Your favourite musical theatre albums? — Page 2

Chicago (revival)
Sweet Charity (OBCR)
A Little Night Music (OBCR)
Into The Woods (OBCR, it also has some fun bonus tracks)
Gypsy (Lupone and Peters)
Anything Goes (Lupone and Foster)
Sunday in the Park with George (OBCR)
Legally Blonde (OBCR)
Cabaret (movie)
Les Mis (I use a different recording for each song, it's ridiculous).
My Fair Lady (OLCR)
The Sound of Music (movie)
West Side Story (movie)
Annie Get Your Gun (Peters)
Annie (original movie)

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I apologize Taz - I tend to be a bit slow sometimes.

Don't ignore the early shows..operettas and musical comedies of the years 1900 to 1940 can be fun..I would suggest the following as a starter:


BABES IN TOYLAND - Decca Records made a studio cast set in the 1940s preserving 10 songs from this delightful Victor Herbert score. On CD it still sounds its age but the charm of Herbert's sprightly tunes wins the game. A later short selection recorded by Readers Digest is better sung and played by a full cast, and is reportedly available on CD and as an I-tunes download (along with similarly condensed versions of Herbert' MLLE. MODISTE and THE RED MILL. The Digest versions were long ago part of a 12-LP set (TREASURY OF GREAT OPERETTAS) featuring two dozen early musicals condensed to fill one LP side each (about 25 minutes.) The set tuns up frequently on E-Bay and if you have a turntable well worth investigating. A mix of European (DIE FLEDERMAUS, THE MERRY WIDOW, A WALTZ DREAM) and American shows (BLOSSOM TIME, THE STUDENT PRINCE, ROSE MARIE, THE DESERT SONG, THE NEW MOON, THE VAGABOND KING) even stretching the genre a bit to include PORGY AND BESS, THE CHOCOLATE SOLDIER, ROBERTA and SHOW BOAT. RD offers a CD set with 9 of these condensations. It loos as if the others will gradually be leaked out as downloads.

NO NO NANETTE - a quintessential 1920s musical comedy, and sadly never commercially recorded with the original text and orchestrations. Sony has the 1971 revival on CD and what it lacks in period atmosphere it more than makes up for in fun.

Those in search of an authentic 1920s musical comedy (as opposed to later pastiches like THE BOY FRIEND (RCA Victor) and THE DROWSY CHAPERONE (Ghostlight) would do well to check out PS Classics' KITTY'S KISSES - restored and lovingly recorded by a dedicated cast. Also see JAY's recording of GOOD NEWS - a musical about college football that is still sometimes revived. The songs by DeSylva, Brown an Henderson are delightful. M-g-M did a film version in 1947 and the soundtrack (on Rhino)makes it soudn more like a 1940's show but the songs are still great.

SHOW BOAT - a problem since each production - and recording - alter the song line-up. The 1993 Livent cast recording from Toronto (prior to Broadway) is your best bet as a single disc covering the key highlights - even if one of the main love songs (Why Do I Love You) is reassigned to the usually non-singing role of Parthy but Elaine Stritch shows a tender side singing this to the baby that surprised even her detractors. The brilliant staging by Hal Prince doesn't translate to CD but the singing - especially Lonette McKee's Julie - is sensational. For those in search of an authentic CD of SHOW BOAT as it was presented in 1927 get John McGlinn's complete recording on EMI.

1930's Broadway hits are preserved in more modern recordings: OF THEE I SING (Get the 1952 Broadway revival cast, originally on Capitol Records and most recently on CD from DRG); GIRL CRAZY (Elektra has a very complete and lively studio cast headed by Lorna Luft, David Carroll and Judy Blazer); ANYTHING GOES (John McGlinn conducts a full scale re-creation of the original 1934 version on EMI. Revivals in 1962, 1987 and 2011 interpolated other Cole Porter songs.)

PORGY AND BESS - RCA Red Seal has the complete performance of the Houston Grand Opera on a 3_CD set that is richly sung and presented with many theatrical touches. Also worth getting is the most recent revival cast on PS Classics.

JUMBO - This Rodgers and Hart classic has been pretty much ignored except for the 1962 film version. Doris Day stars on the soundtrack CD (from Collectables.)


ON YOUR TOES - An early 50's studio cast album on Columbia (On CD-R from Masterworks Broadway) is rather dull. The 1954 Broadway revival (on Decca) is much more fun and the 1983 revival (on TER) is the most complete, restoring the original 1936 orchestrations.

BABES IN ARMS - A delightful, though not terribly theatrical album headlined by Mary Martin has recently been restored to the active catalog by Masterworks Broadway. New World has an enjoyable studio cast set that uses the original text and orchestrations.

PAL JOEY - Columbia Records made the first (and still best) album of the show in 1950. It in turn inspired a Broadway revival (on Broadway Angel) and a forgettable film version with Frank Sinatra (on Capitol.) Encores Concert version on DRG stars Peter Gallagher and Patti Lupone and is the most complete version to date.

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As always frontrowcenter provides us with an indispensable addition to the thread.

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And here are a dozen "fabulous flops" that were recorded:

FLAHOOLEY (1951) (Barbara Cook in her Broadway debut. DRG)

PAINT YOUR WAGON (1951) - Lerner & Loewe's only flop but score has many hit songs (RCA)

PLAIN AND FANCY (1955) - "Young and Foolish" was the only (minor) hit from this score but years later Elaine Stritch used "This is All Very New to Me" in AT LIBERTY to great effect.

OH CAPTAIN! (1958 ) - Any show with Susan Johnson is always worth a listen (DRG)

WHOOP-UP! (1958 ) - Polydor (hard to find but worth a hunt.)

SUBWAYS ARE FOR SLEEPING (1961) - (Fynsworth Ally - Ltd Ed. 5000 copies - very hard to find now)

THE HAPPIEST GIRL IN THE WORLD (1961) - Offenbach melodies set with E Y Harburg lyrics to tell the story of Lyistrata. Great fun (DRG)

OH CAPTAIN! (1958 ) - Any show with Susan Johnson is always worth a listen (DRG)

HIGH SPIRITS (1964) - musical version of Coward's play BLITHE SPIRIT is great fun with Tammy Grimes and Bea Lillie. Was on CD from MCA but deleted. There is also a London cast CD on DRG with bonus tracks of Coward singing the score. Best cut: Home Sweet Heaven, which sounds suspiciously as if Coward "helped out" in the writing of it.)

MACK AND MABEL (1974) - Jerry Herman at his best with a top notch cast headed by Robert Preston, Bernadette Peters and Lisa Kirk. (MCA)

ON THE 20th CENTURY (1978 )- Cy Coleman's mock operatic score is sheer joy. (Sony)

STEEL PIER (1997) - Kander and Ebb's reworking of the standard ghost story set at a depression era dance marathon yielded a very find score. Standouts include "The Last Girl" and "Second Chance." (RCA)

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Updated On: 3/7/13 at 02:49 PM

To add to FrontRow's list--John McGlinn recorded a complete Babes in Toyland that wasn't released but is out there--the score really is symphonic and gorgeous even if McGlinn conducts it sometimes like he's conducting Wagner.

And re Porgy and Bess, if you're just going for highlights (the Houston recording is my fave of the complete,) nothing tops, IMHO, the 1960s recording with Leontyne Price, William Warfield and John Bubbles playing his creation, Sportin' Life--the CD also has gorgeously atmospheric sound.

ERIC - I have a copy of the BABES IN TOYLAND and if it ever gets commercially released it will easily eclipse the Decca and RD highlights editions but I was keeping the list to CD's that could generally be bought.

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I adore Mack and Mabel, too.

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I like the revival cast album but find better voices on the original. The problem with the earlier CD is tat is was one of the very first released on CD and the levels are quite low. It needs to be remastered and updated.

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