Which one?--Cabaret

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 7/16/04 at 7:35pm

I do not own a copy of any of the Cabaret cast recordings, but I would like to. Which one do you perfer?

Updated On: 7/16/04 at 07:35 PM

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 7/16/04 at 7:39pm

The movie soundtrack with Liza and Joel Grey -- A classic.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/16/04 at 7:40pm

I have the movie soundtrack and the '98 revival cast recording. Well, those are the only ones I'll directly admit to having. Anyway, they're both great... I'd recommend both, but if you only want to pick one, I'd say '98 revival.

[Thoroughly Modern Cara]

Posted: 7/16/04 at 7:42pm

I like the 98 revival but I prefer Liza to Natasha!!

[judy_in_disguise]

Posted: 7/16/04 at 7:44pm

the 98 revival is good but Natasha Richardson's voice is a joke.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/16/04 at 7:44pm

Yeah, Cara does have a good point... but there are a lot of songs that were cut out of the movie. So if you're going to get that one, I'd get one of the cast recordings too.

Posted: 7/16/04 at 7:45pm

I would definitely say the OBC--the production that started it all.

The movie soundtrack is good and Liza is in great vocal shape however I haven't played it in years. I don't consider it worthy much beyond having a record of her performance, and the two songs added to the film.

[marlomanners]

Posted: 7/16/04 at 7:47pm

The '98 revival cuts out the sucky songs from the original version and adds in the classic songs from the movie, so I'd go with that. I bought the original cast recording when it was reissued and only listened to it once, since it was missing so many of my favorite songs and contained so many songs...OK maybe just two or three...that I didn't like at all...like that "Mushnik" song...OK I know that's not what it's really called but I can't think of the real title.

Posted: 7/16/04 at 7:58pm

Just a comment - Natasha's voice was accepted, as the character as conceived for the revival is really not supposed to be a good singer. That being said, I really can't listen to it because of that.

I recommend the soundtrack for any number of reasons. And Jose', it's also a record of Mr. Grey's performance as well (as it differed from the OBC.)

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 7/16/04 at 7:59pm

I just can't take Jill Hayworth's Sally on the OBC.

[cabarethed]

Posted: 7/16/04 at 8:01pm

1998-- it combines the OBC and the movie score. If you like it and want to hear more, then definitely get the OBC. I'm one of those believers that Sally doesn't need a perfect voice. Though Susan Egan was heaven.

[magruder]

Posted: 7/16/04 at 8:02pm

That's "Meeskite". And actually, I missed it in the 1998 revival. That song performed an important task in the material. Herr Schultz performs the song, which is filled with Jewish humor and bears a Yiddish title, at the party near the end of Act One. He is unaware that the song, which he is performing as a party diversion, marks him as a Jew, because like the Jewish citizens of Berlin, he felt he had nothing to fear from his non-Jewish neighbors. The song seems innocuous and extraneous, but when it is included, and when the scene is well-directed, you should feel a sense of encroaching dread, because Herr Schultz has no idea how his life and livelihood will be destroyed by Act Two.

[Mamie]

Posted: 7/16/04 at 8:36pm

I loved the sucky songs! Also the new ones. So - I have both the original and the revival cast recordings. I just didn't like what they did to the old couple in the movie so I never got that recording. (I do like Liza though)

Posted: 7/16/04 at 9:13pm

In my opinion the OBC captures the spirit of the musical: lives intersecting amid a social and policial firestorm; acquaintances and friendships made that were lost, never to be recaptured as they intersect with one another then hurl along alone to their individual fates.

The major criticism of Liza's Sally is, if she sings that good what is she doing in that dump? Jill Haworrth was perfectly suited to the role of Sally. An actress who could passably put a song across, representative of hundreds of other young women anonymously singing for their suppers.

In the OBC, versus the film, it's clear that this is Cliff's story: the charactgers he met during his stay in Berlin. The film by contrast has no choice but to turn this into Sally's story by Liza's sheer force of personality and performance. Every revival has tried to recreated the film's dynamic. The OBC gives you a link to Kander's & Ebb's original intent.

Then there's the songs excised from the film.

That plus the wonderful Pirate Jenny herself, Lotte Lenya.



Updated On: 7/16/04 at 09:13 PM

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 7/16/04 at 10:02pm

That criticism of Liza is passe. She not only sings well (which for me isn't a problem - I saw Joely Fisher in the revival, she also sang very well and it didn't bother me - plenty of people in New York are great singers and will never make it to Broadway for whatever reason, so why isn't it believable that a good singer in Berlin wouldn't necessarily be a star?), she puts forth the emotion necessary. The movie soundtrack is my choice as well.

Posted: 7/16/04 at 10:18pm

I used to snub my nose at OBC. Shows I knew nothing about, performers and songs that interested me even less. Movie soundtracks were the only recordings that mattered. Then sometime in high school my tastes began maturing and I started buying more cast albums.

Liza is Liza--She is not CABARET.

I prefer her in FLORA, THE RED MENACE.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 7/16/04 at 10:22pm

Some of us disagree with that statement, Jose. Some of us believe Liza is the consummate Sally Bowles. Not to take anything away from her performance in Flora. Liza wears Kander and Ebb exceptionally well.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 7/16/04 at 10:22pm

I prefer the newer cast recordings because the sound is generally better, especially the instruments. Funny, I just got the original cast at a library and wasn't really impressed with the CD...the newer one is better. Still have yet to listen to the soundtrack one!

[marlomanners]

Posted: 7/16/04 at 10:30pm

I love Lotte Lenya too, but I also have her American Theatre Songs CD which includes her songs from the Cabaret OBC, so her presence was not an incentive to listen to the OBC which I did not like overall.

I do love Liza too.

And Natasha whether she can sing or not.

[PJ]

Posted: 7/16/04 at 11:08pm

I have the OBC, film soundtrack, and the new b'way cast recording. I prefer the NBCR to the OBC by far. I can only take Jill Haworth's numbers on the OBC. And I love her rendition of "Cabaret."

Liza's Sally, however different, is probably the definitive. Just because she's known for the role to the general public.

I have yet to get my hands on the Original London Cast Recording w/ Dame Judi Dench. They can be found occasionally on Ebay for around...oh, $50+.

[SammyGal]

Posted: 7/16/04 at 11:46pm

*coughAlanCummingcough*

I'm gonna say...hmm...the '98 CR :)

Posted: 7/17/04 at 9:56am

That's an interesting phrase you chose to use, Jose' - "Then sometime in high school my tastes began maturing and I started buying more cast albums." The implication that those who choose soundtracks over cast recordings don't have the developed sense of 'taste' that you do is unsupportable - not to mention mildly insulting.

Posted: 7/17/04 at 10:03am

It's all in how you read the statement Tin Man.

Have a heart.

Oh, er...ooops...Sorry, I realize you don't have one.

J. Updated On: 7/17/04 at 10:03 AM

[sean martin]

Posted: 7/17/04 at 10:52am

Little known and sometimes hard to find (Check at Footlights if you're in NYC) is the Berlin cast album. Sung in German, of course, but it gives the show an entirely different flavour. Well worth hunting for.

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 7/17/04 at 10:59am

I realise my post is a little late on this thread, but I just won't hear a bad word against Natasha Richardson as Sally. Her voice is absolutely not "a joke". Her rendition of the title song is absolutely spine chilling and is how the song *should* be sung. Just because it isn't easy to listen to does not mean it is bad. And if you want to hear a Sally who had a voice that you could call a joke, see if you can find a recording of Brooke Shields. Woah.