Original Broadway Cast, 2016 (Broadway Records) (4 / 5) As originally presented on the tiny stage of an intimate nightclub on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Disaster! was a hilariously funny, spot-on spoof of both the epic disaster movies of the 1970s (The Poseidon Adventure, Earthquake, et al.) and the theatrical genre that has come to be known as “the jukebox musical,” in which pre-existing pop songs are shoved willy-nilly into a “plot” written around them. Sadly, the show had a very brief subsequent run on Broadway, where its intentionally bargain-basement production values were apparently not appreciated — this despite a cast that included such adept musical comedians as Roger Bart, Kerry Butler, Kevin Chamberlin, Faith Prince, Rachel York, and the brilliant Jennifer Simard in the scene-stealing role of a nun with a gambling addiction. But if that production couldn’t muster more than 104 performances in total, the cast album provides evidence that the show itself is a laugh riot and would likely be hugely popular with audiences if presented by community, regional, and summer theaters, high schools, and colleges. As set up in the opening number, “Hot Stuff,” the perfectly ridiculous story that Seth Rudetsky, Jack Plotnick, and Drew Geraci concocted to contain dozens of pop hits of the ’70s concerns a  professor (Rudetsky) who attempts in vain to warn against an impending earthquake that threatens a floating casino/discotheque. Heard during the course of the loopy proceedings are such deathless songs as “Theme from Mahagony,” “Saturday Night,” “I Am Woman/That’s the Way I’ve Heard it Should Be,” “Never Can Say Goodbye,” “Feelings,” “Three Times a Lady,” “Don’t Cry Out Loud,” and about 20 others — but, cannily, almost none of these are performed complete. Rather, they stick around just long enough to make their comic and nostalgic points, then disappear back into the musical ether. If we can all agree that the highlight of the album is Simard’s magnificently toneless rendition of “The Lord’s Prayer” (remember that one?!), there are many other musically and/or comically excellent tracks here, featuring the personnel named above as well as such other worthies as Adam Pascal, Max Crumm, Manoel Felciano, Lacretta Nicole, Paul Castree, and the budding young talent Baylee Littrell in the dual role of 11-year-old twins Ben and Lisa. Throughout, the sounds of the ’70s are expertly aped by orchestrators/arrangers Joseph Joubert and Seth Rudetsky (wearing yet another hat), vocal arranger Michael McElroy, and dance arranger David Dabbon, all under the crack musical direction of Steve Marzullo. Party on! — Michael Portantiere