Maury Yeston Shows

[laura is broadway]

Posted: 1/28/09 at 5:49pm

Over the past few months I have really fallen in love with Nine... I want to know if I should look into any other of Yeston's shows... I've heard his Phantom is not very good, and have heard mixed thing about Titanic. Are either of these shows worth purchasing the cast recordings?

[blaxx]

Posted: 1/28/09 at 5:53pm

The scores of both Phantom and Titanic are great! I would at least give them a try if I was you.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/28/09 at 5:57pm

I love the score for Phantom and Titanic is one of the greatest scores to emerge from the 1990s. His work on Grand Hotel is wonderful as well. I think Goya is the only one I've heard that I didn't care for.

[The Glorious Ones]

Posted: 1/28/09 at 6:07pm

You should check out the Maury Yeston Album from PS Classics... it's a great compilation of his work sung by Sutton Foster, Betty Buckley, Christine Ebersole, Alice Ripley, Brent Barrett, and more.

For the record, I love December Songs - it's a beautifully written song cycle.

[Pianolin717]

Posted: 1/28/09 at 6:14pm

Yeah! I heard "You Are Music" from Phantom and it was very good, so like you, I will have to check it out because I have heard people do like it more than the ALW

[bob8rich]

Posted: 1/28/09 at 6:26pm

Titanic and Phantom are both fabulous scores. (I actually much prefer Yeston's Phantom to the ALW version.) Also check out Yeston's brilliant song cycle, "December Songs".

[LadyRosecoe]

Posted: 1/28/09 at 6:50pm

I'd suggest buying Grand Hotel and Titanic, both are really terrific when you get into them.

[jasonf]

Posted: 1/28/09 at 6:53pm

Grand Hotel is fantastic, though it's not entirely Yeston (right?).
Titanic has some strong stuff, but there are quite a few songs I skip when I listen to it.
Phantom is beautiful. I don't know if I like it better than Webber's, but it's certainly comparable.

[philly03]

Posted: 1/28/09 at 10:51pm

I would actually buy Phantom! "Home" is one of my favourite showtunes sincerly...and my favourite by him (along with "Unusual Way" :), although they are different!).

But I do agree with what some of the others said...I don't think his Phantom is anywhere near as good as Lloyd Webber's but some of the songs are real jems. It's nice to hear Paul Schoffeler (Les Mis @ the Walnut: Javert) too and whomever the Christine is is also very talented (I'm sorry her name is escaping me).

Grand Hotel is probably my third favourite, and Titanic is well..... not really anything special. Maybe one or two songs stick out but it's Titanic: it's not like there's going to be any suprises about what's going to happen. You may want to skip that one!

[LadyRosecoe]

Posted: 1/28/09 at 11:01pm

The choral pieces littered in Titanic are grand, impressive, and very beautiful. The cast is also superb and help make listening to the music very evocative and thrilling even in the milder numbers.

And I'm pretty sure that there were many issues had over the control of the score between Yeston and Forrest? or whomever the original composer(s) were and he wound up writing most of the music and lyrics himself. I'd guess that more than the majority of it is his.

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 1/28/09 at 11:01pm

Don't skip Titanic!

It's one, if not his most beautiful scores. The melodies are chilling, and a few will be stuck in your head for days. I will admit though, there are one or two I skip from time to time (To Be a Captain anyone?)

And besides that, It's great to hear the excellent performances by Michael Cerveris and Victoria Clark.

[ohjustjake]

Posted: 1/29/09 at 8:27am

The score for Titanic is so beautiful - I don't think I've ever heard orchestrations so lush like that. It's really a jem and you should definitely check it out. Yes, there are a few songs you may want to skip, and some of the lyrics may make you cringe more than Stephen Schwartz, but it's a beautiful score.

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 1/29/09 at 9:52am

His version of PHANTOM is amazing. You won't be sorry if you decide to give it a try

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/29/09 at 10:55am

Maybe one or two songs stick out but it's Titanic: it's not like there's going to be any suprises about what's going to happen.

Huh??? Isn't that the case with every musical based on familiar material? Personally, I think Titanic simply has too many glorious songs to consider avoiding the CD:

In Every Age
There She Is
I Must Get on That Ship
Godspeed Titanic
Barrett's Song
Lady's Maid
The Proposal
The Night Was Alive
No Moon
Autumn
Getting in the Lifeboat
We'll Meet Tomorrow
Still

Even some of the lesser choral numbers such as What a Remarkable Age This Is, Doing the Latest Rag and Dressed in Your Pajamas in the Grand Salon are still way above par for Broadway fare and nothing less than delightful or stirring. And the orchestrations are amongst Broadway greatest. I get chills each and every time I listen to Titanic.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 1/29/09 at 11:02am

In addition to TITANIC being an incredible, gorgeous score that sends chills up and down your spine (with lush orchestrations), it displays, in my opinion, Brian d'Arcy James' most incredible performance to date. "The Proposal" and his duet with Martin Moran are GORGEOUS songs, impeccably recorded on the cast album.

One thing I love about the TITANIC cast recording is the overture. A good overture tells the story that is about to unfold from beginning to end, and that is exactly what the TITANIC overture does.

I adore this show, the score and the orchestrations, and highly recommend it. Listening to it has never failed to repeatedly give me goosebumps.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/29/09 at 12:53pm

Getting in the Lifeboat was one of the most emotionally crippling numbers I've seen in a musical. The build of chaotic panic leading to the anthemic We'll Meet Tomorrow is utterly devastating. I remember losing it in the theatre while watching that scene.

[ErinDillyFan]

Posted: 1/29/09 at 1:00pm

Don't forget "Grand Hotel"!

I would put "Titanic" at the bottom of his list, but it is still a good show.

IMO:
Nine
Grand Hotel
Phantom
Titanic

Ok, now I have to listen to them again. Because, I kept switching Grand Hotel and Phantom.
Updated On: 1/29/09 at 01:00 PM

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 1/29/09 at 4:00pm

Given that Yeston won a Tony award for his first show (NINE) and another for TITANIC, it does seem strange that he has only had two full scores reach Broadway.

ANY score by Yeston is worth owning. His contributions to GRAND HOTEL are the real highlights of that score. TITANIC has a grand score, but on Broadway was poorly directed. That doesn't affect what is heard on the CD.

And indeed his score for PHANTOM is far superior to the ALW version, with songs that detail characters and develop the plot. (Imagine that!)

[laura is broadway]

Posted: 1/29/09 at 4:27pm

Thanks for all the advice!

"some of the lyrics may make you cringe more than Stephen Schwartz"

I've heard a lot of criticism of Yeston's lyrics... But I really like his lyrics in Nine. Are those generally regarded as bad? Or are his other shows much worse? Lyrics are relatively important to me in deciding if I like a show or not.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 1/29/09 at 6:15pm

I would love to hear some of the cut songs from Titanic

Whatever happened to "Death Takes A Holiday"?

[ohjustjake]

Posted: 1/30/09 at 8:17am

Just the lyrics in Titanic. I love the lyrics in Nine. I was in a production of Titanic and I remember laughing at some of the lyrics he wrote. I mean, they're not... bad, they're just not great. But the score itself is so good that it makes up for it.

Just my opinion though.

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 1/30/09 at 9:05am

If you can, try to get a hold of the demonstation album of "In the Beginning" (you can get a copy from Music Theater International). It's a very good, though not great, score. There are a couple of songs from it on the "Maury Yeston Album".

The show, itself, is not a good show. It's about "the people who didn't make it into the Bible". (It started out as "One Two Three Four Five" with a book by Larry Gelbart and had a couple of workshops back in the late 80s and early 90s. Gelbart left the project and some hack wrote the book that it has now.) It's a comedy that has no jokes in it and makes do with bad, groanable puns.

Has anyone here heard any of the songs that he wrote for the version of "La Cage Aux Folles" set in New Orleans called "The Queen of Basin Street"?

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 1/30/09 at 9:25am

It's interesting to think of all the people who were still "starting out," so to speak, in TITANIC.

Michael Cerveris, Victoria Clark, Brian d'Arcy James, Don Stephenson, Martin Moran, Alma Cuervo, Ted Sperling...

An original cast such as that today would be theatrical cups runneth-ing over. Updated On: 1/30/09 at 09:25 AM

[MCfan2]

Posted: 1/30/09 at 9:36am

Guess I'm in the minority. I found the "Titanic" album overblown, dull, and utterly forgettable. Maybe you had to see it on the stage, I don't know.

Yeston's "Phantom" is pretty good, though.

(Not to be rude, but the spelling is "gem." Just the editor in me popping up her ugly head yet again. )
Updated On: 1/30/09 at 09:36 AM

[Pianolin717]

Posted: 1/30/09 at 9:38am

Maybe I need to give it another try, but as of now I have to agree with MCfan2. I am bored with Titanic. There are one or two numbers I like but the rest are on the boring side, IMO. But from what I've heard of his Phantom, I like it!