What is your favorite cast recording?- Page 4

[Mikey3]

Posted: 6/20/06 at 12:03pm

1.RENT-definitely RENT,after 10 years,still listen to it everyday.Collected many versions,they're all my NO.1
2.Hairspray- Saw it for many times...just can't stop the beat!
3.Tick, Tick... Boom!- Jonathan Larson always give me "NEW THOUGHTS"
4.The Secret Garden(Australian Cast)-Anthony Warlow,he just too amazing!
5.The Light in the Piazza-the music...so beautiful.
Too many great cast recordings...hard to list them all.


Wicked was in the top 5...but after saw show in live...the soundtrack just can't cover my memory.The live show was too much better than CD.

I'm listening to The Wedding Singer now...maybe some day it would be in the top 10. The soundtrack is amazing...also the live performace.
Updated On: 6/20/06 at 12:03 PM

[TheMecca]

Posted: 6/20/06 at 12:16pm

My favorite is Avenue Q. Although it's not that much of a moving show as it is funny, the album means alot to me because it was my first cast album I ever recieved. It's been listened to so many times that I wore out "Fantasies Come True" yesterday- when Kate comes in it starts to skip along. Thank goodness I imported the album on to my computer.

[mikeyb16]

Posted: 6/20/06 at 1:52pm

my favourite are

WICKED- Idina Menzel & Kristin Chenoweth were both fantastic at the original roles

BATB- Susan Egan's voice was superb!

[musicman89]

Posted: 6/20/06 at 2:00pm

RAGTIME, SWEENEY TODD, GYPSY, RENT, SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, WEST SIDE STORY

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 6/20/06 at 2:04pm

I love so many cast recordings but as a whole, I'd have to say EVITA with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin. I only say that becasue it's the entire show and the others are all choppy with cuts ect...

I adore the CSR recordings of LES MIZ and MISS SAIGON for that reason as well.

[ZONEACE]

Posted: 6/20/06 at 2:10pm

Caroline, Or Change
Chess (86 concept)
Sweeney (original)
The Last 5 Years

[luvtheatre11]

Posted: 6/20/06 at 2:14pm

1. The Secret Garden..beautiful voices , Beautiful songs
2. Ragtime..I cry every time..This summer my son is in a regional cast (in Connecticut) doing it and I can't wait.
3. Light in the Piazza..just gorgeous all the way around.
4. Suessical..just fun and my son just did it this spring.
5. Wicked..when I am in the mood, I just thoroughly enjoy it.
6. Spamalot..always gets me laughing.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 6/20/06 at 2:31pm

I sure wish I heard what others hear in scores like SWEENY TODD AND 'PIAZZA. I hate both these scores, and find them void of melody. Just a bunch of unconnected notes, under the lyrics, going nowhere. None of the music is something I ever want to hear again, let alone sing. None of it sounds like a song, to me. So many people just love them, and I just don't hear it. As opposed to something like, RAGTIME, where every song is melodic and beautiful to me; and, I just want to hear them over and over and over again. I suppose that's why I hate most musicals; but I wish I didn't.

[Weez]

Posted: 6/20/06 at 3:13pm

Most of my cast recordings are special to me. But the two I love more than others I think are The Last Five Years and Les Miserables CSR. I just never get bored of either of them, never have to put them back on the shelf and to resolve to listen to something else for a few months. If you forced me to choose, I'd cry like a little baby, then possibly push L5Y to the top, because Norbert Leo Butz is pure brilliance. ^_^

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 6/20/06 at 5:16pm

I sure wish I heard what others hear in scores like SWEENY TODD AND 'PIAZZA. I hate both these scores, and find them void of melody. Just a bunch of unconnected notes, under the lyrics, going nowhere. None of the music is something I ever want to hear again, let alone sing. None of it sounds like a song, to me. So many people just love them, and I just don't hear it. As opposed to something like, RAGTIME, where every song is melodic and beautiful to me; and, I just want to hear them over and over and over again. I suppose that's why I hate most musicals; but I wish I didn't.

In a way I can understand where you are coming from, Johnboy2.

Older musicals tended to use songs writteb in standard ABAB or AABA. RAGTIME as a pastiche of early 20th century music does this too. SWEENEY, & PIAZZA are edging more towards opera with obvious classical refences where a theme in one song may reaapear later in the score but not within the same song. Taken as a whole each score is like one long rhapsody with dialogue interruptions. (Sondheim took this even further with PASSION - another score that some love and others hate. Passionately. But even those who hate it have to admit it is a marvel of musical construction.)

Much of SWEENEY's and some of PIAZZA's music is angular and discordant to emphazize character. This serves the drama well but I will admit it doesn't awlays make for easy-listening. It is foreground music that demands you get involved with the characters and story. A show like MAME you can enjoy just casually listening to the songs without having to remind yourself of who is singing and why.

As Sylvia Fine said comparing GOOD NEWS with COMPANY: "A creampuff is no subsitute for a steak. But each has it's place, and a good one too."

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 6/20/06 at 5:19pm

Mine really depends on the minute.

At this moment
Les Miz
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/20/06 at 5:47pm

...EVER??? God, that's like picking a favorite child.

Recently "The Light in the Piazza" and "The Drowsy Chaperone" for different reasons.

All-time? Probably "Sweeney Todd" (Original Cast) - A masterpiece from start to finish.

Sentimental favorite: Baby - because it reminds me of a very specific time and place in my life.

Classic? - The Most Happy Fella (Original Cast)

[ahimsa]

Posted: 6/20/06 at 6:04pm

#1 Dreamgirls

#2 Sunset Boulevard (Glenn Close)

#3 La Cage

#4 Cabaret (Alan Cumming)

#5 Evita



Updated On: 6/20/06 at 06:04 PM

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 6/20/06 at 6:09pm

Thanks for that, frontrow. It doesn't make me dislike it any less, but it sure as hell explains it! I hate opera, too. Well, I love lots of opera music, I just don't want to hear it sung. And, this opinion was formulated after a season of seeing various opera, starring some very well known opera stars, in their prime.