Reprinted from CASTRECL with permission from David L. Hobbs:
A list of New York cast albums, made for my own consumption and offered, as it was last year, in case it's of use or interest to others. Note this list only covers shows which opened during the 2007-08 eligibility years for the Tony and Lortel Awards. Off-off-B'way is not included in order to keep the list manageable. Corrections, additions and news of unpublicized demos & promos featuring New York casts are most welcome.
One might be forgiven for stumbling over the name of Adrift in Macao composer Peter Melnick -- in the liner notes, he's even quoted referring to himself as "Richard Rodgers' 'other' grandson," an oblique reference to his famed cousin Adam Guettel. It's unclear on the basis of the album whether this state of affairs will continue. While far from a major work (one could argue that all three of Guettel's scores rank with the work of Sondheim -- but let's stop inciting a family feud, shall we?), the score to this noir pastiche is an old-fashioned, light, infectious piece that will play well in regional theatre.
The lyrics, on the other hand, are entirely modern--parodies of torch songs, songs with lyrics supposedly improvised on the spot, songs about themselves--in the manner that's taken over Broadway in the last decade or so. Fortunately, slumming lyricist Christopher Durang has sufficient skill and talent to bring most of them off ("Rick's Song" is a shaky mashup of "The Song That Goes Like This" and "The Diva's Lament" from Spamalot, but "Pretty Moon Over Macao," "In a Foreign City," and "The Chase" all score).
Unfortunately, this still means it's at best a matter of taste; one wonders whether the audience that wants to hear Melnick's score is the same as the audience that wants to hear Durang's lyrics. And when it comes to the weird "Asian" numbers for "Tempura" (Orville Mendoza), one wonders how many people want to hear any of it at all.
The cast is uniformly strong: Mendoza, who has the most floppo material, manages to sparkle with natural charm. Rachel deBenedet and Alan Campbell have the rare treat of playing (with gusto) romantic leads with better and funnier songs than their comic foils; still, Michele Ragusa and Will Swenson (the latter as "Rick Shaw"; ugh) acquit themselves well.
And whatever is lacking in individual numbers, all can be forgiven when the cast breaks into the charming title song or, better, the intoxicating "Ticky Ticky Tock" finale. In fact, if there's anything that inspires confidence in the future of Melnick and Durang as a songwriting duo, it's this simple, silly, pleasingly anachronistic sing-a-long for the company.
ArkivMusic.com has begun issuing CD-Rs of an out-of-print or otherwise generally unavailable recordings. For the usual cost of a CD, they'll burn you a disc and include reproductions of the original artwork and liner notes. But unlike the bootleggers on eBay, the recordings are fully licensed from the record labels. Max Preeo hinted on CASTRECL that a major label is negotiating to use ArkivMusic to release its back catalog...
I admit it. Just like librettist Douglas Carter Beane writes in the liner notes of the newly-released Original Broadway Cast recording of Xanadu, when I attended the first preview in May, I was hoping to catch a flop of Carrie-like proportions. After all, the original film musical was a financial and artistic failure, even if it did produce a best-selling soundtrack. Trying to roller-skate on the Helen Hayes Theatre's postage stamp-sized stage would surely be the least of the cast's worries...
So imagine my surprise when the show turned out to be some of the most fun I've ever had at the theatre, and went on to open to the best reviews of any recent film-to-stage adaptation on Broadway. Douglas Carter Beane and his collaborators managed to leverage the camp value inherent in the piece along with the hit score to create a show that's entertaining on its own terms (and not just “children's theatre for 40-year-old gay men” as one of the oft-quoted lines contends).
Several months later, a cast recording has finally arrived in stores. I looked forward mainly to hearing Cheyenne Jackson's take on the lead role of struggling artist Sonny Malone, as he was a last-minute replacement for the injured James Carpinello. Jackson has a silky baritone and easily negotiates the pop score (and, from the look of the promotional photos, fills out his tank top and short shorts rather nicely).
But the real draw of this recording is the adorably perky Kerry Butler, who channels Olivia Newton-John as Clio, the Greek Muse, with the right balance of parody and reverence. Butler has turned up on countless demo recordings and in smaller parts, and it's great to see her break out in a role she so obviously has so much fun playing.
Mary Testa and Jackie Hoffman, who chewed the scenery as Clio's evil sisters on stage, manage to keep from going too over-the-top on the recording, showcasing their sass in one of the stage musical's interpolated hits, “Evil Woman.” Woody Allen-favorite Tony Roberts may pale in comparison to the film's Gene Kelly, but has a gruff charm all his own.
Providing music direction is the unlikely Eric Stern, mostly known for his work on arty Nonesuch recordings with singers like Audra McDonald and Dawn Upshaw. Stern, however, manages to create a pretty full sound with only 4 players and a few pit singers (including journeyman Annie Golden).
But is this recording going to replace your well-worn copy of the Xanadu soundtrack? Surprisingly, after re-listening to Olivia Newton-John et al, the original Broadway cast compares favorably, teeming with infectious energy.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed to castalbums.org since our "reboot" almost a year ago!
It's a new year and a new recordings are scheduled to be released. You can always keep abreast of recent & scheduled recordings by visiting our Upcoming Releases page.
What recordings are you looking forward to in the new year? Personally, I'm looking forward to the campfest Xanadu (featuring the
breathy Kerry Butler channeling Olivia Newton-John) and also Make Me A Song, the recent William Finn revue which featured a ravishing performance of "Anytime" by Sally Wilfert.
Huzzah! Footlight.com won't be closing after all!
To One & All:First I must apologize to everyone; you probably think that I am the Boy Who Cried Wolf. Believe me the last thing I wanted to do was shut down.
With the help of some other people in the industry I have worked out a plan to restructure the website. This will hopefully work out and keep Footlight alive.
First of all it is amazing how well records have been selling on the site. We plan to keep on expanding this area.
I feel what will work to keep us afloat is to narrow our focus to Cast Recordings, Vocalists, a limited selection of Film Soundtracks, and DVDs.
This will entail stocking all the new releases domestic and imports in these categories as we have done in the past, but only having them available for a limited time (two or three months) this is the period in which we sell about 90% of the sales of any title.
We will carry a selection of featured labels; for instance Bay View, Original Cast, Jay, Fynsworth Alley and others. We will continue to stock the complete catalog of these labels.
We plan to expand our Rare Section of CDs by offering to purchase CDs you may want to sell. You may e-mail us lists and we would let then let you know which ones we are interested in and make you an offer. Of course they must be in mint or near mint condition.
We plan to make these changes to the site over the next couple of weeks.
We will be getting in the newly released A. L. Webber titles from London next week.
All the best,
Ron Saja
Following up on the closing of the store in NYC, Footlight.com is closing up shop.
To one and all:A sad day for US collectors.It is with deep regret that I must inform you that we will be closing on July 4th. It has been a difficult decision, but there seems to be no choice. The company was going into debt by keeping the store open. Our rent went from $2500.00 to $5000.00 then to $7000.00 and the landlord wanted to raise it again the following year. This was a dream I had since I was a kid, to own a record store. If I had closed the store sooner and not incurred such a debt than maybe we could have continued as a web-based company. . .
Even that is doubtful in today’s market. Downloading is a affecting us more and more plus you have the fact that many smaller companies that produce Cast Recordings pre-sell their recordings at a discount price. This has probably cut into about 40% of our sales in cast CDs.
I find it interesting that neither one of the internet based soundtrack companies that produce CDs (Intrada and Screen Archives) find the need to undercut the people they distribute their CDs to. They pre-sell their CDs on their site, but at the retail cost.
Last of all many of you may not realize that even though I have a direct account with companies like Sony Music I do not pay the same price as Amazon. Amazon’s cost is much less than I have to pay, so how can I compete with this unfair practice. For instance the new Lucille Ball DVD Box Set cost me more than Amazon is selling it on sale for.
All of this being said all of here Ron, David, Arnold, Will, Richard, and Steve have worked very hard the past couple of years. We love the music and really care about Footlight. Most of us have been with the company almost 20 years. It is a sad day for all of us.
Most of all I would like to thank all of you that have been our regular customers and stuck by us even when you could have saved a dollar going some where else. We will miss the communications that we have had with our customers, many of you for dozens of years.
After the site is closed on the 4th you will still be able to reach us at 718 963 0750 or through our old e-mail address: footlight1@aol.com. We will still be here working for weeks after the site is closed. You will be able to find the balance of our stock on Amazon under the name Footlight-com.
All the best to each and every one of you now and in the future,
Ron, Arnold, Dave, Richard, Steve, & Will
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has a decent entry on Musical Theatre Cast Recordings, which references CastAlbums.org.
Robert J. Elisberg presents an intriguing argument about the state of the Tony Awards show. What he leaves out, however, is the fact that theatre itself has unquestionably suffered a decline in multiple respects since the days when the Tonys were a must-see.
Playbill On-Line asks Sh-K-Boom/Ghostlight president Kurt Deutsch how royalties are calculated for cast albums. It's a question I've often wondered about. Take a look.
