Cast Albums Blog
REVIEW: The Visit - Original Broadway Cast
When I saw the musical The Visit at the Williamstown Theatre Festival last summer, I must admit I found it a tough sell. Sure, there was talent abounding in the material and on stage (score by John Kander and Fred Ebb! book by Terrence McNally! starring theater legend Chita Rivera!), but the show (based on Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s 1956 play of the same name) is awfully grim. A woman Claire Zachanassian (Chita Rivera) returns to her childhood home to seek revenge on Anton Schell (Roger Rees) the man who, as a young boy, stole her heart but ruined her life. (Spoiler alert, Claire wants Anton killed and in turn will pay the destitute townspeople of Brachen to look the other way.) Between John Doyle’s direction and the set and lighting design by Scott Pask and Japhy Weideman, respectively, The Visit was a decidedly somber chiaroscuro affair that was hard to warm up to, and which might explain its short-lived life on Broadway when it transferred there this spring.
REVIEW: The Golden Apple - First Full-Length Recording
The Golden Apple is one of those scores that has taken on something of a mythic air, which is entirely appropriate for this Broadway rethinking of The Iliad and The Odyssey through the lens of turn-of-the-century Americana. The original production was an early transfer from off-Broadway, and despite critical enthusiasm, it shuttered within four months. It left behind a frustratingly truncated original cast album, which (to add insult to injury) was out of print for many years. Despite fans' adoration of this score (music by Jerome Moross, lyrics by John Latouche), the scope of the show (24 named characters plus chorus and full orchestra) has made it difficult to revive or record. (A persistent rumor of Encores! artistic director Jack Viertel's dislike of the show has further aggravated fans.) All of which is to say, when PS Classics announced a full-length recording of the show's recent production at the Lyric Stage of Irving, Texas, with massive cast, expanded chorus, and 36-piece orchestra, a certain segment of the show tunes collecting community let out massive cheers.
REVIEW: Donna McKechnie and Danielle Hope
I guess it says something when the patter in a cabaret act is more interesting than the singing, but that's sadly the case on two new cabaret CDs by both a musical theater legend and an up and coming young Brit performer.
Donna McKechnie's Same Place: Another Time, recorded live in London, recreates the show that McKechnie performed earlier in the year at 54 Below. McKechnie, of course, has had an impressive stage career and is best known for her Tony Award-winning role as Cassie in the original production of A Chorus Line as well as other Michael Bennett shows including Promises, Promises and Company. But even to her fans, McKechnie was typically better known for her spectacular dancing than for her singing which was more adequate than stunning. Now in her 70s, McKechnie's voice shows its age, often lacking control in its upper registers. It doesn't help that McKechnie has picked a vocally rangy set of songs for her CD including Sondheim's "What More Do I Need?" and "At the Ballet" (from A Chorus Line); all push at the limits of her voice and the results aren't always pretty.