My Musical Theater Voyage of Discovery; The Letter A
AS THOUSANDS CHEER. The cast album I have in my Ipod is from (if memory serves) a production mounted a few years ago by a group called The Drama Department. It got very good reviews and everyone loved it. It was by Moss Hart and Irving Berlin and is listed as one of the 101 Greatest Musicals by Bloom and Vlastnick (who, I think I have shown in this study, I do not always agree with – remember Bloomer Girl? They loved it, I hated it. Meanwhile, in my edition of their book, I have noted not one, NOT ONE, Stephen Schwartz musical – not PIPPIN, not WICKED, not GODSPELL – I don’t get it. BUT we all have our own opinions!). Anyway, I read all about As Thousands Cheer and was in love with it just from reading what Bloom and Vlastnick wrote. So I was destined to love the cast album by The Drama Department, featuring the likes of Judy Kuhn, Howard McGillin, BD Wong and, especially, Paula Newsome and Mary Beth Peil. And GUESS WHAT?! I DO. It is an absolute delight and I had a wonderful time listening to it – especially Paula Newsome and Mary Beth Peil. I will admit that I did remove a couple of tracks from the Ipod because I know I wouldn’t listen to them and I must make room for things I WILL play… But only a couple. Good stuff.
THE APPLE TREE. Yeah, I know. Every musical theater buff knows and loves The Apple Tree. How I got to be 45 years old and never heard anything but Gorgeous and What Makes Me Love Him is beyond me; but it happened. So, on a four hour train ride to a wedding on Saturday I listened to The Apple Tree and I knew. I knew that when I got back to New York City and my computer I would go into my Itunes library and highlight the entire score of The Apple Tree and go into the Itunes rating system and mark each and every song with five stars. THIS score is what the call (in vulgar parlance) The Shit. ME LIKEE. Barbara Harris is an absolute delight, a treasure -- and Alan Alda? Perf.
ANNIE WARBUCKS. Didn’t expect to like it. Gotta tell the truth. Did NOT expect to like it. Instead, I loved it. Musical sequels are usually a mistake. It’s a cartoon onstage – how often does that lightning strike? But it’s Harve Presnell and Miss Donna McKechnie and a little girl with a bright and brassy voice and, who’da thunk? Really good songs. Surprise. Loved Annie Warbucks.
ANKLES AWEIGH. In their book, Bloom and Vlastnick call Ankles Aweigh a guilty pleasure. I am not guilty. I love this score and have since the late 80s when a friend made me an audio cassette of it and I listened to it without any knowledge of the show’s storyline or creators. This was before google and wikepedia and since is was an audio cassette, it came without liner notes. Now I can read anything I like about the show online – but my enjoyment of the score has not diminished over all these years. I enjoy it more, now. Not. Guilty.
ANGEL. Listening to this on the train, I found myself thinking it was very sweet and simple and easy to listen to. It didn’t shatter my earth but it didn’t put me to sleep. So I grew interested and (as I have with many of the musicals I’ve been learning), I googled it. I found out that it was vilified by the critics and ran something like 9 performances. The clips that wikepedia shared from the critics were merciless. And funny. I felt so badly for the people involved with the show – no artist should have to read these kinds of things about their work. Nevertheless, these things were written and they made me laugh. The show may have been despised – but I still think it is sweet and simple and I left most of it in my Ipod because I am sure (bad lyrics and all) I will listen to it again.
AMOUR. I have, long, been a fan of Michel LeGrand. I was destined to like Amour. When it opened on Broadway I did not go because I was NOT a fan of Malcolm Gets. You see, I had a personal history with Mr Gets that was unpleasant and unhappy; so it was not possible for me to patronize his work without bias. No amount of admiration for Mr Legrand or Melissa Errico was going to win out over my extreme distaste for Mr Gets. Since Amour played Broadway, though, I have grown a lot and learned to let go of things. So I put that unpleasant history behind me and revisited Malcolm Gets’ work, only to discover that I like him. I like him very much. I enjoy his acting, I actively listen to his singing, I have read about him in interviews and have determined that I like him. So I have been so extremely happy to get to listen to the cast albums for musicals he has done because they are all good. Amour is exceptional. I love the music, I LOVE the intelligence, I love the performances. I am, now, sorry I didn’t go see the show. Even if I wanted to, though, I doubt I would have had to foresight to see it during its’ brief run on Broadway – I rarely make it to see a show in the first week. Now, though, I have this lovely cd to spark my imagination; and I am not only happy about it – I am lucky.
ALLEGRO. I shouldn’t like it but I do. I know it’s Rodgers and Hammerstein and that’s a great place to start. BUT it’s a lot (a LOT) of big chorus numbers (really don’t like them) and a lot (a LOT) of legit singing (the kind I just don’t listen to). AND. YET. I like it. I really like it. It’s pretty.
ALL AMERICAN. I’m biased. Anita Gillette is my dear friend. I started this cd knowing I was going to give it the benefit of the doubt. Fortunately, I also like Ray Bolger and fortunately, these big chorus numbers are well sung (and not screamed) with lots of nice harmonies. I don’t know if this show was a hit or a miss but it’s a hit with me (well… maybe not Eileen Herlie’s operatic singing – but I can forgive that in the name of Anita Gillette).
A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN. I read about how they changed the storyline of the play to make the secondary character more prominent because of Shirley Booth. I hate that. I hate when the author’s intent is changed for the benefit of another variable. Oh well. Whatcha gonna do? What you do is you look at the new work of art as a different entity. So that’s what I did. And I really liked it – all of it. I knew I would because the overture is so good (it is all told in the overture – that’s where I know if I’m going to like it or not). This is a cast album that Brady always said everyone should own. He’s right.
A NEW BRAIN. Remember that thing I said about Malcolm Gets musicals? Remember that thing I wrote about giving THE APPLE TREE all five stars? Here we go again. THIS is GOOD musical theater! And not only is it a musical with a great, melodic, inteligent score -- it is performed by the likes of Kristin Chenoweth, Mary Testa, Norm Lewis and Penny Fuller! YUM.
[For the Record: AVENUE Q is complete inside my Ipod. APPLAUSE (a musical that is flawed and which I don’t care about being flawed) is complete in my Ipod (even more so, since I have songs from a audio bootlegs of the Stefanie Powers version and the Ann Baxter version in my Ipod). I loved APPLAUSE as a 9 year old when I saw it on tv (starring the original Margo Channing, Lauen Bacall) and that love will never die, flaws and all. ANYTHING GOES is represented by certain tracks done by Miss Ethel Merman and certain tracks from the Patti LuPone cast album. Not all of them – cuts had to be made; but it is a lot of Cole Porter and that makes me happy. The ANNIE GET YOUR GUN that is most complete in my Ipod is the Bernadette Peters version because it has the most material. There is some Ethel Merman Annie Oakley and some Reba McEntire Annie Oakley. If I had my way, it would be ALL Reba – one of the greatest nights I ever spent in any theater. I recently listened to ANNIE and I remarked to my friend Ricky Pope that I had forgotten what a great score it is. Here’s the thing though – my first record album of ANNIE was the West End original cast album. Years later I found the OBC with Dorothy Loudon and listened to it – and that is the cd that is in my Ipod. I still prefer the UK version because it was my first – and we always love our first, don’t we? ALTAR BOYZ – what fun! How do you not just turn it on and hit play?! AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’? Nell Carter? Ken Page? Andre de Shields? Charlane Woodard and Armelia McQueen? Perf. AIDA – a show I loved, in the theater (I saw it with Deborah Cox, though, not the OBC), is not a score I listen to. I play the Sherie Rene Scott tracks and the Heather Headley tracks. I don’t listen to the men unless they are singing with the girls. That’s just the way it is. A CLASS ACT was a fun show to watch – but not a fun show to listen to – at least not all of it. I do have several songs from that cd in my Ipod (there is always room in my Ipod for Randy Graff and Carolee Carmello); especially, I love the song Self Portrait. A CHORUS LINE is one of the most important shows to me, so the OBC is in my Ipod, as are some cuts from the revival cast – most notably Sing!, At the Ballet and the Hello Twelve montage. ]
THE APPLE TREE. Yeah, I know. Every musical theater buff knows and loves The Apple Tree. How I got to be 45 years old and never heard anything but Gorgeous and What Makes Me Love Him is beyond me; but it happened. So, on a four hour train ride to a wedding on Saturday I listened to The Apple Tree and I knew. I knew that when I got back to New York City and my computer I would go into my Itunes library and highlight the entire score of The Apple Tree and go into the Itunes rating system and mark each and every song with five stars. THIS score is what the call (in vulgar parlance) The Shit. ME LIKEE. Barbara Harris is an absolute delight, a treasure -- and Alan Alda? Perf.
ANNIE WARBUCKS. Didn’t expect to like it. Gotta tell the truth. Did NOT expect to like it. Instead, I loved it. Musical sequels are usually a mistake. It’s a cartoon onstage – how often does that lightning strike? But it’s Harve Presnell and Miss Donna McKechnie and a little girl with a bright and brassy voice and, who’da thunk? Really good songs. Surprise. Loved Annie Warbucks.
ANKLES AWEIGH. In their book, Bloom and Vlastnick call Ankles Aweigh a guilty pleasure. I am not guilty. I love this score and have since the late 80s when a friend made me an audio cassette of it and I listened to it without any knowledge of the show’s storyline or creators. This was before google and wikepedia and since is was an audio cassette, it came without liner notes. Now I can read anything I like about the show online – but my enjoyment of the score has not diminished over all these years. I enjoy it more, now. Not. Guilty.
ANGEL. Listening to this on the train, I found myself thinking it was very sweet and simple and easy to listen to. It didn’t shatter my earth but it didn’t put me to sleep. So I grew interested and (as I have with many of the musicals I’ve been learning), I googled it. I found out that it was vilified by the critics and ran something like 9 performances. The clips that wikepedia shared from the critics were merciless. And funny. I felt so badly for the people involved with the show – no artist should have to read these kinds of things about their work. Nevertheless, these things were written and they made me laugh. The show may have been despised – but I still think it is sweet and simple and I left most of it in my Ipod because I am sure (bad lyrics and all) I will listen to it again.
AMOUR. I have, long, been a fan of Michel LeGrand. I was destined to like Amour. When it opened on Broadway I did not go because I was NOT a fan of Malcolm Gets. You see, I had a personal history with Mr Gets that was unpleasant and unhappy; so it was not possible for me to patronize his work without bias. No amount of admiration for Mr Legrand or Melissa Errico was going to win out over my extreme distaste for Mr Gets. Since Amour played Broadway, though, I have grown a lot and learned to let go of things. So I put that unpleasant history behind me and revisited Malcolm Gets’ work, only to discover that I like him. I like him very much. I enjoy his acting, I actively listen to his singing, I have read about him in interviews and have determined that I like him. So I have been so extremely happy to get to listen to the cast albums for musicals he has done because they are all good. Amour is exceptional. I love the music, I LOVE the intelligence, I love the performances. I am, now, sorry I didn’t go see the show. Even if I wanted to, though, I doubt I would have had to foresight to see it during its’ brief run on Broadway – I rarely make it to see a show in the first week. Now, though, I have this lovely cd to spark my imagination; and I am not only happy about it – I am lucky.
ALLEGRO. I shouldn’t like it but I do. I know it’s Rodgers and Hammerstein and that’s a great place to start. BUT it’s a lot (a LOT) of big chorus numbers (really don’t like them) and a lot (a LOT) of legit singing (the kind I just don’t listen to). AND. YET. I like it. I really like it. It’s pretty.
ALL AMERICAN. I’m biased. Anita Gillette is my dear friend. I started this cd knowing I was going to give it the benefit of the doubt. Fortunately, I also like Ray Bolger and fortunately, these big chorus numbers are well sung (and not screamed) with lots of nice harmonies. I don’t know if this show was a hit or a miss but it’s a hit with me (well… maybe not Eileen Herlie’s operatic singing – but I can forgive that in the name of Anita Gillette).
A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN. I read about how they changed the storyline of the play to make the secondary character more prominent because of Shirley Booth. I hate that. I hate when the author’s intent is changed for the benefit of another variable. Oh well. Whatcha gonna do? What you do is you look at the new work of art as a different entity. So that’s what I did. And I really liked it – all of it. I knew I would because the overture is so good (it is all told in the overture – that’s where I know if I’m going to like it or not). This is a cast album that Brady always said everyone should own. He’s right.
A NEW BRAIN. Remember that thing I said about Malcolm Gets musicals? Remember that thing I wrote about giving THE APPLE TREE all five stars? Here we go again. THIS is GOOD musical theater! And not only is it a musical with a great, melodic, inteligent score -- it is performed by the likes of Kristin Chenoweth, Mary Testa, Norm Lewis and Penny Fuller! YUM.
[For the Record: AVENUE Q is complete inside my Ipod. APPLAUSE (a musical that is flawed and which I don’t care about being flawed) is complete in my Ipod (even more so, since I have songs from a audio bootlegs of the Stefanie Powers version and the Ann Baxter version in my Ipod). I loved APPLAUSE as a 9 year old when I saw it on tv (starring the original Margo Channing, Lauen Bacall) and that love will never die, flaws and all. ANYTHING GOES is represented by certain tracks done by Miss Ethel Merman and certain tracks from the Patti LuPone cast album. Not all of them – cuts had to be made; but it is a lot of Cole Porter and that makes me happy. The ANNIE GET YOUR GUN that is most complete in my Ipod is the Bernadette Peters version because it has the most material. There is some Ethel Merman Annie Oakley and some Reba McEntire Annie Oakley. If I had my way, it would be ALL Reba – one of the greatest nights I ever spent in any theater. I recently listened to ANNIE and I remarked to my friend Ricky Pope that I had forgotten what a great score it is. Here’s the thing though – my first record album of ANNIE was the West End original cast album. Years later I found the OBC with Dorothy Loudon and listened to it – and that is the cd that is in my Ipod. I still prefer the UK version because it was my first – and we always love our first, don’t we? ALTAR BOYZ – what fun! How do you not just turn it on and hit play?! AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’? Nell Carter? Ken Page? Andre de Shields? Charlane Woodard and Armelia McQueen? Perf. AIDA – a show I loved, in the theater (I saw it with Deborah Cox, though, not the OBC), is not a score I listen to. I play the Sherie Rene Scott tracks and the Heather Headley tracks. I don’t listen to the men unless they are singing with the girls. That’s just the way it is. A CLASS ACT was a fun show to watch – but not a fun show to listen to – at least not all of it. I do have several songs from that cd in my Ipod (there is always room in my Ipod for Randy Graff and Carolee Carmello); especially, I love the song Self Portrait. A CHORUS LINE is one of the most important shows to me, so the OBC is in my Ipod, as are some cuts from the revival cast – most notably Sing!, At the Ballet and the Hello Twelve montage. ]
posted by StephenMosher at 11:16 AM
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