"live" Cast Albums?

[Unknown User]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 8:53am

For a while people spoke of cast albums recorded live in the theatre (and then with much of the applause, etc, mixed away) as being the trend of the future thanks to rising costs of unions, recordings and lowering numbers of sales.

I know of two live cast albums, both from London--Woman in White (which I think *largely* sounds as good as a studio recording except for the occasional line or voice) and Jerry Springer. Are there other examples?

E

[Unknown User]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 9:21am

Starlight Express
Return to the Forbidden Planet
Stop In the Name of Love!- the Fabulous Singlettes

[Actinggbugg474]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 9:30am

BKLYN: Live!

[Fenchurch]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 9:31am

I prefer live recordings actually, because they give you a Real idea about what the human voice is capable of. Studio albums always used pitch correction and other "tools" to make singers sound flawless, which of course, none are.

This gives people a better impression of what is actually capable, and frankly sometimes the frailties and mistakes make that recording much more precious than an "artifact" of what the score should sound like but never would during a performance.

[JBSinger]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 9:41am

I love the concert CDs of South Pacific, Sweeney Todd, and Dreamgirls. I wish more shows/concerts were recorded live (with some additional takes in the space for security). Too many studio recordings today take away that "live" energy that RCA Victor used to capture so well. All of Lloyd Webber's recent stuff (save WIW) sound too mixed in the studio with no natural acoustic. too pop, too flat.

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 9:43am

Bring in Da Noise was recorded live in the theatre.

[mrcacou]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 9:45am

Sam Mendes' "Cabaret" has been recorded live this year here in Paris. I just love the way it sounds thanks to the audience interaction.
The Woman in White CD is nice but you can't tell the difference with a studio CD IMO. The bonus track at the end is great because they didn't cut the audience interaction and it make you feel like you were really there.

[Eastwickian]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 9:55am

Ignoring 'in concert' CDs:

Song and Dance OLC
By Jeeves - pre-London
Movin' Out
Five Guys Named Moe
Moby Dick OLC
Elisabeth - 1996 and 2006
Rocky Horror - UK Tour
Starlight Express - Bochum
Tonight's the night OLC
We Will Rock You OLC
A Tribute to the Blues Brothers OLC

[Justin D]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 10:04am

Both Dutch Cats recordings are live, aswell as the Hamburg one which it totally wonderful.

Not to mention the Swedish Phantom recording, it is great to hear it live, so much more emotion, although you sacrifice a bit on the smaller theatre orchestra in some parts of the score.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 10:32am

"BKLYN: Live!"

It's not actually a "live" recording. It was recorded in a studio with a dozen or so people that served as an "audience."

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 11:22am

CHICAGO - Revival Cast (Vienna):





MAMMA MIA! (German Cast):

[RevolutionaryCostume]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 11:24am

I believe the Cats OBC was recorded live in the theatre.

~Jacob.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 11:29am

Miss Gulch Returns

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 11:44am

All Japanese cast recordings of Les Mis (Red, Blue, Green, Purple, Orange, lighter-Blue) are live.

And I too prefer live cast recordings to studio ones. It just seems to capture the actual experience better.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 11:59am

I believe the Cats OBC was recorded live in the theatre.

No, it was a studio recording.

ALW does like to record shows in the theatre, which may explain why the recordings sound so flat and lack excitement.

The best cast recordings capture the scores with a heightened theatricality. The cast can force the enery level in ther voices up in the studio to accound for the lack of visuals. Also, in the studio the album producer can re-arrange dialogue to create a better aural presentation.

Now, this may not satsisfy those who want the album to sound exactly like the show, but generally it results in a much more listenable package.

[BigFatBlonde]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 1:44pm

I like the idea that the grateful dead came up with. They saw so many people bootleging their concerts, that they started bootleging them themselves.

It would be great if you could order a copy of the performance you saw.

Pipe Dream, I know. But stranger things have happened.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 1:52pm

The Dutch Funny Girl and Gypsy are also live.

[madlibrarian]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 2:31pm

The cast album of the '70s jukeboxer Beatlemania was recorded live in performance at the Winter Garden Theater. Alas, it has never found its way to CD.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 3:59pm

There are live recordings of Cats, but the OBC is not one of them.

I believe the Passion London cast recording was recorded live as well, but it was a concert that the cast reunited for, correct? There is also no applause or anything...

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 4:14pm

I always look to see where the cast albums were recorded, especially with older shows. Some recording studios are more resonant and produce a better sound. For example, RCA's recordings of many shows from the Golden Age were made in Webster Hall in the East Village; it is now a night club I believe. Columbia's recordings from the same era were made in their 30th St. Studios. Both labels have a good sound, especially when shows are digitally remastered. Some other studios lack resonance and produce a muffled sound. An example is the RCA recording of OLIVER which was made in an inferior studio in Los Angelos, prior to its NYC run. The digital remastering helps but the muffled sound is still there.

Updated On: 5/11/07 at 04:14 PM

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 4:16pm

Man of La Mancha's London recording was done live, but that's long out of print.

[Dover]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 5:38pm

I thought the Bklyn one was recorded in a theatre-like space set up for recording, with several hundred invited people, not a dozen. But I might be wrong because I didn't care enough to go, but that's what I recall hearing from people who did go.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 5:56pm

Yeah, the PASSION OLC is a concert recording though the lack of applause is probably better explained by the fact that there are no applause breaks in PASSION.
I enjoy to hear the audience interaction in a recording but I know it's mostly edited out during Live cast recordings unless it's a concert.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 6:59pm

I guess I meant more other recordings like WIW where, unless you knew ahead of time you would be hard pressed to know it wasn't a studio recording (I still insist there are a handful of brief moments that sound badly miked or tinny--the way a live show's sound can go off very briefly--but maybe I'm being too critical)

My question was also raised partly because I only recently heard the Mary Poppins cast album and it has some really weird echoey things going on with some of the voices--but I've since learned it was a studio recording so *blush* I guess they just did something weird in studio...

I'm very very mixed on the idea. I admit--I don't like concert CDs. I'm anal about it--I don't like hearing the applause and laughter etc. sometimes if I already know the score and show well it can be a nice alternative but if it's the only recording, no...

Contrary wise I *hate* when a stage show is filmed and they don't film it in front of a live audience. The only time it works is in Passion--which is a magnificent DVD but there, while it's very film-like they don't try to hide that it's a proscenium theatrical production.

I saw Trevor Nunn's Oklahoma live and loved it--but the DVD just irks me--restaging it on a sound stage and then to add insult to injury pretending it's live by inserting audience clips? lol!! Hideous. (I think he did the same with Porgy and Bess which is a production I'd love to see but again the filming is hard for me to watch) I've not seen all the ALW DVDs, just Cats but that one irks me too--dunno if the others have an audience or not.

Anyway back to CDs--Gypsy that's a good point about recording studios--I know it was commonly seen that Phil Ramone had the best studio for pop music in the 70s but I think his early cast albums (Little Shop in the 80s and Chicago in 1975) largely sound atrocious! Dunno why--check the sound balance in Chicago--ugh. And the Capitol recordings also had really poor sound--Follies OBCR not only being badly edited but also sounding like it was recorded in a parkade.

ANyway I do see the pros and cons of having a studio recreation, heightening and rearraranging of the show VS a strict live recording

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 7:13pm

Joseph was also filmed on a sound stage with kid actors playing the kids in the gymnasium watching the show transform on the tiny gym stage into the huge sound stage production.

By Jeeves was also filmed on a sound stage, but it's unique in that it was filmed in a small theatre built onto the stage with actors in the audience dressed appropriately for the time period as if the show is being performed in the time in which it is set. It's pretty neat.