Which Cast Recording Makes You Happiest?

[EvanstonDad]

Posted: 3/7/23 at 1:58pm

I'm sure some version of this question has been asked before but I didn't find anything on a message board search that quite fit. What is your go-to cast recording when you need a pick me up? What's the recording that is guaranteed to leave you a little bit happier when it's over?

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 3/7/23 at 2:16pm

It's a tie between the 2013 Cast Recording of Pippin or Hunchback of Notre Dame. Moulin Rouge comes at a close second. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 3/7/23 at 2:19pm

MAME can really turn a bad mood around. Really any Jerry Herman cast album.

[Mr. Wormwood]

Posted: 3/7/23 at 2:22pm

I know this isn't the artsiest pick but I really feel in a good mood when I listen to The Wedding Singer

[StylishCynic]

Posted: 3/7/23 at 2:25pm

Hello, Dolly!: Bette Midler

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 3/7/23 at 2:27pm

Chess, the concept album. Not a “happy” show per se, but a jovial opening number and the whole score takes me back to a really joyous time when I was discovering the incredible world of musical theatre recordings. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 3/7/23 at 2:29pm

StylishCynic said: "Hello, Dolly!: Bette Midler"

My kingdom for a Donna Murphy cast recording!

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 3/7/23 at 2:33pm

One of the best feelings in the world is when the clock strikes midnight and a highly-anticipated Broadway cast recording has released digitally that day. 

Doing this with pretty much every show makes me smile. Everything sounds fresh to my ears when it’s hot off the presses. 

[Lot666]

Posted: 3/7/23 at 2:40pm

Phantom of the Opera

(really, all it takes is the Overture track)

[binau]

Posted: 3/7/23 at 3:18pm

I don’t know if ‘happiest’ quite describes it - when I listen to the Sunday in the Park with George OBC I am still awe struck all these years later at the beauty of the musical ideas, the dramatic themes, the brilliance of the performances (especially Bernadette), the catharsis and therapy of Move On. It shakes me to my core and is my favourite piece of art I think of any genre and in any medium. I want to die listening to it. That makes me happy indeed. And much more. 

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 3/7/23 at 3:41pm

Either The Phantom of the Opera because it is such a comfort or the Canadian cast recording of JOSEPH. 

[aburnedhill]

Posted: 3/7/23 at 4:33pm

2014 Side Show. It was my first Broadway show and you can just feel the love that entire cast is singing each others way. OG Follies and Sweeney recordings for the warm and fuzzies too.

[inception]

Posted: 3/7/23 at 5:39pm

Sweet Charity OBC

+1 on Mame

Also OBC of Promises, Promises - I have the London cast album as well, and while I really like Betty Buckley's performances, I don't dig Tony Roberts as much as Jerry Orbach.

[BalconyClub]

Posted: 3/7/23 at 7:01pm

City of Angels

The Goodbye Girl

Big Fish

Urinetown

Dreamgirls

State Fair

Annie Get Your Gun - Bernadette Peters

RENT

A Chorus Line

 

 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 3/7/23 at 8:30pm

I agree with Ermengarde that Mame always makes me happy and what I would not pay to have an HD cast album with Donna Murphy. 

A guilty pleasure for me is the fairly recent Gigi cast recording.  The show may have flopped but the cast recording always raises my spirits. 

I'll add just one more, for a different reason.  The original cast recording of Follies always elevates my spirits by bringing me back to the original production, which is light years superior to any subsequent production I have seen.  They may not be the best songs in the show, but listening to Beautiful Girls, Broadway Baby, The Girls Upstairs, Who's That Woman and Lucy and Jessie always raises my spirits.

[Robbie2]

Posted: 3/7/23 at 9:35pm

Follies in Concert,  Funny Girl w/ Lea, SITPWG OBC, Hello Dolly w/ Bette not Carol, La Cage OBC, Mack & Mabel in Concert London Cast , The Book of Mormon and Pippin revival w/ Patina Miller

Updated On: 3/7/23 at 09:35 PM

[DaveyG]

Posted: 3/7/23 at 9:41pm

Mr. Wormwood said: "I know this isn't the artsiest pick but I really feel in a good mood when I listen to The Wedding Singer"

Same!

Updated On: 3/7/23 at 09:41 PM

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 3/7/23 at 9:48pm

Here Lies Love, of course! (Also a great recording for a cardio workout.)

[NOWaWarning]

Posted: 3/7/23 at 9:57pm

Lately Kimberly Akimbo

[sppunk]

Posted: 3/7/23 at 11:08pm

Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812. Instantly puts a huge grin on my face. 

[JudyDenmark]

Posted: 3/7/23 at 11:58pm

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Full Monty. Both so underrated. 

And Book of Mormon. Less underrated haha, but guaranteed to improve my mood. 
 

[Codeman109]

Posted: 3/8/23 at 1:08am

You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown - 1999 revival

[Dollypop]

Posted: 3/8/23 at 8:31am

Can I think about this?

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 3/8/23 at 9:12am

JudyDenmark said: "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Full Monty. Both so underrated.

And Book of Mormon. Less underrated haha, but guaranteed to improve my mood.
"

Agree with you especially on Scoundrels. Real wit across that entire score. The creativity of it makes me very happy. Bravo David Y!

[dramamama611]

Posted: 3/8/23 at 9:39am

Maybe Hairspray - which is odd, because it's not a show I love.  But the music is so happy!

 

But there are so many that bring me joy....in all sorts of different ways!