Looking for opinions on Grind: OBC

I'd say get it. There are times when it completely falls apart or loses its mind (like in Timothy Nolen's songs), and the lyrics are not always up to snuff, but Ben Vereen, Leilani Jones, Carol Woods and Stubby Kaye have some wonderful songs, and there's a terrific comedy number for Sharon Murray, that I love. The show had the problem of having nothing happen in Act One, and then everything and then some, happening in Act Two. Still, it was lovingly produced and performed. On top of it, the orchestrations by the late Billy Byers are to die for.

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If you can bear some of the disappointing lyrics, the cast album will be very entertaining for you. Fine vocal performances for the most part!

The score is very harsh, jangling, and brassy. It's like "Gypsy", "Cabaret" and "Chicago" carried to the ultimate. As was stated before, the book tried to do far too much--it was an attempt to carry the aesthetic of "Cabaret" to the burlesque age, and it encompassed racism, IRA terrorism, interracial relations, and the Depression. It was trying to be a microcosm of an entire age, and it didn't quite make it (as "Cabaret" did). But the good things in the score are very good, and the material is never less than gripping--it just gets confusing.

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