Revival Cast Recordings Worth Buying.

[Unmasked05]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 11:31am

What are some revival cast recording worth buying now?

oh and is SITPWG re-released yet?

[TheaterBoy7777]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 11:38am

Dreamgirls 2- Disc Concert Cd. Im not sure if this is considered a revival but it has alot of the show on it that isn't on the original it is really worth buying.

[Pippin]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 11:39am

H2$

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 11:39am

The best revival cast recording, imo, is Gypsy with Lansbury. It is a must have.

[Unmasked05]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 11:50am

I have the Concert "Dreamgirls" and H@$

I've been tempted to buy Lansbury's GYPSY..but I bought Bernedette's GYPSY


Revival Cast that I own already are:

Guys and Dolls
H2$
Anything Goes (198
Cabaret (199
Chicago (1997)
Carousel (1994)
Hello, Dolly (30th Anniversary)
Into The Woods (2002)
Little Shop of Horrors (2003)
The Music Man (2000)

[LeaGirl]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 11:53am

*points to avatar*

NINE! I love both recordings but I have a very special place in my heart for the revival one, it's beautiful. Even my mother agrees that she likes the revival cast better - and she (not I) saw the original in 82.

I'm also in agreement with the Lansbury Gypsy. EXCELLENT.

And the Sweeney revival recording is very good. I don't think I like it better than the original but that doesn't mean it isn't worth buying.

Updated On: 5/10/06 at 11:53 AM

[Brokenlizard14]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 11:53am

I vote for Sweeney Todd and Little Shop of Horrors.

[Unmasked05]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 11:56am

OH YEAH....I've always been unsure about Nine..but I've been tempted to buy it all the time.

NOW Sweeney Todd...I want to own BADLY but I don't know which one to buy OBC or Revival..both sound good, so I'm torn with that one.

[Alex LaVelle]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 12:05pm

Personally, I prefer the revival, but I may be in the minority on that.

As for SITPWG: It is to be released on May 30, and Amazon is accepting preorders.

Also, it's not a revival per se, but the concert recording that was released last month of South Pacific is excellent (and I am normally not a huge fan of SP).

And, on a final note, avoid the revival of 1776. Yes, it has more dialogue, but it can't touch the OBC. The revival was the last thing I bought, and I'm still a bit bitter.

[umgeoboy]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 12:10pm

Revival cast recordings I like better than (or as much as) the original:

Assassins revival
1776
Damn Yankees
Pajama Game
Gypsy (with Bernadette)
Guys and Dolls (with Nathan Lane)
South Pacific (london cast with Lauren Kennedy)
Oklahoma
Nine

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 12:23pm

Of the classic shows, RCA's 1977 KING AND I (with Brynner) is far better than the tinny-sounding 1951 Decca set.

The 1992 revival cast of GUYS AND DOLLS has better sound and is more complete than the 1951 original.

Merman's 1966 revival cast of ANNIE GET YOUR GUN is far more theatrical than Decca's truncated 1946 cast album. The same can be said for John Raitt's 1965 CAROUSEL vs the 1945 OBC set. (For completeness I prefer the 1993 London cast which has a nearly-complete version of the ballet as well.)

Victor's 1960 album of FINIAN'S RAINBOW has better sound and is more complete than the 1947 Columbia album.

Matthew Broderick's H2$ is overall better and more complete than the 1961 original even though it does cut one minor number.

SHOW BOAT - the 1993 Toronto cast is the best and most theatrical cast album available. (EMI's massive 3-CD set of the original 1927 version is a must, but it is more for archivists.)

The 1983 revival cast of ON YOUR TOES tops the 1954 revival cast. (No OCR was made of the original 1936 production.)

NO NO NANETTE - the 1971 revival is really the only full recording, but the 1925 London cast is available with poor singers and an ancient gramophone sound.

And while not specifically a revival cast, the studio cast recording of BRIGADOON with Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy is far more theatrical than Victor's original cast disc.

Now on the other hand the following revival cast albums are to be avoided (unless you favour one of the stars):

Tyne Daly in GYPSY (she was in poor voice when recorded)

FLOWER DRUM SONG - 2003 cast is dreadful

CABIN IN THE SKY - 1964 revival is terrible.

COMPANY -both the 1995 Broadway and 1996 London revivals are totally unlistenable (and unnecessary with Sony's fine re-mastering of the original available.)

SWEET CHARITY - the 1986 Debbie Allen cast has been reissued (WHY? It's a terrible recording!) and while some may like Christina Applegate, the 2005 recording is nothing compared to the Gwen Verdon original.

[Eastwickian]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 12:36pm

If you can a)find and b)afford it, the RNTs A Little Night Music with Judi Dench is pretty stunning...

[philcrosby]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 12:48pm

While FrontRowCentre2 is usually right on the mark when it comes to recordings, I have to disagree on a couple of points.

While the 1977 Yul Brynner KING AND I is a must-have because of its sound and completeness, Constance Towers in no way matches the performance of Gertrude Lawrence on the OBC.

I far prefer the original casts of FINIAN'S and GUYS AND DOLLS to the revivals, and the Broderick HOW TO SUCCEED I find unlistenable. Robert Morse has such charisma on the OBC!

Another one to avoid: Sarah Jessica Parker's ONCE UPON A MATTRESS. A train wreck.

And agreed on RNT's NIGHT MUSIC, though I have a soft spot for all the DOLLYs and SUNSETs too.

[WonderBoy]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 1:01pm

I agree with everything frontrowcentre2 said with the exception of Debbie Allen's SWEET CHARITY. I effing adore it!

Posted: 5/10/06 at 1:11pm

The revival of Little Shop of Horrors is much better than the original. Love Hunter Foster in it.

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 1:33pm

I love Hunter, too as well as Kerry Butler. But the CR sounds too "slick" and Kerry Butler doesn't have any heart to what she's performing. Ellen Greene CAN'T be surpassed. You feel her pain even through the stereo system. Kerry's voice is amazing, it's just missing the necessary emotion on this recording and also felt bland in the theatre.

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 3:22pm

No wonder I couldn't find this . . . there are 3 of these threads!!!! All exactly the same, except for the responses.

SHEESH!

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 3:27pm

I think the new Sweeney is beautiful.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 3:27pm

Exactly, Hanna! WTF?

I kept thinking that my post didnt take.

[LeaGirl]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 3:45pm

Alright, nevermind, I was postng like a confused idiot in the other thread wondering where all my opinions went...

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 3:47pm

can you say schizophrenia? I thought I was coming down with a BAD case!


LOL

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 3:47pm

Actually I disagree with a few of frontrowcentre2's observations as well...

I LOVE the Debbie Allen "Sweet Charity" as well and prefer it to the OBCR, as much as I love Gwen. I also saw it on Broadway in '86. There were much better/stronger choices made musically throughout. And it's well-recorded, which the OBCR is painfully not.

While I didn't see the Company revival and heard how "not good" it was, I like the cast recording equally as well as the original. Probably because you can hear the separated vocal parts and instrumentation MUCH better than on the poorly mic'ed OBCR. Sondheim's counter-point complexities really shine in the revival recording. I'm not a big fan of Thomas Z. Shepard's producing efforts (on the OBCR, and in GENERAL). Everything is too washed out, and he goes way too far with the dynamics, causing me to constantly wrestle with my volume control while listening to just about anything he produced. I HATE that. Still nothing compares to the incomprable (and sometimes incomprehensible!) Stritch.

I like the studio recording of Brigadoon he mentions, primarily for Susan Johnson's AMAZING performance of Meg, certainly not for Jack Cassidy. But I far prefer the more complete and gorgeous studio recording with Rebecca Luker, Judy Kaye and that fantastic chorus and orchestra. Both are superior to the OBCR though.

philcrosby---I completely agree about Gertie Lawrence. She's so charming and lovely on the OBCR that I can't listen to other King & I recordings without being disappointed. And she even goes off key occasionally. Doesn't matter. She SHINES as Anna throughout. Such a rare "presence" even on this old recording.

Updated On: 5/10/06 at 03:47 PM

[WonderBoy]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 3:52pm

Ellen Greene IS Audrey and no one else could come close to even touching her flawless performance.

I agree with best12bars on the BRIGADOON studio recording as well. Judy Kaye is a hoot as Meg!

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 11:25am

KING AND I - My problems with the Decca OCR have more to do with the album productin rather than casting.

Gertrude Lawrence has pitch problems - always had (Was there any other Broadway star who was always so flat???) but she is usually somewhere in the general vicinity of the note. But the flat, boxed in sound of Decca's studios sure desn't help her voice, or any of the other ladies. (The men fare better.)

And, even though it was 1951 Decca was still recording for the 78 RPM market so every song had to be condensed to fit a 3-minute side. (I wish Columbia Records had gotten the rights to do KING AND I - they would have done a much better job.) At least the 1977 recording has the entire score except for the ballet which is on RCA's 1964 Lincoln Center cast album.

Also, the 1977 cast album is rather special to me: The very first show I saw on Broadway was this production of KING AND I. I saw it Tuesday Nov 1, 1977 - the day after the recording was done.

[TheActr97J]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 11:31am

The Roundabout revival of Cabaret, without question. Alan Cumming + Natasha Richardson = endless amounts of fabulous.

... and I LOVE the simplicity and sparseness of the orchestrations on the new Sweeney recording. I think it is so much more haunting. Plus, there's no beating Patti and Michael.