Martin Guerre 96 cast recording — Page 2

haha... that made me laugh, littlefish

I have been fortunate enough to have seen the original version, the revised West End, and then the US Tour. While I love the music (despite some sometimes pedestiran lyrics), I wholly agree with elsgr8, in that the main problem with the show is that it lacks any and all suspense and mystery which so dominates the movie (which I highly recommend seeing if you have not). In watching the film, you had no idea that Martin was not Martin when he returned. So when the real Martin comes back, it was a great twist... because you still didn't know who was who. In addition, it gave such great nuance to the Bertrande character, for we are surprised to learn that she knew all along... but she was happy that the "new" Martin was kind, caring and compassionate. It breaks your heart. In the musical, all that is lost and instead it devolves into a protestant v christian musical which lacks any heart or soul.

As for the recordings, go for the original version - 1996.

One option is to buy from the UK direct... try amazon.co.uk (price I found was 19 pounds, or about $30).
UK Amazon.com

Thanks LA Guy for that analysis of the film and also for letting me know that I was not the only one disturbed by the changes made from the original screenplay. In my own case, I think I was so angry that they'd given away "the secret" that I kind of turned off to the show, that and the fact that Hunter Foster was, as I've said earlier, not the right person to play this particular part.

Louison was still in the revised show, though not on the new 1999 recording. However, I was quite upset that they cut 'Welcome Home', one of the few upbeat numbers in the entire show. And the beautiful prologue.

As for the plot - OK, so we know that it's not Martin, but is it entirely clear whether Bertrande did? Even with the lack of suspense, I acutally found it quite moving that no matter how hard Bertrande tries to have a second chance at her marriage (even if it's not the original husband!), it still gets torn apart because of petty religious hatred. I liked it

I wish they had kept "Working On The Land" which was a brilliant opening number for the show. It's there in the '99 version as "Welcome to the land" but it's not even half as good as it was as the opening number.

But they did add the beautiful "How Many Tears" to the score for the '99 version - which is my favorite numbers of the new score.

Generally I prefer the '96 recording - much better, though the later recording does have the lovely Joanna Riding as Bertrande.

go to the library and check it out. than burn on computer. than return.

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