A Minister's Wife cast recording shipped/any thoughts?

I haven't listened to it yet either, but I'm excited about it. I wasn't super interested until I heard Marc Kudisch talk about the show in his downstage center interview and now I'm really interested in hearing it.

While on the subject can we talk about the photoshop nightmare on the cover? Kate Fry is sitting on a couch that disappears and Marc Kudisch has no legs.

It can be painful and still be good. Ask the Marquis de Sade.

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It's a gorgeous score. May not be everyone's cup of tea. I think the comparisons the the snoozer Bed and Sofa are a bit unfair. Kudisch has never sounded better. His voice is perfect for this music. I liked it more than Adding Machine, actually.

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I didn't get to see the production. Maybe it plays better on disc?

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The problem was that the creative staff pulled all the ripe social commentary out of CANDIDA and turned it into a silly (painfully silly) love triangle.

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Updated On: 9/3/11 at 10:09 PM

I saw MY LIFE WITH ALBERTINE at Playwrights and have listened to the score several times, and I find it to be leagues better than most people give it credit. I actually quite like it--some of the music is hauntingly beautiful, while other parts are ridiculously bad. But it certainly works for me a lot more than A MINISTER'S WIFE.

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I think part of my problem in judging the score of A MINISTER'S WIFE is that the sound balance was off (I saw the show in previews) and I was getting hit loud and hard from the band (It was too small to be called an "orchestra"). It overwhelmed the singers. Ironically, I had a house seat.

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"It's a gorgeous score."

This abysmal excuse of a score has not a measure of anything musical, melodic or memorable about it and, like The Adding Machine, only put audiences to sleep with its hollow pretension. The tin-eared Chicago critics should be ashamed of themselves.

I like the score (most of it, anyway) to THR PIRATE QUEEN. As for this show, I'm one of Kudisch's biggest fans and even he couldn't keep me from wanting to give myself enough papercuts with the playbill so that I would just bleed out an not have to sit through the rest of this show. The music sounded like it was part of an 8th grade drama class project and it was the only time I'd ever heard audible groans (and audible snoring from more than two people) during a show.

When it ended the applause was light, to say the least and a very good portion of the audience rushed for the doors the second the lights went down.

It costs $10...

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I'm not sure where you get the notion that all the political commentary was pulled out Dollypop! On the CD there is a 5:41 minute anthem to socialism which essentially takes place of the scene in Shaw's play between the minister and his father-in-law. I went to the text to look. That is the extent of the 'ripe social commentary' in the original. The rest of the play is devoted to the love triangle. The 'endless stretches of dialogue' insofar as I can tell, are straight from the Shaw. There is a wonderful track of dialogue on the disc in fact.

I love the recording. I think the music is vibrant, fresh, adult and serious. The show got a fantastic notice in the New York Times and it was also favorably reviewed in the Wall Street Journal.

It may just not be to your taste. Which is fine of course. That's the wonder of art - everything is highly subjective. However, when I saw it at least, it received a standing ovation and played to a very engaged and enthusiastic audience.