Performers that were ill on cast recordings.

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 9/9/15 at 3:17pm

I'm sorry that this may seem like a strange, random question to ask, but I remember reading a rumor somewhere that William Daniels was apparently suffering from a cold the day that they recorded the 1776 OBCR, and I was listening to it a little while ago and could kind of tell that the poor guy may have not been feeling his best that day. (He still sounds good, just a bit strained.)

Either way, does anyone know of any other performers who were sick the day that a cast recording was made, whether they pushed through and did the recording or an understudy had to step in?

[newintown]

Posted: 9/9/15 at 3:19pm

Jerry Orbach- Promises, Promises

Leilani Jones - Grind

Anthony Perkins - Greenwillow

Updated On: 9/9/15 at 03:19 PM

[ChairinMain]

Posted: 9/9/15 at 3:32pm

Len Cariou recorded the OBC of Sweeney Todd with Laryngitis.

[FishermanBob]

Posted: 9/9/15 at 3:40pm

I've never heard the rumor about William Daniels being sick. 1776 is one of my favorite shows and I've listened to the OBCR a hundred times over the years. He sounded in perfect voice to me. Perhaps you're confusing him with Howard Da Silva who played Benjamin Franklin. Da Silva suffered a heart attack during previews and was replaced on the OBCR as well as on stage until his return, by his understudy, Rex Everhart.

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 9/9/15 at 3:44pm

FishermanBob said: "I've never heard the rumor about William Daniels being sick. 1776 is one of my favorite shows and I've listened to the OBCR a hundred times over the years. He sounded in perfect voice to me. Perhaps you're confusing him with Howard Da Silva who played Benjamin Franklin. Da Silva suffered a heart attack during previews and was replaced on the OBCR as well as on stage until his return, by his understudy, Rex Everhart."

Ah, you're probably right. I guess I had it in my mind that Daniels was the one who got sick since he sounds...I dunno, different on the OBCR than he does in the film. (As I said, still good, just different.)

EDIT: I was looking back through some threads, and someone mentioned both the Daniels cold and the Da Silva heart attack on this one, so maybe both are true?

Updated On: 9/9/15 at 03:44 PM

[FishermanBob]

Posted: 9/9/15 at 3:54pm

It could just be the way they mixed the sound for each version.  But he is by design supposed to sound at least a little shrill. He is at his breaking point frustrated by congress' inactivity and that's reflected in his tone.

 

Edit: He may have had a cold. I've never heard that but I have no idea. But if he did, it didn't affect his singing as far as I could tell.

Updated On: 9/9/15 at 03:54 PM

[madbrian]

Posted: 9/9/15 at 4:04pm

I guess the ultimate example would be David Carroll, whose cabaret performance of Love Can't Happen was included in the Grand Hotel recording.

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 9/9/15 at 4:10pm

FishermanBob said: "Edit: He may have had a cold. I've never hesrd that but I have no idea. But if he did, it didn't affect his singing as far as I could tell."

Which is why I said it was a rumor, because there's no way of telling for sure whether it's true or not. But you ARE right about the Da Silva thing, I can't believe I overlooked that.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 9/9/15 at 4:19pm

Tyne Daly on the cast recording of the 1989 Broadway revival of GYPSY.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 9/9/15 at 4:23pm

madbrian said: "I guess the ultimate example would be David Carroll, whose cabaret performance of Love Can't Happen was included in the Grand Hotel recording."

 

He wasn't just ill, he died of a pulmonary embolism at the recording session.

[thommg]

Posted: 9/9/15 at 4:39pm

Tyne Daly during the Gypsy recording was ill and wasn't Bernadette Peters suffering a cold when she recorded Song and Dance?

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 9/9/15 at 5:06pm

Diahan Carroll was ill when they recorded HOUSE OF FLOWERS, so much so that composer Harold Arlen had to sing the high note at the end of "I Has Never Seen Snow." You probably wouldn't notice if you didn't know but it's laughably obvious if you do. Otherwise I don't think the sickness comes through at all.

[carnzee]

Posted: 9/9/15 at 5:30pm

I've always thought that Barbra sounded less than her best on The Funny Girl OBC, especially when compared to her gorgeous vocals on the soundtrack. I think i read that she was hoarse that day or something.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 9/9/15 at 5:33pm

Am I remembering right that Dock Vam Dyke had a terrible cold during the Bye Bye Birdy recording? I feel like I can hear it on Put on a Happy Face.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 9/9/15 at 5:34pm

Dick Van Dyke, not his obscure relative Dock Vam. Stupid autocorrect.

[NoName3]

Posted: 9/9/15 at 5:53pm

Mary Martin wrote in her autobiography that the Sound of Music OCR was her least favorite of all her recordings because she had the flu and thought she sounded very hoarse. Likewise Julie Andrews had the flu when she recorded the London cast album of My Fair Lady (the stereo recording; the Broadway recording is mono.) You can hear her sniffle at one point during Just You Wait.

[marcslope]

Posted: 9/9/15 at 6:29pm

Nancy Dussault said in some interview or other that she was quite sick recording "Bajour," and begged them to change the date, but they wouldn't. She sounds good, but you do notice some ungainly head voice-chest voice transitions, especially on "Love Is a Chance."

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 9/9/15 at 6:35pm

Boyd Gaines got vocal nodes or something during Company, and he does sound a bit rough on the recording. Love him though.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 9/9/15 at 6:47pm

"Tyne Daly on the cast recording of the 1989 Broadway revival of GYPSY."

 

That's what they say.  But I saw her live and don't think the voice was ever all there.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 9/9/15 at 9:55pm

I have heard that Glynis Johns was sick when they recorded A Little Night Music

 

Bernadette was sick when they filmed Sunday in the Park with George  (it was filmed while she was already performing in Song and Dance, if I recall correctly) and they went back and had her loop some of her vocals before it was released. It's most evident at the end of "We Do Not Belong Together."

[aj88]

Posted: 9/10/15 at 9:30am

It is funny that 1776 was brought up because before I opened the thread, it was the recording that came to mind...but not for William Daniels or DaSilva/Everhart. I had always wondered if Ronald Holgate was sick for the recording because during his big song he has two moments where he sounded VERY hoarse ("God leans a little on the side..." and then his final "Forward, ho!".

I do think Tyne Daly in Gypsy was one of the more infamous ones, and wasn't Patti LuPone also sick for hers? Although, I don't think you can really tell it with LuPone.

[Eurotrash]

Posted: 9/10/15 at 9:41am

"Dick Van Dyke, not his obscure relative Dock Vam. Stupid autocorrect."

Penis van Lesbian will do rightly, thanks. 

[LarryD2]

Posted: 9/10/15 at 9:48am

Gothampc said: ""Tyne Daly on the cast recording of the 1989 Broadway revival of GYPSY."

 

 

 

That's what they say.  But I saw her live and don't think the voice was ever all there.

 

Yeah, I saw Daly live and she sounded exactly like she sounds on the recording.

 

"

 

[Pootie2]

Posted: 9/10/15 at 10:32am

marcslope said: "Nancy Dussault said in some interview or other that she was quite sick recording "Bajour," and begged them to change the date, but they wouldn't. She sounds good, but you do notice some ungainly head voice-chest voice transitions, especially on "Love Is a Chance."

"

This makes me wonder, is a studio recording session scheduled far ahead of time and/or costly? It doesn't make sense to me otherwise why producers would allow imperfect and eternal official recordings of their shows, essentially the only proof remaining of said productions.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 9/10/15 at 12:02pm

Costly lands close to the mark. I don't know how much of this is standard practice anymore, but back in the day, a show was normally recorded the Sunday or Monday following the premiere, since there were no shows that day; however, that means everyone is on overtime, and even a minute into an extra hour can lead to astronomical results. As I recall, all Equity members come under the jurisdiction of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) when doing an original cast album. Each singer is paid one week's salary for a nine-hour work period that must include an hour break for lunch or dinner. Theoretically, five minutes of overtime means another week's pay. The Musician's Union is even stricter. The more cast and orchestra you have, the more overtime becomes a frightening prospect. This is why record labels don't often come out looking good from sales of a cast album.

Updated On: 9/10/15 at 12:02 PM