Performers that were ill on cast recordings.
Performers that were ill on cast recordings.
#1Performers that were ill on cast recordings.
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?
#2Performers that were ill on cast recordings.
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
#3Performers that were ill on cast recordings.
Posted: 9/9/15 at 3:32pm
Len Cariou recorded the OBC of Sweeney Todd with Laryngitis.
FishermanBob
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/9/12
#4Performers that were ill on cast recordings.
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.
#5Performers that were ill on cast recordings.
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?
FishermanBob
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/9/12
#6Performers that were ill on cast recordings.
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
#7Performers that were ill on cast recordings.
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.
#8Performers that were ill on cast recordings.
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
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/06
#9Performers that were ill on cast recordings.
Posted: 9/9/15 at 4:19pm
Tyne Daly on the cast recording of the 1989 Broadway revival of GYPSY.
Mattbrain
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/23/05
#10Performers that were ill on cast recordings.
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.
#11Performers that were ill on cast recordings.
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?
#12Performers that were ill on cast recordings.
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
Broadway Star Joined: 9/2/11
#13Performers that were ill on cast recordings.
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.
#14Performers that were ill on cast recordings.
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.
#15Performers that were ill on cast recordings.
Posted: 9/9/15 at 5:34pm
Dick Van Dyke, not his obscure relative Dock Vam. Stupid autocorrect.
#16Performers that were ill on cast recordings.
Posted: 9/9/15 at 5:53pmMary 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
Swing Joined: 11/2/11
#17Performers that were ill on cast recordings.
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."
#18Performers that were ill on cast recordings.
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
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#19Performers that were ill on cast recordings.
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
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/13/09
#20Performers that were ill on cast recordings.
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
Featured Actor Joined: 3/18/15
#21Performers that were ill on cast recordings.
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
Featured Actor Joined: 8/28/13
#22Performers that were ill on cast recordings.
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
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/1/14
#23Performers that were ill on cast recordings.
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
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/1/14
#24Performers that were ill on cast recordings.
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.
#25Performers that were ill on cast recordings.
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.
Broadway Legend
joined: 5/1/05
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