Menier Gets A Little Night CD, Soon, Not Later!

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Menier Gets A Little Night CD, Soon, Not Later!

Posted: 3/2/10 at 6:37pm

Following in the footsteps of its first Sondheim musical ('Sunday In The Park With George'), the Menier Chocolate Factory's second production of his work is to get a CD release.

'A Little Night Music' with its full Broadway cast is to be releaed by Nonsuch/PSC on April 6, (release doesn't say if thats both sides of the pond or who gets it first?).
It will be a two CD package.

Disc One
1. Overture / Night Waltz
2. Prologue: The Night Smiles.
3. Now
4. Later
5. Soon
6. The Glamorous Life
7. Remember?
8. You Must Meet My Wife
9. A Virgin
10. Liaisons
11. In Praise Of Women
12. Every Day A Little Death
13. The Tour's Over For A While
14. A Weekend In The Country
Disc Two
1. The Sun Won't Set
2. Night Waltz II
3. It Would Have Been Wonderful
4. Perpetual Anticipation
5. Send In The Clowns
6. The Miller's Son
7. Soon (reprise) / You Must Meet My Wife (reprise)
8. A Wooden Ring
9. A Weekend In The Country (reprise) / Every Day A Little Death (reprise)
10. Send In The Clowns (reprise)
11. Last Waltz
The list of tracks seems to show a pretty near complete recording coming our way.

The orchestra has been augmented from 8 to 12 players for the recording.

Nonsuch/PSC are also on course to record the Menier's forthcoming Broadway transfer of the biggest hit they have had so far, 'La cage aux Folles', due in the studio end of May.

Updated On: 3/2/10 at 06:37 PM

Menier Gets A Little Night CD, Soon, Not Later!

Posted: 3/2/10 at 6:50pm

BUT IT'S ALL THE WRONG CASTS!

Love Nonesuch, love these productions, love these shows, but damn why couldn't they have recorded the fabulous London casts?

Notes from the Earlham Street Gutter

Menier Gets A Little Night CD, Soon, Not Later!

Posted: 3/2/10 at 6:52pm

Very true, lets see what happens with 'Charity'.

Menier Gets A Little Night CD, Soon, Not Later!

Posted: 3/2/10 at 7:20pm

Apart from Hannah Waddingham and Alexander Hanson, I thought the London cast were pretty dreadful and would not have been even remotely interested in a CD with their vocals. But Catherine and Angela et al - really looking forward to buying that!

THEATRE 2020: CURTAINS**** LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE GIRLS***** WICKED***** KEITH RAMSAY TAKING NOTES WITH EDWARD SECKERSON***** KAYLEIGH MCKNIGHT CONCERT***** RAGS***** ON MCQUILLAN'S HILL** DEAR EVAN HANSEN***** THE JURY***

Menier Gets A Little Night CD, Soon, Not Later!

Posted: 3/3/10 at 1:43am

Yeah have to agree, would MUCH rather have the Broadway Night Music cast on CD.

Menier Gets A Little Night CD, Soon, Not Later!

Posted: 3/7/10 at 4:22pm

Generally British casts can't handle American musicals well. The Broadway cast will be better and since the show is still running on Broadway that alone will help sales.

Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks."
Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!

I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com

Menier Gets A Little Night CD, Soon, Not Later!

Posted: 3/7/10 at 4:25pm

!!!!!!!!!!!!! EXCUSE ME !!!!!!!!

Menier Gets A Little Night CD, Soon, Not Later!

Posted: 3/7/10 at 4:32pm

Erm you are aware the Catherine Zeta Jones is British, and so is Angela Lansbury technically. The leading man is british and transferred from London.

Douglas Hodge is coming to do la Cage, hell even one of the Cagelles is from the London production.

Laura Michelle Kelly is in Poppins, Caroline Sheen is even doing the Poppins tour.

I dont think that argument holds up really

Menier Gets A Little Night CD, Soon, Not Later!

Posted: 3/7/10 at 4:32pm

"Generally British casts can't handle American musicals well."

Coming from someone who frequently has to have his "facts" corrected, I'm not going to lose any sleep over that comment.

#10

Menier Gets A Little Night CD, Soon, Not Later!

Posted: 3/7/10 at 5:21pm

Having seen this at the Menier and on Broadway, I'd much rather have the British cast. Hannah Waddingham was far superior to CZJ and similarly with Maureen Lipman v Angela Lansbury. Quite what happened with the casting of Anne and Henrik on Broadway is a mystery; the count was good though.

#11

Menier Gets A Little Night CD, Soon, Not Later!

Posted: 3/7/10 at 9:13pm

Hannah Waddingham may have been better (I wouldn't know, as I haven't seen her, and I won't be seeing CZJ until April 2

, but you have to admit that CZJ and Angela Lansbury would sell better off name recognition alone. No one in the states would know who Hannah is (except for the one or two of us in the states who happened to listen to "The Beautiful Game"). With cast recording sales being as anemic as they are already, any little bit helps, and getting an A-list star and theater royalty to record a cast album helps a lot.

I also am happy if the rumor of PS/Nonesuch recording La Cage is true also. That album is way overdue for a new English language recording.

Xanadu! Can't cry on cue!

#12

Menier Gets A Little Night CD, Soon, Not Later!

Posted: 3/9/10 at 12:39pm

To clarify my earlier comments, I find generally the Broadway cast recordings far superior to the London casts for American musicals but London-made shows are better done by the London cast.

The London OCR of OLIVER on Decca is far superior to RCA Victor's (Pre-)Broadway cast recording.

I know some people prefer the London cast of MY FAIR LADY (because it is in stereo) but I find the recording has a harsh and at times distorted sound. Also the performances on the original Broadway cast recording are fresher.

The performers on the London cast of BYE BYE BIRDIE - a quintessentially American musical - are at times painful to listen to.

On balance, the London Palledium cast of JOSEPH... is better than the U.S. recording (even though both recordings use the same orchestra tracks.)

Maybe it's just a matter of each being the premiere cast.

#13

Menier Gets A Little Night CD, Soon, Not Later!

Posted: 3/9/10 at 1:10pm

That may well be true (though I suspect it was more the case in the days of Oliver! and Bye Bye Birdie than it is now), but nowhere near to the extent that you could just assume that the Broadway cast would be better simply because it is the Broadway cast, as you did in your first post. Especially since, as pointed out, all three leads are British (born and started their careers here).

Maybe us Brits do have a problem with the very American shows - not just musicals - for the same reason I bet Americans have more success with plays by American playwrights than, for example, Alan Bennett or Joe Orton. I'd like to see an American cast try and put on something by Mark Ravenhill.

I think that's more of an issue nowadays than the talent, of which there's no shortage on either side of the pond.

Having said that, I don't think A Little Night Music is particularly "American" (or "British") in that sense.

Updated On: 3/9/10 at 01:10 PM

#14

Menier Gets A Little Night CD, Soon, Not Later!

Posted: 3/9/10 at 1:22pm

Avenue Q was much better in London than NYC, shame the London cast didnt get a recording.

#15

Menier Gets A Little Night CD, Soon, Not Later!

Posted: 3/9/10 at 1:24pm

That's very true! And that's a very American show.

Also Guys and Dolls was revived very successfully in London recently, while Broadway's latest attempt was a huge flop.

#16

Menier Gets A Little Night CD, Soon, Not Later!

Posted: 3/9/10 at 7:06pm

All this talk about British musicals vs Americans makes me wonder how well "Damn Yankees" would be handled in London, though I can't think of a British equivalent for America (maybe "The Beautiful Game"?)

Xanadu! Can't cry on cue!

#17

Menier Gets A Little Night CD, Soon, Not Later!

Posted: 3/9/10 at 9:08pm

'Damn Yankees' had a run of only 258 performances in London at the London Coliseum in 1957 and didn't return until the last Broadway production moved to London at the Adelphi in 1994 with full Broadway cast and Jerry Lewis.
That failed miserably at the box office and after just 7 weeks all planned transfers were cancelled very quickly and the show folded losing millions.

#18

Menier Gets A Little Night CD, Soon, Not Later!

Posted: 3/11/10 at 12:33pm

THE BEAUTIFUL GAME was revised as THE BOYS IN THE PHOTOGRAPH and played Winnipeg last spring followed by a brief Toronto run in October. The reviews were not encouraging....

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/theatre/article/701652--photograph-blurs-belfast-s-edge

I was in New York the week the show opened so I did not get to the opening night of this production.

#19

Menier Gets A Little Night CD, Soon, Not Later!

Posted: 3/19/10 at 4:29pm

frontrowcentre2: Wake up and smell the coffee! We're in the c21st now.

The OLC's of Bye Bye Birdie, My Fair Lady and Oliver were all made before most people on this site (myself included) were born.

In recent history we have the London casts of Hairspray and Legally Blonde both of which have been acclaimed as being superior to their Broadway counterparts.

And, instead of sending me silly PMs, why haven't you responded to the very specific posts of Princeton and Marius who also counteract your ill-considered and out-of-date opinions?

#20

Menier Gets A Little Night CD, Soon, Not Later!

Posted: 3/20/10 at 4:04am

I have no idea when you were born, but the CD editions of all the shows you mention have been issued in the past 10-15 years, and most are in print and readily available.

HAIRSPRAY, AVENUE Q and LEGALLY BLONDE were not recorded with their original London casts, so that really extends beyond the scope of this discussion. (Trying to think of the last Broadway show that also got a London cast CD. PARADE?)

Some pointed out that the leads in NIGHT MUSIC are British, and that is true but what I was referring to is a full British cast that made a recording of a particular show. In this case NIGHT MUSIC was not recorded with the British cast so once again we have nothing to compare. (I have only heard samples of the new CD and from what I have heard it sounds very well performed and produced.)

My comments my have been overstated, but I generally stand by my opinion. It's not just the performers. The recording quality is often inferior. MY FAIR LADY has heavy distortion due to over modulation. The OLC of GYPSY has a lot of bum notes in the Overture. The CD of LOVE NEVER DIES seems to have very erratic levels and the voices - especially in the dialogue - sound disembodied. Anyhow, that's my opinion based on a couple of listens.

#21

Menier Gets A Little Night CD, Soon, Not Later!

Posted: 3/20/10 at 5:00am

"the CD editions of all the shows you mention have been issued in the past 10-15 years, and most are in print and readily available."

So what?

You're still basing your opinion on a very limited scope of data.

"HAIRSPRAY, AVENUE Q and LEGALLY BLONDE were not recorded with their original London casts, so that really extends beyond the scope of this discussion."

No it doesn't. We've all seen them and so they are entirely relevant to our (not your) discussion.

"My comments may have been overstated."

Thank you.

#22

Menier Gets A Little Night CD, Soon, Not Later!

Posted: 3/21/10 at 4:15pm

frontrow - Are there any London cast recordings that you feel are better than the USA ones?

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