Biggest Difference: Quality of Song vs quality of broadway cast recording — Page 2

I take this question in a different way, ErinDillyFan, than you'd probably assume, for two reasons.

One, I'm an audiophile. I find many older recordings, great though the orchestrations and performances and historical value may be, unlistenable to my ears because of the dated production and engineering of the recordings. Which is a shame. But I often listen almost exclusively to revival recordings of classic shows because my ears can better appreciate the crisp, modern (and yes, often pared-down sadly) recordings in a much better aesthetic atmosphere.

Two, I absolutely 100% prefer acting over singing when it comes to musical theatre. Give me a broken note, a pained wail, a 'character' voice to sell a joke over a plainly-sung gorgeous tone and technique every day of the year. I love a good melody. I love a good story more.

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"Kids today don't have the same experience with Hair. Yes, astounding revivals of the piece can be mounted, but it has to be understood in context and therefore can't be fully experienced. It's more than just tie dye and swaying to rock music. They don't understand the Vietnam War because there's not a draft system in place. They don't have the same context (shock value) over a song like Black Boys. Do they have any reference point for the Margaret Mead material?"

You're wrong. The ENTIRE point of a show living on is that it can be interpreted and understood in a new light well after its original run. Yes, some of the specifics are lost to time - but then so were references in Anything Goes, which in itself was a bit of escapist fluff for the misery of the era.

It isn't your place to dictate who can get the full impact of a show. Hair was as relevant in 2009 as it was in its original run. Who gives a damn whether younger people get the full shock value of the original piece? OF COURSE the appeal has changed, but that's true of any piece of theater. The fact that it has lived on despite that is testament to its staying power. The same will be true of RENT in the future.