Posted: 4/6/20 at 4:11pm
Being isolated and unemployed, I found time recently to sort through some old CDs and I discovered in my collection a CD "Musical Highlights from the Hit Stage Play Wicked"--at first I assumed it was just the main tracks from the OBCR, but then I noticed that the disc said "Performed by the Musical Stage Company," and on the back, "Not the Original Soundtrack," which confused me. I wondered if this was some uncirculated recording of either the Chicago company or the first road company (I think this disc came into my possession from my sister, who would have probably bought it at the merchandise stand in Chicago in about 2006). I started listening to it, and it's laughably cheaply produced. I was hit at first by the tinny sound of terrible synth patches as the exclusive accompaniment, but then I realized I don't think they even went that far--I think it's just the Finale playback file serving as accompaniment. The singing is nothing to write home about, and the ensemble sounds like one male and one female voice singing each of the harmony parts with an ugly reverb effect added. The whole experience of the album is ridiculously amateur. But the packaging has a copyright on it, and it was purchased (as far as I know) by a reputable seller. Google searches are not helping me find any information on this, and it's not available at all digitally. I have so many questions--was Stephen Schwartz aware of this recording? Why would this be recorded? There's a perfectly fine OBCR that's only one disc, so a highlights version wouldn't save any printing costs as far as I know. This album just seems like such a scam, and I've never really heard of any other musical having a recording like this, but I've admittedly not looked into this world very deeply. Does anyone have any knowledge about this you'd like to share?
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