Broadway Digital Reissues Press Clips: April 17, 2009

AMERICAN THEATER WEB April 6, 2009 http://www.americantheaterweb.com/index.php/originals/2009/04/06/sony-aamp-arkivmusic-partner-to-bring-ju

Sony & ArkivMusic Partner to Bring Julia's 'Threepenny', 'disinHAIRited' and More to Disc [updated] By Andy Propst on Apr 6, 2009 | In ATW News | Send feedback »

Warner's DVD-on demand service has been getting a lot of attention this week. I'd like to bring folks' eyes to Sony and ArkivMusic, which are not doing exactly the same thing, but something that I think is equally exciting. Making back titles in the Sony musical library available for both digital download and purchase on disc. Already these partners have done a host of Jerry Herman titles and a trio of Richard Rodgers discs. Next week, the following titles will become available. Click the links to see track listings over at ArkivMusic, in the instances of the "New Faces" discs, you'll see that there's a lot of music that will be available on the releases which has not been on previous disc releases of the shows: The Last Sweet Days of Isaac / Original Off-Broadway Cast Label: Rca Catalog: 04439 Composer: Nancy Ford Performer: John Long, Austin Pendleton, C. David Colson, Art Betker, Fredericka Weber, Charles Collins, Louise Heath, Clay Fullum, George Broderick, Aaron Bell, Harry Gist New Faces Of 1952 / Original Cast Recording Label: Rca Catalog: 04441 Arthur Siegel, Ronny Graham, Michael Brown, Francis Lemarque, Sheldon Harnick, Murray Grand Performer: Eartha Kitt, June Carroll, Virginia De Luce, Robert Clary, Rosemary O'Reilly, Joe Lautner, Paul Lynde, Bill Mullikin, Patricia Hammerlee, Ronny Graham, Alice Ghostley, Allen Conroy, Virginia Bosler New Faces Of 1956 / Original Broadway Cast Label: Rca Catalog: 04443 Dean Fuller, Matt Dubey, Arthur Siegel, Paul Nassau, Murray Grand, Irving Kahal, Irving Graham, John Rox, Michael Brown, Marshall Barer, Harold Carr, Ronny Graham Performer: Amru Sani, Billie Hayes, Johnny Haymer, John Reardon, Virginia Martin, Bob Shaver, Inga Swenson, Ann Henry, Tiger Haynes, Jane Connell, Suzanne Bernard, T. C. Jones, Franca Baldwin, Johnny Laverty, Maggie Smith, Jimmy Sisco

Let It Ride! / Original Cast Recording Label: Rca Catalog: 05086 Composer: Jay Livingston Performer: Sam Levene, Larry Alpert, George Gobel, Paula Stewart, Harold Gary, Albert Linville, Stanley Grover, Maggie Worth, Stanley Simmonds, Ted Thurston, Barbara Nichols

Jimmy / Original Cast Recording Label: Rca Catalog: 05093 Composer: Bill Jacob Performer: Carol Conte, Henry Lawrence, Stanley Simmonds, Dorothy Claire, Julie Wilson, Jack Collins, Frank Gorshin, William Griffis, Evan Thompson, Anita Gillette, Paul Forrest, Edward Becker, Clifford Fearl disinHAIRited / Original Cast Recording Label: Rca Catalog: 05095 Composer: Galt MacDermot Performer: Zane Zacharoff, Paul Alicea Jr., Donald Leight, Idris Muhammad, Jimmy Lewis, Napoleon Allen, Neal Tate, Donnie Burks, Melba Moore, Allan Nichols, Denice Delapenha, Gerome Ragni, James Rado, Galt MacDermot, Leata Galloway, Robin McNamara, George Tipton, Sakinah, William Fontaine, Charles Brown III, Edward Williams, Martin Banks, Richard Landrum Hazel Flagg / Original Cast Recording Label: Rca Catalog: 05097 Composer: Jule Styne Performer: Benay Venuta, Jack Whiting, Dean Campbell, Helen Gallagher, John Howard Weill: The Threepenny Opera / 1976 Public Theater Revival Label: Sony Catalog: 51520 Composer: Kurt Weill Performer: Raul Julia, Elizabeth Wilson, Robert Schlee, Roy Brocksmith, Tony Azito, Jack Eric Williams, C. K. Alexander, Caroline Kava, David Sabin, Blair Brown, Ellen Greene, Glenn Kezer

Monday Mar 16, 2009 http://www.edgenewyork.com/index.php?ch=entertainment&sc=music&sc2=reviews&sc3=&id=87894

Dig These Discs :: Oklahoma (1952 Studio Cast), Carousel (1965 Revival Cast), and Rodgers Conducts Rodgers by Phil Hall EDGE Contributor

The music of Richard Rodgers remains timely, as witnessed in the new CD presentation of three vintage LPs: a 1952 cast recording of "Oklahoma!" with Nelson Eddy, the 1965 Broadway cast album for the revival of "Carousel," and the 1954 symphonic adaptation of Rodgers’ music, conducted by the composer leading the New York Philharmonic. Only the third CD is truly worth seeking out.

Oklahoma (1952 studio cast) Originally released in 1952, this recording of the score from the Rodgers and Hammerstein landmark may appeal strictly to fans of Nelson Eddy, who was recruited to sing the role of Curley. Beyond that, the recording doesn’t have much to offer. But even Eddy’s fans may have to stretch their appreciation in regard to his soulless interpretation of the classic score. Eddy offers bombast but no feeling, booming the lyrics out with little regard to the wit or emotion in the Hammerstein lyrics. His occasional relation with an Okie accent doesn’t help, and his brief dialogue exchanges with Virginia Haskins’ Laurie has a curious disconnected nature to them - it seems as if Eddy is talking in his sleep rather than wooing a fair maiden. Haskins, for her part is strictly serviceable as Laurie - a nice voice, but no particular personality to set it apart from the countless others who played the role. The show’s comic relief characters are also strangely mirthless - Portia Nelson’s Aunt Eller, Kaye Ballard’s Ado Annie, and especially David Martin’s Ali Hakim (performing the worst Rodgers and

Hammerstein song of all time, "It’s a Scandal! It’s a Outrage!") offer nothing that could be considered as comic, let alone being a relief. The CD comes with bonus tracks from a 1953 recording of the score that features John Raitt as Curley and Patricia Northup as Laurie. Ultimately, die-hard "Oklahoma!" lovers would do better to seek out the original Broadway cast recording or the soundtrack of the 1955 film rather than this insipid offering.

Carousel (1965 Broadway cast) This cast recording of the 1965 Broadway revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical never truly hits the many emotional nerves that permeate the show. A tale of both intense psychological drama and blatant low comedy, "Carousel" is one of the most complex musicals ever created - perhaps too complex for easy interpretation, which may explain why it has never been as truly beloved as other Rodgers and Hammerstein works. As Billy and Julie, John Raitt and Eileen Christy miss deep textures of their characters. Raitt’s interpretation lacks the menace, insecurity, bravado and repentance that mark Billy’s bizarre odyssey. In particular, his take on "Soliloquy" is so lacking in spirit and mood that one could mistake it for a phonetic offering. Christy never plumbs the masochistic sincerity of Julie’s tortured existence - she just sounds like a sweet kid with an above average soprano voice, nothing more. In the supporting roles, little worthwhile support is given in Katherine Hilgenberg’s Nettie (who lacks the warmth and wisdom intended for the character) or Jerry Orbach’s Jigger (he never hits the character’s offbeat creepiness). Only Susan Watson is on target, ironically, capturing the vapidity of Carrie’s obsessive fascination for the fish-harvesting Mr. Snow. The CD also features a few tracks from a 1953 recording of the score with Raitt and Doretta Morrow, plus two tracks from a 1955 recording with opera stars Robert Merrill and Patrice Munsel. These additions don’t really make the CD better - they just make it longer.

Rodgers Conducts Rodgers Richard Rodgers conducted the New York Philharmonic in this collection of his most celebrated musical compositions. For those who consider Rodgers music to be strictly in the category of "show tunes," this 1954 recording provides unimpeachable evidence that his work could easily fit into the classical music genre. The first track is dubbed "Richard Rodgers’ Waltzes" and it compiles four very different numbers - "Lover" from "Love Me Tonight," "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" from "Jumbo," "Falling in Love with Love" from "The Boys from Syracuse" and "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’" from "Oklahoma!" While it is difficult not to start singing along with each tune (or fall into a Jimmy Durante-style pronunciation of "Da Most Beautiful Goil in da Woild"), the vocal-free composition enables one to appreciate the sweep and inventiveness of Rodgers’ melodic creations. This is followed by "March of the Siamese Children" from "The King and I," arguably one of the most delightfully playful instrumental pieces composed for the theater. Rodgers’ sweeping "The Carousel Waltz" from "Carousel" comes next, followed by the sultry "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue." The last selection is, ironically, one of Rodgers’ least familiar to many younger listeners: his acclaimed gung-ho score to the 1950s TV military documentary "Victory at Sea." The CD also comes with four bonus tracks, recorded as promotional interviews for distribution to radio stations in conjunction with the album’s release. Rodgers speaks at length on the history behind each composition. Rodgers’ orchestral arrangements soften the bombastic personality that one associates with musical theater. As a result, the recordings elevate the music to a level that is separate and apart from the theatrical and television roots where the songs first appeared. The result is a striking artistic presentation that reconfirms Rodgers’ versatility.

THE EXAMINER April 8, 2009

http://www.examiner.com/x-4636-Pittsburgh-Budget-Travel-Examiner~y2009m4d8-Curatin-up-Lights-thelights-Five-stage-OffBroadway--Broadway-musicals-make-their-CD-release

Curtain up! Light the lights! Eight Off-Broadway & Broadway musicals make their CD release It's the dream Broadway buffs and theater queens and die-hard musical devotees hope will come true . . . the CD release of Broadway and Off-Broadway shows that, until now, only existed on vinyl or boot-leg versions. Wake up, the dream is over! Sony MasterWorks and ArkivMusic have just raised the curtain–using the original masters as sources–on digitalonly editions of DisinHAIRited, Hazel Flagg, Jimmy, The Last Sweet Days of Isaac, Let It Ride!, New Faces of 1952, New Faces of '56 and The Threepenny Opera. The CDs, with each album’s original cover art and liner notes, are available exclusively through ArkivMusic.com. The LP release of the original cast recording did not include a number of tracks that were recorded at the original session, and this release introduces six of them–"What Does That Dream Mean?," "The Washingtons Are Doin' Okay," "Girls 'n' Girls 'n' Girls," "I Could Love Him," "Rouge" and "She's Got Everything." The Threepenny Opera Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht's The Threepenny Opera became known to American audiences in the Marc Blitzstein adaptation, which introduced the English lyrics of "Mack the Knife." For the New York Shakespeare Festival's acclaimed 1976 Lincoln Center revival, the show was completely reconceived with a new translation and adaptation, and fresh treatment of Weill's extraordinary score by Stanley Silverman. Raul Julia is Macheath (here known as "Mac the Knife"), and the cast also includes Ellen Greene, Elizabeth Wilson, Tony Azito and Caroline Kava. This recording is one of the most effective presentations on the Brecht/Weill score, and this reissue includes a short track ("For That's My Way") that was not included in the LP release and has never before been available. Five of these titles have been unavailable complete since their LP release. Hazel Flagg, New Faces of 1952 and New Faces of '56 were released previously in unauthorized versions, but these Masterworks Broadway editions will be definitive, with each having been transferred and remastered from the original sources under the direction of reissue producer Didier Deutsch. New Faces of '56 will include six recently rediscovered bonus tracks of numbers from the revue that were recorded but never issued in the original LP release. Let's’s take a pithy peek at each show and CD: DisinHAIRited Not exactly an “original cast recording,” DisinHAIRited is the apt offspring of Hair, a revolutionary show and a legendary Broadway hit then (1968) and now, in a critically acclaimed revival. DisinHAIRited is a wild compendium of songs that did not appear officially in Hair, but were originally written either for the Off-Broadway staging, the Broadway production or (in a few instances) for this 1969 recording itself. The creators of Hair–James Rado and Gerome Ragni (book and lyrics) and Galt MacDermot (music)–are front-andcenter in this recording, along with Hair cast members. It is a fascinating footnote to the euphoric success of

musical, the original cast recording of which was originally released by RCA Victor and is now part of the Masterworks Broadway catalog. "Sweet, straight folks from RCA wandered around wondering what the hell was going on in Studio C," the liner notes for DisinHAIRited state about its recording session. “They know now.”

Hazel Flagg This 1953 musical version of the screwball Carole Lombard comedy film Nothing Sacred is best known as the source of the 1954 Jerry Lewis/Dean Martin film Living It Up (in which Lewis played the title character, renamed Homer Flagg). The Broadway show was not a success, though it has a charming score by Jule Styne (music) and Bob Hilliard (lyrics) that includes estimable songs such as “How Do You Speak to an Angel?,” “I Feel Like I'm Gonna Live Forever“ and “Ev’ry Street’s a Boulevard (In Old New York).” Two-time Tony winner Helen Gallagher has the title role, and the cast includes John Howard, Jack Whiting and Benay Venuta. Oscar-winning film actor Thomas Mitchell won a Tony for his performance in Hazel Flagg as Best Actor in a Musical---though he does not sing a note and appears nowhere on the original cast recording! (Why? Read the liner notes!)

Jimmy Perhaps hoping to imitate the success of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Awardwinning musical Fiorello!, about the legendary New York mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia, Jimmy looked for musical-comedy gold in the life of “Gentleman Jimmy“ Walker, who was LaGuardia's flamboyant predecessor. Comedian/impressionist Frank Gorshin took the title role in the 1969 show, produced by movie mogul Jack L. Warner; it featured the irrepressible Anita Gillette and cabaret legend Julie Wilson as the women in Walker's life. Jimmy arrived on Broadway just as tradition-bound musicals were temporarily losing their appeal to the audience, and it vanished after 84 performances, leaving only the original cast recording to keep its memory alive. By the time the Tony Awards arrived in the spring of 1970, Jimmy inspired only a single nomination, for its lavish costumes. The score is by Bill and Patti Jacob, a rare husband-and-wife songwriting team, and it was their only venture on Broadway. The Last Sweet Days of Isaac Back when there was an active scene Off-Broadway for musicals, The Last Sweet Days of Isaac was a tidy little hit that brought success in the spring of 1970 to the songwriting team of Gretchen Cryer and Nancy Ford, who went on to an even bigger little hit Off-Broadway with I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It On the Road. The Last Sweet Days of Isaac is perfect souvenir of its time, a sweet, gentle "rock" musical (the show is accompanied by a band called The Zeitgeist) about little people desperately yearning to embrace life at its fullest. Austin Pendleton and Fredericka Weber had breakout success the hopeless romantics whose adventures the show chronicles. Cryer and Ford's score is irresistibly sweet, couched in late-1960s grooviness, with catchy tunes and clever lyrics. The Last Sweet Days of Isaac won Obie, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards in 1970.

Let It Ride! Let It Ride!, an affable musical version of the hit 1930s farce Three Men on a Horse, had the misfortune of opening on Broadway on October 12, 1961, two nights before How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying dazzled everyone and stole the spotlight. Let It Ride! was hardly destined for greatness–it closed after a mere 68 performances–but it features a lively score by Oscar-

winning songwriters Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, performed by a cast led by TV star George Gobel and Broadway veteran Sam Levene. Also in the cast: beloved Barbara Nichols! The score yielded only one standout song – the charming, awestruck waltz "Everything Beautiful"–but the original cast recording captures the bustle and bounce that once invigorated even so-so Broadway musicals. New Faces of 1952 A legendary revue that was one of the surprise hits of the 1951-52 Broadway season, New Faces of 1952 famously introduced Eartha Kitt to Broadway audiences in the star-making number "Monotonous," and helped launch the careers of Alice Ghostley (unforgettable singing "The Boston Beguine"), Ronny Graham, Paul Lynde, Carol Lawrence and Robert Clary. Though a hard-to-find film was later made of this production, the original cast recording catches the fresh energy of an emerging hit. Revues like New Faces of 1952 are relics of the time before TV began to redefine the whole concept of satire or topical comedy. Sheldon Harnick, who won fame and fortune later writing songs with Jerry Bock, contributed material, much of which retains its comic inspiration.

New Faces of '56 The success of New Faces of 1952 led to a new edition four years later, this time with the year quaintly abbreviated in the title. The 1956 edition failed to catch fire like its predecessor, but it still featured producer Leonard Silliman's infallible knack for discovering talent. Among the unknowns breaking through here was, of all people, a lively young Maggie Smith, years before she became a great lady of the theater, in her Broadway debut. Also in the cast are Virginia Martin, Tiger Haynes, Inga Swenson, Jane Connell and Bill McCutcheon, all headed for big Broadway careers, as well as future Metropolitan Opera baritone (and Broadway star) John Reardon.