Swing Joined: 12/20/04
Lippa or Lacusia? I say Lippa.
Both are good, but I like Lippa's better.
Oh, for the umpteenth time: LA CHIUSA, LA CHIUSA, LA CHIUSA!!!!!!
I personally go for Lippa's. The cast is phenomenal.
La Chiusa, without a doubt. Lippa has tome nice tunes, but the music is more standard musical comedy that could easily be used in other shows. La Chiusa's score more effectively captures the mood of the text and period of the piece. It's much darker and complex mixing jazz, vaudeville and contemporary musical theatre to tell a much richer story and it more clearly defines the characters and the era. It really is one of my favorite scores of the past decade. The entire cast is exceptional with no weak links.
Both of the incarnations of the show are pretty damn good. La Chiusa does a magnificant job of capturing the period and the mood of the story, and, as a previous poster mentioned, his score is more complex than Lippa's. Lippa's version, however, boasts a stellar cast. (Not that La Chiusa's cast isn't exceptional... but come ON. Brian d'Arcy James alone makes the Lippa cast recording worthwhile- let alone Idina Menzel, Taye Diggs, and Julia Murney thrown into the mix.) Also, the music is more in tune with contemporary Broadway. Lippa doesn't attempt to adapt his score to suit the atmosphere of the piece, as La Chiusa does.
Really, I think that both methods work. If you can afford both, get both. They are worth getting together if only for the fact that it is extremely interesting to compare two great composers' wildly different takes on the same subject matter.
Toughy. I really like both of them. Especially Marc Kudisch in La Chiusa. I recently just got Lippa's and it is very well, but I adored La Chiusa's first, so I guess its a tie?
Stand-by Joined: 12/31/69
LOL
Brian d'Arcy James
LIPPA
i gotta say I am a Lippa fan...I know that makes me some sort of sell-out, but the vocal performances are brilliant. Although i LOVE "People Like Us from LaChuisa's version.
Akiva
Broadway Star Joined: 6/29/03
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/3/04
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
Ok ~ Maybe I need to listen to the Lippa Version one more time. :)
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/10/04
lachiusa... lippa's is just too pop and contemporary... the show is a period piece and lachiusa's score beautifully hits the music of the age... if you want to take the music out of context then i certainly enjoy some of lippa's melodies much better... however, as a show, lachiusa's is much more accurate and therefore fulfilling to me... still, i really think the only great song is people like us... but that one song beats the whole score of lippa's show hands down... it's the most amazing show ever... and toni colette... amen show2n!
I just bought the LaChiusa cast recording on Friday. I have listened to it about three times and it is definitely growing on me. I am sorry that I missed this one. It sounds like it was very well done...and it is a cast of millions! Who saw this bway version? Did you all enjoy it? Why didn't it last longer than 3 months? I will definitely be seeing this one at lincoln center very soon!
La Chiusa! After catching R shamon at the WTF, my husband and I just had to hear his version!
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/25/03
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
LaChiusa hands down, without a doubt. I can't believe this is even argued.
E
Broadway Star Joined: 10/9/04
its argued because they were at the same time. Pefect marketing plot- open two versions and fans felt the need to see both. :) anyhow, the lippa version is just damn sexy.... much better. :) Mandy Patikin is washed up anyhow.
can anyone say Norm Lewis?? say that with me...
it's not even a matchup: Lachiusa's soars. (especially if you are a Sondheim man)
though I do love me some Brian d'Arcy James
Lippa
Lippa
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