I've always imagined -- though never actually conferred with anyone about it -- that musical-theater fans go through "periods" with different shows. When I was a teenager, I listened to LES MIZ so obsessively for about 3+ years straight that to this day I almost never put it on casually. It doesn't help that my opinion of the show has changed for the worse since then, but now when I revisit it, the most I get is a charge of nostalgia, especially with the "Dream Cast" recording. I'm very critical of it, but I do also think that I wore myself out on it. It's sort of like the first time you get sick on beer or liquor. For some time after that, even the smell makes you nauseous.
Then there have been other shows I've obsessed over for long periods, but didn't burn myself out on, and so now when I revisit them, it's like seeing an old friend, with all those old famliarities and appreciations flooding back. These are the shows that still make me emotional, especially after returning to them, having been a long time away. These are the scores I sometimes forget how much I love and then wonder how I ever forgot.
PARADE
THE PAJAMA GAME
RAGTIME
DAMN YANKEES
ANNIE GET YOUR GUN
PIPPIN
MAN OF LA MANCHA
KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN
MY FAIR LADY
THE MUSIC MAN
CHICAGO
JANE EYRE
EVITA et cetera
That's a huge list. Smaller is the roster of shows that never seem to go away long enough to ever warrant feelings of "rediscovery," and for me that's all of Sondheim's work.
And then there's the smallest handful of shows that, once discovered, have never really left me and still feel completely brand-new with every single spin. (I guess MP3s don't spin; music doesn't "spin" anymore.) Those are pretty special. I guess on some level that makes them my favorites. It seems like there are a couple others that I could maybe include in this list, but here are four that I'm absolutely sure about.
CAROLINE OR CHANGE
NINE
AIN'T MISBEHAVIN'
MOBY DICK
And of those, MD and CoC especially.
So I guess that was the really long way to name those two recordings.
CHURCH DOOR TOUCAN GAY MARKETING PUPPIES MUSICAL THEATER STAPLES PERIOD OIL BITCHY SNARK HOLES
Updated On: 10/3/11 at 05:11 PM
