REVIEW: Mel Brooks did it again. This may not be as good as the score he wrote for THE PRODUCERS, but it’s almost as funny and it’s very entertaining. Who could have guessed that one day his classic horror comedy would become a joyful Broadway musical?

I haven’t seen the show yet, but I’ve been playing this cast recording almost every day since the day it arrived. I simply love traditional Broadway scores and once again Brooks manages to write a Valentine love letter to the great musical composers. It’s true, musically speaking there’s nothing original in this score, but thanks to the terrific orchestrations of Doug Besterman (who also produced this album) and the talents of musical director Patrick S. Brady, the result is highly enjoyable.

Like in THE PRODUCERS, the choreography is by Susan Stroman and by listening to numbers like “Please Don’t Touch Me” and the contagious “Transylvania Mania”, we can almost see the cast dancing. The big production number, Irving Berlin’s “Puttin’ on the Ritz”, was cut for the CD, but what remains promises a big musical moment.

There’s a lot to enjoy here, from the promising “Overture” to the pretty melody of “Listen to Your Heart”, beautiful sung by Sutton Foster. “Roll in the Hay” is brilliant in its simple melody and Foster is amazing. Another favorite of mine is the delightful “Surprise” sung by a fantastic Megan Mullally, who also convincingly delivers the almost dirty “Deep Love” and after her rendition of “Please Don’t Touch Me” no one will think of “tits” in the same way; believe me. As a bonus track, Mullally also gives us a romantic rumba cut from the show, “Alone”,

Andrea Martin as a great time with the cabaret “He Vas My Boyfriend” and Roger Bart is at his best with “Man About Town” and has a lot of fun with “The Brain”. Christopher Fitzgerald is a terrific surprise as Igor and among other things leads the company on the already mentioned “Transylvania Mania” and has a big moment with “Together Again”. One last word to Shuler Hensley as the Monster; he doesn’t sing much but his sounds are very real and he sure has a “deep” strong voice.

Like we expected the lyrics are completely crazy and only Brooks can get away with such dirty words (well, exception for the guys of AVENUE Q). Many of the lines of the movie are repeated, but the new additions are as funny as the old ones and together they work perfectly. If you love musical comedies as much as I do, you’ll have a ball. This is traditional Broadway with a twist, a very naughty twist.

REVIEW: If there’s a composer that usually lives me cold is Kurt Weill. I like his score for LADY IN THE DARK and I love “Speak Low” from ONE TOUCH OF VENUS (I’m still waiting to have a full cast recording of this musical), but I hardly enjoy the rest of his work. So why did I bought this CD? The answer is Donna Murphy.

Here, Murphy plays the role of legendary Lotte Lenya and she is simply perfect. It’s amazing how versatile she is and how she easily transforms into someone else. Her renditions of Weill’s classics like “Alabama Song”, “Surabaya Johnny” and “September Song” are reason more than enough to buy this cast recording. But there’s more to it than Murphy. The entire cast is very good, with Michael Cerveris delivering a convincing Weill. The orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick are effective, atmospheric and bring new life to the old songs.

As you probably may have guessed, my favorite tracks are, besides the lovely “Speak Low”, the less typical Weill’s songs. “Girl of the Moment” is great, “Wouldn’t You Like to Be on Broadway” a nice surprise that I think I never heard before and I can say the same about “It’s Never Too Late to Mendelssohn”. Another great song is “Buddy on the Night Shift” sung by Graham Rowat and I also enjoyed “The Illusion Wedding Show”.

I can’t say that I’ve surrender to Weill’s work, but this album was a nice addition to my CD library. I guess I discovered a side of Weill that I haven’t listen before, but I believe it’s the terrific cast that convinced me. Congratulations to them all.

REVIEW: I would love to know why so many new musicals sound almost the same and why most of them became monotonous after a few tunes.

Probably I can’t say that ANNA KARENINA is a new musical, in fact it opened on Broadway in 1992 and was even nominated for a few Tonys, including Best Original Score (Dan Levine & Peter Kellogg), but it had to wait all these years to be released on CD. One thing I can assure you, the cast assemble for this recording sounds perfect and I’m sure they would be great on stage. Of them, only two worked on the Broadway production; Melissa Errico that played the role of Kitty Scherbatskaya was promoted to Anna Karenina for the recording and Gregg Edelman repeats his stage role of Constantin Levin.

Dan Levine wrote a very dramatic score, with plenty of melody (maybe too much) and strong orchestrations. “Journey to Moscow” is a good, almost epic, opening number, that it’s followed by a beautiful song about love, “There’s More to Life Than Love”. “Nothing Has Changed” and, specially, “Waiting for You” are very melodic, “I Never Dreamed” is very emotional and “This Can’t Go On” is a big dramatic moment. The big problem is they sound to much alike and after a while the score becomes monotonous. That’s a pity, because there are some strong songs and performances in here; for example, Errico is great in “I’m Lost” and Jeff McCarthy delivers a strong “Only at Night”, but they never quite shine as they should.

The score reminded me of the more interesting A DOLL’S LIFE and of Sondheim’s PASSION, but the cast recordings of those shows are stronger. Anyway, there are melodies here that are worthy of discovering and the cast is flawless.

REVIEW: This show had its world premiere several years ago, with Tommy Tune in the leading role. Unfortunately, Tune broke a foot and the show never came to Broadway. In 2006, The York Theatre Company decided to revive it for a one night fundraising gala and the result is here.

With a score by Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman, the brothers responsible for the score of MARY POPPINS, CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG and other movie musicals, plus the Broadway musical OVER THERE!, this is a very British musical about the London street entertainers known as “Buskers”.

Don’t ask me how, but I managed to get my hands on a recording of the original production starring Tune, and this concert recording pales in comparison. What in Tune’s version is lively and exciting, here is melancholic and very quiet. In fact, this is just a matter of taste; I’m sure many of you prefer quieter things, but I love big dance numbers and here, even the title song, sounds calm. I miss luxurious orchestrations and a big orchestra.

There are some good songs in here. “Hula Love Song” and “Mates” are funny. “He Has a Way” is a nice ballad sung by Jessica Grové, who also delivers “Baby Me”, a good song that never delivers its power. “Ordinary Couple / I’m On the Inside” sound kind of exciting and “Tin Whistle Tune” is a catchy tune. In the leading role, English Jim Dale sounds a good choice and delivers his songs with the perfect accent, in fact everything sounds too British. I miss Tommy Tunne’s “Tap Happy Feet” (I think that’s the name of it) dance number, that for me was one of the best songs of the score.

There are strong rumors that a production of this musical, starring Jim Dale, may open soon on Broadway. If that happens, I hope the excitement of the Tune’s production returns to the show and with it the “Tap Happy Feet” number.

REVIEW: British composer Julian Slade is mainly know for SALAD DAYS, that he wrote with Dorothy Reynolds. That show opened in London in 1954 and it ran for 2.283 performances. Three years later, Slade and Reynolds wrote FREE AS AIR and, although it didn’t repeat the success of their previous musical, it ran for 417 performances.

If you listen to this recording you realize that this was a very British musical, with good orchestrations that remind us of the movie soundtracks of the 50s. As for Julian Slade’s music, I’ve to confess I’m not a big fan, but this score works better as a whole than the one he wrote for SALAD DAYS.

There are a few amusing songs, like “Her Mummy Doesn’t Like Me Any More” or the title song; but the best is “A Man from the Mainland”, sung by Patricia Bredin in LITTLE MARY SUNSHINE mode. She and Gerald Harper delivered a nice love duet, “I’ve Got My Feet on the Ground”, but “Testudo” sung by her and two guys sounds too classic. There’s also the interesting “Geraldine” and the cinematic “I’m Up Early”. What sounds like a big production number, “Holiday Island”, starts well but some irritating voices almost destroy it.

I won’t say this is essential for all musical lovers CD library, but there are few songs that justify its purchase and I’m sure you’ll find something to enjoy here.

REVIEW: Are you ready for a trip to 1932? That’s exactly what you get with this new recording. If, like me, you enjoy old fashion scores and love traditional Broadway, this one is for you. If by any chance you prefer modern beats, you should avoid it.

Irving Berlin is one of America’s most famous and prolific songwriters and he is also known as the father of the American popular song. Like all the great ones, not everything he did was gold. But even in a lesser score like this one, there are some good songs and nice surprises.

I never heard many of the songs in this score and it was nice to discover them; for that I’ve to be thankful to the people behind the City Center Encores and to Hugh Fordin for recording the show. My favorite track is Walter Bobbie’s delightful “How Can I Change My Luck”; I also enjoy the unashamedly romantic and naïve duets by the perfectly casted Jeffry Denman and Meredith Patterson (I had the pleasure of seeing her as Peggy Sawyer in the revival of 42nd STREET), among those “(Castles in Spain) on a Roof in Manhattan” and “Soft Lights and Sweet Music”. Berlin is also know for writing good comic numbers and here Mylinda Hull and Eddie Korbich have a fun time with “I Don’t Wanna Be Married (I Just Wanna be Friends)” and “You Must Be Born With It”.

Judy Kaye powerfully leads the company in what is probably the most famous song of these score “If You Believe”. Another famous song is the funny love song “I Say It’s Spinach (And the Hell With It)”. Among the discoveries (at least for me) Felicia Finley has her big moment with “Torch Song”, Jeffry Denman delivers the New York love song “Manhattan Madness”, and there’s the nostalgic “Crinoline Days”, among other songs already mentioned.

I confess I’m not a fan of patriotic songs and Berlin was an expert of the genre (probably he invented it), so I don’t care much for “Two Cheers Instead of Three” or “A Toast to Prohibition”. As for the long last number “Investigation”, there are some irritating voices in it (even so I enjoyed the comic girl chorus) and it reminded me of the much more interesting similar numbers of OF THEE I SING and LET’EM EAT CAKE.

I know I should love this recording and I wanted to, but it’s kind of dated, even for my old fashioned taste. The melodious love duets sound almost all the same and the orchestrations sound old. There isn’t a really exciting song here, but nevertheless is a pleasant trip to the past with some musical jewels in it. If you’re a true musical lover you should have this in your CD library.

REVIEW: Inspired by a publicity stunt that happened at the Venice Film Festival, where actress Diana Dors appeared in a bikini and was thrown into a canal, this British musical comedy opened in London in 1956 and ran for 687 performances.

This is a very 50s score with an Italian flavor, but the result isn’t as interesting as it sounds. Composer James Gilbert came up with a few good show tunes: the funny “That’s My Biography”, the pretty love song “Plain in Love” and the operatic “Bid Him a Fond Goodbye”. There are some irritating voices in tracks like “Jimmy’s Bar” or “Star Quality”, those some voices sometimes almost destroys the very Italian “Chianti”. One of the songs, “Man, Not a Mouse”, begins well but soon becomes uninteresting. Although the action takes place in the 50s, the rock and roll “Rockin’ At The Cannon Ball” sounds out of place; the very fifties “Rig O’ the Day” is more interesting. The score ends with the melodious “When I Find That Girl”.

In the role of the film star (Diana Dors), Joan Heal sounds perfect and lively sings, among others, “That’s My Biography” and “Cravin’ for the Avon”. Dennis Quilley strongly sings “When I Find That Girl” and the duet “Plain Love”; this is one shared with Jane Wenham, who has a lovely voice and gives it all with “Bid Him a Fond Goodbye”.

This may not be a great score (it really isn’t), but if you’re in a discovering mood I’m sure you’ll enjoy some of the songs. There are also rare tracks from London Productions of PAL JOEY and WONDERFUL TOWN, but the two bonus tracks by Shani Wallis (the Nancy from the movie adaptation of OLIVER!) are more interesting.

REVIEW: “Welcome to the 60s” and to the soundtrack of the movie adaptation of the Broadway musical!

It’s rare for me to prefer the recording of the movie version to the theatre cast, but it happened in the past with, for example, OLIVER!, THE SOUND OF MUSIC and, you can kill me, HELLO, DOLLY!. Now it happens again, with this lively new recording of HAIRSPRAY.

The orchestrations are more exciting, the 60s spirit is more alive, the energy is superior and everyone in the cast sounds like they’re having the time of their lives. I haven’t’ seen the movie yet so I don’t I know about it, but the soundtrack is great!

Newcomer Nikki Blonsky is a winner leading lady and strongly delivers all her songs. Michelle Pfeiffer doesn’t have a great singing voice, but she delivers “(The Legend of) Miss Baltimore Crabs” with lots of feeling and sensuality. John Travolta has a great time with his (or should I say, her?) numbers and his duet, “(You’re) Timeless to Me” with Christopher Walken is musical heaven. We already knew that Queen Latifah has a great singing voice and here she takes full advantage of songs like “Big, Blonde and Beautiful” and “I Know Where I’ve Been”. As the teenager idol, Zac Effron hit all the right notes of his numbers and, as the television star, James Marsden sounds like he just come out of a sixties show.

For me, the highlights are the already mentioned “(You’re) Timeless to Me”, “I Can Hear the Bells” and the exciting “Welcome to the 60s”. Personally, I would cut the unnecessary pop track by Aimee Allen, “Cooties”.
Composer-lyricist Marc Shaiman and lyricist Scott Wittman wrote three good new songs for the movie, “Ladies’ Choice”, “The New Girl in Town” and “Come So Far (Got So Far to Go)” and I sincerely hope that at least one of them will get an Oscar nomination.

This kind of music isn’t exactly my cup of tea, but it’s difficult to resist to the toe tapping rhythms and the contagious joy of living of this recording. Even if you’re a big fan of the Broadway cast recording, I’m sure you’ll love this much better rendition of the score. Believe me, “You Can’t Stop the Beat”.

REVIEW: I’m probably one of the worst persons in the world to write a review to this score. Why? Because I’m very resistant to pop scores and I love the sound of old Broadway. So, why did I buy this CD? Because I liked the songs that Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin wrote for “The Mice”, one of the three mini musicals that were part of 3HREE.

I guess I can’t say I was disappointed with this recording, I kind of guessed what was in store, but even so I expected a little bit more. Anyway, one thing is sure; no one can accuse this score of being boring or monotonous. There’re a big variety of styles here and the end result is listenable.

The majority of the songs have a pop flavor that reminded me of WICKED and I’m sure that everyone who loves that more interesting score will have a good time with this one. If, like me, you expected songs in the vein of “The Mice”, there’s “The Harvard Variations” and, in a small scale, “There! Right There!”. There’s also a more traditional Broadway song that I quiet enjoy: “Blood in the Water”. There’s also a new age/Celtic song entitled “Ireland” and a kind of soul number perfect to use in the gym, “Bend and Snap”.

In the long and funny “What You Want”, you’ll find a little bit of reggae, a little bit of Motown (DREAMGIRLS come to mind) and a lot of pop; but it works and that’s what matters. “Serious” is a curious love song with a twist and if “Take It Like a Man” sounds like a strange title for a romantic duet, is in fact an enjoyable ballad.

The lyrics are quite funny; with some nice lines like “Is he gay or European”, “Feel al those halogens” or “I pretend like I’m in… Ireland. With Enya, and the whales”. The cast sounds like they are having a good time, with Laura Bell Bundy having her big diva moments with “So Much Better” and “Legally Blonde”. At her side Orfeh and Christian Borle also have a chance to shine, her with “Ireland” and him with “Chip on My Shoulder”. The “Legally Blonde Remix” is quiet contagious

As pop musicals go, this could be worst but, thanks to its enjoyable cast and lively orchestrations, it’s quite listenable. Omigod, if only I was fonder of pop music…

REVIEW: This musical originally opened on Broadway on October 1963 and got enough good reviews, but the opening of two new musicals, HELLO, DOLLY! and FUNNY GIRL almost eclipsed it. But thanks to its melodic score the show lived on.

This recording is the third of this show that I have on my CD collection and it’s almost as good as my favorite rendition of the score, the two disc recording inspired by the New York City Opera production. In one thing this new cast is definitely better, the winning performance by the excellent Audra McDonald (the reliable Karen Ziemba played the part on the other one).

With new luxurious orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick, this new recording is a wonderful way to discover or rediscovered this beautiful score by Harvey Schmidt & Tom Jones. There’s a western-epic quality that takes us right into the action and makes us feel the heat and emotions of the story. From the great overture, “Gonna Be Another Hot Day”, to the highly emotional and rainy ending, “Wonderful Music” and a reprise of “The Rain Song”, this is a score that quickly grows on you and soon you’ll be humming some of the songs.

There are several beautiful ballads like the duet “A Man and a Woman”, “Love, Don’t Turn Away” and “Evenin’ Star” (that wasn’t part of the original score); perfect plot songs like “You’re Not Fooling Me”; a delightful comedy number “Little Red Hat” and an almost enchanted company number “Everything Beautiful”.

As the leading man, Steve Kazee gives his best with the powerful “The Rain Song” and takes us into the dreamland of “Melisande” (somehow, this song always reminded me of MAN OF LA MANCHA), one of my favorite tracks. As for Audra, this is a perfect showcase of all her talents, she can be surprisingly funny with “Raunchy”, completely caring with the sweet “Simple Little Things” and pure magic with the terrific “Is It Really Me?”.

It’s very rare to find so many songs written and sang with heart and soul like the ones of this score. And, although this might not be for everyone’s taste, it deserves to be part of all musical lovers music library.

REVIEW: As a huge fan of Kander & Ebb, is always with high hopes that I receive a new score by those two geniuses. So you can imagine my excitement when I played the cast recording of CURTAINS for the first time. The immediate reaction was a little disappointment, but then I played it again and again and again… Soon I realised I was dancing and humming some of the songs; I was having an enjoyable time with the new score by John Kander & Fred Ebb and Rupert Holmes (who took over for Fred after his death).

I have to be honest, this is far from the best work of that musical team, so don’t expect a new CHICAGO, CABARET or even STEEL PIER. Keep your hopes a little lower and I’m sure you’re in for a good time. To begin with the cast is first rate; the orchestrations are true musical comedy (is there anything better?) and some of the songs are too good to be missed. It’s true, there isn’t much originality here, but who cares? We have a beautiful ballad, “I Miss the Music”, sung gorgeously by Jason Danieley; Karen Ziemba leads the company in the highly enjoyable “Thataway!”; Debra Monk’s perfect comic timing hits all the right notes of “It’s a Business”; David Hyde Pierce and Jill Paice have a lovely duet “A Tough Act to Follow” that ends as an exciting production number; there’s also the funny “What Kind of Man” and, my favorite, Pierce leads the entire cast in the new theatre anthem “Show People”.

If, like me, you’re a fan of conventional Broadway scores, the kind “they don’t write it like that anymore”, this one is for you and I bet you’ll play it again and again. This might not be musical heaven, but it’s better than most of the new musicals scores and at least you’ll have tunes to carry on. Don’t miss it!