Original Off-Broadway Cast, 2013 (PS Classics) (3.5 / 5) Parts of Scott Frankel’s score for this musical, based on the 2002 film of the same title, are uncommonly intricate. The beginning of the album is especially worthy of close listening, as Frankel slowly introduces melodies that will return throughout the score in inventive ways. However, the quality of the songs levels off somewhere in the middle of the piece, and the show’s sentimentality can begin to grate on listeners. Michael Korie’s lyrics are appropriate, if undistinguished. The book, by Richard Greenberg, adheres closely to the plot of the movie: Kelli O’Hara leads the cast as Cathy Whitaker, a housewife in 1950s Connecticut, whose husband is a closeted gay man, played by Steve Pasquale. This secret, along with an unexpected relationship between Cathy and her Black gardener, Raymond (Isaiah Johnson), are the show’s two main sources of drama. O’Hara and Pasquale are vocally exquisite throughout the recording, but they feel a little hemmed-in by their roles; one might say that O’Hara’s deft navigation of “Autumn in Connecticut” and “Once Upon a Time” is better than these songs deserved, and while Pasquale is not given many opportunities to show off his powerful voice, his performance of “If It Hadn’t Been” is noteworthy for his emotional delivery as well as the song’s fascinating melody. Johnson’s recorded performance is less memorable; he duets well with O’Hara while giving his philosophy on gardening in “Sun and Shade,” and his character bonds with hers over a shared love of art in “Miró,” but his acting seems stilted on the album. One other cast member of note: Nancy Anderson stands out in the role of Cathy’s ever vigilant best friend, Eleanor, for her perfectly petty characterization. Far From Heaven had a promising run off-Broadway in 2013, but seems to have been largely forgotten since that production closed. — Forrest Hutchinson