I personally like the revival slightly better than the original, but that may have to do with digital recording quality. I own both and both are in my regular Ipod playlist. You can't go wrong with either in my book.
No SHE LOVES ME cast recording can top the original with Barbara Cook (at the top of her game), Barbara Baxley, Daniel Massey, Jack Cassidy, and Ludwig Donath. Such a brilliant recording of a beautiful, sweet score. Cook's "Ice Cream" is definite and it includes the underappreciated--now cut--"Tango Tragique," a fantastic comedy musical number for Massey and Cook. If you want to get another SHE LOVES ME recording, get the '94 London revival with Ruthie Henshall. It can't match the original but I think it's a good recording and miles better than the Broadway revival cast.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
Massey is awful on the OBC, not to mention the tempo is at a snail's pace. To hear the perfection of Cook, get the OBC. The Revival cast recording is phenomenal (with the exception of of Diane what's her face who replaced Kuhn ; she's too nasally). The truth is that all three recordings are great to have because the score is incredible.
"Sing the words, Patti!!!!" Stephen Sondheim to Patti LuPone.
I saw the original with the amazing Barbara Cook so that is my favorite as I can still picture her especially doing "Ice Cream". Danial Massey was great on stage, so I remember his performance and the recording brings back that performance.
There will never be another cast like that so get the ORIGINAL.
I own all of them- The OBC, The Original London Cast with Rita Moreno, the Broadway revival, and the London Revival. It's been 15 years since the revival, so I'd definitely say that it's high time for a revival. Too bad the Huntington production couldn't transfer!
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Kristin Chenoweth would have been ideal for a revival back in the 90s when she won her Tony. She is probably too old for the role now, but oh how I'd love seeing her play Amalia. I guess of the current crop of musical comedy actresses, I'd love to see Anne Hathaway, Laura Benanti, Sutton Foster, or Leigh Ann Larkin star in a Broadway revival.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
I am definitely partial to the original, but absolutely love the Vanilla Ice Cream in the revival. Just something about it. Either way, you can't go wrong with She Loves Me. Each rendition leaves you feeling so...well...loved.
What I wouldn't give for a really good remastering of that original Broadway cast recording. It has a very strange, boxy sound. Still, that's the one to start with, I think. And while Daniel Massey's vocals may be an acquired taste, I think he's charming on the recording. '
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
I actually only have the revival, but I've been listening to it a lot the past few days; god is the score brilliant.
and I would LOVE a recording of the Huntington production, too.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
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The Huntington Production introduced me to the show, after which I got a hold of all of the recordings of it I could. It was such a wonderful production that it is a shame it didn't transfer or get recorded. Brooks Ashmanskas & Kate Baldwin (and the whole cast really) were perfection.
Youtube has some legally posted clips of the Huntington Production if anyone is curious (username: HuntingtonTheatreCo). Updated On: 9/12/08 at 09:59 AM
The OBCR is very special and I always recommend that first. The two Barbaras are just incomparable in their roles. But the Broadway revival's also great. I have a pathological need to buy copies of cast recordings and videos of every incarnation of Parfumerie (even the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan You've Got Mail film which I didn't even like), so I'm not the right person to winnow down recommendations on this.
I'm going to check out the YouTubes of the Huntington Production because the show just makes me smile and I need that today.
Ugh, it was pathetic to see how Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks, and Nora Ephron destroyed a beautiful story. I really dislike the Roundabout cast recording. The Rita Moreno London album is odd. I remember listening to it and they had cut a bunch of numbers, replaced it with others, is "I Don't Know His Name" in that recording? Anyone else a fan of the '94 London revival CR?
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
Let's see - the original Broadway production flopped. The original London production flopped. The London revival flopped. The Broadway revival flopped.
"Kristin Chenoweth would have been ideal for a revival back in the 90s when she won her Tony. She is probably too old for the role now, but oh how I'd love seeing her play Amalia."
Actually she would have been a bit young then, and is a perfect age for it now.
It's not a show about 20-somethings finding love. It's a show about people approaching middle age clinging to that last desperate hope of finding true love at last, and feeling that it might be their one last chance.
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