Assassins

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Assassins

Posted: 4/13/07 at 6:08pm

I know both have their advantages and weaknesses, but in your opinion which of the two is THE definitive recording?

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re: Assassins

Posted: 4/13/07 at 6:18pm

I like the revival CD with Neil and Michael

re: Assassins

Posted: 4/13/07 at 6:48pm

The original, You cannot beat Victor Garber as John Wilkes Booth.

re: Assassins

Posted: 4/13/07 at 6:51pm

The revival - it has so much raw emotion behind it, and the cast and orchestrations are awesome.

"Y'know, I think Bertolt Brecht was rolling in his grave."
-Nellie McKay on the 2006 Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera, in which she played Polly Peachum

now i feel jsut the opposite. The revival, I felt, was very polished and almost cartoonish. I loved the darker original. I can listen to that all day long. It was erie and brooding where the new recording is more bright and sick

re: Assassins

Posted: 4/13/07 at 6:55pm

Today, it's my turn to be the nitpicker. Technically, the latter recording isn't a revival, it's the Broadway version as opposed to the off-Broadway version. ^_^ And I do adore my Broadway recording, but as I still haven't got round to getting the off-Broadway recording, I'm refraining from judging at present. ^_^

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re: Assassins

Posted: 4/13/07 at 6:57pm

The original... of course it helps that Debra Monk was in it.

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re: Assassins

Posted: 4/13/07 at 6:58pm

The cast in the Broadway version is so much more passionate and well-rounded to me. Plus, Neil as the balladeer pretty much makes the whole CD. The only thing I like more about the Off-Broadway cast recording is the extended inclusion of the Lee Harvey Oswald scene.

"Are you sorry for civilization? I am sorry for it too." ~Coast of Utopia: Shipwreck

re: Assassins

Posted: 4/13/07 at 7:01pm

The original hands down--one of my all time fave cast albums. It just has more grit to it or something. I love Starobin's expanded orchestrations too.

I like Something Just Broke as a song but agree with many that it doens't really work in a short show when it shifts the POV so much so quickly--so I don't miss it

#10

re: Assassins

Posted: 4/13/07 at 7:02pm

I like the revival, but I wish they would have included all of the final scene like the Off-Braodway recording did. gotta have both without that scene.

#11

re: Assassins

Posted: 4/13/07 at 7:26pm

Totally agree - while I have a huge obsession with NPH, I find myself listening to the original recording more because of the preservation of that final scene.

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#12

re: Assassins

Posted: 4/13/07 at 7:32pm

Broadway for me. I just...adore it.

#13

re: Assassins

Posted: 4/13/07 at 7:41pm

The revival CD starts out excellent with Marc Kudisch giving a very dark and understated rendition of "Everybody's Got The Right." But, for me the CD does fall down after that. Neil Patrick Harris is excellent, but so is the original. And I completely agree with metropolis, it is the raw and edgy vibe that the original cast brings that really makes the CD. Victor Garber, Annie Golden (she blows me away every time with the line "I'd crawl belly deep through hell"), and Debra Monk really can't be surpassed. I love Dennis O'Hare and feel that he should have won the Tony over Michael. Alexander Gemignani is also very good on the revival CD. So, I would have to say the OCR gets my vote.

#14

re: Assassins

Posted: 4/13/07 at 9:32pm

Original Off-Broadway cast for me.

For some reason the Broadway cast comes off too popish for me.

#15

re: Assassins

Posted: 4/13/07 at 11:11pm

YES! I find it a bti too poppish too and ironically then, I find the version of Unworthy of Your Love not poppish ENOUGH on the Broadway.

E

#16

re: Assassins

Posted: 4/13/07 at 11:14pm

Both excellent recordings, but

Original hands down. Just a wonderful wonderful album. Better orchestrations here back up better performances. However, the revival is definitely also a good recording to have. I'd say the revival played much better live than it does on CD.

#17

re: Assassins

Posted: 4/13/07 at 11:26pm

It's a toss up for me, but "Unworthy of Your Love" is so much better on the Off-Broadway version, in my opinion. I hate the new orchestrations and Annie Golden, OH MY GOD.

Some people paint, some people sew, I meddle.

#18

re: Assassins

Posted: 4/13/07 at 11:31pm

The Off-Broadway recording.

It's the recording that has real personality and the real personalities.

Michael Cervis, Mark Kudish and Dennis O'Hare are roughly equal to those on the Off-Broadway recording. But, aside from Mario Cantone, everyone else on the Broadway recording feels like an understudy.

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#19

re: Assassins

Posted: 4/13/07 at 11:41pm

I'd have to say the original off-Broadway recording, but maybe because I heard that first and got used to it. I like the new recording, but yeah, it doesn't seem as perfect as the other one. While I love Neil Patrick Harris and Michael Cerveris, Victor Garber is perfection and, oh crap what is his name????, but the Balladeer is equally as good.

#20

re: Assassins

Posted: 4/13/07 at 11:51pm

The Broadway version was the one that got me into the show, so I have to go with that one. I love the original, although Annie Golden is ear-offending.

#21

re: Assassins

Posted: 4/14/07 at 1:29am

WOw people prefer UNworthy in the Broadway?? I find the voices not nearly pretty enough. I don't find Annie offensive at all Off Broadway--she sorta has a slighhtly odd 60s/70s rock star voice which works (tho the sound goes a bit wonky when she growls Belly Deep it works)

E

#22

re: Assassins

Posted: 4/14/07 at 3:47am

The revival. The original was what introduced me to Assassins and I love it a hell of a lot, but the revival is just so much more fitting IMHO. The highlight is certainly Neil who really brings a sort of a character to the Balladeer that Patrick Cassidy, as great as he may be, just didn't have. And overall the entire cast falls into place so perfectly. As for dialogue scenes, the original has the Booth/Oswald scene which is really the high point of the book, but the revival has many other scenes that make it a must-have. Basically, you have to get both, but this is the one I end up listening to much more often.

But I do prefer Annie's Unworthy on the off-Broadway.

#23

re: Assassins

Posted: 4/14/07 at 6:37am

I prefer the Broadway version, I would've liked the final scene included, but other than that, I like the Broadway one better.

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#24

re: Assassins

Posted: 4/14/07 at 7:07am

I don't have the original cast recording but I looooooooooooove the Broadway cast recording. Another National Anthem (for the ones who can't get into the ballpark) is playing in my head right now.

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#25

re: Assassins

Posted: 4/14/07 at 7:48am

I think I prefer the Broadway version, but there are things that the Off-Bway cast does better. I much prefer the Off-Bway performance of "How I Saved Roosevelt," for example. And I'd have been just as happy without that track of Mario Cantone screaming on the Bway album.

Also, I had the pleasure of seeing the Broadway production twice (and would have seen it more often if it hadn't closed prematurely), and I'm sure that has something to do with my preference. I get that awful shiver everytime I hear Michael Cerveris telling me that "Everybody's got the right to be happy."

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