5 comments about Darling Of The Day (1968 Original Broadway Cast).

1. DARLING OF THE DAY didn't do too well on Broadway. In fact, it lasted for on 32 performances. Reason? Steven Suskin writes in the liner notes: "Musical comedies live or die on the strength of their music and lyrics, it is said; a weak book is rarely enough to scuttle a fine score. Jule Styne and Yip Harburg's DARLING OF THE DAY, though, was unable to withstand the ministrations of no less than five bookwriters, not to mention six directors and choreographers. The show even had four different titles along the way. What all of this indicates is a lack of overall vision, in this case stemming from the producers. What it means, in practical terms, is that the songwriters - the only creators who remained constant - found themselves haplessly rewriting to order, to the order of whoever happened to be around at the time. It is no wonder that DARLING OF THE DAY turned out to be a mess of an entertainment. It is surprising, and somewhat disheartening, to find that the unfortunate events subsumed a polished gem of a score."
   
   Equally disheartening: this excellent recording is among a large number of shows RCA has delected from its catalogue. But hold on! Thanks to ArkivMusic, it is now available as an Arkiv CD-on-Demand, complete with original art work and liner notes!
   
   If only today's Broadway songsmiths could write a score as tuneful and entertaining. Even Richard Rodgers and Stephen Sondheim (DO I HEAR A WALTZ?) failed to write a waltz as lovely as "Let's See What Happens." And some of Harburg's lyrics would do W.S. Gilbert proud: "Just avoiding Maharajahs and obsequious old codgers" . . . "I'd lie gladly in your casket while the horsy set at Ascot" . . . ("To Get Out of This World Alive"); "Shakespeare will be shaken and awaken Francis Bacon, and they'll each deny the other wrote KING LEAR" . . . ("A Butler in the Abbey") Yes, the opening number ("He's a Genius") does sound as though it might have come from MY FAIR LADY, and "To marry and live merrily and not just temporarily". . . ("What Makes a Marriage Merry") sounds like a Munchkin song. Harburg was, after all, the lyricist for THE WIZARD OF OZ. The score contains a couple of weak songs and a schizoprenia of styles (all those directors and book writers), but overall it's a delightful "polished gem of a score."
   
   Additionally, DARLING OF THE DAY boasts a most wonderful, powerhouse performance by Patricia Rutledge, 1968 Tony Award winner for Best Actress in a Musical. (Actually, she tied with Leslie Uggams in HALLELUJAH, BABY.) She's delectable in "It's Enough To Make a Lady Fall in Love," "Let's See What Happens," "That Something Extra Special," "What Makes a Marriage Merry," and - especially - "Not on Your Nellie." It's a performance not to be missed and well worth the price of this CD. Although Vincent Price may not have the mellifluent tones of Rex Harrison, Richard Burton, Christopher Plummer or other non-singing actors who headlined musicals of this period, at times he is surprisingly good. The orchestrations by Ralph Burns are Broadway-big-and-brassy and the singing ensemble has great fun with Buster Davis' fine vocal arrangements.
   
   Hats off to ArkivMusic for making this and other RCA deletions available once again: DO RE MI - 1960 original Broadway cast; FINIAN'S RAINBOW - 1969 revival cast; HELLO, DOLLY! - 1967 revival cast with Pearl Bailey; HOW NOW, DOW JONES - 1967 original Broadway cast; LEGS DIAMOND - 1988 original Broadway cast; A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC - 1975 original London cast; OLIVER! - 1968 film soundtrack; SILK STOCKINGS - 1955 original Broadway cast; STARTING HERE, STARTING NOW - 1977 original off-Broadway cast; WILDCAT - 1960 original Broadway cast. AND they're available right here at amazon.com.
   
   So, glom on to them now and encourage ArkivMusic to resurrect the rest of RCA's in-limbo show titles.



2. The musical comedy gods smiled on RCA Victor in 1968 who chose to record this 32 performance flop, and the results are nothing short of wonderous. Patricia Routledge, best known to American audiences for "Keeping Up Appearances" on PBS, made her Broadway musical debut in this Jule Styne-Yip Harburg underappreciated classic. From overture to finale, it bubbles over with wit and melody. Routledge and Company's "Not On Your Nellie," is a textbook lesson on how to stop a show cold. They don't write 'em like this anymore. Get this CD and remember Broadway's golden days.



3. Yet another of those wonderful cult-flop musicals that one can't help but love, DARLING OF THE DAY is a particular favorite of mine.

   The story was based on the book "Buried Alive" by Arnold Bennett, and tells the tale of artist Priam Farll (Vincent Price) who - thanks to a case of mixed identity - ends up "dead" and comes "back" as Henry Leek. Arriving in the small town of Putney, Henry meets vivacious widow Alice Challice (Patricia Routledge), and they later marry. However, Henry's past comes back to haunt him when his painting career suddenly takes off again...

   The score is gorgeous. Patricia Routledge is given ample time to display her amazing vocal talents with the achingly-beautiful "Let's See What Happens" and the touching "Something Extra Special". She tied with Leslie Uggams to win the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical that year, and rightfully so.

   Vincent Price, King of the AIP horror movies, was totally at sea with his musical Broadway debut, and was one of the main reasons why the show failed, running only 32 performances (around 2-3 weeks). The rather slow-moving book was also a factor in the show's failure.

   However, the glowing score by Jule Styne and E.Y. Harburg is gorgeous, and features the songs "To Get Out of This World Alive", "He's A Genius", "Panache" and "It's Enough to Make a Lady Fall in Love" as well as "Sunset Tree". RCA.




4. The wonderful lyrics of Yip Harburg and the brilliant voice and comedy of Patricia Routledge are the highlights of this rarely heard musical comedy gem. Jule Styne provides some good songs to accompany a witty book. It tries to be My Fair Lady and might have gotten close if they could have cast Rex Harrison instead of Vincent Price in the lead. Vincent's acting seem okay, but his singing is more horrible than anything he has ever done on the screen.



5. Are you kidding? This is Vincent Price! When would you get a chance to hear him sing a whole score? And it's a great score. I saw the show on Broadway in previews a very long time ago and thought it would be a hit. Then came the unappreciative reviews and it lasted two weeks. What a loss!

5 comments about A Collector's Sondheim (Musical Compilation).

1. "A Collector's Sondheim" is a good introductory to the man who kept us singing show tunes for years. Three CDs include 54 songs, about 3.5 hours from Sondheim's work prior to 1984:
   
   A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
   Saturday Night
   The Last Resorts
   Evening Primrose
   Anyone Can Whistle
   Company
   Follies
   Stravinsky
   A Little Night Music
   The Frogs
   Pacific Overture
   Merrily We Roll Along
   The Seven Percent Solution
   Sweeney Todd
   
   The songs are performed by a variety of singers from Angela Landsbury to Mandy Patinkin. For the most part, the sound is good but the engineering lacks somewhat--when listening to this whole collection, I have had to change the volume a couple of times to compensate for unevenness in recording.
   
   I'm really hoping someone will do a collection from 1985 on to include some of Sondheim's later works.
   
   Rebecca Kyle, June 2008



2. Just wanted to add that this is one of my favorite Sondheim collections. The liner notes are well written by someone who obviously loves Sondheim. Plus just have to mention Pacific Overtures "Someone in a Tree". Took me awhile but once I listened closely a few times and followed the lyrics (included with CD, a must since his lyrics are so important) I just fell in love with the song. It is one of the best examples of great musical theater.



3. This is the collection that first introduced me to Sondheim. This set includes excerpts from Sondheim's works starting with Forum but unfortunately ending just before Into the Woods, Assassins, Passion, and Dick Tracy. This cd includes a disco version of Sweeny Todd which always makes me giggle like a school girl and songs from several compliation cds and shows such as "Marry Me A Little" and "Side by Side by Sondheim" not to mention others. This cd has wonderful tracks and is a great way to introduce someone to Sondheim!



4. A Collector's Sondheim is a mixed bag, containing a few surprising and effective pieces but, for the most part, consisting of material drawn from one or two revues that contained less than definitive performances. The best surprise is the previously unreleased track of Lee Remick's "There Won't Be Trumpets." She does a wonderful job with this number. Too bad she didn't have an opportunity to do it on Broadway. Her performance on the original cast album of "Anyone Can Whistle" is a delight, often overlooked because of the slam-bang job Angela Lansbury delivers in her first Broadway musical. Less effective in this collector's collection is the version of "I'm Still Here." Yvonne De Carlo's original still is the best. The "Happily Ever After" number cut from Company is interesting as a curiosity but it cannot compare in quality to "Being Alive," which ultimately took its place. So all in all, an interesting if not always satisfying CD.



5. This recording is one of the better ones. The only bad thing is that some of the ter tracks, mainly on the third disc, are taken from the origianl boradway cast recording. Otherwise, the other songs are great. There is an added bonus on the last track of the third disc with Sondheim himself singing "Old Friends" with Angela Landsbury.

1 comments about Hollywood Hotel (1937 Film).

1. If you enjoyed the film "Hollywood Hotel," I urge you to buy this soundtrack! Introductions to such pieces as "Let That Be a Lesson To You" and "Sing, Sing, Sing" are included with the songs just as they were in the film. This really holds that Busby Berkeley aura in the soundtrack alone! So "out there" you could almost picture Johnny Legend and Dr. Jerry Graham popping out of nowhere to sing a duet!

No comments about Ol' Man River-Broadway's Greatest Hits.

No comments about Hits of '34.

1 comments about Something for the Boys [1943 Radio Cast].

1. Cole Porter is probably my favorite musical composer, but Something for the Boys is usually considered one of his lesser works. In my mind, that puts it about even with the best of what people write nowadays. The music is very pleasant. Could It Be You is a very nice ballad. Hey Good Lookin' shows both leads off well. By the Mississississinewah is hilarious, but leaves you wondering why in the world a show has a paean to bigamy sung by two characters playing at being Indian squaws. I'm in Love with a Soldier Boy is one one of those songs that plays on and on in your head. He's a Right Guy is one of Porter's lesser rhumbas, and what is a "right guy," anyway?
   
   Ethel Merman is the Merm, and the album is worth having just for her performance. Bill Johnson holds his own opposite her, which was no mean feat. The only other recording I know of with him is Pipe Dream (11 years later, as William Johnson). He sounds younger and less polished here, but could put a song across. Taken together, the two performance make you wonder why he wasn't a bigger star, and you suspect he would have been if he hadn't died a year after he did Pipe Dream.
   
   One puzzling thing is that the Overture has a song in it that doesn't seem to show up anywhere else on the album. If I recall, it's the second section. It's something like When My Baby Goes to Town, but I don't think that's it. I don't know if the number was cut or just not recorded, but it's a shame because it sounds like it would have been as good as or better than the numbers that were recorded. Any info on this would be appreciated.

1 comments about West Side Story.

1. Some have called this project a disaster. This is an "operatic" version of West Side Story and may not be for everyone. The problem is that Jose Carreras was ill suited to the work. It shows the uncomfortable problems Bernstein has with Carreras. There is a moment when both were very annoyed with each other. But, Kiri Te Kanawa is glorious and the chorus and other singers are a delight. The DVD shows Bernstein was not well during the project: smoking a lot and moments when he seems to be in pain. Despite its problems the singing of "One Hand One Heart" is the best you will ever hear. Like I said, great but flawed. Still, the music is timeless and the DVD is very interesting to watch.

No comments about Broadway Hits.

2 comments about Starmania (20th Anniversary).

1. Starmania, the outstanding French musical, is now available with all the dialogue. A necessity if you are going to understand the plot.

   This fabulously passionate CD is the greatest musical representation of the feeling of nighttime.

   Anyone interested in musicals or torch songs should definately buy this CD




2. Luc Plamondon's work on STARMANIA paved the way for such pieces as LES MISERABLES and MISS SAIGON from French composers to achieve fame on the international market.

   Why STARMANIA has not been produced and marketed with the same intensity is a mystery. The musical structure was perhaps ahead of its time for the late 1970's -- but not for a turn of the century audience. The futuristic theme, hard hitting style and not-so-pretty characters are now the norm.

   Yet few have heard of Starmania outside of France. This is your most accessible chance. This recording features intelligible French (for English speakers with limited French skills) AND a full libretto -- which I use when teaching.

   This Starmania features contemporary and solid voices which portray the characters and their relationships in a way the older versions do not

   This is the definitive STARMANIA.

   For newer Plamondon, check out his NOTRE DAME DE PARIS (also in French with a libretto provided), a similiar styled but more romantic version of Hugo's HUNCHBACK. And for a collection of Plamondon, try CELINE DION CHANTE LUC PLAMONDON.

5 comments about Pacific Overtures (1987 English National Opera Cast).

1. You would have a hard time trying to be convinced "Pacific Overtures" is a masterpiece from this recording; The 1976 OBC album in its perfection even struggles to convince some what I consider one of Sondheim's top three shows (along with Sweeney and Sunday).
   
   Despite being fully orchestrated (the achilles heel of the 2004 revival recording), this production of Pacific Overtures falls flat in that at times it can be just plain boring, mostly because the operatic baritones get quite monotonous in both their singing and acting; I just can't 'suspend disbelief' and believe what Sondheim and book writer John Weidman want us to see in the characters.
   
   That being said, in moderation, this album is an interesting listen if you feel the definitive OBC or supplementary 2004 revival performances are getting a little tired - but its relevance remains in its completeness. This recording includes almost every bit of dialogue and background music performed in the show making it a good way to get an idea of what the show is about without having to read the entire libretto (although a complete video recording of the OBC is now uploaded to YouTube so even this redeeming quality is becoming redundant).
   
   So, if you've never experienced Pacific Overtures before stay away from this recording; buy the 1976 album and watch the OBC on YouTube; if you're looking for a supplementary album go for the 2004 Revival cast; if you want to complete your "Pacific Overtures" collection then, and only then, should you buy this album.



2. For those who love the Bway show and have hoped to hear it with the voice qualities it was written for, this recording is a treat. In addition, all of the orchestral music is included, using a full opera house orchestra, while the Bway cast recording edits and uses a Bway pit orchestration. Not to mention that this recording contains a much more complete version of "Kanagawa".
   
   However be warned, the sound engineering is abysmal - it's a full dialog rcording and the dialog can't be heard - it sounds as though they are talking at the very back of a big room. Which I guess they were. The percussion is also not balanced to the rest of the orchestra. However, the silver lining to this one is that the cast are opera-singer actors, no one is a very good actor, so the loss of the dialog is no big deal.



3. this is a fantastic show with many standout songs. i prefer this recording to the OBC recording b/c i really believe that the lyrical score falls naturally into the operatic realm and that broadway singers don't generally have the vocal power to do it justice. i usually don't prefer opera singers in broadway shows, but i think that in this case it works extremely well, with the long, lyrical lines of songs like, "is there no other way" and "poems" really benefitting from the stronger voices.



4. This is not the real thing. This was a production by English National opera with opera voices not show voices. It doesn't even begin to sound right. For an ignored work, the ENO production appeared oddly soon after the excellent provincial production at Wythenshawe Forum in south Manchester, UK. Were ENO influenced in their choice by the Manchester show? It seemed so at the time and the ENO production was a very pale evening by comparison. This CD shows why! Avoid. The Original Broadway cast recording is the best going, though it's not at all perfect. Why is this excellent work, full of terrific music and visuals, so ignored?? Too expensive to stage?



5. "Pacific Overtures" is the political euphemism used by Commodore Matthew Perry in 1853 when Japan was persuaded to open up trade relations because of the display of naval power put on by the United States. The clash of cultures as the "Floating Kingdom" was forced to end centuries of enforced isolation is the subject of this unique musical, which dramatizes Perry's expedition to Japan. The original Broadway cast of "Pacific Overtures" was entirely Asian or Asian-American. It is this casting commitment that makes "Pacific Overtures" a rare musical to see in performance, which is a shame because of not only its presentation of history but because of its imaginative use of Kabuki.

   You might recall the controversy on Broadway when Jonathan Pryce came over from England to play the Engineer in the Broadway production of "Miss Saigon." Pryce had created the role in England but there were complaints about an occidental playing an oriental (althought the character was half-French). So while I was rather surprised to discover this non-Asian cast recording of "Pacific Overtures," I realized it was understandable, not only because the British place less emphasis on such things but also because this is English National Opera cast. In opera it is the voice that matters and not appearances, which is why you end up with singers the size of offensive linemen who are twice the age of their characters.

   On the one hand I find it very commendable that this show was produced in England, since the casting requirements make it difficult if not impossible to perform in most places. But if you want a CD by which to remember the show you should purchase the original Broadway cast album and enjoy the original performances (especially Mako as the Reciter).

   I do not want to make this sound like an argument for political correctness, because I really do believe it is more a question of preserving the intergirty of the original production, which was a wonderful attempt to bring something different to the American musical stage. If had the opportunity to see "Pacific Overture" in performance with a non-oriental cast I will certainly do so, because I would dearly love to see this show. But I would feel that I had missed out on the true experience.