"TO LOVE ANOTHER PERSON IS TO SEE THE FACE OF GOD"- LES MISERABLES---
"THERE'S A SPECIAL KIND OF PEOPLE KNOWN AS SHOW PEOPLE... WE'RE BORN EVERY NIGHT AT HALF HOUR CALL!"--- CURTAINS
I love obscure musicals, foreign musicals, concept recordings, etc, but there are a few that stump me...one is Wuthering Heights which is mentioned before in this thread. DREADFUL!
Worse than that is "In Spite of Reason" which is a noisy rock opera/musical about Abe Lincoln's presidency during the Civil War. The singing is putrid. http://www.sparxecho.com/
"Carson has combined his passion for helping children with his love for one of Cincinnati's favorite past times - cornhole - to create a unique and exciting event perfect for a corporate outing, entertaining clients or family fun."
I have to add here that some of you naming some mainstream stuff as "the worst you've heard" really need to expand into some of the lesser known stuff (ie Wuthering Heights or In Spite of Reason). There are some REALLY bad musicals that have been recording - whatever you may think of Side Show or Titanic - they're freaking Sweeney Todd next to some of the crap that's out there.
Taz...my heart broke when you listed Canterbury Tales...one of my favorite 60's flops.
"Carson has combined his passion for helping children with his love for one of Cincinnati's favorite past times - cornhole - to create a unique and exciting event perfect for a corporate outing, entertaining clients or family fun."
I am so glad to know I am not the only one who owns Wuthering Heights...thankfully I think I paid a grand total of $5.50 for it. Definitely under $10.
Part of my problem is, I want it all. So even if it's a show I *don't* like, I'll eventually buy it for one of two reasons: a) Completeness b) the hope I might eventually like it.
That said, some shows I will not buy with my own money.
LaChiusa's FIRST LADY SUITE THE WOMAN IN WHITE A CATERED AFFAIR Lippa's THE WILD PARTY
"You pile up enough tomorrows, and you'll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays. I don't know about you, but I'd like to make today worth remembering." --Harold Hill from The Music Man
I'm actually glad I bought "The Woman In White," because there are several songs I really like on there, and I love just popping in the CD and listening to it straight through-- it's like a crazy mystery radio drama that happens to be sung. But I was really, really, really, really underwhelmed with Michael Crawford's Count Fosco. I just wanted to skip through everything he sang, which was a pity because I LOVE Fosco and I adore the song "You Can Get Away With Anything" (definitely my favourite ALW song).
In my pants, she has burst like the music of angels, the light of the sun! --Marius Pantsmercy
Be careful, people. It's my experience - and everyone's I'm sure - that a lot of OCRs don't attract the ear on first or second playing, lay around unheard for a while, then get replayed - and ENJOYED! For me, Amour was like that and so was Side Show which I now play all the time. I don't regret any show CD I've purchased.
I've had several cast recording grow on me after awhile....Cabaret was one of them. When I first got it, I hated it...but then I saw the show and enjoyed the songs more, probably because I could put them in context and such. I also disliked [title of show] as well until I saw the show. That, for me, was a time when I definitely needed to see the show to appreciate the recording.
That being said, I never listen to the Drowsy Chaperone. The show itself is a delight to watch, but outside of the stage, the recording makes very little sense.
And a few mentions of Wuthering Heights...I actually picked up this recording at the Boston Public Library last weekend but haven't had a chance to pop it in the CD player yet. Should I just return it without a listen, lol? :)
Spamalot. With the exception of one or two songs, I hate it.
http://www.beintheheights.com/katnicole1 (Please click and help me win!)
I chose, and my world was shaken- So what? The choice may have been mistaken,
The choosing was not...
"Every day has the potential to be the greatest day of your life." - Lin-Manuel Miranda
"And when Idina Menzel is singing, I'm always slightly worried that her teeth are going to jump out of her mouth and chase me." - Schmerg_the_Impaler
Evita 20th Anniversary recording - I didn't realise it had Colm Wilkinson as Che. I must be one of the only people in the world who doesn't like his voice.
Woman in White - only about 2 songs on it that I actually like.
I've also got a bunch of foreign cast recordings of Rent, in lanuguages that I can't understand, that I listened to once and haven't taken out of the box since.
lol, husk_charmer, I definitely will. I checked out the recording because I fell in love with the book in high school. I did think if it was an awesome musical, though, I'd have heard of it before :).
And, Jade, you are not the only person that doesn't care from Colm Wilkinson's voice. I'm not really a fan either. I can appreciate him in Les Mis because I do like his acting choices and I do think his voice works in "Bring Him Home" but overall, I can't listen to anything else he has recorded. I can't imagine him as Che. (But then again, I am a Mandy Patinkin as Che fan, love his "And the Money Kept Rolling In")
doodle - I also love Canterbury Tales. Especially I am All A-Blaze and Love Will Conquer All. It is one of those flop CDs I cherish up there with All American and Goldilocks. But then, I also adore Bombay Dreams, Bye Bye Birdie, and much of LaChiusa's works, so what do I know?
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
My Life with Albertine Little Fish See What I Want to See The Bakers Wife (London cast) Company (1995 revival) Divorce Me Darling DuBarry Was a Lady (film) Evil Dead: the Musical Evita (London revival) House of Flowers Jekyll & Hyde - Resurrection Kiss of the Spider Woman (Vanessa version) Legs Diamond (sound quality is CRAP!) Pinafore! (LA Gay Men's Chorus version) The Woman in White
"The theatre is so endlessly fascinating because it's so accidental. It's so much like life." - Arthur Miller
I thought I was the only person who preferred the original cast of Assassins-- and I'm a fan of NPH and James Barbour! (Well, of JB's VOICE, at least.)
But I actually really like the new cast of Gypsy's rendition of "It Mama Was Married." It's my favorite song on the CD.
In my pants, she has burst like the music of angels, the light of the sun! --Marius Pantsmercy
No schmerg it seems the general consensus is the OCR is better, however, I'm surprised about all the hate towards the Broadway recording, I mean, it isn't that bad at all.
"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