Posted: 3/15/25 at 7:12pm
Listened to this with my noise cancelling headphones on a flight earlier and it is stunning. Perfect amount of dialogue and the instrumentals I couldn't wait to hear again.
Posted: 3/15/25 at 10:58pm
binau said: "The quality is much higher than the demo tracks they had recorded!"
I was thinking this, too! The performances, as well — Helen J Shen's vocal performance has only become fuller and more layered.
"The Way It Has To Be" might be my favorite song of the season so far. Taps at the existential dread in our air with both matter-of-factness and heartache. A woman addressing with her mortality and making it a call to action to go out and see the world before she can't. It's a sneaky I Want Song.
Posted: 3/15/25 at 11:35pm
I echo the appreciation of the completeness of the recording. It sounds so beautiful.
I also love the inclusion of the emotional punch of the finale “Do you think it’ll be okay?” with Oliver’s response “I hope so.” That left me gutted in the theatre.
Posted: 3/16/25 at 10:13am
If there is to be a split at the Tonys this year, I say give MHE score and Mincemeat or Outlaw book.
Posted: 3/16/25 at 12:55pm
Really loving the recording. I am also very happy they included a bit of the instrumental music.
I would have been crushed if the Memory Sequence instrumental wasn't included. It's just a beautiful 2 minutes of music. :)
Updated On: 3/16/25 at 12:55 PM
Posted: 3/16/25 at 1:17pm
ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "If there is to be a split at the Tonys this year, I say give MHE score and Mincemeat or Outlaw book."
Loved Outlaw's score. If DO gets their score out soon, Dead Outlaw takes book and score. Mincemeat could take book too - MHE's is too thin/rom-com. Enjoyed Mincemeat's music in the last half of the show a lot. It took a minute to get into - but then enjoyed it a lot. The audience was singing it in the bathroom and on the way out last night. Good sign.
Posted: 5/30/25 at 10:37pm
I received my CD in the mail today (yes, I do still buy my Cast Recoridngs on CD, so sue me hah), and I peeled off the sticker on the outside of the plastic that says 'Starring Darren Criss and Helen J Shen" (among other bits and pieces of info) but to my utter shock, under that sticker was another, almost identical one, but smaller, declaring 'Starring Darren Criss and Helen J Park" I AM SHOOK! Am I wrong for reading this blunder as unintentionally racist?!
Posted: 5/30/25 at 11:42pm
qafgenius122 said: "I received my CD in the mail today (yes, I do still buy my Cast Recoridngs on CD, so sue me hah), and I peeled off the sticker on the outside of the plastic that says 'Starring Darren Criss and Helen J Shen" (among other bits and pieces of info) but to my utter shock, under that sticker was another, almost identical one, but smaller, declaring 'Starring Darren Criss and Helen J Park" I AM SHOOK! AmI wrong for reading this blunder as unintentionally racist?!"
That's crazy that they just put a new sticker over the mistake!
Genuine question - do you actually listen to music on CDs or do you just like having a physical copy of the cast album? I've wondered for a long time why they still release CDs and who is buying them, but I guess you are not alone!
Posted: 5/30/25 at 11:49pm
Rentaholic2 said: "qafgenius122 said: "I received my CD in the mail today (yes, I do still buy my Cast Recoridngs on CD, so sue me hah), and I peeled off the sticker on the outside of the plastic that says 'Starring Darren Criss and Helen J Shen" (among other bits and pieces of info) but to my utter shock, under that sticker was another, almost identical one, but smaller, declaring 'Starring Darren Criss and Helen J Park" I AM SHOOK! AmI wrong for reading this blunder as unintentionally racist?!"
That's crazy that they just put a new sticker over the mistake!
Genuine question - do you actually listen to music on CDs or do you just like having a physical copy of the cast album? I've wondered for a long time why they still release CDs and who is buying them, but I guess you are not alone!"
I was just thinking the same thing while reading this and asked myself do people buy cd's and how do they play them? Do people buy cd players in '25? Totally removed from the cd world lol I've been streaming I believe for 20 years now! and 48!
Posted: 5/31/25 at 12:18am
qafgenius122 said: "I received my CD in the mail today (yes, I do still buy my Cast Recoridngs on CD, so sue me hah), and I peeled off the sticker on the outside of the plastic that says 'Starring Darren Criss and Helen J Shen" (among other bits and pieces of info) but to my utter shock, under that sticker was another, almost identical one, but smaller, declaring 'Starring Darren Criss and Helen J Park" I AM SHOOK! AmI wrong for reading this blunder as unintentionally racist?!"
Ugh. I preordered the CD and at some point received an email saying that the shipment would be delayed because the vendor "had to correct an issue with one of the stickers on the CD." Guess I know what happened now.
Posted: 5/31/25 at 1:38am
Rentaholic2 said: "qafgenius122 said: "I received my CD in the mail today (yes, I do still buy my Cast Recoridngs on CD, so sue me hah), and I peeled off the sticker on the outside of the plastic that says 'Starring Darren Criss and Helen J Shen" (among other bits and pieces of info) but to my utter shock, under that sticker was another, almost identical one, but smaller, declaring 'Starring Darren Criss and Helen J Park" I AM SHOOK! AmI wrong for reading this blunder as unintentionally racist?!"
That's crazy that they just put a new sticker over the mistake!
Genuine question - do you actually listen to music on CDs or do you just like having a physical copy of the cast album? I've wondered for a long time why they still release CDs and who is buying them, but I guess you are not alone!"
I've been collecting cast recordings on CD since before the days of Spotify & Apple Music, and basically I just refuse to pay for a monthly music streaming subscription when I owned well over 800 cast albums, plenty of which don't even exist (or didn't at some point) on those streaming services. Fun Fact: my first ever cast recording purchase on CD was the Legally Blonde OBCR, so that should tell you when I started my collection, and speaking of...I'm a collector of many things, and having worked in an entertainment store for most of high school, and as a summer job, I found ways to accumulate lots of physical media at really great value. Not to mention the treasure trove that is the Broadway flea market! I also find that CDs sound better than streaming music. It's the same reason people collect vinyl, and how it seemed to make a comeback.
And no, I don't play my CDs on a walkman that I carry around in my pocket (though I absolutely did back in the 2000s!), I upload them to my MacBook via an external media player, and than it lives in the Music app, which I then transfer to my phone periodically. And then I can really customize my albums how I want into Playlists, or just shuffle my thousands of songs and let the music take mer away. So sure, is it a pointless thing to hold onto, my CD collection, yea, but I actually don't tend to consider the cost to be that prohibitive compared to paying for a streaming service, if I buy an album a month, it evens out, more or less.
And if the cloud ever evaporates, I'll still have my CDs haha
