Posted: 5/25/17 at 11:30am
I have to agree with JTTP. I'm very disappointed that the raw emotions and the power that she commands on stage are not there. It's too pretty. Christy nailed In My Dreams vocally and emotionally, so I don't know what happened with Journey.
Updated On: 5/25/17 at 11:30 AM
Posted: 5/25/17 at 11:34am
lambchop2 said: "Definitely agree re: Journey to the Past during certain parts of the song, it sounds like she was not as powerful as what we've heard in videos so far.
Gosh, it's good to hear "Stay I Pray You" in professional quality finally.
"
RIGHT??! In My Dreams is my favorite new song, but Stay, I Pray You if my favorite new song MOMENT, as in, my favorite moment to how a new song is USED overall. I somehow completely forgot about the Easter egg that In the Dark of the Night was used somewhere (so I'd heard) but when I saw the show two weeks ago, and this song started, it took me a hot second to recognize that it's the ITDOTN bridge...I went a little crazy about it. Who know that this hard rock villain song could be reused to be an utterly gorgeous "Anatevka" type of choral piece... this is probably the spot in the show I actually cried at. And thank goodness I wasn't the only one who noticed, the gal next to me did also, and we just squealed about it like kids in a candy store at intermission.
Posted: 5/25/17 at 11:55am
I just finished listening. Yeah, I think it's the recording company. Christy, John, and Caroline are oddly very soft and emotionless in their songs. I thought it was just Journey in the Past at first, but it's pretty much all of them, but one or two. Don't know why they let Ramin let the emotions out and not them.
Posted: 5/25/17 at 11:57am
I'm no audiophile, but something is off about the way they master their recordings. It's not about the emotions of the actors, but I do wonder why everything they record sounds like it's coming out of a can.
Posted: 5/25/17 at 2:12pm
I just finished my first listen. I really enjoyed it. I haven't seen the show but are you telling me it's even better and more intense live?! OH MY GOD, it must be so beautiful.
Also, as this is my first encounter with the new songs and I'm a huge fan of the movie, the only thing I really didn't like is how Paris holds the Key to your Heart feels toned down and the thunder is saved for Land of Yesterday (which I found amazing, tho). Is it just the recorded version or is it like that on the show as well?
Posted: 5/25/17 at 2:26pm
reginula said: "I just finished my first listen. I really enjoyed it. I haven't seen the show but are you telling me it's even better and more intense live?! OH MY GOD, it must be so beautiful.
Also, as this is my first encounter with the new songs and I'm a huge fan of the movie, the only thing I really didn't like is how Paris holds the Key to your Heart feels toned down and the thunder is saved for Land of Yesterday (which I found amazing, tho). Is it just the recorded version or is it like that on the show as well?
"
In terms of how these songs are used in the show itself, yeah. The necessary Disney-like showstopper seems to be Land of Yesterday rather than PHTKTYH. "Paris" is nowhere NEAR being the original showstopper it used to be. LofY was probably among my least favorite new additions, it just felt a bit like padding to me. It's just another one of those YOLO/lets drink because life is short songs that there's plenty of in existence already, so I just wasn't sure why it was needed for this.
Updated On: 5/25/17 at 02:26 PM
Posted: 5/25/17 at 3:59pm
neonlightsxo said: "I'm no audiophile, but something is off about the way they master their recordings. It's not about the emotions of the actors, but I do wonder why everything they record sounds like it's coming out of a can.
"
Maybe they can improve it by the actual release date?
Posted: 5/25/17 at 4:11pm
The Color Purple album which they just won a Grammy for (somehow) is the same tinny sound. I don't imagine they intend on improving on what they don't consider a problem.
Posted: 5/26/17 at 6:47am
So glad to finally hear this, although I'm not sure if it will supplant the film soundtrack for me. I'll have to listen to it more, but I'm surprised that the most touching song for me at this point is 'Crossing a Bridge', which I had predicted would be filler. Am getting some 'Somewhere Out There' vibes from that one, in a good way.
I didn't notice a general lack of emotional singing as such; if anything, it sounded to me as though Ramin overdid the emotion a little. Regarding 'Land of Yesterday', I don't love the song, but I guess the tension between getting on with life vs. seeking things lost might be more of a central idea of the show than what's in 'Paris..', so maybe that's why they made more of 'LoY'.
(BTW, regarding the Groundhog Day cast recording, I think Broadway Records and Sony Masterworks jointly produced it, which might explain its appearance on Spotify; I think Sony is generally OK with Spotify, Freegal, etc.)
Random question: for those who have seen the show, does it include a version of a certain dramatic comment by the Dowager Empress to Anya/Anastasia? (Here's the line, spoiler-tagged just in case)
"Please, if it should not be true, don't ever tell me!"
(For context, this line, or one very like it, was in the Ingrid Bergman film and also in at least one iteration of the Wright/Forrest stage musical, and therefore was probably also in the original stage play which served as source material. It wasn't in the 1997 film IIRC.)
Posted: 5/26/17 at 7:43am
Nope, that line is not there. The dialogue is very cut-throat and not hopeful
Posted: 5/26/17 at 7:35pm
Thanks :) If anyone doesn't know and happens to be interested, in the Ingrid Bergman film that line...
...to my memory isn't hopeful in context, but instead is a somewhat cynical rider at the very end of the recognition scene, after all the "It really is you! My Anastasia!" stuff. I actually like the line, as it allows the film to hedge its bets to the last about whether it's claiming to tell the story of the true Anastasia, or of two bereaved women who semi-knowingly choose to believe a beautiful lie and form a family. But I can see how it might not fit the tone of the current stage show.
Posted: 5/27/17 at 11:54am
I really miss Dmitry's line in the movie "It was more a change of heart."
'In A Crowd of Thousands' beautiful as it is, lacks a true connection between young Anastasia and young Dmitry. A bow in a crowd of thousands compared to saving her and working in the palace is pretty 'meh'.
Posted: 5/27/17 at 12:30pm
I think "In a Crowd of Thousands" is a beautiful song and shows it's sometimes the little things that make a huge difference. In this case, it triggers Anya's memory to flood back. Wonderful storytelling. I don't care that the connection between young Anastasia and Dmitry is shifted from the animated movie (especially since the movie inspires only the most basic plot points for the musical); I honestly think it makes the motivations stronger for both characters.
In regards to the lack of emotion some are talking about, I will play the other side of it. I believe if what is sung onstage were recorded for the album in terms of the gusto of their vocals, it might not have come across as pleasant to listen to. I'm speaking specifically about "The Countess and the Common Man," a number all about the physical comedy and not necessarily how they sing it. Perhaps the producers of the album (and Ahrens & Flaherty) wanted a clean, well performed version of the song. And for the songs from the movie, particularly "Journey to the Past," I would bet that Christy was directed to sing in a very specific way for the album. Perhaps this is to mimic Liz Callaway's rendition of the songs, who knows. It's still very well sung and she sounds terrific.
Album performances always differ from stage performances; they're often filtered or altered in a way for them to be appropriate for a listener. I think the cast has done a lovely job on the recording. I also think this is the most underrated score of the season. I want to give a shoutout to the orchestra for playing so wonderfully; it is a testament to them and Doug Besterman, the orchestrator, that the music sounds so full and lush with only 13 people playing. If you want to compare the size of Broadway orchestras, that's the same number of musicians in Kinky Boots and this sounds like an orchestra at least double the size, and sounds that way in the theatre too. Not that the styles are similar at all, but this show certainly makes the most of what they have. Also, actual sopranos and basses in an ensemble...a rarity on Broadway today, but a lovely and welcome sound!
Posted: 6/9/17 at 1:05am
This is out! Yaaay!
(I don't see it on Spotify, do you?)
Posted: 6/9/17 at 1:10am
^Broadway Records doesn't release their albums on Spotify. One of the many reasons why they're my least favorite broadway label.
Posted: 6/9/17 at 1:16am
Don't labels not make much per stream anyway? If it's not much, I can see why they don't do it.
Posted: 6/9/17 at 1:20am
^Yeah they don't make much, but it's still really irritating that I can't add songs from any of their albums to my playlists. I also happen to find their albums to be kind of flat, lifeless, and sterile, but that's a whole different conversation.
Posted: 6/9/17 at 1:23am
They did the Color Purple revival, right? One of the very worst representations of what a production felt and sounded like in the theater.
Posted: 6/9/17 at 1:28am
Scarywarhol said: "They did the Color Purple revival, right? One of the very worst representations of what a production felt and sounded like in the theater.
And yet somehow won a Grammy. Yep, they took a brilliant production and sucked all of the life out of it. I wish Ghostlight would just record everything. Their records are so warm and theatrical and beautiful.
Posted: 6/9/17 at 7:44am
I really miss Dmitry's line in the movie "It was more a change of heart."
'In A Crowd of Thousands' beautiful as it is, lacks a true connection between young Anastasia and young Dmitry. A bow in a crowd of thousands compared to saving her and working in the palace is pretty 'meh'.
One thing that really annoys me about that plot change is that it results in Dmitry not having the music box from the beginning. In the movie, it makes sense that he thinks they can trick the dowager empress because he has that music box. In the musical, the scheme is a lot less clever and I think it's less impactful that he buys it from some street vendor.
Posted: 6/9/17 at 12:49pm
Glad to see, I guess, I'm not the only one who dislikes the quality of Bway Records recordings. Oh well. I got my hard copy over the weekend and it doesn't improve on the flat, tinny, quality. I only wish I could articulate what the problem is. It sounds better on speakers and not headphones, if that helps anyone. Other than that, it's a good album. I'm happy to finally have recordings of the new songs.
One thing that really annoys me is people are still complaining about the differences in the plot from the movie.
Posted: 6/10/17 at 3:07am
Any news on the album being release on Apple Music?
Posted: 6/10/17 at 5:42am
I've been trying in vain to listen to this album - can't find it anywhere without purchasing the album...
Posted: 6/10/17 at 9:51am
theater_tech said: "I've been trying in vain to listen to this album - can't find it anywhere without purchasing the album...
I've had the same problem! I think I will buy it, but if the quality isn't that good like others are saying, then I'd like to sample it before purchasing.
Posted: 6/10/17 at 11:54am
LookToTheWestEndStage said: "theater_tech said: "I've been trying in vain to listen to this album - can't find it anywhere without purchasing the album...
I've had the same problem! I think I will buy it, but if the quality isn't that good like others are saying, then I'd like to sample it before purchasing.
"
I'm in the same boat. I'm quite frustrated. EW had it up to listen to for a while but it was impossible to listen straight through on a phone and non-closeable adds would come up if I tried to listen on my computer.
