Cast Recording Preferences- Page 2

[Jwaa]

Posted: 2/21/05 at 3:44pm

It really depends who features on the recording for me, i would most definately choose the original Into The Woods to the U.K revival, bernadette, chip and joanna??? who could ask for anything more!...and yes i like the original recording of 'crazy for you' lol!

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 4:58am

In my case, being a collector and theatre reviewer, I get all of them (Obviously, most people can't afford and doen't really need 9 Cd's of OKLAHOMA or 6 of GYPSY.

In MOST cases I suggest always staritng with the ORIGINAL origianl cast album. Those premiere casts were carefully coached by the authors and had several weeks of rehearsals and preview/try-out performances to hone their interpretations. Revival casts are rarely given that much time nor lattitude.

Where we run into problems is where those first recordings are incomplete or not fully satisfying. FOLLIES being a classic example, though none of the OC members has ever been bettered.
ANNIE GET YOUR GUN is better recorded by the 1966 Lincoln Center revival cast. Same with CAROUSEL (1965). BRIGADOON has a somewhat poor cast album but a much better studio cast with Shirley Jones (coming on CD from DRG in March.) FINIAN'S RAINBOW's 1960 revival cast is better and more complete that the 1947 disc. These are rare isolated examples. Otherwise your best to always start with the premiere cast!

[Feodor Sverdlov]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 7:29am

I think it would depend on, which one you saw or heard, first. I tend to buy OBC, because I've seen most of them. In the case of MACK AND MABEL, I bought both the OBC and the London Revival Recording, because I had seen both of them, and I prefer the London recording in a lot of ways; but not the leading man. Preston has it all over McGillin.