Performers that were ill on cast recordings. — Page 2

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

Of course, in these days of AutoTune, as long as it's properly used and they don't sound like robots, it should be fine. (Stephen Schwartz in particular is a proponent of using technology to achieve desired results; whatever his merits or lack thereof as a composer, he knows how to produce a record for damn sure.)

Updated On: 9/10/15 at 12:34 PM

Re: Tyne Daly, if people say that she sounded in the theater like she does on the recording, then they saw her around the time they made the recording (or some other time she was sick). It was common knowledge that she barely made it through that session, and even in an article covering the recording session (can't find it now or remember where) someone stated "She's clearly indisposed, but she's gonna make it through".

She was never Merman, but the two times I saw the show she sounded more than twice as good as she does on the album. It was never some astonishing instrument, but just compare her on that to her recordings of On the Town or Call Me Madam and it's clear she was really suffering and struggling in the Gypsy studio.

Re: Grind, which someone mentioned way back, Leilani Jones was in fact sick and made it through the best she could... Ben Vereen and Timothy Nolen were both even more under the weather, if memory serves. Nolen I believe tried to get through one or two songs and went home early, with the remainder of his vocals being looped in later. Vereen, on the other hand, was so sick he didn't even make it to the studio, and they had to plan the entire album so that his entire performance could be overdubbed to the orchestra and other vocals after he got better. There's a trio between Vereen, Nolen and Jones and I'm pretty sure she sang it alone in the studio that day, and that all 3 of them actually recorded their performances at different times. Whoever produced the album did a pretty valiant job, especially considering technology at the time, all things considered.

"She was never Merman, but the two times I saw the show she sounded more than twice as good as she does on the album. It was never some astonishing instrument, but just compare her on that to her recordings of On the Town or Call Me Madam and it's clear she was really suffering and struggling in the Gypsy studio."

Well put. She was terrific when I saw her, nowhere near a Merman but much, much better than she sounds on the album.

Liza Minnelli recorded her vocals on the OBCR of "The Rink" a few weeks after the rest of the album was recorded. She was not at her best just after the opening and chose to wait until she was better.

Weren't both leading ladies a little ill at the Wicked recording?

I'm not sure if it's just his voice, but Peter Gallagher sounded like he had a cold on the recent On the Twentieth Century cast recording. I can't remember when they actually recorded it though and if it was during his weeks of illness.