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I guess 2007 was probably the year I bought less CDs. That doesn’t necessarily means it was a bad year for showtune fans. In fact, there were plenty of cast recordings and if your music tastes are broader than mine, there were a lot to buy. For me, the big event was the return of John Kander & Fred Ebb (with the help of Rupert Holmes) with CURTAINS. Their last original score (STEEL PIER) was released in 1997, so I |
was very excited about the new work by my favorite team of musical writers. The result was a little bit disappointing, but even so I loved it. But my favorite CD of the year is Mel Brooks funny YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, specially the numbers “Roll in the Hay”, “Surprise” and the contagious “Transylvania Mania”. |
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The new cast recording of 110 IN THE SHADE, with Audra McDonald, brought new life to the Harvey Schmidt & Tom Jones score. Kurt Weill’s music returned to Broadway in the interesting LOVEMUZIK, with a fantastic performance by Donna Murphy. And the movie cast of HAIRSPRAY delivered a highly contagious rendition of the score. |
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I think the pop oriented LEGALY BLONDE has its moments and ANNA KARENINA has some good melodies. The Sherman Brothers very British BUSKER ALLEY was a disappointment, but I believe that with better orchestrations it can really work. As for the tongue-in-cheek THE BRAIN FROM PLANET X it sounds amusing and so is MARTIN SHORT: FAME BECOMES ME. |
| The City Center Encores recording of Irving Berlin’s FACE THE MUSIC wasn’t the big thing I hope, but it revealed (at least to me) some good songs. Rodgers & Hart’s BY JUPITER was finally released on CD and, although it’s far from their best work, it still deserves a place on our music library. Two curious English titles, FREE AS AIR and GRAB ME A GONDOLA, also saw the light of day and both are worthy of discovery. |  |
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Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber saw some of their shows re-released on CD, some with bonus tracks. Other reissues of interest were NEW GIRL IN TOWN, ME AND JULIET (that has one of the most beautiful songs written by Rodgers & Hammerstein, “Marriage Type Love”) and FANNY. Finally, we had a deluxe reissue of the fabulous soundtrack recording of the movie adaptation of GUYS AND DOLLS. |
Let’s see what 2008 will bring us and, to begin with, there’s a new United Kingdom CD label devoted to the music we all love, Stage Door Records. As for me, I’m still waiting for John McGlinn’s studio recordings of Jerome Kern’s HAVE A HEART, LEAVE IT TO JANE, OH, BOY! and OH, LADY! LADY!; JAY’s ONE TOUCH OF VENUS and PS Classics planned recordings of SPRING IS HERE and WHOOPEE. One last thought: since this year a new musical adaptation of GONE WITH THE WIND will open in London, wouldn’t it be great if the Harold Rome score for the 1972 version (also known as SCARLETT) was released on CD? |
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In preference order here they are (this year I decided not to include reissues): THE TOP SIX Cast Recordings and Related CDs of 2007 YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (2007 Broadway Cast) CURTAINS (2007 Broadway Cast) 110 IN THE SHADE (2007 Broadway Revival Cast) HAIRSPRAY (2007 Movie Soundtrack)) LOVEMUZIK (2007 Broadway Cast) FACE THE MUSIC (2007 City Center Encores) |