Woman In White "Original Cast Recording"

Posted: 4/15/05 at 4:00pm

EMI will release the Woman in White Original London Cast recording May 25th. This recording has been available in the US as an import for a few months now and will apparently be made available here by EMI in lieu of a new Broadway Cast Recording.

I haven't seen the import, so I don't know if it is identical but this release promises a 50 page libretto, lots of pictures and a "Bonus Track" (You Can Get Away With Anything-- opening Night Performance).

[MagicToDo82]

Posted: 4/15/05 at 4:03pm

The bonus track is on the import. It's an okay recording, with some great singers.

[Jimmcf]

Posted: 4/15/05 at 4:34pm

I have the London import (Amazon.uk) - it is a live recording of opening night. Any applause is deleted out, etc. The applause and laughs for "You Can Get Away With Anything" I guess was too much, so they re-recorded that in the studio, and include the live track as a bonus.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/15/05 at 4:36pm

I think this is a great recording of a fine score that grows even better on repeated hearings. More cast recordings should be recorded live -- they have a spark you don't capture in a recording studio.

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 4/15/05 at 5:51pm

Yeah, a great score. I loved the show, much more than Mary Poppins...

[Princeton78]

Posted: 4/15/05 at 5:54pm

Michael Bennett,
I completely agree. Certain shows, (Cats, Hairspray, Rent come to mind) sound completely different in the theatre. It's much more thrilling live. I agree shows like Phantom pretty much sound about the same, but I think live recordings would be ideal. The road block to that would be songs such as "You Can't Stop the Beat" which, in the theatre is longer, and has much dialogue in between verses. This may prove difficult to edit and produce a clean, finished product.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/15/05 at 6:00pm

RENT really should have been a live recording. I think it is one of the most disappointing recordings of recent years. It lost all its edge and excitement in the recording studio!

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 4/15/05 at 6:02pm

I have always loved that so many London shows do "first night" recordings. They are so natural.

[Adam Chris]

Posted: 4/15/05 at 6:05pm

Woman in White took some getting use to. Every time I listened to it I would find interesting tid-bits that recalled musical ideas from Andrew's previous scores. It has a little Requiem and Whistle down the Wind. The score's 'feel' seems to be a blend of phantom and aspect of love. It has completely grown on me. I love it. One thing though .... the Lammastide song reminds so much of when Boubil/Schongberg wrote the village parts for Martin Guerre. It seems like it could be put into that show.

Adam
Updated On: 4/15/05 at 06:05 PM

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/15/05 at 6:14pm

Oddly enough "Lammastide" in the theatre is a lot faster then it is on the recording. I wonder if that was one of the numbers they re-recorded because of audience "noise."

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 4/15/05 at 6:15pm

"You Can Get Away With Anything" was re-recorded because the laughing and applauding was so loud. The original first night track is included as a bonus.

[jo]

Posted: 4/15/05 at 7:43pm

I am also a great fan of the recording. It does grow on you - it was only after I had seen the show in London two weeks ago that I have listened to it a second, a third, a fourth time, etc.

It does remind me of ASPECTS OF LOVE because of the seamless integration of recitatives and songs. Lammastide is reminiscent of MARTIN GUERRE because of the beat ( and the stomping feet). The love ballad, I Believe My Heart, is particularly haunting and so is Marian's All for Laura. But the melody that I cannot get out of my head was written for some of the recitatives ( where Walter introduces himself to Anne):"Please you needn't fear me, truly you can trust me...".

Michael Crawford's You Can Get Away with Anything is the scene stealer...but if you hear Michael Ball's interpretation of the song, you would know why ALWebber gave him the compliment "You commanded the role so musically well..."

The musical score is beautiful - it captures the essence of this dark drama!

Posted: 4/15/05 at 11:19pm

A friend in London just sent me the recording yesterday...what a a coincidence! LOL! I agree that the music does grow on you, but it's got great potential. The story is great too. The only thing that kind of bugs me is that the women sound a little shrieky at times. I can't seem to really find a stand-out song though, that ALW's so famous for (e.g. Music of the Night, Don't Cry For Me Argentina, Memory, etc.). But I think I have to listen to it a couple more times to get the entire experience. I hope it makes it on Broadway, so I can experience it live too! :)

~Rosalynn

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 4/15/05 at 11:21pm

I would say that "You Can Get Away With Anything" is the stand-out song.

Posted: 4/15/05 at 11:25pm

I would pick that one too, but don't know if it'll become the big "Broadway standard" as the others. *shrugs*

~Rosalynn

[Adam Chris]

Posted: 4/16/05 at 1:46am

During: "Please, you needn't fear me, truly you can trust me...", it reminds me of Whistle/Wind: "We've got to keep this scecret...We've got do this right" sung by the children at the beginning of When Children rule the world. And, "Trying not to notice...", reminds me again of when Children Rule The World from Whistle.

I'm glad someone agreed with me on the Lammastide/ Martin Guerre comparaisons.

I love: I Believe My Heart, Trying Not To Notice, All for Laura, Perspective, Evermore Without You and of course, You Can Get Away With Anything.
Updated On: 4/16/05 at 01:46 AM

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 4/16/05 at 1:59am

Live recordings might capture the "you-are-there" feeling of the performance byt sound quality suffers quite a bit.

There is no need for some studio made cast albums to sound so flat and dull. All that they need is a producer who understands how to translate the show to an audio-only format. The producers of the RENT album (Arif Mardin, Steve Skinner) apparently did not have the talent, and with no alternate recording available we are saddled with a disc that is technically accurate but not nearly as exciting as the show was when it first opened.

On balance, there are many cast albums of less-than-stellar shows that make the shows sound much better than they really were!

[kec]

Posted: 4/16/05 at 2:27am

"Michael Crawford's You Can Get Away with Anything is the scene stealer...but if you hear Michael Ball's interpretation of the song, you would know why ALWebber gave him the compliment "You commanded the role so musically well..." "

I have to agree with you Jo. When I saw Michael Ball onstage, he just blew me away with his performance, especially after the seduction scene. His singing the words "old maid" was just so full of venom, and it was echoed in the look on his face, that it gave me the shivers. I didn't get the recording until after I saw the show for the first time, so I much prefer Michael B.'s renditions over Michael C.

I very much enjoy this CD. The music stays with me -- after seeing the show twice last weekend, I had various songs running through my head all week. My two favorites are "I Believe My Heart" and "You Can Get Away With Anything."

[Sally]

Posted: 4/16/05 at 3:01am

<< I very much enjoy this CD. The music stays with me -- after seeing the show twice last weekend, I had various songs running through my head all week. My two favorites are "I Believe My Heart" and "You Can Get Away With Anything." >>

I too enjoyed the music more after seeing the show three times. It's interesting that ALW is often criticized for writing big, obvious "pull out" ballads in other shows, and then is criticized (mainly by quite a few people online) because this show is rather more integrated and doesn't have a slew of those same big, obvious, pull out ballads. I really don't understand the people who say the show is boring and the music dull.


<< I have to agree with you Jo. When I saw Michael Ball onstage, he just blew me away with his performance, especially after the seduction scene. His singing the words "old maid" was just so full of venom, and it was echoed in the look on his face, that it gave me the shivers. >>


I don't know if you also saw Crawford, but he blew the audience away too. I had the opportunity of hearing a recording a friend had of a different performance of the song in which he said, "an old maid" very quietly. I think that reading is actually more effective.

I wish I had the opportunity to see Michael Ball. By all accounts, he is doing a great job---although I'm not sure I would prefer his more operatic singing of the role to what I heard when I saw the show with Crawford and an understudy.

[kec]

Posted: 4/16/05 at 4:41am

No, I haven't seen Michael Crawford in this show, other than some clips that the theatre had been showing outside. I know he has won raves for his portrayal of the Count -- well deserved by what I hear on the cd. But I have also read some comments in which people said he played it more a comedic figure than the character should be. Michael Ball, so I've read, has brought more menace into the character, thus bringing the portrayal closer to the way the character is portrayed in the book.

I know people who have seen both men in the role, and have said they much preferred Michael Ball's take on it.

Crawford on the cd sounds great, but his "old maid" didn't affect me the way MB's did.

I certainly didn't find the show boring at all. I was unfamiliar with the story when I saw the show the first time, but as I enjoy romantic mysteries, I was quickly caught up in the tale. I enjoyed the performances by everyone, especially Martin Crewes as Walter. I missed Maria Friedman the first time I saw the show, but got to see her last weekend, and thought she was excellent. The chemistry between her and MB was electric. Martin Crewes was out last weekend, but his understudy, Eoin Cannon, was fantastic. This show is his West End debut.
Updated On: 4/16/05 at 04:41 AM

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 4/16/05 at 11:20am

It grows on you and although there are showstopping numbers, I don't think there is ANY standout ALW famed number that will become a Broadway standard.

The voices leave much to be desired, I think.

[Sally]

Posted: 4/16/05 at 8:20pm

<< It grows on you and although there are showstopping numbers, I don't think there is ANY standout ALW famed number that will become a Broadway standard.>>


I think that "I Believe My Heart," "If I Could Only Dream This World Away," and "Evermore Without You" have potential for being covered by other artists, but I haven't heard of it happening yet. "All for Laura," seems to me to be almost to specifically related to the story to be good out of context. My favorite "You Can Get Away With Anything"---Love it!--- but without the rat? ---Just wouldn't be the same.

<< The voices leave much to be desired, I think.>>

I didn't have any problem with most of the voices. Angela Christian (Anne Cathrick) sounded pretty shrill, though. Perhaps, they wanted the shrillness in the Mad Woman of Limmeridge. It isn't as though they couldn't have found a girl who wasn't shrill, I should think.