tape of songs from different shows, you just want the Avenue Q CD, which showcases the superbly talented ensemble cast of John Tartaglia, Stephanie D’Abruzzo, Rick Lyon, Jennifer Barnhart, Ann Harada, and Jordan Gelber, along with the aforementioned Belcon.  — Peter Filichia

Original Off-Broadway Cast, 1991 (RCA) (3 / 5) There’s no doubt that Stephen Sondheim’s scores are brilliant. His lyrics are innovative; he’s the master of intellectual argument in rhyme. His best melodies, though often overshadowed by acclaim for his superb wordsmithing, are slyly inventive. Yet when the messages in his musicals are examined, they sometimes turn out to be less than the sum of the sung parts. So it is with this revue, written in collaboration with librettist John Weidman, which trots out a bevy of men and women who shot at, and in some instances killed, U.S. presidents. Sondheim and Weidman suggest that, for many unfortunate citizens, the American Dream is a nightmare. Accordingly, they set forth a series of songs — some portentous, some ironically lighthearted — to show how a sense of disenfranchisement can lead to assassination. Sondheim’s pastiche score is jaunty. Weidman’s sketches aren’t included in their entirely on this recording, with the exception of the attenuated Lee Harvey Oswald sequence, wherein John Kennedy’s murderer is visited in his Texas Book Depository hideout by the spirits of assassins past and future. (The idea is that Oswald acted as a representative of a continuing, perhaps inevitable tradition.) The cast assembled to play this group of history’s outcasts includes some of the best musical theater performers of the time, although only Victor Garber as John Wilkes Booth really gets to shine. Among the others warbling and emoting are Annie Golden, Jonathan Hadary, Patrick Cassidy, Eddie Korbich, William Parry, Terrence Mann, Lee Wilkof, and Debra Monk. — David Finkle

Broadway Cast, 2004 (PS Classics) (4 / 5) It’s likely that there will never be a better production of this revue about bumping off presidents as a pastime for disgruntled citizens with irrational gripes. From start to finish, the Roundabout Theatre Company staging was a honey. Tony Awards were handed to the production, director Joe Mantello, and supporting actor Michael Cerveris, who infused the plum role of John Wilkes Booth with great fervor. The same kind of care has been given to the recording, on which Becky Ann Baker, James Barbour, Mario Cantone,  Mary Catherine Garrison, Alexander Gemignani, Neil Patrick Harris, Marc Kudisch, Jeffrey Kuhn, Denis O’Hare, and Cerveris raise their voices in disturbing song. Sondheim’s Americana pastiches, with big-and-brassy and plangent arrangements by Michael Starobin, fully demonstrate the composer-lyricist’s mastery — most definitely including a powerful new song, “Something Just Broke.” Much of the dialogue by John Weidman is retained on the CD, including the penultimate scene in which Lee Harvey Oswald’s predecessors come out of the shadows on the sixth floor of the Texas Book Depository and cajole their hesitant boy into firing. This is bold if not always convincing material, polished to near perfection.  — D.F.

Off-Broadway Cast, 2022 (Broadway Records) (5 / 5) In common with other works of art, some musicals become “dated” in a negative way over the years and decades, but quite the opposite has happened with Assassins.  When the show premiered Off Broadway and the score was first recorded in 1991, many critics and audience members were put off by Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s often ironically vaudevillian, sometimes earnest exploration of certain Americans expressing their unhappiness, frustration, and rage over their sorry lots in life by killing, or at least attempting to kill, Presidents of the United States. But subsequent events, such as the 2016 election of Donald Trump as President and the attempt by a violent mob  to overtake the Capitol when Trump was not reelected four years later, have underlined the remarkable prescience of this show in identifying and examining a cancerous underbelly of national disaffection that shows no signs of healing. All of which may at least in part explain why Assassins was largely hailed as a masterpiece in the Classic Stage Company’s 2022 Off-Broadway revival. The minor flaws of that production, directed by John Doyle, were limited to a few moments of unfocused staging and an odd inconsistency in costuming; but neither of those issues arise when one is listening to this superbly well produced cast album, sparked by the excellent performances of Eddie Cooper as the Proprietor, Ethan Slater as the Balladeer/Lee Harvey Oswald, Steven Pasquale as a compellingly tormented John Wilkes Booth, Judy Kuhn as Sara Jane Moore, Brandon Uranowitz as Leon Czolgosz, and Will Swenson as an absolutely insane Charles Guiteau. The entire album is aces, with especially strong performances of “The Ballad of Booth,” the “Gun Song,” “The Ballad of Guiteau,” “Something Just Broke,” and “Unworthy of Your Love,” the eerily sweet ballad that has been a highlight of every Assassins recording, here sung and acted to creepy perfection by Adam Chanler-Berat as John Hinckley and Tavi Gevinson as Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme.  Talk about eerie: Hinckley, who attempted to assassinate Ronald Reagan in 1981, was released from psychiatric care in 2016, and all court restrictions on his lifestyle and freedom were lifted in 2022 — the very year of this Assassins revival. — Michael Portantiere

Original Cast, 1989 (Polydor) (1 / 5) Beyond being one of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s most inscrutable shows, Aspects of Love is also one of his most ridiculous — more soap opera than pop opera. Though the show’s story doesn’t diverge much from the 1955 David Garnett novella on which it’s based, you may wish it did when listening to this almost complete recording (only a few bits are missing). The endlessly foolish romantic machinations of the characters are not made more palatable by the performances of the leads, Ann Crumb and Michael Ball; they serve the score well, but they can’t do much to make their sex-obsessed characters ingratiating or sympathetic. Kevin Colson, Kathleen Rowe Martin, and Diana Morrison, who have supporting roles in this game of musical beds, come across better. With lyrics by Don Black and Charles Hart, some of the score is attractive, and musical director Michael Reed gets rich results from the orchestra, but the performers’ emoting is so overwrought that suffering through the whole thing for the sake of a few good songs is exhausting. The recording is worthwhile for “Love Changes Everything,” “Seeing Is Believing,” “The First Man You Remember,” and “Anything but Lonely,” but not for the sort of plot twists and relationship games that even daytime television might reject. — Matthew Murray

Original Broadway Cast, 1966 (Columbia/Sony) (4 / 5) What could Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick do to follow Fiddler on the Roof? The team answered that question with an unconventional evening of three one-act musicals, each only tangentially connected to the others. It was a concept that would show off the versatility of the performers as well as the writers. The first act, “The Diary of Adam and Eve” (adapted from a Mark Twain short story), is written in standard musical theater form; the second act, “The Lady or the Tiger” (based on a Frank R. Stockton story), has a pop-operetta writing style; and the third act, “Passionella” (based on the Jules Feiffer fantasy book), is cartoonish with a mid-’60s flavor. The Apple Tree is primarily remembered for the tour-de-force performance(s) of Barbara Harris as Eve, Barbara, and Passionella (plus Ella). Listening to this recording, one can fully understand why Harris won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical over Mary Martin in I Do! I Do! and Lotte Lenya in Cabaret. After using a light, dry voice for Eve’s innocent exploration of her first feelings and singing the lullaby “Go to Sleep, Whatever You Are,” the star then rises to a sexy combination of breathlessness and belting for the almost-striptease number “I’ve Got What You Want.” She employs a wonderfully realized, barely-on-pitch sound for the determined dreamer Ella and then, finally, her voice rises to a full-throated Broadway belt for Passionella. Equally versatile, if not quite as dazzling, is Alan AIda: He morphs from a simply acted and sung Adam to a pseudo-legit Captain Sanjar and then to a rock ‘n’roll star turn before a surprise reconciliation with Ella. The recording works hard to give you enough of each segment so that you can almost follow the stories; this is aided by the presence of Larry Blyden as The Snake, The Balladeer/Lion Keeper, and The Narrator. If one laments that even more music and dialogue (especially from Act I) was not recorded, the cuts were very well thought out. Those who want a more complete document of the score should seek out the hard-to-find two-CD Takarazuka recording in Japanese.  — Jeffrey Dunn

Original Broadway Cast, 1970 (ABC/Decca) (3 / 5) When librettists, composers, and lyricists take on a masterpiece, they rarely improve it. Such is the case with this musical version of the classic film All About Eve. Though Applause was a hit in its day, it has dimmed in the public’s consciousness, and the Charles Strouse-Lee Adams score can best be described as one that has its moments. Lauren Bacall is Margo Channing in the disco era, and though her opening song, “But Alive,” could be better, “Who’s That Girl?” — in which Margo sees herself on TV in a movie she made many moons ago, and comments — comes across as extra-special material. The title song, sung here by Bonnie Franklin in a supporting role,  is sometimes known as The Actors’ Anthem, although many performers may relate more readily to the acerbic “Welcome to the Theater.” There are laid-back charms in “Good Friends” and “One of a Kind,” the latter a pleasant, jazz waltz duet sung by Bacall with Len Cariou (heard here before A Little Night Music and Sweeney Todd) as Bill Sampson, but the rest of the score seems little more than filler. Still, Penny Fuller manages to shine in the songs that Strouse and Adams wrote for Eve Harrington, as does Lee Roy Reams in the role of Duane, a gay male equivalent to the Thelma Ritter character in All About Eve. The CD offers four fascinating bonus tracks taken from demos that Strouse played and sang during the show’s creation. One is the title song, but the other three numbers were dropped. They indicate that the show was more ambitious in the planning stages;  ”’Smashing!’-New York Times” is a smart idea set to a haunting tune. — Peter Filichia

Original Broadway Cast, 1946 (Decca) (2 / 5) When this recording was made, cast albums were still a fairly new concept. It’s a major disappointment that the classic Irving Berlin score for Annie Get Your Gun is presented here as little more than a collection of songs from the show, with little or no attempt to recreate the theatrical experience. Yes, Ethel Merman is on hand to raise her golden voice, and she is at her peak vocally in such brilliant songs as “Doin’ What Comes Natur’lly,” “You Can’t Get a Man With a Gun,” “Moonshine Lullaby,” and “I Got the Sun in the Morning” — but this makes it even more disappointing that she doesn’t really play Annie Oakley on the recording, and instead simply introduces the Berlin songs as potential standards. It’s also unfortunate that a good amount of the show’s music and lyrics were not recorded: There’s no overture, no “Colonel Buffalo Bill,” no “I’m a Bad, Bad Man.” Most unhappily of all, Merman does not sing the anthem “There’s No Business Like Show Business” with other members of the original cast, as she did on stage; rather, the song is given a bland choral rendition. On the plus side, Ray Middleton has a glorious voice that’s perfectly suited to the role of Frank Butler. His performance comes through a bit more theatrically than Merman’s, and he sounds very appealing and even sexy. As wonderful as it is to hear the two original stars singing this score, this album is largely unsatisfying, but it served its purpose until better recordings came along. (See below.) — Gerard Alessandrini

Original London Cast, 1947 (World Records/various CD labels) (1 / 5) This production made a star of Dolores Gray. As recorded here, her unique voice marks her as someone destined for greatness. Gray’s interpretation of Annie Oakley is very different from Ethel Merman’s, but it’s wonderful to hear her sing Berlin’s tuneful songs so smoothly–especially “I Got Lost in His Arms” and other ballads. As Frank Butler, Bill Johnson sounds equally terrific. Issued in four large 78-rpm platters, these recordings are very quaint-sounding, much more so than American cast albums of the same period. Although it’s fun to hear Gray and Johnson, the selections are so brief and the sound quality so fuzzy that this set will only be of interest to historians. — G.A.

Film Soundtrack, 1950 (MGM/Rhino-Turner) (4 / 5) When MGM prepared to film Annie Get Your Gun, the studio pulled out all the stops. The soundtrack recording exemplifies the high standards set for the movie, which raised the bar for screen versions of stage musicals. Great care was taken in expanding the show’s orchestrations and choral parts. Howard Keel was cast as Frank Butler; he had just come to Hollywood via the Broadway and London stages and was still fresh, theatrical, and gorgeous-with a big, bright, melodic baritone to boot. The really questionable aspect of this recording is the performance of Betty Hutton as Annie Oakley. Although she was a huge star in her day, beloved for her rowdy comic style, Hutton never had the vocal range of an Ethel Merman. As a result, Annie’s songs are shortchanged here. But wait! Included as bonus tracks are those songs as sung by the great Judy Garland, who was to have starred in the film. (The reasons for her dismissal are detailed by George Feltenstein, producer of the CD, in his notes on the release.) Garland’s renditions of “They Say It’s Wonderful” (with Keel) and the reprise of “There’s No Business Like Show Business” are spine-tingling. Her comic timing and wit come through sharp and clear in “Doin’ What Comes Natur’lly” and “I Got the Sun in the Morning,” putting Hutton’s over-the-top performances to shame. It’s a safe guess that this generally excellent stage-to-screen transfer would have been one of the best movie musicals of all time if Garland had completed the film. Note that the disc includes both Hutton’s and Garland’s renditions of “Let’s Go West Again,” a song that was apparently written by Irving Berlin for Annie in 1946 but was cut before the show opened. The number was to be reinstated for the film, but never made it, so it’s nice to find it here in two different performances. — G.A.

Studio Cast, 1957 (Capitol/Broadway Angel) (2 / 5) Mary Martin and John Raitt were acclaimed for their stage performances in Annie Get Your Gun, but this recording fails to capture the excitement, personality, or vocal artistry of their interpretations. It’s less a cast album than a recording of songs from the show with 1950s pop orchestrations that bear little or no resemblance to the originals and are quite untheatrical — a very strange artistic choice, considering that this score contains the anthem “There’s No Business Like Show Buisness.” Martin and Raitt starred in a fine television production of the musical around the time of this recording, and it’s a shame that Capitol Records didn’t produce a true TV cast album. In the surviving kinescope of the broadcast, the stars are as vibrant and thrilling as any other Annie Oakley or Frank Butler, but the Capitol recording is flat, dry, and altogether forgettable. — G.A.

Studio Cast, 1963 (Columbia/no CD) 0 stars; not recommended. This is one of the most disappointing studio cast recordings of any Broadway score. It’s conducted by the great Franz Allers and was produced by Columbia Records, the company responsible for many  of the classiest cast albums ever issued. But almost every choice made here was misguided and the result is embarrassing. Doris Day should have been terrific in this role (as she was in the film Calamity Jane), but her performances of Annie Oakley’s songs are sleepy and tepid. As Frank Butler, Robert Goulet probably seemed perfect in theory, but what might have been dream casting is sabotaged by his Vegas-like renditions of songs that require a robust, legit sound. To compound this misuse of talent, there are pallid new orchestrations by the usually reliable Phil Lang. It’s a shame that Day, Goulet, and Allers didn’t offer a more straightforward reading of Irving Berlin’s greatest score. — G.A.

Music Theater of Lincoln Center Cast, 1966 (RCA) (5 / 5) Here’s the gem, the most enjoyable recording of Annie Get Your Gun. Even though it was made years after the original Decca album, it’s a more accurate representation of the score as a theatrical experience — and Ethel Merman, two decades after creating the role on Broadway, never sounded fresher. Her vibrato is tight, her pitch perfect, her acting and comic timing impeccable. By 1966, stereophonic recording was at its peak, and the spacious, crisp sound of the recording makes you feel as if you’ve got a front-row seat for the performance. Supporting Merman is Bruce Yarnell, who possessed one of the most thrilling musical theater voices ever. His big baritone is melodic and hearty, and he delivers every wonderful Berlin lyric with absolutely clarity. Also in the cast is Jerry Orbach in the character role of Charlie Davenport; his performance leaps out of the speakers in the opening number, “Colonel Buffalo Bill,” and “There’s No Business Like Show Business.” This Music Theater of Lincoln Center production was also notable for introducing “An Old-Fashioned Wedding,” the last new Irving Berlin song to be performed on Broadway, it’s a terrific contrapuntal duet between Annie and Frank. And this recording was the first to include all of the verses to “You Can’t Get a Man With a Gun.” Masterfully performed by Merman, the number is a laugh-out-loud exercise in lyrical perfection; it’s Berlin at his most witty and playful, and it doesn’t get any better than this. The score is conducted to perfection by the great Franz Allers. — G.A.

Studio Cast, 1973 (London) (4 / 5) In the 1960s and ’70s London Records embarked on a high-end series of albums labeled “London Phase 4 Stereo.” The studio performances were recorded on multiple tracks and then mixed down for a ping-pong stereophonic experience. In 1973, Stanley Black conducted Ethel Merman in a new Phase 4 recording of Annie Get Your Gun, and the results were quite phenomenal — the first phenomenon being that Merman was well into her sixties by this time, yet she still sounds fresh and vibrant. Her voice plows right through the waves of super stereo, and in particular, her rendition of “I Got The Sun In The Morning” is the best version she ever recorded. As for the rest of the cast: Nelson Taylor as Frank Butler is as leading-man-baritone-legit as Howard Keel ever was;  Neil Howlett,  also quite legit sounding, is fine as Charlie Davenport; and Merman’s real life best friend, the wonderful Benay Venuta recreates her original Broadway and film role of Dolly Tate. The orchestrations are expanded and souped up as they might have been for a multi-million-dollar 1960s movie musical, and are quite fun to hear.  Even though Stanley Black was primarily a concert and classical conductor, he certainly knows how to deliver a razz-ma-tazz Broadway sound, and here he pulls out the stops. The only real drawback of the album is that the meticulous, hyper-mixed sound keeps it from having a live theatrical presence, but both Merman and composer-lyricist Irving Berlin must have been very happy with this brassy yet classy recording. — G.A.

Studio Cast, 1990 (EMI) (2 / 5) John McGlinn, the masterful conductor who created complete digital recordings of such classic shows as Show Boat and Brigadoon, does the same here for Annie Get Your Gun, but much less successfully. The album suffers from less-than-perfect casting and from the decision to use the original score and orchestrations with none of the improvements, cuts, and additions that were made since the show premiered in 1946. (“An Old-Fashioned Wedding” is included as an addendum.) As Annie Oakley, Kim Criswell displays a strong belt voice, but there’s something about her personality that doesn’t quite mesh with the role; she’s sassy, but she’s not the equal of Ethel Merman, Mary Martin, Judy Garland, Judy Kaye, or even (can you believe it?) Betty Hutton. Although Thomas Hampson has the big baritone bravura required for Frank Butler, he’s too operatically trained to pull off the laid-back, cowboy crooner aspects of the part, and he lacks the comic ability to interact effectively with Criswell in “Anything You Can Do.” Jason Graae and Rebecca Luker are fine as Tommy and Winnie, yet this recording makes it clear why these roles are usually eliminated from the show in revival; their songs are somewhat interesting from a historical standpoint, but otherwise negligible. As Charlie Davenport and Colonel Buffalo Bill, respectively, David Garrison and David Healy are well cast but don’t do much to help this album sound particularly theatrical or exciting. — G.A.

Studio Cast, 1995 (JAY, 2CDs) (5 / 5) This is an excellent, complete recording of the show as revised for the 1966 Lincoln Center production, with its superior orchestrations and the added showstopper “An Old-Fashioned Wedding.” Annie Oakley is played by Judy Kaye at her best. Her voice is melodic and rich, her characterization full of wit and bite. In fact, Kaye is the best Annie on record next to Merman. Barry Bostwick is also well cast as Frank Butler, totally believable as a bragging, hunky cowboy. Robert Russell Bennett’s fine orchestrations are remarkably well conducted by John Owen Edwards; his tempo choices are interesting and fresh, and it’s all the more enjoyable to hear every note of the score in full, clear, digital stereo. — G.A.

Broadway Cast, 1999 (Broadway Angel) (3 / 5) By 1999, much of the content of Annie Get Your Gun seemed politically incorrect, so the show was edited and reinvented. Therefore, this cast recording is not a true interpretation of the musical as originally written. It presents a crisp, new version showcasing Bernadette Peters — a star who, in her own way, is as vibrant and beloved as Merman. Some contemporary listeners may find this revision of the classic score more palatable than what’s heard on earlier recordings, but the orchestrations and some of the vocal performances leave a lot to be desired. Still, the great Irving Berlin songs and the dynamic star performances compensate for those shortcomings. Peters has great range; she handles the comedic lyrics (edited here) hilariously, and delivers the ballads with lots of emotion. Tom Wopat is always an appealing leading man, and his attractive baritone gets a chance to shine here in “The Girl That I Marry” and “My Defenses Are Down.” On the whole, this album is perhaps more successful than the 1999 revival itself; without the drab scenery and questionable book revisions to distract us, the brilliant score is allowed to shine. — G.A.

Recordings by Original New York and London Cast Members, 1934 (various labels/Prism) (3 / 5) While it wasn’t Cole Porter’s first success or biggest hit, Anything Goes has always seemed the quintessential Porter musical. Its screwballs-at-sea plot and score filled with standards still exude a vintage 1934 smartness even as revivals fool around with the book and pad the score with other Porter tunes. Ethel Merman, indelibly cast as evangelist-turned-chanteuse Reno Sweeney, recorded a couple of the songs, and the first London cast laid down several tracks. The results, as collected here, are intriguing and mixed. Merman, of course, is swell in “You’re the Top” and “I Get a Kick Out of You.” The disc also includes an extremely rare live cut by William Gaxton, the original Billy and a key Broadway leading man of the time. Meanwhile, the 1935 London production of Anything Goes was quite a different show; American brashness was traded in for a somewhat more decorous cheekiness, and Jack Whiting is a much more juvenile Billy than the wiseacre Gaxton. As for Reno Sweeney, what’s about as far from Merman as it’s possible to get? Try a light soprano, add a French accent, et voila: You have the London Reno, Jeanne Aubert. She’s certainly spirited as she trills “Blow Gabriel Blow,” but whether or not she fits the role is another matter. As this disc also features Porter’s own recordings of three songs from the score plus extras, it’s a good bargain all around. — Richard Barrios

Film Soundtrack, 1956 (Decca) No stars; not recommended. Although perennially popular onstage, Anything Goes has not fared well in its transfer to other media. A 1936 film version with Merman and Bing Crosby was truncated and compromised, and two 1950s TV productions — one with Merman, the other with Martha Raye — were severely cut. Worst of all was the mess that Paramount made of the property in 1956, again with Crosby. There are a few Porter songs and a boat in the movie, but that’s about as faithful to the original show as it gets. This soundtrack album tells the tale. It features Crosby, Donald O’Connor, Jeanmaire, and Mitzi Gaynor in dispirited renditions of the Porter numbers and some woeful new efforts by Sammy Cahn and James Van Heusen, of which “Ya Gotta Give the People Hoke” is a fair example. The experience of listening to this recording lacks some of the pain and ennui of watching the film itself, but that doesn’t even qualify as faint praise. — R.B.

Off-Broadway Cast, 1962 (Epic) (3 / 5) This revival managed to respect the show even as it tinkered with it, adding several Porter songs and souped-up arrangements. The album is sprightly and enjoyable. Eileen Rodgers is very good in a sort of girlish-Merman way, and Hal Linden — years before his Broadway and TV fame — is one of the best Billys ever, brash in the Gaxton manner yet able to sustain a romantic vocal line with panache. Barbara Lang and Mickey Deems are fine as Hope and Moonface Martin, and as Bonnie, chirpy-voiced Margery Grey has fun with a little-known Porter interpolation: “The Heaven Hop.” Also added to the score are “It’s De-Lovely” (from Red, Hot and Blue) and “Friendship” (from DuBarry was a Lady). Best of all, there seems to be a concerted effort to evoke the original spirit of Anything Goes without camping up the material or playing down to it. — R.B.

London Cast, 1969 (Decca/TER) (1 / 5) This version of Anything Goes had still more alterations, so extensive that the name of Guy Bolton, who co-wrote and revised the original book, was nowhere credited. The production was an instant flop; in fact, it was such a disaster that the cast album was packaged but remained unissued for a long time. (Years later, one vagrant copy sold for £1 ,000.) When it was finally released, everyone yawned. Some of the new orchestrations sound cheesy, but they’re a good match for Marian Montgomery, whose Reno is pathetically unworthy of over-the-title billing. She’s toneless, humorless, and graceless in the role; Britney Spears as Magnolia in Show Boat would be better casting. The recording can’t survive such a major liability, but it should be mentioned that James Kenney is almost as good a Billy as Linden was, and Valerie Verdon’s Hope is charming. — R.B.

Broadway Cast, 1987 (RCA) (3 / 5) Renewed interest in Anything Goes, after its absence from Broadway for more than 50 years, brought the show back in this Lincoln Center Theater production. There was again some tinkering with the score: “Friendship” and “It’s De-Lovely” were interpolated once more, as was “Easy to Love” — and the evening began with Porter’s own voice in an old recording of the title tune. The show once again held up under all the changes, making for one of the happier Broadway events of its time. As for casting, Howard McGillin’s Billy, with his attractive baritenor voice and earnest manner, worked somewhat better onstage than it does on records. Opposite him in the role of Reno Sweeney, Patti LuPone seems to be zapped in from a different galaxy; her portrayal is both magnetic and quite controversial. As always, her authority and commitment are never in doubt, but her vocal style will annoy some listeners even as it enraptures others. The rest of the cast is less formidable, with the Tony-winning Bill McCutcheon a particularly sweet Public Enemy 13. As always, this score seems to inspire an enthusiastic performance from all forces involved. — R.B.

Studio Cast, 1988 (IIMI) (3 / 5) While the 1987 Lincoln Center production was still packing them in, the first full recording of the Anything Goes score as it was originally heard on Broadway was put together by the team responsible for the magnificent 1988 Show Boat recording. Once again, conductor John McGlinn leads a cast of musical theater and opera singers. But, while that blend worked fine for the epic Show Boat, here it’s a different story. The wonderful mezzo Frederica von Stade, so great as Kern’s Magnolia, seems too substantial an ingenue for Anything Goes, overpowering the role of Hope. Tenor Cris Groenendaal is a light, acceptable Billy but is poorly matched with his Reno, the soubrette-belter Kim Criswell. Only Jack Gilford is perfectly cast, his endearingly scratchy character voice just right for Moonface. — R.B.

London Cast, 1989 (First Night) (3 / 5) The success of the Lincoln Center revisal of Anything Goes generated a London production, and Howard McGillin crossed the Atlantic to play Billy opposite Elaine Page. He sings the role with more authority here than he did on the earlier disc. Veteran character actor Bernard Cribbins is another good Moonface and Ashleigh Sendin is an attractive Hope. But, even more so than in New York, this production was obviously intended as The Reno Sweeney Show. Paige is more vocally reliable than LuPone, though she occasionally sounds a bit too enraptured with her own divadom. Still, a performer’s self-confidence never did Anything Goes any harm (Marian Montgomery excepted), and a good time is had by all, including the listener. — R.B.

Studio Cast, 1995 (JAY) (1 / 5) In 1995, the world was not holding its breath for another studio recording of Anything Goes, but that didn’t stop JAY Records from assembling a group of singing actors who had replaced Paige, McGillin, and Cribbins in the 1989 London stage production. Unlike other JAY studio cast recordings of complete musical theater scores as originally written, this one was based strictly on the 1987/’89 revival version, with new orchestrations by Michael Gibson and the same tune stack. Comparisons with the cast albums of those productions are inevitable; this entry lacks the excitement and theatrical luster of its rivals. Gregg Edelman conveys some of Billy’s brashness, but Louise Gold lacks LuPone’s charisma and Paige’s tower of vocal strength. No one else is either offensive or magnetic in this unnecessary recording. — R.B.

London Cast, 2003 (First Night) (3 / 5) The British fascination with Anything Goes continued in 2003 with a National Theatre revival of the late-’80s version. Directed by Trevor Nunn, this production strayed a bit further from the original than its predecessors, but it did so with high style and energy. Nunn treated the show as an ensemble piece rather than a star vehicle, so there’s no Merman/LuPone/Paige sort of dominance, but if Sally Ann Triplett is a somewhat dainty Reno, she can simulate a belt when she needs to. John Barrowman is a Billy with lots of juvenile charm, the supporting cast is spirited, the chorus is strong, the orchestra is having a great time, and “Blow, Gabriel, Blow” raises the roof.  — R.B.

Broadway Cast, 2011 (Ghostlight) (2 / 5) During the first two decades of the 21st century, Sutton Foster gained enough of a name as a Broadway musical star that she eventually began to be miscast in revivals of classic shows simply on the basis of her box-office bankability. The most recent example as of this writing was The Music Man (2022), but the first occurrence came when Foster took on the role of Reno Sweeney in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s Anything Goes (2011). The character was conceived, and heretofore has been played, as a brassy, sexy, mature, 1930s broad, someone who has been around the block enough times to have had a career as a nightclub singer before becoming an evangelist. In contrast, Foster as Reno came across as an exceptionally talented, peppy, young college girl essaying the role. Nor is her recorded performance satisfying from a purely musical standpoint, as her belt voice, though strong and clear, is fairly colorless and lacking in character for songs that had previously been sung so well by Ethel Merman, Eileen Rodgers, Elaine Paige, et al. Happily, the other leads are better suited to their assignments, with Colin Donnell an appealing Billy Crocker and the honored Broadway veteran Joel Grey a wonderfully impish Moonface Martin. (Grey was 79 at the time of this production, but his advanced age is not apparent on the recording.) John McMartin is luxury casting as Elisha Whitney, and his rendition of “The Crew Song” is a sheer delight, while Adam Godley as Lord Evelyn Oakleigh has a high time with “The Gypsy in Me,” and Jessica Stone as Erma is charming in “Buddy Beware.” But though Laura Osnes displays a pretty soprano as Hope Harcourt, her performance (like Foster’s) is wanting in terms of period style. The song stack here is pretty much the same as that of the 1987 cast album. Despite Foster’s miscasting and some other flaws, this recording is enjoyable enough to demonstrate why Anything Goes has become an evergreen title with multiple, major revivals since its Broadway debut in 1934. – Michael Portantiere

Original Off-Broadway Cast, 1993 (Angel) (3 / 5) Everyone’s favorite redheaded orphan sparkles once more in this Off-Broadway sequel to the Broadway mega-smash Annie. After a prolonged gestation period, Annie Warbucks emerged as neither a second golden egg nor a turkey. The cast recording has its share of appealing moments, thanks to capable Broadway pros Donna McKechnie and Harve Presnell and a full-sounding orchestra effectively delivering the Charles Strouse-Martin Charnin score. Things get off to a zippy start with “Annie Ain’t Just Annie Anymore” and “Above the Law.” The orphans are still livin’ la vida hard-knock and they have such spunky numbers as “The Other Woman” and “I Got Me.” Presnell displays his luxurious baritone in “A Younger Man” and “When You Smile.” A standout is the ballad “It Would Have Been Wonderful,” sung by Marguerite MacIntyre as Grace Farrell. One of the disc’s major assets is the plucky, high-belting Annie of Kathryn Zaremba. She anchors the recording with “Changes,” “I Always Knew,” and other bang-it-out songs. The single CD is housed in a double-disc case to accommodate the opulent, forty-eight-page color comic booklet that explains the story. Also included is a text-only synopsis for grownups and all of the show’s lyrics.  — Morgan Sills

Original Broadway Cast, 1977 (Columbia/Sony) (3 / 5) Ironically, Charles Strouse’s biggest hit is one of his less interesting efforts. Thomas Meehan’s book capably adapts the adventures of comic-strip icon Little Orphan Annie to the stage, focusing on how she got together with billionaire Daddy Warbucks. The music by Strouse and lyrics by Martin Charnin (who also directed) sometimes have a slightly by-the-numbers quality; still, it’s a landmark show, boasting the preternatural belting of 13-year-old Andrea McArdle as Annie and the hilarious Dorothy Loudon as the vengeful, alcoholic orphanage keeper, Miss Hannigan. Loudon’s rendition of “Little Girls” (“Some day I’ll step on their freckles / Some night I’ll straighten their curls!”) is a classic. Reid Shelton and Sandy Faison are pleasant as Daddy Warbucks and his assistant, Grace, while Robert Fitch is amusingly sleazy as Rooster, Miss Hannigan’s ex-con brother. The bouncy production number “NYC” features the late Laurie Beechman, whose astonishing belt made her a legend among Broadway musical aficionados. Generally, the more sophisticated numbers are the best. They include “We’d Like to Thank You, Herbert Hoover,” sung by a gang of sardonic Depression-era bums; “Easy Street,” in which Miss Hannigan and cohorts scheme to defraud Daddy Warbucks; and “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile,” a charming parody sung by a radio crooner, then reprised by Annie’s orphan friends. There are many uninspired items, too, especially “Something Was Missing,” “You Won’t Be an Orphan for Long,” and “I Don’t Need Anything but You,” all of which suffer from plodding melodies and obvious lyrics. But Philip J. Lang’s orchestrations give every number extra sparkle, and if you can still listen to “Tomorrow” without wanting to blow your brains out, McArdle’s rendition is tops. The latest CD reissue features cuts from an early backers’ audition with Charnin and Strouse performing seven numbers written for the show, of which only “Tomorrow” survived. The others are lame and, in one case, appalling; even Charnin admits in the CD booklet notes that they were on the wrong track. — David Barbour

Film Soundtrack, 1982 (Columbia/Sony) 0 stars; not recommended. For those of you who never miss a John Huston musical, this disaster is a must. Everyone else should stay away. In the time-honored tradition of hack Hollywood adaptations, several numbers from the show score were dropped for the film (including “We’d Like to Thank You, Herbert Hoover”). Even the weakest item from the original is better than the mediocre new entries, which include “Sandy,” a love song for Annie to her favorite dog, and “Let’s Go to the Movies,” a contrivance to get Annie, Daddy Warbucks, and Grace Farrell to Radio City Music Hall. Carol Burnett is an amusingly glum Miss Hannigan, but Albert Finney is a dull Warbucks. Tim Curry and Bernadette Peters are wasted as Rooster and Lily, and Ann Reinking is miscast as Grace. Although Aileen Quinn is perfectly fine in the title role, even hard-core Annie fans will be bemused by this lackluster disc. — D.B.

London Studio Cast, 1998 (TER/JAY) (3 / 5) Since the original Broadway cast recording of Annie has never been out of print, a studio cast album hardly seemed necessary. Still, this accomplished edition offers a slightly expanded version of the score, including reprises of “Little Girls” and “Easy Street.” The cast includes Ruthie Henshall as an excellent Grace and Ron Raines as a stentorian Daddy Warbucks. Kim Criswell channels the spirit of Dorothy Loudon as Miss Hannigan, and Sarah French is an acceptable Annie. Overall, the recording suffers from slow tempi and a lack of personality. — D.B.

Television Film Soundtrack, 1999 (Sony) (3 / 5) “We’d Like to Thank You, Herbert Hoover” is once again missing in action, along with a couple of lesser numbers, but what’s left is beautifully served by an all-star cast in this Disney television adaptation. Alicia Morton is the best Annie since Andrea McArdle, and is well matched by Victor Garber’s warmer-than-usual Daddy Warbucks. As Grace, Rooster, and Lily (respectively), Audra McDonald, Alan Cumming, and Kristin Chenoweth are almost laughably overqualified, and they all deliver commensurately. Kathy Bates is a blunt, funny Miss Hannigan with a surprisingly effective singing voice. As a bonus, Andrea McArdle appears in “NYC,” taking Laurie Beechman’s original role. In what may be a Hollywood first, Martin Erskine’s ebullient orchestrations rival and, in some cases, surpass Philip J. Lang’s Broadway originals. — D.B.

Original Broadway Cast, 1955 (Decca) 0 Stars; not recommended.This is a four-alarm disgrace, even worse than its title implies. A tip-off is the description of the Guy Bolton-Eddie Davis libretto and the Sammy Fain-Dan Shapiro score on the back cover: “Things happen so fast in Ankles Aweigh — plot, music, and lyrics are so rapidly paced and so tightly integrated — that a synopsis is difficult.” As for score: it’s dull for the first four cuts, then turns really bad with “Headin’ for the Bottom Blues” and “Here’s to Dear Old Us.” If you can make it past these losers, you’ll groan through “La Festa,” a terrible tarantella, followed by the pseudo-exciting casino number “Ready Cash.” Then comes “Nothing Can Replace a Man,” which insists that “Throughout the world of science, no one’s found a new appliance that ever can replace a man.” (Oh, really? Check out any “adult entertainment” store.) “Honeymoon” is possibly the first show tune to encourage premarital sex, but that’s not to say that this musical was ahead of its time. It was way behind it. — Peter Filichia

Original Off-Broadway Cast, 1991 (RCA) (4 / 5) The songs of John Kander and Fred Ebb, never lacking in entertainment value or theatricality, were a natural for the revue showcaseformat. This is a sparkling recording of a show for which the creative team — director Scott Ellis, choreographer Susan Stroman, “conceiver” David Thompson, and musical director and arranger David Loud — mined nearly every possibility from the team’s catalog. There are traditional renditions of familiar material (“My Coloring Book”), radical new interpretations of standards (the theme from New York, New York is sung in multiple languages as an international tribute to The City That Doesn’t Sleep), and interesting combinations of unrelated numbers (“I Don’t Remember You,” from The Happy Time, and “Sometimes a Day Goes By,” from Woman of the Year). Only a few of the album’s 18 tracks fall flat, most notably an arrangement of the title song from Cabaret, which has some almost scatted lyrics and a synthetic smoothness that make it sound like a parody of a modern-day cabaret standard. It’s no surprise that almost all of the powerhouse performers (Robert Cuccioli, Karen Mason, Brenda Pressley, Jim Walton, and Karen Ziemba) and the creative team went on to bigger things in bigger shows; the musical, dramatic, and comedic colors they find in this material help Kander and Ebb’s songs seem as vibrant and relevant as ever. — Matthew Murray

Original Broadway Cast, 2003 (Ghostlight) (4 / 5) The English version of Michel Legrand’s French smash hit Le passe-muraille, based on Marcel Ayme’s short story about a man who gains the ability to walk through walls, lasted all of 17 performances on Broadway, but the cast recording proves that the length of a show’s run is not necessarily a good indication of its quality. Legrand’s songs — nearly 30 of them — linger in the ear and heart, revealing his gift for bouncy melody, his talent for setting soaring emotions to music, and his fine sense of humor. The lyrics, adapted by Jeremy Sams from Didier van Cauwelaerr’s French originals, are not quite the equal of the music but do have their share of clever rhymes and evocative imagery. All of this is put over by a top-notch cast led by Malcolm Gets and the incandescent Melissa Errico, with her shimmering soprano. The supporting performers — Lewis Cleale, John Cunningham, Christopher Fitzgerald, Norm Lewis, Sarah Litzsinger, Nora Mae Lyng, and Bill Nolte — are dynamic in voice and character, the epitome of a tight Broadway ensemble. Their work and that of musicai director Todd Ellison, together with Legrand’s modest yet ideal orchestrations, keep the energy level high and the atmosphere magical from beginning to end. Clocking in at about an hour and 15 minutes, the recording omits some musical material but includes a bonus track of Legrand accompanying himself as he sings one of the show’s songs. Even on audio disc, Amour is an enchanting, romantic fairy tale for adults.  — Matthew Murray