Are they going to record BYE BYE BIRDIE?
Are they going to record BYE BYE BIRDIE?
sipos
Broadway Star Joined: 6/2/04
#1Are they going to record BYE BYE BIRDIE?
Posted: 11/13/09 at 2:08amI was wondering if there are plans yet for a cast recording of the revival ...
#2re: Are they going to record BYE BYE BIRDIE?
Posted: 11/13/09 at 2:26amConsidering the singing was butchered in almost every review, I highly doubt it...
#2re: Are they going to record BYE BYE BIRDIE?
Posted: 11/13/09 at 5:26amNo plans announced, and it is not likely as the Roundabout revival is a limited run. The 1960 Broadway cast is as a definitive as we are likely to get, and Sony just reissued it for $7.99.
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks."
Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com
#3re: Are they going to record BYE BYE BIRDIE?
Posted: 11/13/09 at 5:54amIt's obviously not a good idea, but part of me feels this should be recorded, if only to preserve what a horrible, misguided affair the whole thing was for future generations. Many lessons can be learned!
#4re: Are they going to record BYE BYE BIRDIE?
Posted: 11/13/09 at 6:10amWell, I actually like Nolan so I wish they would at least record some singles of Birdie's songs for publicity or for the Tony voters or whatever, but honestly with the reviews and less than enthusiastic audience response it just doesn't seem plausible.
WishingOnlyWounds2
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/25/08
#5re: Are they going to record BYE BYE BIRDIE?
Posted: 11/13/09 at 7:13amWell, cast members have already left, so I doubt it.
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#6re: Are they going to record BYE BYE BIRDIE?
Posted: 11/13/09 at 9:40am
Please! This needs to sink into well-deserved oblivion. No future generations should ever think that what was done vocally in this production represents BYE BYE BIRDIE.
Literally, I walked home from the theatre and immediately played the OBC recording as a peace offering to my ears.
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sipos
Broadway Star Joined: 6/2/04
#7re: Are they going to record BYE BYE BIRDIE?
Posted: 11/13/09 at 12:35pmI'm good with the OBC recording too.
justafan2
Broadway Star Joined: 3/25/04
#8re: Are they going to record BYE BYE BIRDIE?
Posted: 11/13/09 at 3:08pmHow is the quality of the OBC? (It is not new---so I hesitated buying it---)
#9re: Are they going to record BYE BYE BIRDIE?
Posted: 11/13/09 at 3:13pmI got the OBCR at the Flea Market this year for $2 and I love it. The only thing I would want recorded from this revival is the Hugo-inclusive "One Boy", but, other than that, I'll stick to the original cast.
#10re: Are they going to record BYE BYE BIRDIE?
Posted: 11/13/09 at 3:17pm
It cracks me up that some people on here would rather listen to a crappy, badly sung revival with the entire cast of 13 than touch something recorded before Idina Menzel busted our eardrums.
I hate the way new Broadway recordings are done. The sound is overblown. Hair is one of the only recent successes that doesn't manage to make me queezy from the over-amplification.
Updated On: 11/13/09 at 03:17 PM
bk
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/03
#11re: Are they going to record BYE BYE BIRDIE?
Posted: 11/13/09 at 3:25pm
"How is the quality of the OBC? (It is not new---so I hesitated buying it---)"
You hesitated buying it because it was - what - not recorded in the last five years? Here's what you should know and/or learn: Excellent Broadway cast recordings were made before you were born. Goddard Lieberson's productions for Columbia set the bar for great-sounding cast albums and to be truthful with all of today's technology they're not really doing it better than he and his engineers did. Birdie, along with Gypsy, Subways Are For Sleeping, and many others of that era are amongst the greatest-sounding albums ever recorded. So, if you're actually willing to look beyond your generation (something young people seem to hate doing), it's a terrific album and there should be no hesitation about buying it whatsoever.
#12re: Are they going to record BYE BYE BIRDIE?
Posted: 11/13/09 at 3:30pm
The only complaint I have about the OBC is Chita isn't in superb voice (sick, right?). But I tend to supplement her tracks with her London effort (though I hate the new "English Teacher" lyrics).
Bruce I think it has to do with how the modern ear has been trained. Sadly.
millie_dillmount
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/22/04
#13re: Are they going to record BYE BYE BIRDIE?
Posted: 11/13/09 at 3:35pmWho left, and why so early?
"We like to snark around here. Sometimes we actually talk about theater...but we try not to let that get in our way." - dramamama611
#14re: Are they going to record BYE BYE BIRDIE?
Posted: 11/13/09 at 3:36pmI'm pretty sure just the Randolph. I think his balls dropped and he went to be in Billy Elliot.
#15re: Are they going to record BYE BYE BIRDIE?
Posted: 11/13/09 at 5:42pm
TimesSquareRegular, this is the exact same reaction I had to seeing the Mark Taper Forum production of PARADE last week. A dull, pretentious, horrifically sung production that seemed even worse given how vocally flawless the OBC recording is. (Slightly off-topic, I know, moving on...)
The OBC of BIRDIE is a great buy. I don't think any of the subsequent recordings come close to matching it in terms of sound quality or performance.
#16re: Are they going to record BYE BYE BIRDIE?
Posted: 11/14/09 at 12:25amWhen I went to see the show, I asked if there was plans for a recording and the merchandise woman didn't know. But, most Roundabout shows, as people have pointed out, are rarely recorded.
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#17re: Are they going to record BYE BYE BIRDIE?
Posted: 11/14/09 at 12:27am
The number of unrecorded shows has gone up because the level of Roundabout's musicals has gone down (and down and down).
Let this show die a natural death and bring on the butchering of another one of my favorite musicals. Side Show? Merrily? Which one of my favorite musicals do you want to take a giant bowel movement on next Roundabout?
Marquise
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/1/04
#18re: Are they going to record BYE BYE BIRDIE?
Posted: 11/14/09 at 12:41am
Which one of my favorite musicals do you want to take a giant bowel movement on next Roundabout?
Ewww...just, ewww!
sipos
Broadway Star Joined: 6/2/04
#19re: Are they going to record BYE BYE BIRDIE?
Posted: 11/14/09 at 1:37am
Merrily?
Merrily We Roll Along is one of my favorite musicals too. Why? I have no idea. But I love it. Cried my eyes out at an FSU production years ago. Michelle Pawk in the revival? Anyone?
Too bad about Birdie. Too bad. I just think it's the funnest show. That's right. I said funnest.
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#20re: Are they going to record BYE BYE BIRDIE?
Posted: 11/14/09 at 10:34am
I am still trying to figure how it did not close after opening night & how it is still doing well at the box office.
Gower Champion is rolling over in his grave about now.
Poster Emeritus
#21Re: Are they going to record BYE BYE BIRDIE?
Posted: 11/14/09 at 10:33pm
I'm not big on BYE BYE BIRDIE as it is. It's a slight show that needs excellence in every single element of production if its going to be tolerable. I'm in agreement with those that say we don't really need another recording of the show, although it might be nice - as BroadwayGuy12 mentioned - to have the altered "One Boy", just for the sake of having it around. Certainly, if the planned movie remake comes through, we'll get the soundtrack for that and we already have the OBCR, the OLCR and both the film and TV movie soundtracks. Is a full record of a substandard show really necessary?
And the Roundabout's reputation notwithstanding, I think a fair amount of the blame for the way this production looks, feels and sounds should be shouldered by director-choreographer Robert Longbottom.
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justafan2
Broadway Star Joined: 3/25/04
#22Re: Are they going to record BYE BYE BIRDIE?
Posted: 11/19/09 at 4:00pmIs the song "Bye Bye Birdie" which is sung at the very end missing from the OBC recording?
#23Re: Are they going to record BYE BYE BIRDIE?
Posted: 11/19/09 at 4:16pmNo. I think the title song was written for the movie.
#24Re: Are they going to record BYE BYE BIRDIE?
Posted: 11/19/09 at 4:55pmWith the excellent OBC, Film and television soundtracks out there, I don't see how anyone would think there is anything to be gained by recording this particular production. If the cast had received stellar reviews for their vocal talents, or had their been raves for drastic improvements in the score or its arrangements, then perhaps a case could be made, but I haven't heard any justifiable arguments for this revival to be recorded at all. Unless someone just has a lot of money they planned to use as toilet paper.
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