Best/Worst Cast Recordings Of The Season

Best - Women on the Verge definitely, for the reasons you've outlined. Plus I wasn't sure it would ever exist, so that's a bonus!

Not so sure about worst.

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There are quite a few excellent recordings this season. I enjoy Book of Mormon, Catch Me If You Can, Women On the Verge, and Wonderland a great deal. I also really like the London Sister Act and the Off-Broadway Scottsboro Boys (if those count). I am not a fan of the new How to Succeed in Business recording, but I don't think it's awful, just out-shined by it's predecessors. The whole time I was listening to it, the word "unnecessary" kept popping into my head. I do like the idea of Cinderella, Darling as a tap number, however! I wish there was a clip out there from that number.

I suppose my top choice would be Book of Mormon, since I listen to it daily and I just LOVE the expanded orchestrations.

Is it Daniel's performance you are criticizing or the quality of the recording? I can understand that some of you may not like Daniel's performance, but I think the quality of the H2S recording is excellent.

Plus, we can't judge yet, since we have to wait for Spiderman and Baby It's You.

"Plus, we can't judge yet, since we have to wait for Spiderman and Baby It's You."

BABY, IT'S YOU was released on May 24th...and given how crappy the show was, the soundtrack is pretty damn good.

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Can't weigh is as a truly informed voter, as I can't afford to buy all the recordings yet, but a friend of mine just lent me, Book of Mormon, Sister Act, and Wonderland and I am really enjoying them all. The stand out would have to be Book of Mormon though.

I am throwing in my two cents and posting my review of the How To Succeed Cast Recording.

On the New Broadway Cast Recording of How to Succeed... - which pays heavy homage to the recent resurgence of 60's nostalgia -listeners are treated to one of the most comprehensive and complete recordings of this score to date. It's little wonder that this show received a revival during this period - especially when you consider that most of these "new" 60's period musicals don't have the verve, wit or the musical style of Loesser. A huge tip of the hat to producer Robert Sher for once again knowing his audience. This album will sell and sell to the Harry Potter fanatics - most of whom have probably never purchased a Broadway Cast Album in their lives. Sher wisely knows that any new recording of a show has to have a reason for being to get theatre fanatics to shell out the money for a cast album of a show of which they already own two versions. Sher, like J Pierrepont Finch - succeeds on all levels. All of Sher's cast recordings give the listener more than they expect - and How to Succeed is not an exception. For the Potter fanatics, they get Radcliffe. For the theatre fanatics we get Bonus tracks, Reprises, Exit Music, dance music and the new orchestrations - beautifully captured on disc by an orchestra that sounds MUCH larger than it is.

This album, utilizes new "Mad Men" period infused orchestrations that pay homage to Robert Ginzler's original legendary work, yet give the show a sound that makes this How To Succeed as satisfying as a cup of that elusive "Coffee Break" Coffee. Specifically, the new orchestrations for "Cinderella, Darling" (cut from the last revival and MANY regional productions) are so unique to this production, (Taps that mimic typewriters) it sounds like a totally new song - and it's tracks like this that make this a must-have.

The cast performs this score with character - and that's something that was missing terribly from the 95 Matthew Broderick revival. These people are supposed to be slightly offbeat as they inhabit this cartoon corporate world. Mary Faber and Tammy Blanchard come across very well - while not totally supplanting the unforgettable characterizations created by Claudette Sutherland and Virginia Martin respectively, they bring their own offbeat takes on the roles to the album for a satisfying, yet different, listening experience.

Ellen Harvey trills and shrills her way through the act two showstopper "Brotherhood of Man." It's a perfectly valid characterization of Miss Jones, but still not as indelible as Ruth Kobart's harried harridan or as wild and abandoned as Lillias White's gospel infused take on the role.

Rose Hemingway as Rosemary is refreshing on the recording - bringing the role of Rosemary back to the comic ingenue style of Bonnie Scott and Michelle Lee rather than the pinched Karen Walker character vocals of Megan Mullally in the last revival.

John Laroquette, as J.B. Biggley, is a totally different animal than many Biggleys. He's all bombast and brio, where most actors play him as a doddering fool. He comes across very well in Grand Old Ivy - which has been appropriately re orchestrated to match his bombast. It's a college band meets Dixieland arrangement, which is tailor-made to his performance. This Biggley is a blowhard - which truly works for Larroquette.

Christopher J Hanke as Bud Frump is a slight disappointment on the album, as once again, we find a Frump who has been directed to play Frump as a fey evil queen. Even Charles Nelson Reilly made Frump's rat fink exasperation amusing and quirky on the OBC Album. Hanke falls a bit short of that.

Rob Bartlett, in the dual roles of Twimble and Wally Womper comes cross with the charm and fun of a character guy who has seen and done it all. My only complaint with the Male Ensemble is that their sound is not as robust and full as you might have hoped It seems that there are too many Les Miz pop tenors and not enough Goulets in this ensemble to produce that Corporate office male-dominates sound that was so prevalent in the original. Of course, that's Broadway these days.

So, what about this upstart Harry Potter starring in his first musical?
No, Daniel Radcliffe is not one of our great Broadway vocalists, but, with all due respect, neither was Bobby Morse. Morse's performance was predicated on his prodigious charm and offbeat puppy dog looks. On the recording, Radcliffe comes across ever so slightly as an homage to Morse - and that's not a bad thing at all. His "I Believe in You" comes off more sweet and as a wide-eyed juvenile rather than the cocky corporate cad - I assume he was coached to sing it like this to overcome the limitations of his vocal power. On the recording, it works.

It's almost regrettable that this wasn't an enhanced CD with video clips. If you have seen press reels and footage from this production, you'll see Radcliffe dancing with boundless energy and being tossed about the stage by the Grand Old Ivy football team. Even if the physical energy Radcliffe produces on stage doesn't translate to the recording, He's still a very lovable Finch.

That being said, It's a terrific and markedly different addition to any cast album collection - I daresay you'll be listening to this far more often than you will the last revival.

Best - My favorites are CMIYC and BOM. Goodbye and Fly, Fly Away are two of the best grand solos written in the last ten years, and I honestly feel like a lot of people are just jumping on the hate bandwagon. The score is fantastic.
Worst - How to Succeed. Too much autotune.

Reggie, I can assure you that How To did NOT utilize any auto-tune in the production of the CD. That's Glee.

Best: Book of Mormon. This recording takes me back to that great revival of musical comedies that was seen after the Producers won a kajillion Tonys. Remember when those adaptations of comedy films that came out were not only tuneful, but goddamn funny as well? And even better: this one is ORIGINAL! It's just too hard not to listen to this OCR that only gives me a whiff of nostalgia. All the goofy elements are there, including the sweet ending (come on, who DOESN'T aww when Price calls Cunningham his best friend?) with a brassy encore. Not to mention that it's catchy and funny as hell! It's somewhat of a darker product than those aforementioned shows, including Avenue Q (which kept most of its more somber elements in Jeff Whitty's book), but it helps make for an even more satisfying listen. Even though each act only gives us about eight songs each, the story feels as if its been gained without all of the reprises and small little bites of dialogue. Just the reiteration of Cunningham crooning, "I am here for you" and you care. The recording manages to both be a simple collection of songs and get you to effectively become engaged with amount of plot eeked out. Wow. Love this recording.

Worst: Sorry. How to Succeed.

Before anyone cries foul again, let me defend myself. This is a maddening revival because it tries to have its cake and eat it too and damn it, sorry Ashford, you failed.

The point seems to be to reimagine the classic musical in the style of "Mad Men", and the orchestrations (which at first listen I despised, then came around to liking once I got "it") reflect that at first. Then they don't when it comes to "The Company Way", in which they ditch the classy cool sound and decide to go for the more traditional rendition, then back, then traditional, then all-out wacky like the '95 revival. What's going on here?!?!? If you're going to reimagine a Broadway score, go all the way or go home! Same goes for the performances. Some place it straight, such as Rose Hemingway who is perfect as Rosemary, Mary Faber... in fact all of the female leads. Then there's Rob Bartlett as Mr. Twimble who seems to have rolled out from another musical with his oh-so-hammy rendition of "The Company Way". Chris Hanke is constantly at struggle at whether or not to play Frump subtle or with as much lunacy as Charles Nelson Reilly. John Larroquette... the less said the better. And Daniel Radcliffe as Finch is probably on the same plane as Broderick: serviceable, and not bad by any means, but no Robert Morse.

Yes, the recording gets many things right. The instrumentals, when alone, almost always capture what the production wants to effectively portray. Not to mention being almost over the top in what it included. Apparently they were so proud of the re-orchestrations that they included their new jazzy EXIT MUSIC in the recording. Who... what... aside from "The Producers" which uses the discarded overture, has any other album given us THAT?! (which honestly, is not a bad bonus when you think about it)

If any song tracks make the recording worth it, it's the cleverly revised "Grand Old Ivy" and the lovely fresh new recording of "Cinderella, Darling", which the 1995 revival was sorely missing, even if it is a tad uncomfortably misogynistic.

Okay, so the 1995 revival turned up zany to 11 (they reaaaaally wanted to outdo their own Guys and Dolls revival), but at least it was consistent. The musical team behind this new H2$ seemed to half-heartedly give it their best shot at revising this classic Loesser score, tweaking it from a whimsical satire to a cunning satire... and in the end the classic score ending up winning most of the battles. There's things to really enjoy about this new one, but it's too inconsistent to be truly noteworthy and because of it ends up failing at what it's trying to accomplish.

In-between: Women on the Verge... I listened to this and oh boy the story is a mess but the music by Yazbeck just can't disappoint. This is much like "My Favorite Year" or "Merrily We Roll Along", flops that were obvious in why they were flops but goddamn if the score isn't good. There are so many individual gems within this clutter that it's a shame the Tonys doesn't have Best Song anymore. "Model Behavior" and "Island" would be easy noms.

Updated On: 6/11/11 at 04:00 AM