Revival Recordings: Part Two
If only for the sake of documentation, one is glad to have such recordings in one's collection. But certain ones stand out as particularly unfortunate when placed beside the first recording. At the top of the list may be the 1992 Broadway cast recording of The Most Happy Fella, with twin pianos accompanying one of Broadway's most grandly operatic scores. While understandable at the Goodspeed Opera House, where the revival originated, this version when brought to New York was inexplicably praised as being superior to the original Broadway production. Some maintained that the revival revealed the hidden riches of Frank Loesser's score; I would have thought such riches were fully apparent on the '56 recording.
Because of all the acclaim this version won, RCA Victor preserved it, but I can't imagine anyone finding the recording preferable to the available recordings of Happy Fella with full orchestra. And that's not to mention that the singing on the '92 set is erratic, with leading man Spiro Malas having occasional pitch problems.
Another revival imported to Broadway from Goodspeed, this one to provide Tony Randall's National Actors' Theatre with a 1995 attraction, was Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. This Blondes was so lackluster that the Tony nominators couldn't find it in their hearts to nominate it in the musical-revival category even when there were only two other eligible titles. Show Boat and How to Succeed... were the sole '95 nominees.
The '95 Blondes received poor reviews and shuttered quickly. But owing to the favorable reception it had received at Goodspeed and the announced Broadway transfer, it was recorded prior to the New York opening. DRG may have picked the production up because its Lorelei Lee, KT Sullivan, was a label regular. But the '95 Blondes recording has little to offer. In addition to the delightful Carol Channing original recording, there's a scintillating '60s London cast album starring Dora Bryan that deserves a reissue.
Nor do any of the following revival recordings have much reason for being. How many purchased the cast album of the Pointer Sisters in their touring revival of Ain't Misbehavin'? Does anyone find anything on the New York and London revival cast recordings of Company to compare to the 1970 Broadway cast album?
And can the recording of the Roundabout's She Loves Me hold a candle to the original Broadway version? She Loves Me is in the unique position of having been a financial flop in four major productions, two on Broadway and two in the West End. But because of its leading lady, Ruthie Henshall, the West End version of the Roundabout revival produced a better recording than did the New York incarnation. Of course, the Broadway revival recording might have been more interesting had Judy Kuhn been featured; Kuhn opened the production but did not continue with it when it transferred. Her replacement, Diane Fratantoni, got the recording, and while she's always accurate, she doesn't make much of an impression. And while I don't mean to be hard on Roundabout recordings, the company's 1776 revival, while respectable in the theatre, also produced an unnecessary cast recording.
Even though it ran six months, it's still slightly surprising that the poorly received '96 revival of Once Upon a Mattress got recorded. But because of the subsequent renown of its leading lady, Sarah Jessica Parker, it's intriguing to be able to hear her grappling with a fundamentally unsuitable role. Then too, I love the Mattress score so much that I don't mind having a second Broadway recording in addition to the London cast album, starring Jane Connell. Something similar can be said for the recording of Carol Channing's final tour of Hello, Dolly!. Channing is in much better form on the '64 version, which features a better cast all around. But it's nice to have a second recording, thirty years later, of a star in her greatest role.
What Broadway flop has seven cast recordings? Leonard Bernstein's Candide, of course, and while Livent's short-lived 1997 Broadway revival featured such talents as Jason Danieley, Andrea Martin, Jim Dale, and Brent Barrett, the RCA recording didn't add much to a crowded field.
The Broadway revival of Into the Woods produced a cast album that's among the least necessary of recent sets. The 1988 London revival of Can-Can featuring a new book and several song interpolations stars a not-very-Gallic Donna McKechnie. Although the original Broadway Can-Can would be hard to beat, a recording of the failed 1981 Broadway revival with Zizi Jeanmaire would have been preferable.
Even though it has Sandy Duncan as Maisie, the 1970 Broadway The Boy Friend offers a lackluster performance "Laugh-In"'s Judy Carne was the star. The 1964 off-Broadway cast recording of the Vernon Duke-John LaTouche Cabin in the Sky is the score's only full-length recording, but the performance is so resistible that it can't be recommended. Overtly unnecessary is United Artists' recording of the short-lived 1968 off-Broadway revival of House of Flowers. And Karen Ziemba and David Garrison on the off-Broadway I Do! I Do! are no match for Mary Martin and Robert Preston, who got to sing the score with an orchestra, rather than twin pianos.
Finally, I'll note a few revivals that should have been recorded. The principals in John Dexter's 1989 Broadway revival of The Threepenny Opera may have been performing in a variety of ill-matched styles, and Sting made a rather bland Macheath. But the singing of Maureen McGovern, Georgia Brown, and Kim Criswell was distinguished, and Michael Feingold's translation had just the right pungency. With Sting a major recording name, the production could have provided an interesting disc. It would also have been nice to have a recording of Meryl Streep in the Broadway premiere of another Brecht-Weill-Feingold Broadway outing, Happy End.
Of Encores! productions, perhaps the ones most missed on disc are Allegro, Sweet Adeline, and Carnival. The lack of a recording of Encores!' One Touch of Venus will be rectified if and when JAY gets around to releasing its complete recording with Encores!' star Melissa Errico. And while we're on the subject, this Errico fan would also have liked a recording of her Broadway My Fair Lady.
Sandy Duncan's Peter Pan would have made a more appealing disc than Cathy Rigby's. With the campy work of leading ladies Eartha Kitt and Melba Moore, Timbuktu, the 1978 Broadway revisal of Kismet, would have been fun on disc. And one of the smaller labels should have preserved the American Jewish Theatre revival of The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N and York's Theatre's Exactly Like You a heavily revised version of the 1989 Broadway flop Welcome to the Club, if only because the Broadway versions of both shows went unrecorded.