Original Off Broadway Cast, 2026 (JAY Records) (4 / 5) The whimsical premise of this musical is that Romeo Montague, of Shakespearean fame, does not die at the end of the play in which he’s one of the two title characters but, instead, is somehow preserved in suspended animation and revivified in 1960 — whereupon he meets and falls in love with a coarse but lovely young American tourist who has come to visit Verona with her mob-connected family, and he follows her back to her Italian-American nabe in Brooklyn. That concept might have made for a silly, stereotype-filled, one-joke show in lesser hands, but book writer and lyricist Mark Saltzman instead has gifted us with a sweet confection elevated by a score built on classic Italian melodies by Tosti, Bellini, Rossini, et al., to which Saltzman has set lyrics that are by turns clever, funny, and heartfelt. This cast recording is highlighted by the vocal performances of its two young leading men: Nikita Burshteyn as an ardent Romeo, and Michael Notardonato as Dino, a dyed-in-the-wool Brooklynite who befriends him. Burshteyn’s mellifluous voice is a great pleasure to hear in such songs as “A World Away,” “Oh, for a Song,” and “Moonlight,” while Notardonato’s smooth, sexy crooning in the style of Bobby Darin brings his character to life. A definite comic highlight of the album is “Dino Diction,” a sort of reverse Henry Higgins/Eliza Doolittle number in which Romeo’s new pal tries to teach him to tawk like the locals. Anna Kostakis is great fun as Bernadette, while other colorful characters are memorably limned by Ari Raskin, Troy Valjean Rucker, Zach Schanne, Viet Vo, and the treasurable stage veterans Judy McLane and Michael Marotta. (Note: Carlos Lopez, who originated the role of Sal Penza in this production, was unable to be present at the recording sessions for the cast album, so his role is taken here by Charlie Marcus.) Throughout the score, Saltzman does a fantastic job of crafting neat and appropriate English lyrics for so many beloved, old Italian songs. A prime example is “There’s Moonlight Tonight Over Brooklyn,” set to the music of Ruggero Leoncavallo’s “Mattinata”: “Magnolias are bloomin’ in Flatbush / The subways are runnin’ for free (when they run!) / What used to be called Coney Island / Tonight is the isle of Capri / The sparrows are singin’ Sinatra / A song where a guy gets his gal / Oh, why am I picturing Venice? / That’s just the Gowanus Canal!” Following a 2003 co-production by the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami and the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ, a revised version of Romeo & Bernadette had two brief runs Off-Broadway in 2020 and 2022, and it probably would have run longer if COVID hadn’t been an issue. The 2022 production eventually yielded this cast album, which we can all enjoy while hoping for further stagings of this funny, endearing, romantic musical comedy. — Michael Portantiere