Best Cast Recordings

[Lovinbroadway2]

Posted: 11/4/14 at 3:58am

What are your picks for the best cast recordings?

Mine are...

1. Hairspray
2. Billy Elliot
3. Company
4. Ragtime
5. Camelot

Updated On: 2/22/15 at 03:58 AM

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 11/4/14 at 5:56am

I believe "Ragtime" is one word. When it's two words, it refers to a woman's time of the month.

My list would include (at least this week):

GYPSY (OBCR)
MY FAIR LADY (OLCR)
PORGY AND BESS (Houston Grand Opera recording)
LI'L ABNER (OBCR)
SWEENEY TODD (OBCR)

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 11/4/14 at 2:17pm

NINE
ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER
COMPANY
THE FANTASTICKS
MAN OF LA MANCHA
CINDERELLA (2013)
HIGH SPIRITS
THE GAY LIFE
SHE LOVES ME
THE GRAS HARP
HAZEL FLAGG

Gorgeous scores, beautifully recorded with phenomenal casts. I'll leave it with those but frankly I could list them all day.

Updated On: 11/4/14 at 02:17 PM

[inception]

Posted: 11/4/14 at 3:39pm

Sweet Charity - OBC
Chicago - OBC - Gwen Verdon is wonderful in both of these
Dear World - I like both Mame and Hello Dolly better as shows, but this album is beautiful, Angela Lansbury's vocals are so lovely
The Rink - I think the song Blue Crystal is the most beautiful Kander & Ebb composition - even without Liza or Chita this would make my list

Lately I have been listening to the OBC album of See Saw a lot. What a shame that Michele Lee didn't do more shows.

[DigificWriter]

Posted: 11/4/14 at 4:19pm

My favorite Cast Recording albums (in no particular order):
Jekyll & Hyde (Original Broadway Cast)
Les Miserables (2010 UK Tour Cast)
The Phantom of the Opera (Original Motion Picture Cast)
RENT (Original Motion Picture Cast)
American Idiot (Original Broadway Cast)
Rock of Ages (Original Motion Picture Cast)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Original London Cast)
Beauty and the Beast (Original Broadway Cast)
Newsies (Original Broadway Cast)
Mary Poppins (Original Australian Cast)
Sweeney Todd (2012 London Revival Cast)
Les Miserables (Original Motion Picture Cast)
Chaplin (Original Broadway Cast)

Updated On: 11/4/14 at 04:19 PM

[Fantod]

Posted: 11/4/14 at 5:02pm

Original Broadway Cast of Hello, Dolly!
Original London Cast of My Fair Lady
Original Broadway Cast of Dear World
Original Broadway Cast of Mame
Original Broadway Cast of Chicago
Original Broadway Cast of 70, Girls, 70
Original Off-Broadway Cast of Little Mary Sunshine

EDIT: Forgot Original London Cast of Promises, Promises, revival cast of Merrily We Roll Along (1994) and the Lincoln Center cast of Annie Get Your Gun.




Updated On: 11/5/14 at 05:02 PM

[gypsy101]

Posted: 11/4/14 at 6:55pm

Gypsy (OBC)
Nine (Broadway revival)
Chess (original concept)
A Little Night Music (OBC)
Cabaret (both the original and revival recordings are terrific)
The Rink
Bye Bye Birdie
The Grass Harp
She Loves Me
The Light in the Piazza
Into the Woods
Follies in Concert

I basically adore anything Chita Rivera is in, so I love Kiss of the Spider Woman although I prefer Brian Stokes and Howard McGillin to the original men.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 11/4/14 at 7:37pm

Any Kander & Ebb
Any Jule Styne
Any Strouse/Adams
Any Jerry Herman

Updated On: 11/4/14 at 07:37 PM

[ErinDillyFan]

Posted: 11/5/14 at 12:42pm

My current favorites:
Bonnie & Clyde
The Wild Party - Lippa
In The Heights
High Spirits
Women on the Verge

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 11/5/14 at 5:14pm

The Most Happy Fella - OBC
West Side Story - OBC
Candide - OBC
My Fair Lady - OLC
Sweet Charity - OBC
How to Succeed - OBC
Fiddler on the Roof - OBC
Hair - OBC
Company - OBC
Jesus Christ Superstar - Original Concept
A Little Night Music - OLC
Pacific Overtures - OBC
Evita - OBC
Oklahoma - 1979 Broadway
Nine - 1992 London Concert
City of Angels - OBC
Gypsy - 1990 Broadway
Les Miserables - OLC
Guys and Dolls - 1992 Broadway
The Secret Garden - OBC
March of the Falsettos/Falsettoland - OOBC
Miss Saigon - OLC
Tommy - OBC
Beauty and the Beast - OBC
Rent - OBC
A New Brain - OOBC
Ragtime - OBC
The Lion King - OBC
Titanic - OBC
Parade - OBC
The Wild Party - OBC (LaChiusa)
The Light in the Piazza - OBC
In the Heights - OBC
Next to Normal - OBC

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 11/5/14 at 6:09pm

I forgot Wildhorn shows

[Smaxie]

Posted: 11/5/14 at 6:12pm

That's easy to do.

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 11/5/14 at 6:19pm

Well...in no particular order...

OVCR Tanz der Vampire
2006 VCR Elisabeth das Musical
OLCR Phantom of the Opera
OBCR Jekyll & Hyde
OBCR Next to Normal
OLCR My Fair Lady
CSR Les Misérables
Cirque du Soleil--Quidam (If that even counts.)

There's also an "American Cast Recording" of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolored Dreamcoat that has always been a guilty pleasure of mine.

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 11/5/14 at 6:23pm

Obviously too many to name totally but my all time favorites are OBC Ragtime and 1776.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 11/5/14 at 7:10pm

To me, the best cast recordings are those that really capture the feeling of the score and the show. I think one of my favorite examples of this is In the Heights. The cast recording really captures the magic of the show. I also really like the cast recording of The Story of My Life. I think the score is great, and you can really follow and understand the show by listening to it.

On the flip side, there are cast recordings like the OBCR of 1776. I love the show and I love the score, but for whatever reason that cast album doesn't do it for me. I prefer the 1997 (?) revival CR

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 11/5/14 at 7:38pm

Sarcasm noted Smax

[Fantod]

Posted: 11/5/14 at 7:40pm

Mr Roxy, do you have a specific favorite by each of the composers that you mentioned?