Best On the Town Recording?

[shesamarshmallow]

Posted: 1/21/07 at 8:59pm

It's one of my favorite scores and yet I still haven't bought a recording of it because I've never heard one that does it justice. Am I missing something?

I wish they'd recorded the 2005 London Cast.

[AJ1985]

Posted: 1/21/07 at 10:41pm

I know what you mean. Maybe its too much of a dance show to make a good CD since half of it is ballet music. Was there ever an original cast album done?

[jewishboy]

Posted: 1/21/07 at 11:58pm

Yes, the OBC of On The Town is on CD. To be honest I haven't heard any other cast on CD do this show. But, I fully recommend the OBCR. The cast is fresh and they all sing very well. Nancy Walker's "I Can Cook Too" is worth the price of CD alone. Actually all of Nancy Walker's songs are excellent.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 12:05am

Well, it's not the complete Original Broadway Cast, right? I think it's "members of the original Broadway cast." Leonard Bernstein sings a bit part in it.

~Steven

[jewishboy]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 12:07am

You're right, sorry. Almost every show that opened prior to Kiss Me Kate was labled as "members of the original cast." I would be interested to know more about Bernstein on the recording.

[kjklo]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 12:10am

I think you're referring to the studio cast album recorded in the early sixties with much of the original cast reassembled about 18 years later. It's a classic and the best starting off point as far as recordings. Some songs from the original cast were recorded in the 1940s and are included as bonus material on one of the Wonderful Town reissues. But there was never a true original cast album.

[jewishboy]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 12:24am

Oh. I didn't know that. Thank you for telling me. you learn someting new every day.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 12:34am

Leonard Bernstein sings the part of Rajah Bimmy on that "Studio Recording with Members of the Original Cast."

~Steven

[allofmylife]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 1:46am

I fell in love with the show from the 1960's recording with the original cast members. I have directed the show once and I can assure you, those are tricky orchestrations. We had to lay on several extra orchestra rehearsals because - and I was using some of the best session players in the world - the music is very tough and the orchestra parts by Tams Witmark are rather confusing. I think they have been culled together from severals sources. I seem to remember the orchestra members trying to reconcile some of the individual parts, especially in the Dream Ballet at the end of act one. And then there's the amazing number of time and key signature changes, including a single bar of 1/1 time which is hard as hell to conduct.

Nancy Walker's rendition of "I Can Cook, Too" is still as fresh as it must have been in 1944 (and when this was recorded, I believe she was starring in "Do-Re-Mi" with Phil Silvers and was, basically, still the biggest star on Broadway.

That show had so many stage effects as well. The Tyranosaurus Rex full size skeleton that collapses into a pile of bones when Ozzie touches it and the amazing (for 1944) taxi which Hildy drove come to mind.

In fact, the entire show was filmed from about row D in 1944 some some reason and small parts of it - especially "Come Up To My Place" - have escaped onto the web a few times. It's a totally professional recording with sound.

As to the OCR, this show debuted in 1944, only a few months after the very first EVER original cast reording, Oklahoma, so it's not as it there was a practise of making them. In addition, the show opened only a few months after the musician's strike ended and with the backlog of recordings - and the wartime restrictions on making any type of records, it's no wonder there is no OCR.

All in all, what a wonderful show.

And how badly butchered by MGM.

[shesamarshmallow]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 2:13am

Aww, I'm ashamed to say that I kind of love the movie too, though it can't really be taken as a true adaptation because they kept... two songs?

Are the clips from the 1944 recording somewhat like the 20 seconds of Gene Kelly's Pal Joey? It sounds like the quality is much better.

Sigh. I guess the studio recording is the way to go for now. I just wish there was something cleaner out there. Get on it, record producers!

[allofmylife]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 3:34am

No, these are fully filmed sequences in black-and-white, shot on the stage of the theatre and running the entire length of the numbers. I seem to remember the show was recorrded for a travelogue or something. There is also fine footage from the English National Opera and the London concert version on the site YOU know is not TU BE mentioned.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 4:18am

Decca did a 3-record 78 RPM set of 6 songs, but two (Lonely Town and Lucky to be me) were given to Mary Martin! Comden and Green recorded Carried Away, Nancy Walker did I Can Cook Too and Ya Got Me (as a solo), and the chorus did the opening and New York New York. That was it...and it’s not very satisfactory.

Victor also put out a 78 RPM album : 8 sides with Bernstein conducting the ballet music but the Robert Shaw Chorale does the vocals and again it’s not very good.

Columbia responded in 1960 by re-assembling 4 of the 5 original cast stars (John Reardon who was not in the show, sings Gabby) and with Bernstein conducting issued the album that now passes for the full OCR. It is on CD from SONY and honestly, nothing tops this...not the London cast from 1963, or the lively DGG recording from the early 1990s or John Yap's impressive 2-CD recording on JAY.

[CastAlbumFan]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 5:58am

In agreement with everyone. Nothing tops the 1960s cast recording.

I should also add that George Gaynes (From "Punky Brewster" and the "Police Academy" movies does wonerful fill-in work as well.

[AC126748]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 8:28am

The Jay Records recording, featuring Tyne Daly as Hildy, is my personal favorite.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 8:33am

No one seems to have mentioned the Jay recording of ON THE TOWN. It's the most musically complete and features Gregg Edelman,Tim Flavin,Ethan Freeman,Kim Criswell,Judy Kaye,Louise Gold,Valerie Masterson,Tinuke Olafimihan,Valerie Masterson,Michael Bauer,Matt Zimmerman,Louise Gold,Nicolos Colicos,David Frith,Simon Masterson-Smith,Richard Mitchell,Robert Fardell.

The Jay recordings of complete musical scores are really quite wonderful and include 110 in the Shade, The Most Happy Fella, South Pacific, The King and I, Kismet,Annie Get Your Gun and Guys and Dolls, among others. Many are on 2CD and The Most Happy Fella is a 3-CD set. Worth looking into.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 11:19am

Correction, Tyne is on the DGG studio cast recording. Not the 2-CD Jay/TER studio cast from England. There was also a video of a semi-staged concert version of the DGG ON THE TOWN narrated by Comden and Green.

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 3:34pm

I agree with all of the above who suggest the 1960's studio cast recording with members of the original Broadway cast. The recording was actually organized by pit conductor Lehman Engel in conjuction with Goddard Lieberson of Columbia Records, with whom Engel made a lot of studio cast recordings in the early 1950's. Engel was set to conduct but received a call from Leonard Bernstein who begged him for the chance to conduct HIS show, so Bernstein ended up conducting. Engel is heard conducting the overture as a bonus track on the wonderful digitally remastered CD readibly available from AMAZON, among other outlets.

Updated On: 1/26/07 at 03:34 PM