The Pesky Pescatarian said: "CORNET MAN SUPREMECY!!!! Love to see it!!!!
I'm slowly making my way through the songs. I'll probably run the whole thing on Wednesday when my kitchen will be all Broadway all day as I cook, lol. I'm holding off on the Finale because that is truly my love. Please, don't tell me there's a glitch! That will bum me out so bad!
My only criticism so far is that I wish they would have included the dialog break before that final part of People. I just love how Lea sings that part in the show and it feels like the Fanny/Nicky stuff gives the proper momentum into it (plus I just love dialog on cast recordings, give me that over the tap anytime). Still, I just love the sweetness and warmth with which Lea sings that song. That Fallon performance really transformed me from being that song's #1 hater out here."
Just pretend you didn't see anything! Lol. It's hardly noticeable though so you'll be fine.
A full video of Lea’s “Cornet Man” number is on YouTube so you can see how delicious and playful she is performing it. Seems all those fabulous videos aren’t hidden so they can be easily looked up.
I have a collection of music that I take with me on my daily walk/run. I've been searching for music to add that will help keep me motivated to continue exercising. My search is over!
It appears all the songs are uploaded on YouTube. The video of I'm the Greatest Star has been hidden. The only one. I hope they leave the rest alone - I've enjoyed the guilty pleasure of seeing the scenes while hearing the music, especially the dialogue from People and Nicky's introduction to Temporary Arrangement which are not on the album.
CATSNYrevival said: "CatLady3 said: "Anyone notice the glitch at 3:44 of Finale Act 2? Hope they fix it!"
I don’t hear a glitch."
Just played 3:40 to 3:50 a few times and didn’t hear any glitch either - and my ears catch everything, including audible pages turning on a few older cast recordings.
BrodyFosse123 said: "CATSNYrevival said: "CatLady3 said: "Anyone notice the glitch at 3:44 of Finale Act 2? Hope they fix it!"
I don’t hear a glitch."
Just played 3:40 to 3:50 a few times and didn’t hear any glitch either - and my ears catch everything, including audible pages turning on a few older cast recordings."
Me, neither. I listened to it on Spotify a few times yesterday and on YouTube today, several times. What I have noticed are differences between what I've heard on the videos and the album -- the nuances that are missing when a song is acted within the show and being sung in a studio.
kidmanboy said: "There is still something missing in the musical direction of this show. Every performance I've seen of this production (Beanie in person, Julie Benko's public performances, and now this cast recording) there's a certain lyricism missing. Moments just don't seem to land. The place it is most apparent to me in this recording is "Don't Rain on My Parade". Lea has great tone - but the momentum doesn't build in the song the way it should - and by the end it is so rushed that she can barely get out "Nobody, no, nobody" before singing the end of the song while mostly staying on one note instead of alternating notes as written in the score.
Perhaps Rob Berman's into the woods has spoiled me, but as a presentation of the score, this recording really seems to be missing the mark."
Yep...I agree. This whole recording feels hollow, rushed and forgettable. Michelle is efficient but that's not a voice I want to listen to on a recording. Not bad, just not lyrical or warm. Many tempi are just too fast. And orchestrations sound sparce. And, as in the theatre, that iconic overture just misses the mark. Way too fast.
How is the Overture “too fast”? Have you heard the original 1964 Broadway version? It’s identical, even the tempo. The lightning fast “Don’t Rain on My Parade” that ends it was always orchestrated that fast in the Overture.
Skip23 said: "kidmanboy said: "There is still something missing in the musical direction of this show. Every performance I've seen of this production (Beanie in person, Julie Benko's public performances, and now this cast recording) there's a certain lyricism missing. Moments just don't seem to land. The place it is most apparent to me in this recording is "Don't Rain on My Parade". Lea has great tone - but the momentum doesn't build in the song the way it should - and by the end it is so rushed that she can barely get out "Nobody, no, nobody" before singing the end of the song while mostly staying on one note instead of alternating notes as written in the score.
Perhaps Rob Berman's into the woods has spoiled me, but as a presentation of the score, this recording really seems to be missing the mark."
Yep...I agree. This whole recording feels hollow, rushed and forgettable. Michelle is efficient but that's not a voice I want to listen to on a recording. Not bad, just not lyrical or warm. Many tempi are just too fast. And orchestrations sound sparce. And, as in the theatre, that iconic overture just misses the mark. Way too fast."
Orchestrations sparce...overture too fast it's the same as the original ??? the original recording drags more so than the new recording just listened to both back to back!
"Anything you do, let it it come from you--then it will be new."
Sunday in the Park with George
Robbie2 said: "Skip23 said: "kidmanboy said: "There is still something missing in the musical direction of this show. Every performance I've seen of this production (Beanie in person, Julie Benko's public performances, and now this cast recording) there's a certain lyricism missing. Moments just don't seem to land. The place it is most apparent to me in this recording is "Don't Rain on My Parade". Lea has great tone - but the momentum doesn't build in the song the way it should - and by the end it is so rushed that she can barely get out "Nobody, no, nobody" before singing the end of the song while mostly staying on one note instead of alternating notes as written in the score.
Perhaps Rob Berman's into the woods has spoiled me, but as a presentation of the score, this recording really seems to be missing the mark."
Orchestrations sparce...overture too fast it's the same as the original ??? the original recording drags more so than the new recording just listened to both back to back!"
OK. So I compared the two, too. And everything's the same except for "I'm The Greatest Star" - just slightly faster. What makes the whole thing seem faster to me is that the orchestration isn't as full as the original's. Or maybe it's the recording specs. This new one feels sterile. There's a slight difference in the conductor's nuances. For this revival, he's strictly on the beat. On the original, there's a bit more, I don't know, "feeling" in the conducting? Can't describe exactly, but the feeling of the two versions are totally different.
Why would you expect it to be the same - every artist on this new album is original to this recording. In that sense, it is an Original Cast Recording?
I wore out my vinyl and did a good job on my CD of the original album, so had it memorized. This is different, in many ways better, to my mind. After watching and listening to the videos, I find I like this version of the show better in many ways. I like that Lea is different - she puts her own stamp on Fanny. I like that Ramin/Nicky is given a significant role in the show - wish he had a better solo, but that's another story.
Maybe it's just the fact that it's not what you are used to. I'll bet the more you listen to it, the better it will seem and the old version will just be the old version.
Penna2 said: "Why would you expect it to be the same - every artist on this new album is original to this recording. In that sense, it is an Original Cast Recording?
I wore out my vinyl and did a good job on my CD of the original album, so had it memorized. This is different, in many ways better, to my mind. After watching and listening to the videos, I find I like this version of the show better in many ways. I like that Lea is different - she puts her own stamp on Fanny. I like that Ramin/Nicky is given a significant role in the show - wish he had a better solo, but that's another story.
Maybe it's just the fact that it's not what you are used to. I'll bet the more you listen to it, the better it will seem and the old version will just be the old version."
I've seen the show 3 times now, and, even live, I don't like the current orchestration/conducting. I won't be purchasing this version.
Have to agree on above. As for Barbra - love her. As for Lea love her - a worthy successor. One note, Fanny didn't fall - her marriage(s) didn't work out, but Fanny had her greatest fame after Nicky was out of her life.
I am not a huge fan of the original orchestration - like I said in an earlier comment, I felt they were too distracting and at times really drowned out the singing. They were definitely fuller, but I don't think that was necessarily a good thing.
I disagree about Lea not being lyrical or warm.. her biggest moments in this recording are in songs like People, Who are You Now (Reprise) and The Music That Makes Me Dance, and her singing does things to my heart in those songs. I actually think more emotion comes through in her version of People and TMTMMD than the original versions, but I know that will sound blasphemous for some.
My only quibble with the orchestrations for this album is that the horns seemed drowned out in the Overture, especially the trumpet (?) at the end. But overall I think this sounds wonderful. Add me into the chorus asking for a vinyl release, too!
I am surprised/impressed at how much warmth, delicacy and emotion Lea does bring into songs like 'People' and 'The Music That Makes Me Dance'. Her performance and the recording quality is also much higher than those old Glee tracks, too. I suspect this will become one of those 'classic' recordings for me that become part of my staple musical diet. Such a big fan!!
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
My point is that I don't believe this production does a good job of telling story through song - my and Skip's posts are attempting to put our finger on why that is. And many of the moments seem rushed - not just in tempo but without letting an emotional or comedic beat land.
And I'll again point to the end of "Don't Rain on My Parade". My wife laughed out loud the first time she heard how fast "nobody, no, nobody" is delivered.
Does anyone know if the orchestra was expanded for this recording?
It’s a great recording. I still hate the new arrangement of “The Music That Makes Me Dance” but Lea singing the traditional ending makes up for it. The song was a complete throwaway with Beanie.
ljay889 said: "Does anyone know if the orchestra was expanded for this recording? It’s a great recording. I still hate the new arrangement of “The Music That Makes Me Dance” but Lea singing the traditional ending makes up for it. The song was a complete throwaway with Beanie."
I read that strings were added.
The very last sound of the very last note of TMTMMD is something special.
I have two small favors to ask. Please explain:
1. What the intro of TMTMMD has to do with the rest of the song.
2. What the meaning is of “people who need people are the luckiest people in the world.”
Oh, and how do I get rid of the extra lines between paragraphs?
My point is that I don't believe this production does a good job of telling story through song - my and Skip's posts are attempting to put our finger on why that is. And many of the moments seem rushed - not just in tempo but without letting an emotional or comedic beat land.
And I'll again point to the end of "Don't Rain on My Parade". My wife laughed out loud the first time she heard how fast "nobody, no, nobody" is delivered.
"
I actually just checked the "nobody, no, nobody" part of both versions, and they are delivered at around the same speed (around ~3 seconds). Unsure really why you think there's a huge difference.
Totally understand that that's your opinion, but maybe a different line might be a more accurate example.
"So, what was I going to think of the new Funny Girl cast album? Was I going to be one of those fans so devoted to the original that I would be unable to find a redeeming quality in the revival cast album? Would I nitpick and criticize everything that I hear, unable to shake the ghost of my childhood musical theater Rock of Gibraltar?
No, I am not.
I'm not going to be that person because the new Broadway cast recording of FUNNY GIRL is as good a cast recording as there has ever been. It is beyond good, it is sensational, it is wonderful, it is exciting, it is everything we all hoped it would be, and it is the revival cast recording we have waited for and we deserve."