This is but a sampling of some of the new show-related CDs on the shelves now, but it’s nice to know the theatre CD biz is perking.
Arguably the most exciting CD, on the Nonesuch label is a recording of two of Stephen Sondheim’s shorter and more obscure scores: "The Frogs", recorded for the first time ever in its entirety, and "Evening Primrose"–which has had two previous recordings of its four songs, one on the early CBS Mandy Patinkin album "Dress Casual", one on Varese/Sarabande’s "Sondheim at the Movies"–but never under the maestro’s supervision.
The difference is all the difference, in this tale of a disenfranchised poet who decides to live in a department store, encounters a secret society of others doing the same, and finds true love–at his peril. Not since the 1966 television soundtrack (never commercially released) with its orchestrations by Norman Paris and its star performance by Anthony Perkins has "Evening Primrose" truly been presented with dramatic authenticity (the Patinkin version, performed with Bernadette Peters, was as much about the performer showboating as the actual material; and the V/S version was good natured but odd, Gary Beach’s voice too mature and too legit for the callow hero he was playing). Presented on this new disc with orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick, and musical direction by Paul Gemignani, there’s an exciting, opening week cast album feel and sound to the performances of Neil Patrick Harris and Theresa McCarthy.
This is perhaps even truer of the album’s first offering, that score from "The Frogs". It’s an idiosyncratic score, as most of it is sung by the Greek Chorus of frogs that accompany Dionysus (Nathan Lane) and his servant Xanthius (Brian Stokes Mitchell, who also plays the god Pluto) on his quest to Hades to retrieve Shakespeare (Davis Gaines). "The Frogs", despite having musical moments, was never truly a musical, but rather fell into that academic category "music theatre piece," and the score Sondheim provided for the Burt Shevelove adaptation of the Aristophanes comedy had more to do with setting pace, tone and atmosphere than being the center of the event…yet, it is a complex, and witty score of great beauty, and as produced for CDs by Tommy Krasker, it breaks through the cursed label "studio recording" to create the illusion–no, make that the effect–of a new show being recorded on its day off. It has that energy, vibrancy and urgency. Which makes this one perhaps the best and most notable Sondheim album since the Paper Mill "Follies" or the Broadway "Passion".
Also on the Nonesuch label, the aforementioned Mandy Patinkin’s "Kidults" is a sweet way to spend an hour or so, and as usual, he shares a few tracks with a female "guest vocalist," in this case Kristin Chenoweth. As the title might indicate, the conceit of the album is that its collection of songs and song compilations has an appeal to kids, adults, and the kids in adults. And as Mr. P goes through his paces on classic gems like "If I Only Had a Brain", "Singin’ in the Bathtub" and "A Tisket a Tasket" that proves largely true. Though the album may be a bit too ballad-heavy for some very young ears, and while the inclusion of a message song like Harry Chapin’s "Cat’s in the Cradle" can be defended on a thematic level, it does complicate the issue of its kid-friendliness.
All that aside, there are few real surprises: Mr. Patinkin displays his usual vocal virtuosity with range and character voice–no longer novel, as they’re so much his signature, but fun to spend time with–Eric Stern provides his usual impeccable musical direction, and Paul Ford arrangements that are always tasty and apt.
Though I wasn’t a huge fan of "Urinetown: The Musical" its original cast album on the RCA Victor label makes a good showing of its score, with music and lyrics by Mark Holmann and book and lyrics by Greg Kotis. Without getting into an appraisal of the score itself–a controversial topic and one that has been dealt with in two reviews of the show still available on these cyber-pages–it’s an attractive enough affair on disc, as it lampoons musical theatre conventions while satirizing Brechtian social comment; and as produced by Jay David Saks, its full theatrical context and ambience is allowed to emerge with humor, spirit and gusto, featuring performances by a gifted and enthusiastic cast (headed by John Cullum and Jeff McCarthy).
If I have any serious carp, it’s about Saks conforming to–or perhaps in this one case opting to exploit–the current cast album trend, which frowns on reverb and favors a "dry" recording. "Urinetown" may be an oversize off-Broadway show that takes place in an impoverished and dry universe (this is, after all, a place where people pay for the privilege to pee), but its ambitions are huge, and it would have come by its aural-effects depth honestly.
There is classic reverb, and a classic approach to everything else, in the Sony Classical album of "The Producers", about which I need tell you, by now, very little. Suffice it to say that the CD, produced by Hugh Fordin, is one of the first cast albums in a long while that bears repeated listening for the joy of its performances and the accuracy of its transposition from the stage to the stereo…and if you can’t easily cop tickets to the show, this recording of the Mel Brooks score, headlining Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick as Bialystock and Bloom, is a very substantial, and on its own terms, gratifying, taste of the whole experience. Enjoy…