Cast recordings better than actual show- Page 2

[JRybka1611]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 10:59am

Best example for me is CHESS. I have seen it on stage dozens of times and have only found it work out for me ONCE. The cds of it though, I can listen to again and again.

[tazber]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 11:01am

Sweet Smell of Success
Steel Pier

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 1:51pm

Candide, Flahooley, House of Flowers, St. Louis Woman, Dear World and Goldilocks come to mind.

[tazber]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 2:09pm

Oh yes, Dear World! Excellent pick.

Which reminds me of Mack & Mabel.
And while we're at it, let's throw in The Grand Tour as well.

[AngusN]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 2:22pm

Has to be Rent for me. I loved the recording when I first purchased it, then when it premiered on London I was really disappointed.

[LuminousBeing]

Posted: 4/26/13 at 2:32am

The "Songs for a New World" CR absolutely enchanted me for years, but when I finally had the opportunity to see it live, I felt that it lacked intention and had pacing issues. Yes, I know it's a song cycle, but so is "Closer than Ever," and I was enthralled by that show.

Also, "Chicago" comes to mind. I never saw the original production, but to me, the revival fell flat (even with Ruthie Henshall having stepped in to play Roxie), and I missed the madcap jazz of the cast recording.

Agreed about "Jekyll and Hyde." "Confrontation" THRILLED me when I first heard it (at fourteen), but live, it landed squarely in the middle of what I call the "groan zone:" a moment on stage that fails as drama but isn't bad enough to be enjoyable as camp.

[chrisampm2]

Posted: 4/26/13 at 3:07am

OK, the Herman scores for Dear World, Mack and Mabel, and The Grand Tour may make one wonder how the shows could have been such quick flops, but would you really rather listen to the album than have seen Lansbury, Preston, Peters, and Grey live?

Same for Candide. Barbara Cook in a Tyrone Guthrie production?

Sure, the OCRs may be more consistently entertaining than the live productions but I'd still prefer to have seen them.

While the original JCS had remarkable visuals which made that worth seeing, I agree about Chess.

[AngusN]

Posted: 4/26/13 at 10:47am

Luminous, I couldn't agree more the revival of Chicago was uninspiring and lacked the wow-factor I thought it would have.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 4/26/13 at 11:04am

Flop shows are natural choices, but a couple of hits too consider:

JOSEPH...DREAMCOAT is a case where the show is little more than what is on the recording.

FUNNY GIRL - the cast album is terrific, but the show on stage never worked. (The film version made a number of improvements.)


One other thought - Does listening to the cast recording set up unrealistic expectations for the show? If you know and love the OCR of MACK & MABEL wouldn't any performance be a let-down vs. what you imagined the show to be like?

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 4/26/13 at 11:18am

As a rule of thumb, I try to avoid playing the OCR until after I've seen the show. Sometimes this is impossible, but I try. On another side of the coin, I remember when Grand Hotel opened, I was totally enthralled with it and went on to see it ten times. For a variety of reasons, an OCR wasn't released until well into the run, which regrettably did not have the benefit of David Carroll's performance (except for a small snippet from his one-man show, done shortly before he died). I NEVER would have been excited about the show based on the recording that finally was released. So it can work both ways: terrific OCR, mediocre when seen live or terrific live version, mediocre OCR.

[musicalfool]

Posted: 4/26/13 at 4:14pm

The Last Five Years

[goldenboy]

Posted: 4/26/13 at 7:37pm

70 Girls 70.. wow what a score
Henry Sweet Henry Wow half of that score is brilliant
Bakers Wife.. gorgeous score

[broadwaybabywannabe2]

Posted: 4/27/13 at 12:52am

horror of horrors I think COMPANY works best as a recording and not as a live show...I hated the book...so many long talky set- ups that were deadly...I blame George Furth of course as SONDHEIM'S SCORE IS PERFECT!