Looks like we are getting a new cast recording of the West End production of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, featuring Killian Donnelly and Lucy St. Louis. The article states a release date of June 1, 2022.
While I am always excited for a new cast recording of this score, I do wish they had chosen the current Broadway cast for this. Ben Crawford's Phantom is incredible, and Emilie Kouatchou is a revelation. The Broadway production also continues to utilize the full orchestration. I do wonder if this will feature the new reduced orchestrations currently being used in the London production.
singerunlimited said: "Looks like we are getting a new cast recording of the West End production of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, featuring Killian Donnelly and Lucy St. Louis. The article states a release date of June 1, 2022.
While I am always excited for a new cast recording of this score, I do wish they had chosen the current Broadway cast for this. Ben Crawford's Phantom is incredible, and Emilie Kouatchou is a revelation. The Broadway production also continues to utilize the full orchestration. I do wonder if this will feature the new reduced orchestrations currently being used in the London production."
just want to second-I LOVE Ben Crawford!! His “Music of The Night”…flawless (in my opinion). When I saw Emilie when she was a standby I said she should take over whenever the current lead exited!
Very odd to drop a surprise cast album with no prior announcement and on a Wednesday instead of the usual Friday release for albums. I don’t see a pre-order link. If it does get released I’ll give it a listen.
Just listened to the "single" of the title song which is listed as a London 2022 Cast Recording (so not sure if it's a full recording or if this is it)
It sounds bizarre - over produced? or some weird over-echo or something. Was impossible to really hear the vocals clear and decide whether I liked the leads or not
This seems completely unwarranted. Why do we need an official recording of the title song by a duo who haven't exactly been lauded for their performances since the new show opened in London? I suppose Lucy St. Louis can claim a few fans, but has anyone really applauded Killian Donnelly as the Phantom? Ben Crawford is FAR more deserving of his own recording.
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"Michael Riedel...The Perez Hilton of the New York Theatre scene" - Craig Hepworth, What's On Stage
I LOVE Killian's voice on the track. He sounds heavenly to me. Lucy sounds fine too but her final vocalization section sounded really strange to me for some reason, I can't seem to explain it.
Maybe ALW is trying to create publicity for the London production if sales are slow so it’s not really about who ‘deserves’ to be recorded from an artistic standpoint. Also, how much does it cost to record a single for the leads in the West End vs Broadway? It may be prohibitively expensive?
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
Looking at this tweet, Andrew Llyod Webber and the Phantom people are making it seem like it is a "new recording of the cast", of a single of the title song.
The wording on this is super odd and continues to be so! When I see "cast recording," I'm thinking an entirely new album - or, at the very least, a highlights album. Why not just call it a "single?" Strange all around!
I mean there's thousands of versions of this song. While a bit confusing, it's a cast recording of the title track, (as per the Tweet wording) so they would definitely have to make this differentiation to stand out.
"Hey little girls, look at all the men in shiny shirts and no wives!" - Jackie Hoffman, Xanadu, 19 Feb 2008