Ooh, this recording is really good! Might be a big contender for Best Score as well as the Grammy for Musical Theatre Album. I cannot wait to see this next week!
The idea is to work and to experiment. Some things will be creatively successful, some things will succeed at the box office, and some things will only - which is the biggest only - teach you things that see the future. And they're probably as valuable as any of your successes. -Harold Prince
I’m sure they’ll do “Masquerade” at the Tonys if they perform, but I hope they do “Bright (Take 22)” instead. But I imagine they want to keep the climactic moment of the first act under wraps as much as possible.
The album is SO good. And Will Butler teased on his Instagram post about the physical album release that they’re considering recording an LP. Which would just be… wonderful.
There performance on Jimmy Fallon was so good. I loved the camera work. It just felt like it was so masterfully done. Cannot wait to see the Broadway show and hope it becomes open ended.
Would anyone who’s seen the show multiple times be willing to note the context around each song? I saw the show and enjoyed it but can’t necessarily remember which song was performed at what dramatic moment other than, like, “Bright.” Thanks!
I absolutely love this album and it's definitely my favorite score of the season. I still think it would be a tough sell to win for score over those for actual musicals but it sure makes a case for itself with this album. I love hearing all the other material too between the extra songs and the background conversations. It's interesting to see the evolution of lyrics for Bright (which I didn't notice in the show) and to hear the background vocals separated from the song (and it seems like they didn't use the entire thing?). It really is a fantastic album to not only hear the songs but to get an idea of the vibe of the show.
Above all else, this record is a VIBE — an accurate, chill pastiche of mid-‘70s soft rock.
I thought the first half was stronger, “Seven Roads” and the faster “Bright” showing the Fleetwood influence. I hear a little Doobie Brothers in the first half of “Domino.”
The standout ballads IMO are “East of Eden” and the final “Bright.”
The entire cast sounds perfect together, and I really got the sense this was a raw recording studio session, sort of like all those Beatles anthology discs.
Whatever award recognition or Billboard chart status this album ends up getting, I am here for.
For those that haven’t seen the show - can we/should we listen to the album as if it’s just a regular band album or does the show context matter?
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
binau said: "For those that haven’t seen the show - can we/should we listen to the album as if it’s just a regular band album or does the show context matter?"
If you're planning on seeing the show I'd say go in blind without listening to the songs. That said, you can listen to it for the most part as a regular album, though certain tracks have some of the behind the scenes dialogue ("It's made of teak"/Exorcist II) and things like BVs or the different versions of Bright wouldn't necessarily make sense with why they included it as a track without seeing the show. There are certain character dynamics that add some weight to the songs when you know who's singing them but they can still stand on their own just fine.
Jordan Catalano said: "Let’s all collectively put it into the universe that the cast decides to become a real band and keep releasing music written for them by Will Butler."
After listening to it, I absolutely second this!
The idea is to work and to experiment. Some things will be creatively successful, some things will succeed at the box office, and some things will only - which is the biggest only - teach you things that see the future. And they're probably as valuable as any of your successes. -Harold Prince
Jordan Catalano said: "Let’s all collectively put it into the universe that the cast decides to become a real band and keep releasing music written for them by Will Butler."
The last time I repeatedly streamed, well, played, an entire album repeatedly, I was in college. I LOVED this show, and having this recording makes me love it even more. I intended to go back and see it again, but now I want to go back, and back, and back...
I felt transported back to the Golden hearing Bright v1 this morning. This song really sold me the night I saw the show: Sarah's vulnerability, the lighting, the sound.
So many great songs here, but right now it's Bright v1 I keep going back to!
The piano at the beginning of Drive is so damn catchy too.
I’ve been playing this nearly on loop for the last week thanks to the generous folks on here who grabbed the Tony FYC link, but there’s something really special about purchasing it and playing it legitimately. I maintain that “Drive” is my favorite track, but there’s not a false note in any of the songs. I love them all.
Already have tickets to see it twice more, pre-Tonys and post. Wild to think this may only run for 4 months, but I would love to see this go open-ended so we can see what other actors might bring to these roles. This cast is lighting-in-a-bottle perfect, but it’s also a perfect play (in my opinion) and other actor-musicians deserve to get a crack at this caliber of material.
When I was watching the show, I was disappointed that the musical numbers were few and far between. I think the play would have benefited from some subtle cuts off its three-hours-plus running time and had a few more of Butler's tunes inserted.
For those of you who have listened to the album, is there a reason the songs were not included? Maybe they didn't fit into the narrative?
Another question: For the Best Score Tony, does the committee just judge the music that is in the play, or would they take the whole album into consideration?
In the theater, I was really hoping for a full cast finale of one of the finished songs, but I totally understand how that would undermine the ending thematically