Regarding Tom Shepard, didn't he and Sondheim have some sort of falling out after he left for MCA? Back when SHOW MUSIC magazine was still being published (God how I miss it!! Will never forgive Goodspeeed Opera House for what they did to destroy it) - they did an interview with Sheppard and in the following issue reprinted a letter from Sondheim answering back to some of Tom's more egregious statements. Sondheim claims in the letter that recording sessions with Sheppard were often filled with tension, that Sheppard was high handed and difficult and ended with the comment that this was the reason why Sondheim (and he claims many others in the industry) now refuse to work with Tom.
Sheppard was one of RCA Red Seal's top Classical and Broadway album producers. He ran afoul of the label's manager (Jose Menendez who was later killed by his two sons) when an elaborate 4 LP boxed set retrospective of Sondheim's career did not sell well. (RCA put very little into marketing the set.) Menendez wanted to cancel the label's recording of FOLLIES IN CONCERT but was overruled by Bob Summer - one of the label's presidents. Despite winning a Grammy award for the FOLLIES album Sheppard soon resigned and joined MCA which was trying to build up MCA Classsics as a major Classical/Broadway label. That didn't work out well and MCA Classics was disbanded and Sheppard was released to continue as a freelance producer. As far as I know he never has worked with Sondheim again. I wondered at the time what the PASSION album would have been like if Sheppard had produced it.
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks."
Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com