Is The OCR of "Working" Worth Getting?

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 10:26pm

I've been disillusioned by the lackluster recording of Pippin and Wicked is just bad, don't even get me started on Children of Eden so I am wary of buying another Stephen Schwartz recording. Is the recording of "Working" any better?

[Pinguin]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 10:32pm

Oh honey, save yourself.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 10:35pm

I don't have the cast recording, but I do have the video of the PBS taping of the show (available through Amazon, BroadwayTheatreArchive.com, etc...) and have always found it quite entertaining. Schwartz only wrote about half of the score, but there's lots of good stuff in it.

Grab the video/DVD with Rita Moreno, Patti Labelle, James Taylor, Eileen Brennan, Charles Durning, Scatman Crothers, Edie McClurg, Barbara Hershey etc... -- it's probably just a little more expensive than the CD, but well worth it.

[Pinguin]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 10:38pm

Some of the monologues and a couple of the songs are ok, but the show as a whole is, in my opinion, quite uninteresting.

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 10:39pm

What are some cast recordings I should get? Here is my list of what I have:

1776
A Chorus Line
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way to the Forum
A Little Night Music
A Man of No Importance
A New Brain
Aida
Assassins
Assassins (Revival)
Avenue Q
Bat Boy
Big River
Bounce
BKLYN
Cabaret (Film)
Cabaret (Revival)
Candide (Revival)
Caroline or Change
Carousel (Revival)
Cats (Highlights)
Chess (Studio Cast)
Chicago (Revival)
Chicago (Film)
Children of Eden
City of Angels
Company
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Do Re Mi
Dreamgirls
Falsettoland
Five Guys Named Moe
Floyd Collins
Follies
Gypsy (Revival)
Hairspray
Hello Again
Into the Woods
Into the Woods (Revival)
Into the Woods (London)
Jane Eyre
Jekyll and Hyde
Jekyll and Hyde (Studio Cast)
John and Jen
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Kiss Me Kate (Revival)
Kiss of the Spider Woman
La Cage Aux Folles
Les Miserables (Complete Symphonic Recording)
Little Shop of Horrors (Revival)
Mamma Mia!
Man of La Mancha (Revival)
March of the Falsettos
Marie Christine
Martin Guerre
Merrily We Roll Along
Merrily We Roll Along (Revival
My Fair Lady
Myths and Hymns
Nine (Revival)
Notre-Dame de Paris
Once on This Island
On The Twentieth Century
Pacific Overtures
Parade
Passion
Pippin
Porgy and Bess (Fitzgerald + Armstrong)
Ragtime
Side Show
Smokey Joes Café
Songs For A New World
Spamalot
Sunday in the Park with George
Sunset Boulevard (Los Angeles Cast)
Sweeney Todd (Highlights)
Sweet Smell of Success
Taboo
Tanz Der Vampire
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
The Beautiful Game
The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas
The Boy From Oz
The Civil War
The Frogs
The Full Monty
The Last Five Years
The Light In The Piazza
The Lion King
The Phantom of the Opera (Highlights OLC)
The Phantom of the Opera (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
The Phantom of the Opera (Original Canadian Cast)
The Producers
The Rocky Horror Show
The Secret Garden
The Wild Party (LaChuisa)
The Wild Party (Lippa)
The Wiz
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Tick, Tick…BOOM!
Titanic
Urinetown
Violet
West Side Story
Wicked
Wonderful Town (Revival)
You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown (Revival)

[Pinguin]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 10:47pm

See if you can find a copy of King David (score by Menken) -I think it may be out of print but if you can get it, it's WONDERFUL! I also recommend Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens (there's a concert recording with Alice Ripley, Brian D'Arcy James, and Emily Skinner, among others...it's got a couple really nice songs) and the Elegies: A Song Cycle by William Finn, if you like Finn.

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 10:49pm

I love Finn but was hesitant to get Elegies I can't remember the reason now. Wasn't King David the show that starred Roger Bart and was in the New Amsterdam?

Posted: 7/6/05 at 10:53pm

Sum, will you please marry my daughter and share your CD collection with her? I'd save SO much money by not having to buy all those OCRs. Her "need it" list is almost as long as your "got it" list.

[Pinguin]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 10:53pm

Roger Bart was in it, along with Judy Kuhn, Alice Ripley, and Stephen Bogardus...and yeah, in the New Amsterdam :0) It's really good stuff!

(and Elegies by Finn is not the best thing in the world...but it's certainly very Finn, plus it has Carolee Carmello. HA)

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 10:54pm

Ha! I earned all the money to get these CD's and I'm just 17! I love every single one of them in their own way. I find that their is always at least one chord or song or performance to love about every cast recording. You know what is great? The covers for the bottoms of the CD's that my brother uses for his Playstation games. They are clear plastic things that clip onto the CD to prevent scratches.

[LuvUrBatBoy]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 11:14pm

Working is worth getting just for the Cleaning Women song in my opinion. Lynne Thigpen works it out in that song! I also like the song What I Could Have Been from that show..

As far as other shows I feel one needs to have that are not on your list:

Ruthless!(Off Broadway): The story of a murderous 8 year old girl obsessed with fame

No Way to Treat A Lady (Off Broadway): Musical Comedy about a washed up actor who resorts to murder to obtain fame. A cast of 4 (including Alix Corey) play over a dozen roles.

Zombie Prom (Off Broadway): Spoof of 50's musicals about a teenager who commits suicide then returns to highschool as a nuclear zombie.

Hair (Actor's Fund Recording)...it's unbelievable!

And for God's sake...stop what you're doing right now and go buy Hedwig!!!

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 11:17pm

Is Hedwig good? I'm trying to get my hands on Anyone Can Whistle and Jelly's Last Jam.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 11:19pm

Hedwig is genius -- arguably the best true rock score ever written for the musical theatre. Get the OOBC album.

Jelly's Last Jam and Anyone Can Whistle are both very much worth acquiring.

[LuvUrBatBoy]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 11:24pm

Yes Hedwig is beyond amazing. And like Margo said, get the off broadway cast recording, not the Movie Soundtrack. The tempos of a lot of the songs in the movie were slowed down and are out of order for some odd reason.

[mandy2loveRB]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 11:25pm

OMG..I love Jelly's Last Jam...

[jflynn]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 11:31pm

Updated On: 12/31/09 at 11:31 PM

[TheEnchantedHunter]

Posted: 7/7/05 at 12:18am

King David, such an awful score! Oy!

And that Broadway Archive WORKING makes a bad show look even worse! Double Oy!!

Leopold Bloom
Dublin, Ireland

[wildcat]

Posted: 7/7/05 at 1:34am

The Broadway cast album of WORKING is terrific.

[luvliza89]

Posted: 7/7/05 at 1:41am

I agree with what everyone said about Hedwig. Go buy the movie while you're at it...and Wig In A Box: Music Inspired by Hedwig. GO! I'm timing you.

[Broadway_Bound_Star]

Posted: 7/7/05 at 1:46am

Get:
Songs for a new world and the Last 5 years!Flower Drum song isn't a bad thing to add either.

[Pinguin]

Posted: 7/7/05 at 2:06am

I can't believe I didn't notice he didn't have L5Y or SFANW! And Hedwig!

eek!

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 7/7/05 at 4:15am

Here are some suggestions based on the titles you own....

1. Sondheim:
You have most of his scores but do get ANYONE CAN WHISTLE (OBC on Columbia/SONY)

2. Kander & Ebb:
You have their two biggst hits: CABARET and CHICAGO. Try THE RINK (on JAY), STEEL PIER (RCA Victor)and maybe ZORBA (EMI)
Don't waste time on THE ACT (unless you are a Liza fanatic) or THE HAPPY TIME.

3. Ahrens & Flaherty: ONCE ON THIS ISLAND (RCA Victor)

4. Jerry Herman:
MAME (Columbia/SONY)
MACK AND MABEL (MCA)


5. Cy Coleman:
SWEET CHARITY (original on Columbia/SONY)
BARNUM (Columbia/SONY)
THE LIFE (SONY)
LITTLE ME (1998 revival)
Don't waste time on SEESAW or WILDCAT

6. Bernstein:
You have all of his majr scores except ON THE TOWN (Columbia/SONY)

7. Lerner & Loewe:
CAMELOT (Columbia/SONY)
BRIGADOON (DRG)
PAINT YOUR WAGON (RCA Victor - good score but dated recording)

8. Richard Rodgers:
DO I HEAR A WALTZ
NO STRINGS
SOUND OF MUSIC
FLOWER DRUM SONG
OKLAHOMA!
PAL JOEY
ON YOUR TOES
BABES IN ARMS
THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE

Cole Porter:
OUT OF THIS WORLD
CAN CAN
SILK STOCKINGS
ANYTHING GOES
Don't waste time on MEXICAN HAYRIDE or SOMETHING FOR THE BOYS

Irving Berlin:
ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (1966 Lincoln Centre cast on RCA Victor)
CALL ME MADAM (better to get the movie on DVD, no good OCR on CD)
Dont waste time on MISS LIBERTY or MR PRESIDENT


Jule Styne:
GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES
PETER PAN
BELLS ARE RINGING
FUNNY GIRL
Dont waste time on SUGAR, HALLELUJAH BABY or FADE OUT FADE IN but
SUBWAYS ARE FOR SLEEPING is fun as a "fabulous flop"

Jerome Kern:

SHOW BOAT (1993 revival on Livent is best highlights versin)

You also are missing major Tony winners: RENT, EVITA, HOW TO SUCCEEED..., FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, HELLO DOLLY, THE MUSIC MAN, DAMN YANKEES, PAJAMA GAME and KING AND I.

Best though to sample through local library first so you don't spend $ on Cd's you won't enjoy playing.

As for me...I collect them all!

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 7/7/05 at 6:24am

Yes it most definitely is

Hallelujah Baby is also worth it even if one melody from Fade Out Fade in is alo found in Hallelujah. Hey if you cannot steal from yourself who can you steal from? At least no worry of being sued.

[nmartin]

Posted: 7/7/05 at 6:44am

Most of the score of The Happy Time is excellent. Don't rule it out. The opening number, I Don't Remember You, Walking Among My Yesterdays are all great songs.

[Jon]

Posted: 7/7/05 at 7:33am

I like the show WORKING - I've been musical director on two productions - but to me, the original cast recording will always be remembered as the album on which musical theatre legend Joe Mantegna has two solo numbers, and Patti LuPone has none.

I also love the dance break in the opening number that sounds like 1970's porno background music.
Updated On: 7/7/05 at 07:33 AM