The DVD so perfectly captures the original production that many consider a revival superfluous. But the staging at Kennedy Center was wonderful. I especially liked the staging where Raoul pulled down the white cloth at the end of the "Sunday" number and exposed the full park.
One funny thing: the first time I saw it on broadway Benadette Peters was on vacation and her understudy (Joanna Glushak) filled in and did an amazing job. When I went back a few months later Mandy patinkin had left the show but Bernadette was there. It was then that I realized the magic that Bernadette creates on stage (I had never really been a fan of hers until then.) However, Robert Westenberg was far less effective in the title role. I did not see the two OC stars together until the TV version was shown!
The OCR was one of the very first done all-digital and Thomas Shepard did an amzing job translating a highly visual show to disc.
As for the battle between SUNDAY and LA CAGE, I think it is so unfair to compare the two. SUNDAY is a serious, introspective "chamber opera" of a show. LA CAGE is a glitzy, fun old fashioned musical comedy (albeit with a great deal of heart.) I didn't care for some of the cheap, vulgar and homophobic jokes in LA CAGE but the tunes were great and the performances (Hearn and especially Barry) were wonderful.
Also SUNDAY opened just at the very tail end of the season while LA CAGE had been running since the previous summer and had become the biggest hit on Broadway. SUNDAY also (surprisingly) opened to some not very good reviews. Frank Rich of the NY Times was the only one who got the show and responded enthusiastically. His fervent support helped keep the show going and in time some of the other critics reversed or at least clarified their position. It is a show that takes a newcomer a few vieweings to fully appreciate the richness of its tapestry, and I think that is why almost a year after it opened it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.
But what fantastic season that was for musicals: BABY; THE RINK; TAP DANCE KID; DOONSBURY; THE HUMAN COMEDY; SUNDAY & LA CAGE all opened within a 9 month span. The 1984 Tony Awards is still the one I go back and watch most with their tributes to Sondheim, Herman, and Kander & Ebb.
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks."
Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com