Original Cast or Broadway Revival?
Original Cast or Broadway Revival?
BlueAmerica07
Swing Joined: 7/11/05
#0Original Cast or Broadway Revival?
Posted: 7/20/05 at 12:14pmI was wondering which is the better recording of Anything Goes, the Original Cast or the New Broadway Cast? And, to add more substance to this post, in general which recording do you think is better?
#1re: Original Cast or Broadway Revival?
Posted: 7/20/05 at 12:14pmI prefer the Lupone cast recording, hands down.
The truly beautiful should be lawfully restricted from wearing clothing; and the truly butt-ugly should be lawfully mandated from going naked.
#2re: Original Cast or Broadway Revival?
Posted: 7/20/05 at 12:17pmThe LuPone recording is the definitive recording, to me. Patti really got Reno. Also, the 1989 OLC with Elaine Paige is quite good.
#3re: Original Cast or Broadway Revival?
Posted: 7/20/05 at 12:19pmI like all three but I prefer the version that has "Heaven Hop" on it from the 1962 Off-Broadway cast.
"For me, THEATRE is an anticipation, an artistic rush, an emotional banquet, a jubilant appreciation, and an exit hopeful of clearer thought and better worlds."
~ an anonymous traveler with Robert Burns
Jon
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/04
#4re: Original Cast or Broadway Revival?
Posted: 7/20/05 at 1:16pmThere is no "original cast" recording of ANYTHING GOES - only revivals. Cast recordings really didn't exist in the 1930's - occasionally the star of a show would record one or two of the "hit" songs, but that's about it.
jczelyph
Broadway Star Joined: 10/21/04
#5re: Original Cast or Broadway Revival?
Posted: 7/20/05 at 1:24pmAn EXCELLENT recording is the 2003 National Theatre Cast (National Theatre, UK). John Barrowman features and he is divine. It is a very well-produced album too.
"Jane, I've been dealt a blow - I've been dealt a blow, Jane."
#6re: Original Cast or Broadway Revival?
Posted: 7/20/05 at 2:22pmI ditto getting the 2003 NT Cast recording. John Barrowman is amazing, and I was pleasantly surprised with Sally Ann Triplett.
#7re: Original Cast or Broadway Revival?
Posted: 7/20/05 at 2:36pmLuPone or Paige. The Barrowman recording is ok, but the accents are a bit whonky at times.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
#8re: Original Cast or Broadway Revival?
Posted: 7/20/05 at 6:47pm1987 Lupone revival.
"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."
To Kill A Mockingbird
To Kill A Mockingbird
#9re: Original Cast or Broadway Revival?
Posted: 7/20/05 at 8:16pmI think I have more recordings of this show than any other...eight to be exact. Recently the Prism label put out the closest thing to an original cast recording. It features recordings made in 1935 featuring the original cast from the London production and also as bonus tracks includes recordings from 1934 by Merman and a couple by the composer himself. Then there's the first one I ever bought of the 1962 off-Broadway cast. A studio recording was made with Mary Martin in 1950 but is the most incomplete. The most complete is an EMI studio cast from 1989 featuring Kim Criswell under the direction of the astute John McGlinn. Then there's the Patti Lupone Broadway revival cast, the London cast of the same production with Elaine Paige, followed by the Australian cast with Geraldine Turner and most recently the 2003 National Theater cast. Of all my fav is the off Broadway one because I love Eileen Rodgers' voice however you'd probably do best with the Lupone version since it has more of a full Broadway orchestrated sound.
#10re: Original Cast or Broadway Revival?
Posted: 7/20/05 at 8:18pmrevival
A little swash, a bit of buckle - you'll love it more than bread.
#11re: Original Cast or Broadway Revival?
Posted: 7/20/05 at 8:20pmGet the Lupone one. I absolutely hated the NT staging. I thought John Barrowman was extremely plastic (he's had more plastic surgery than Cher!) and I thought Sally Ann Triplett was like a 3rd rate Rachel York.
"It does what a musical is supposed to do; it takes you to another world. And it gives you a little tune to carry in your head. Something to take you away from the dreary horrors of the real world. A little something for when you're feeling blue. You know?"
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
BwayBaby18
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/19/05
#15re: Original Cast or Broadway Revival?
Posted: 7/20/05 at 10:06pmThe 1987 Patti Lupone version. It has Howard McGillin singing an absolutely GORGEOUS rendition of "Easy to Love".
Praying Decca Broadway will put "Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope" on CD!
#16re: Original Cast or Broadway Revival?
Posted: 7/20/05 at 10:12pmHoward is great on it. I was supposed to see him in Phantom, but he was out, but Johgn Cudia, then an understudy, did an amazing job!
"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."
To Kill A Mockingbird
To Kill A Mockingbird
#17re: Original Cast or Broadway Revival?
Posted: 7/21/05 at 3:31am
I can tell you one NOT to get: the 1956 movie soundtrack with Bing Crosby, Mitzi Gaynor and Donald O'Connor (on Decca).
The movie dropped the plot kept only 5 songs, adding "It's Delovely" from RED HOT AND BLUE and 3 new (and forgettable) songs by Van Heusen and Cahn. The performances are not bad but the sound quality on this recording is very poor and many performances are not even from the actual film.
You can also skip the Mary Martin album (on DRG), originally a 10-inch LP covering 6 songs plus and Overture and Finale in very untheatrical arrangements.
The original 1934 version has only been recorded once by a studio cast (on EMI) in 1989. The cast headed by Kim Criswell, Cris Groenendaal, Jack Gilford and Frederica Von Stade is uneven, but the orchestra and chorus are smashing and ONLY on this disc do you get songs like "Where are the Men?", "What a Joy t be Young" and "Kate the Great." The songs are presented in the order heard on opening night in 1934. The show is not performed this way any longer, but this disc gives a good idea of what it would have been like if cast albums were made back then.
Of the revised versions I prefer the London cast with Elaine Paige (First Night) over Patti LuPone's somewhat sloppily sung Lincoln Center theatre version (RCA.) The 1962 cast headed by Eileen Rogers and Hal Lindon (Epic) is lively but the skimpy orchstrations make it less than enjoyable. However this revision includes other Porter songs not used in 1934 or 1987, and this is the version most often staged by community theatre groups.
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
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