LoveMusik & Young Frankenstein

It's funny and rare when listening to a cast recording actually makes me like the music, or rather lets me appreciate the music/show even more.  Both of these CDs changed my whole perception after my initial reactions.  I've never been a huge fan of the music of Kurt Weill.  I like his opera "Street Scene"  but I think that might be because I did it in college.  I've never been a huge fan of Threepenny Opera (remember last year the version at Roundabout... YAWN), and I listened recently to the San Francisco recording of Happy End with slight boredom.  Yes, some songs stand out of each, but over all I just feel like I don't get Brecht.  I am happy to report that the tide has changed, and I now must go back and re-listen to his other shows with a new set of ears.  I enjoyed watching LoveMusik, but I like listening to it even more.  Michael Cerveris and Donna Murphy are unreal on this recording.  I like the accents, I like the acting, I like the singing.  I get a sense of their entire story within these songs that have been completely removed from their original circumstances (and shows).  Songs in this production do not occur chronologically from when they were written, but rather how they serve the drama.  I particularly enjoyed "Alabama Song" and "Speak Low".  This is a CD I will be playing again.   

I really didn't like Young Frankenstein when I saw the gypsy run a couple months ago.  Imagine my surprise when I pop the CD in and can't stop enjoying the songs.  The liner notes imply that Mel Brooks was intentionally channeling different eras of musical 

theater history when he wrote the tunes.  I have to agree.  I love traditional musical theater, and this definitely is a contemporary throwback to those times.  I guess Mel Brooks is the man to thank first, but I'd like to give a big shout out to Doug Besterman.  Brooks writes the melodies (I heard a rumor once that he just sings them into a tape recorder and that's all he does), but it is Mr.  Besterman who actually fills out the songs.  And boy can he fill out a song.  The orchestrations win the award for MVP on this recording.  Maybe while watching the show I was too distracted by the sloppy direction or something to enjoy the actual sound coming at me.  The sound is fresh and crisp with a traditional sound while delivering these crazy, funny (and stupid) lyrics.  It actually made me laugh.  I don't think I laughed once while watching.  Honest.  I don't know many shows that I'd never go see again, but can listen to the recording over and over.  The performances are better here, especially Roger Bart and Megan Mullally.  I get a better sense of what they were shooting for on stage.  

To be sentimental:  this is why (one of the reasons...) I listen to cast recordings.  It makes me so happy to like something more than I ever did.  Hooray.

Robin Hood

I just listened to the recording(s) or Robin Hood, written by Reginald deKoven (music) and Harry Smith (words).  This production premiered in New York on September 22, 1891 at the Standard Theater.  Yes, you read it right: 1891.  I actually found this music easy to listen to and fairly entertaining.  The CD has recordings of many different productions of the operetta over the first 20 years of its existance.  Members of the original cast sang two numbers (these songs also were on the Music of the New York Stage cd below), songs from the 1919 revival (yes, revival), and a medley of songs the Victor Light Opera Company around 1909.  Best of all, the first half of the cd comes from a 50's radio production of the operetta.  All of the songs have cheesy rhyming dialogue in between them which I didn't mind at all.  I like understanding the setup of a song, and why (or not) it has dramatic importance.  Surprisingly, most of the songs in this piece actually can be derived from some sort of plot.  I sound surprised because most other shows(operettas) of the time did not necessarily follow those rules.  

The plot is that same as the movie.  You know, the one with Kevin Costner and the bad accent.  Robin steals money and gives to the poor.  He loves the girl.  Mean ruler also loves girl.  He steals girl.  Captures Robin.  Robin saves the day in the end and finds true love with the girl.  All sung with catchy Gibert and Sullivan-esque songs that bounce and roll right on by.  The best known love song is "O Promise Me", which according to the liner notes wasn't even in the production in the beginning.  

If only all the songs on the Music from the New York Stage CD had radio versions from the 50's so I could actually make out and understand all the words and music.  Only then can I go back, as I did with this CD, and listen to the originals and be able to fully appreciate their worth.

A Night in Venice

This operetta by Johann Strauss Jr. premiered in Berlin on October 3rd, 1883.  While it might not be up to par with his other hit Die Fledermaus, it certainly has a catchy waltz-y score that is not hard to listen to while while riding the subway(in my case).  This version is a recording of the 1952 Mike Todd extravaganza that opened Jones Beach on Long Island.  It had a cast of Broadway and opera singers.  The tenor, Thomas Tibbett Hayward, has a fine voice along side his soprano Laurel Hurley.  I understood almost all of the words and could follow along with the story pretty well.  I'm curious how much of the story and music has changed from the original Berlin production, but it is great to at least get an idea of early theater music (and I mean theater music in the most operetta-like means possible).   

Music From The New York Stage 1890-1920 Vol. 1 1890-1908

Well, I've started listening to this massive compilation of very, very old school recordings of shows from the turn of the century.  Many of the songs are sung by members of the original cast, although almost all were recorded a couple years after the original productions ran.  While this is definitely not the kind of CD I'd throw on the old CD player while cleaning the apartment, it was fun to listen to theater songs written and sung well over one hundred years ago.  While I couldn't understand the words on over half of the songs, I could make out the music for the most part.  Because these were transferred from old music rolls, cylinders, 78s, and other "ancient" methods of recording, the record producer made no attempt to clean them up for a more "historical completeness".  The material covers operetta, popular songs, comic sketches, and some not so politically correct minstrel songs(I'm thinking that the good ole ditty "The Phrenologist Coon" sung in black face by the already black actor Bert Williams falls under that latter category).  

There are some memorable songs on the recordings, and I'm not just talking about the Irish songs of Chancey Olcott (he wrote and sang "My Wild Irish Rose" and the not included "When Irish Eyes are Smiling").  I can't for the life of me get the tune of "Under the Bamboo Tree" out of my head (partly because I just watched Meet Me In St. Louis, and it is sung by Judy and that little kid in the movie).  "...if I like-a you like you like-a me..."  Very charming that one is, sung here by the Marie Cahill.  I thought the songs of George Cohan very fascinating, particularly "I'm Mighty Glad I'm Living, That's All" and "Life's a Funny Proposition After All".  These almost existential songs question our very existence in a simple, comical way that make you feel not quite alone for wondering such deep questions about life.  All wrapped up in that yankee doodle dandy kind of spirit.  I mentioned Bert Williams earlier, and I'm very glad that the songs from Abyssinia are included.  His version  of the song "Nobody" stayed with him for the rest of his career and sold very well as a record.  

Although I probably won't listen to this again, I'm glad to have an idea of where American musical theater began.  No songs move plot along, or are character driven at all.  That was not a surprise.  What did surprise me was that some had a real human depth to them that I was not expecting.