I would have loved if they had made a cast album for the Newsies closing cast. Corey Cott, Ben Fanhauser, Andy Richardson, Giuseppe Bausilios, Nico Greetham, Tommy Martinez, Danny Quadrino.
Also I wish that they would have made a cast album from Ever After. If they are not going to take it to Broadway, still hope they do, I wish that they would have made a cast album.
I'd like an Ever After recording for a handful of songs and because there can never be too much James Snyder. He sounded fantastic. I didn't really like any of the ballads though and while she was great, I don't think anything they wrote for Christine Ebersole really worked.
I wish there were a hedwig Broadway recording with pretty much anyone other than NPH. (Well, I never saw Michael c hall.) I never saw him but I don't love the recording. I have the movie soundtrack but the arrangements are just a bit different (especially sugar daddy which I greatly prefer the Broadway version.)
The cast recording of the 2012 London revival of A Chorus Line. It's such a shame this recording got canceled
I also think it's sad that they didn't give Hitlist (Smash) a cast album like they gave Bombshell AND I would've loved an English recording (or just a bonus single) of Wicked with the marvelous Willemijn Verkaik.
A * COMPLETE WORK * recording of Jekyll & Hyde featuring the original Broadway cast.
Note: By "* COMPLETE WORK * recording" I mean a recording that has every finished song from the score sung by Cuccioli and Co. (so this would include songs like The World Has Gone Insane, I Need to Know, Bitch! Bitch! Bitch!, If You Only Knew, Girls of the Night, Jekyll's version of Once Upon a Dream, the Once Upon a Dream (Reprise) finale, the full version of Streak of Madness, Jekyll's Plea, Sympathy, Tenderness (Reprise), Bring on the Men, and Here's to the Night recorded alongside the songs (save for Obsession) featured on the Original Broadway Cast Recording originally released in 1997).
In the vein of DigificWriter's post, how about a series of studio cast recordings designed specifically to reflect the licensed version of a show? As many an author will tell you, some shows don't remain frozen once they've opened on Broadway. Many of the formula spectaculars like Phantom and Wicked still monkeyed around with material well into their runs, either in the original Broadway production, in the West End, on tour, in a revival, etc., and a lot of shows that appeared on Broadway in one rendition are licensed in a version that is significantly different, but not reflected in any official recording of the show. (This would also be especially useful for shows like God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater that are now available for licensing but lack any reference recording other than a composer demo.)
There is at least one subset of glaring examples to point to. Many of Frank Wildhorn's musicals (as DfW sort of pointed out) do not have any recording that completely, accurately reflects the version of the show that is licensed (in addition to Jekyll & Hyde, which is licensed in two or three separate versions from MTI, none of which have a reference recording that reflects them, there is still no Scarlet Pimpernel recording that reflects the show as licensed).
Whistle Down The Wind - the D.C. tryput was sung gorgeously by Davis Gaines, Irene Malloy and the entire cast. Yes, it needed work but was a million times better than the unwatchable London production. NEVER let Hal Prince go!!' Would be a beautiful recording!
"Whistle Down The Wind - the D.C. tryout was sung gorgeously by Davis Gaines, Irene Malloy and the entire cast. Yes, it needed work but was a million times better than the unwatchable London production. NEVER let Hal Prince go!!' Would be a beautiful recording!"
Frankly, I liked things about both versions of the show, but I do miss a lot of the orchestrations of the D.C. original. They had a folksy, Cajun feel that, while it was never totally authentic (and how could it be?), felt more truthful to the story than the straight-up rock of some of the London arrangements. I've always wanted to do a production with orchestrations that struck a balance between the folksy/Cajun feel for the townspeople, Boone, and the kids, the rock for young rebels-without-a-clue Candy and Amos (and Swallow, gradually, as she becomes more rebellious), and the overdramatic Steinman/Webber hybrid pop arias for The Man.
Ultimately, however, I feel the book and score material itself, divorced from any particular orchestration or arrangement, was at its best in the London version that is currently licensed (barring some little omissions that I would restore).
Regarding Mr. Rosewater, I know the York Theatre did it as part of its Mufti concert series some time ago. I don't recall if they recorded an album for the production, but they may very well have.
It was also the York that recorded the aforementioned Body Beautiful CD.
I definitely would have loved a Broadway cast recording of Dracula even if I'm the only one who would have bought it. I like Doug Besterman's orchestrations better than the licensed orchestrations, though there isn't an English language recording of the licensed orchestrations either.
I echo the previous comments regarding a Scarlet Pimpernel recording with the licensed orchestrations and song stack. They made so many changes that you can't really use any of the existing English language recordings for reference. I'd love a studio recording that preserved the new versions of "You are My Home" and the fun dance music in "The Creation of Man" and all the other fun changes they made. It's a shame that they only recorded a few tracks with Rachel York and Rex Smith instead of just heading back into the studio and preserving all of the changes.
The first that comes to mind is Billy Porter's "Being Alive", which was a Sondheim revue with an entirely African American cast. The music was rearranged to meld Sondheim and Gospel. - Incredible!!!
"I'm an American, Damnit!!! And if it's three things I don't believe in, it's quitting and math."